DRIVEN: MINI’s All-Electric JCW Aceman Brings Go-Kart Fun To Your Everyday Drive

I went in expecting a cute electric runabout. I came out wondering if I’d missed my calling as a race car driver. The new Mini JCW Aceman Electric might look like a city-sized SUV, but under the skin, it’s all go-kart grit and John Cooper racing DNA.

It’s the kind of car that makes you take the long way home, hunt for corners, and, if you’re anything like me, briefly spiral into a daydream about Nürburgring lap times before snapping back to the school zone.

So what’s the story behind the new JCW Aceman?

While it was officially unveiled at the 2024 Paris Motor Show, the inaugural completely electrified JCW Aceman has essentially been 60 years in the making. Decades of racing heritage distilled into an incredibly hot hatch, if you will.

It all began with the high-performance variant’s namesake: John Cooper, co-founder of the Cooper Car Company and legendary Formula 1 designer, whose F1 cars were piloted by esteemed names ranging from Australia’s own Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss, to Maurice Trintignant and Bruce McLaren.

For a nine-year period, the Cooper F1 team pushed the technical limits to claim 16 Grand Prix wins, with Brabham and the constructor winning back-to-back World Championships in 1959 and 1960.

Formula 1 wasn’t the sole beneficiary of Cooper’s engineering prowess (and revolutionary rear-engine chassis design), either.

His race-ready iterations of the classic MINI also earned its stripes in rally racing with multiple overall victories, and more recently, a prototype based on the new MINI JCW won its class at the Nürburgring 24-hour race.

JCW (or John Cooper Works) is the ultimate expression of these achievements: a performance-turning branch of MINI that produces cars rich with sporty DNA, like the All-Electric JCW Aceman.

Who’s the buyer?

The All-Electric JCW Aceman is marketed as a “compact SUV” to bridge the line-up’s gap: roomier than a MINI Cooper, smaller than the Countryman. Our assessment? It’s closer to a “hatchback+” with modest boot capacity than an exact splitting of the difference.

Utility in spades? You bet. Depending on your lifestyle, however, there might be slightly more appropriate five-door models within MINI’s existing lineup and beyond.

Think inner-city DINKs with a Groodle (regular Labradors and Golden Retrievers if they’re outdoorsy); small families (in terms of both headcount and height); as well as concrete cowboys with an internal loop of Ayrton Senna’s monologue about seizing gaps during the half-hour commute to their desk jobs (like yours truly).

First impressions?

Fun. Real fun. And surprisingly roomy, though do note that this author is economy-sized (5’6″ on a good day).

As a member of the B.H. team who’s admittedly spent far more time in go-karts than actual track days, testing MINI’s All-Electric JCW Aceman felt like a natural graduation event of sorts. Especially with the JCW-specific suspension and dynamic handling, particularly my personal favourite “Go-Kart” mode, as well as the tasty power-to-weight ratio.

On the circuits of Queensland’s RACQ Mobility Centre, it was all the familiar boyhood thrills of taking apexes and hairpins with the requisite technical grunt to spike the adrenaline. I cannot stress how tasty this bad boy was on the corners.

After my second lap, I mourned what could’ve been with my entirely hypothetical career as a professional driver. By the third, I’d already gotten over it with the consolation prize of another squirt around the bends.

From the circular OLED infotainment screen and HUD to the button toggles, the race-inspired cabin felt reminiscent of the world’s most comfortable and pared-back fighter jet cockpit (in a charming kind of way). Although truth be told, using said toggles to change gears was a touch too foreign for my one-dimensional sensibilities.

That being said, from a purely anecdotal sense, it’s still a compelling case for EVs.

Give us the top lines on performance and range.

Like the regular All-Electric JCW, this Aceman features a 54.2 kWh high-voltage battery capable of generating 190kW and 350Nm with drive sent to the front wheels, and a top speed of 200 km/h.

The only difference is that the Aceman achieves the 0-100 dash in 6.4 seconds compared to its three-door sibling’s zippier 5.9 seconds, and boasts a slightly reduced driving range (355 kilometres vs 371 kilometres). The cost of lugging around additional weight, I suppose.

For comparison, the MINI JCW hatchback’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine generates 170kW and 280Nm, accelerating from 0-100 in 6.1 seconds.

Tech & connectivity – what’s the word?

The aforementioned 240mm circular OLED touchscreen that takes centre stage like it owns the place – because, quite frankly, it does.

This is your dashboard, infotainment system, air-conditioning setup, and digital co-pilot all bundled into a glossy command hub. And with it, you get wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, DAB+ digital radio, as well as sat-nav with augmented-reality guidance.

If we’re being honest, it takes a minute to wrap your head around. Especially when this is also how you select one of eight driving modes (Core, Green, Green+, Go-Kart, Vivid, Timeless, Balance, and Personal). The grand irony of modernity: to streamline for convenience, you have to stomach a measure of convolution.

There are also more sentimental touches – including something of a throwback setting that mimics the central speedometer of the original 1959 MINI, if you’re feeling nostalgic.

As alluded to earlier, no traditional instrument cluster: key info is either on the big circle or the heads-up display mounted in front of the driver instead of the windscreen. Which is fine. It’s just not wow-ing anybody.

Harman/Kardon premium sound system with 10 speakers included for all your audio needs.

And the lowdown on safety?

The highlights are as follows:

• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Exit warning
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Driver attention monitoring
• Adaptive cruise control
• Steering and Lane Control Assistant (lane centring)
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Surround-view camera
• Parking Assistant Plus (includes semi-autonomous parking assist)
• SOS emergency calling
• Airbags (front, side, and rear side)

The MINI Cooper electric range – including the JCW – is covered by a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted in 2025 to the latest Euro NCAP protocols.

The most memorable – or heartbreaking – thing about your drive?

Incidentally, the most memorable detail is intertwined with the most heartbreaking: Go-Kart mode.

The agile handling, enhanced suspension, and high-grip tyres made it an absolute delight to throttle down the straights and negotiate the corners of RACQ Mobility Centre’s tracks – doubly so for the tailored gymkhana and “drag race” experience, though I question when you could feasibly use this in speed-limit-governed urban areas.

At most, perhaps you could tap into that extra 20kW of electric power with the boost paddle to overtake some absolute doughnut on the road (for which there are plenty here in Sydney’s ecosystem) who’s apparently allergic to seizing the gap.

Tell ‘em the price, son!

The MINI All-Electric JCW Aceman starts from $65,990 before on-road costs, which is $5,000 more than its predecessor, the Aceman SE Favoured. Awesome if you’re not looking to shell out for the premium segment of the EV market; potentially exxy against sporty competitors like the Cupra Born and BYD Seal Performance.

The three-door MINI All-Electric JCW, on the other hand, is $63,990.

Available colourways are as follows:

• Legend Grey w/ Chili Red Roof & Red Sport Stripes
• Midnight Black II
• Chili Red w/ Jet Black Roof & Black Sport Stripes
• Nanup White w/ Jet Black Roof & Black Sport Stripes
• British Racing Green IV w/ Jet Black Roof & Black Sport Stripes
• Blazing Blue w/ Jet Black Roof & Black Sport Stripes
• Melting Silver w/ Jet Black Roof & Black Sport Stripes

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