Why The MINI Aceman Won’t Have All Wheel Drive & How That Could be a Good Thing

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In what we can only call a major oversight by MINI, the forthcoming electric MINI Aceman Crossover will not be offered with all wheel drive even as an option. In our mind this is a major misstep for the vehicle that MINI looks at as its future volume seller globally. Why and could the options eventually come to the Aceman? Read on.

The reason is fairly simple. The J05 Aceman on a lengthened version of the J01 electric MINI Cooper’s skateboard chassis. That chassis is designed to accommodate a single electric engine and a flat battery pack between its wheels. Why? Likely for two reasons.

MINI has been very keen to differentiate the Aceman from the Countryman in terms of price and equipment. What better way to clearly mark out the difference between the two by making the smaller, cheaper model not available with AWD. The thought is likely that, if a buyers wants AWD, they’ll likely be ok with spending more on a larger car to get it.

Another is likely cost. Keeping the Aceman front wheel drive immediately keeps prices lower even in high-spec models. That’s important because MINI wants the Aceman to be an entry point for consumer into the brand that need more room than the new electric Cooper. In effect it’s taking the place of the four door Cooper in the electric line-up and not the larger Clubman.

	Countryman E	Countryman SE
WLTP Averaged Range – Europe	287.073 miles	269.054 miles
EPA Range – United States ESTIMATED	Not coming to the US	245 miles (EST)*

* We’ve used the typical 20-22% decease in range the EPA testing produces over the WLTP for these figures

Finally there’s efficiency. As you can see below, the MINI Countryman C has better range than the all wheel drive SE and we can imagine the same would happen with an all wheel drive Aceman. While the Countryman’s higher range can accommodate a slight decrease, the Aceman is offered exclusively with the smaller and lighter J01 Cooper’s drivetrain configurations. That means it’s already at a disadvantage of having a lower range than the J01 and certainly the U25. Adding all wheel drive would likely bring that range figure down even figure making it a tough sell.

Then there’s the reality that all wheel drive is unnecessary for the vast majority of driving scenarios. As a road based electric car the with highly advanced stability and traction control and excellent weight distribution, the front wheel drive Aceman will likely excel in snow with the proper tires. Having driven from wheel drive MINIs in snow for years (most recently in an Alpine blizzard) the proper tires are more important than which wheels are driven in our experience.

While all wheel drive is considered a must have for many consumers, the reality is that it adds weight, cost and reduces efficiency all for the rare scenario where it’s actually needed. And if you truly do need it, you’d be better off with the Countryman which has higher ground clearance and more light off road capability.

All that said we still think it’s a mistake to not have designed the Aceman to accommodate all wheel drive as an option. As much as we think it’s unnecessary, the reality is the market demands it and MINI will be missing out on sales because of it.

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