British automaker Mini in late July revealed its latest concept, the Aceman, a premium small-car crossover that leads the way for the brand’s future with a new design language, new digital experience, and more eco-friendly materials.
Styling has been run through the brand’s filter of “Charismatic Simplicity,” which aims to pare down the little crossover’s features into a package that’s usefully modern yet still tight. On the car’s exterior, this manifests in the form of an octagonal illuminated grille (or the decorative EV equivalent, at least); strong shoulders; accented wheel arches; 20-inch wheels; a roof rack; and vertically-oriented rear lights.
Mini ended up blending a bit of the past with the future in its colour choices, finishing the Aceman in a turquoise Icy Sunglow Green and contrasting it with a traditional British Racing Green metallic on the roof, and touches of dark green and blue and pink-orange accents elsewhere on the body.
The four-door, five-seat Mini Concept Aceman will fit size-wise between the Mini Cooper and the Mini Countryman, with a length of 4.05 metres, a width of 1.99 metres, and a height of 1.59 metres.
“The Mini Concept Aceman provides a glimpse of a completely new vehicle, bridging the space between the Mini Cooper and the Mini Countryman in the future of the model family,” says Stefanie Wurst, head of Mini. “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.”
One of the car’s more unique elements is the interior dashboard, which appears flat “in the style of a soundbar” and runs the full width of the car. There’s still a classic toggle-switch bar and a now-circular OLED screen (with a new graphic display that can apparently spill out onto the digital dash) that acts as the literal touch-point for the latest Mini Operating System, now built on an Android Open Source Project software stack.
The less-is-more trend continues with minimalist door panels, a central console that stretches from front to rear, and leather-free build materials, including those used in the car’s funky seats with integrated headrests and a combination of patterns and materials. Mini has also completely avoided chrome in the concept build, both inside and out.
And as with many modern concepts, much is made of the car’s ‘emotive’ potential, such as its Mini Companion-driven welcoming sequence that sets the car’s exterior off in a show of light and sound, and continues into the interior. There are also a number of new “experience modes,” including a pop-up mode that “invites the user to enjoy experience-rich navigation with surprising moments”; and a vivid mode that allows for the OLED display and dash to be used “for diversified interactions” when the car is stopped or charging.
Mini has in the past confirmed it will bring to market is last new gas-powered model in 2025; when that car ages out by the early 2030s, the automaker plans to sell only electric vehicles.
The Mini Concept Aceman will make its in-person public debut at the gamescom 2022 computer and video games fair in Cologne, Germany, on August 23.
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