MINI presents study previewing a new vehicle concept for the premium small car segment: purely electrically driven, chrome- and leather-free and with an entirely new design. And on top of all that, new digital features to enhance your experience.
The new MINI family is taking shape. The British brand presents the MINI Concept Aceman, an initial preview of its future model generation’s new design. In this concept car we can see design-based and technological innovations from MINI that outline the brand-typical driving pleasure of the future. The first MINI crossover model for the premium small cars segment is striking, with purely electric drive, a clear and pared-back design language that has been dubbed “Charismatic Simplicity”, a new digital interior space experience and a material concept which uses absolutely no leather or chrome.
In the next model generation the MINI Cooper in the iconic three-door body shape, which has been reinterpreted time and again over its entire 60-plus-year history, will be joined by a crossover model for the first time. “The MINI Concept Aceman provides an initial glimpse of a completely new vehicle, bridging the space between the MINI Cooper and the MINI Countryman in the model family’s future,” says Stefanie Wurst, Head of the MINI Brand. “This concept car reflects how MINI is reinventing itself for its all-electric future and what the brand stands for: an electrified go-kart feel, an immersive digital experience and a strong focus on a minimal environmental footprint.”
The beginning of a new MINI design era. “The design language of the MINI Concept Aceman heralds the beginning of a new design era for MINI,” explains Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design. Design features typical of the MINI brand have always been unmistakable, Hooydonk goes on to say. “We are returning to these now, but at the same time consistently combining them innovative technology.” With this approach we are redeveloping the MINI design icons, with all their analogue strengths, for the digital future.
Along with the clear and reduced exterior and interior design, the holistic user experience of light, movement, interaction and sound also combine to define this style. Surfaces constructed from knitted recycled textile with fresh colour contrasts combine with seamless digital controls with a new OLED display as the central interface. This all creates a unique interior experience that remains unmistakably MINI. The all-electric models of the next generation are also given an independent sound design for the first time, providing emotionally compelling drive sounds and an authentic background for the new Experience Modes.
Creative use of space reinterpreted. A functional two-box design with short overhangs creates the maximum of space for occupants and luggage on a minimal surface area. The MINI Concept Aceman has four doors and a large boot lid with interior seating for five.
It also has the proportions you would expect of the brand with an exterior length of 4.05 metres, a width of 1.99 metres and a height of 1.59 metres, all in a particularly contemporary form. The classic three-way division of body, all-round window graphics and roof is reinterpreted. A flush transition between the vehicle body and glass surfaces makes the most of the aerodynamic properties.
Vehicle front with a striking magnetism and individual accents. The upright front of the MINI Concept Aceman strikingly announces its presence. The brand’s iconic design features have been reinterpreted to reflect its crossover characteristics and purely electric drive. The radiator grille element at the centre of the vehicle front is surrounded by clear surfaces, the traditionally hexagonal outline having been further refined into an octagonal contour. The new design is accentuated by an illuminated surround. The LED contour lighting in a shade of light green provides a striking light signature both in daytime running lights and in night design.
Interior: MINImalism redefined. The MINI Concept Aceman interior is also dominated by a reduced design with clear contours and carefully executed details. It combines innovative technology with newly interpreted, yet typical MINI design features.
The concept car’s cockpit is consistently reduced to the bare essentials, just as the designer of the classic MINI had in mind in 1959. Alec Issigonis designed an interior which, in addition to the seats, steering wheel and gear lever, needed nothing more than a central round instrument and toggle switch bar to experience unrivalled driving pleasure.
Wide-open and gently curved surfaces in the area of the door panels and the dashboard give a generous feeling of space. The large panoramic glass roof of the MINI Concept Aceman provides an ambience flooded in light. Its glass surface is patterned by the transverse and diagonal struts of the roof rack, whose structure picks up on the Union Jack flag motif, reminding us of the brand’s origins when gazing up at the sky from the interior
The dashboard is a flat design element styled like a sound bar that extends across the entire width of the interior in front of the driver’s and front passenger’s seats. Its soft knitted textile surfaces create a modern and homey atmosphere in the MINI Concept Aceman interior. The dashboard is connected via a support structure which, like the roof rack, displays the Union Jack pattern, re-emphasising the harmony between exterior and interior design.
First public appearance at gamescom 2022 in Cologne. The MINI Concept Aceman will be publicly presented for the first time at the world’s largest gaming event, gamescom 2022, in Cologne. The event starts on the evening of 23 August 2022, with the grand gamescom opening show Opening Night Live. This event can be experienced on-site in the gamescom event arena as well as from anywhere in the world via livestream.
