[UPDATED] MINI Appears to Confirm Electric Cooper & Aceman Production in the UK: But Questions Remain
Update: We’ve received information that makes us doubt the quality of information provided by GBnews.com. We stand behind our recent article stating that BMW has halted plans to produce the current J01 and J05 electric MINIs at Oxford.
MINI has confirmed that it will build an electric Cooper and Aceman at its Oxford Plant. At least that’s what it appears in a story from the GBnews.com outlet. However that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the J01 Cooper and J05 Aceman as we know them nor does it mean this is all entirely accurate.
Late last year, we reported that MINI had shelved plans to produce the current electric J01 MINI Cooper and J05 MINI Aceman at its Oxford plant. However, we were clear that this strategy shift didn’t mean MINI was abandoning EV production in the UK altogether. This week, MINI appeared to confirm that by once again committing to building electric models at its Oxford facility with a major capital investment.
Electric Cooper & Aceman Production Confirmed for the UK
If the news is to be believed, MINI has publicly reaffirmed its substantial £600 million investment to prepare the Oxford plant for production of two new electrified models and even named them—MINI Cooper and MINI Aceman—starting in 2026.
On paper, this might seem to contradict our earlier reporting. However, our sources remain firm in stating that the J01 and J05, as we currently know them, will not be built in the UK. Instead, the rumors suggest that future Oxford-built electric MINIs will be different from the J01 and J05 in their current form. Due to components being sourced from new suppliers, these models will also receive new BMW codenames.
Details on how MINI will change these models remain scarce. However, we do know there’s a pressing need to source components from suppliers and factories that are less impacted by European and American tariffs. Additionally, MINI is planning an LCI (BMW-speak for a mid-cycle refresh) to coincide with the start of UK production. Taken together, this means that the Oxford-built electric models could end up being noticeably different from their Chinese-built counterparts.
Eventually we expect UK production to primarily serve European and American markets, while Chinese production continues to supply Asian markets.
Our Take
If true this could be great news for MINI fans looking for clarity on the brand’s EV plans. And some of it aligns with what our sources have been telling us—EVs will be made in Oxford eventually. But there are still plenty of unknowns. Just how different will these models be? Can MINI refine them to be more competitive in cost, quality, and even weight—especially against rivals like the Renault 5?
We should start hearing more soon. Stay tuned.
Good news. I wonder if it would be partially NK based. Seems too short a development cycle for fully NK based platform. Would be great to have models on sale in the US at the beginning of ‘27.
This is great to hear as my second car is going to be an electric and I was losing hope that it wouldn’t be a Mini.
I really hope that they fix the cheap interior for the models that will be built in the UK. That’s the only glaring issue I see with the J01.
Would love to see the electric Aceman stateside. Time will tell. In the meantime, I’ve got my trusty Paceman. Worse case, I’ll just remove the ‘P’ from the badging…?