The surging trend of the global new four transformations is influencing the market, in addition to the emerging new car makers and the actively transforming foreign traditional giants, there is also a wave of traditional independent brands gradually emerging.
Last month, Geely officially announced its new brand architecture, with Geely New Energy becoming an independent sub-brand focusing on new energy vehicles. This signal indicates that the importance of new energy vehicles in Geely’s system has risen to a new level.
Geely’s First New Energy Vehicle is Actually a Sedan
Prior to this announcement, Geely had not made many significant moves in the field of new energy vehicles, with only the Emgrand New Energy being a pure electric vehicle, while the others were plug-in hybrid vehicles. In this market environment where every second counts to seize opportunities, I was somewhat worried about Geely. Fortunately, my concerns did not last long. A few days ago, Geely New Energy released its first pure electric vehicle after the establishment of the brand – the GE11.
What surprised me was that Geely’s first pure electric vehicle GE11 was actually a sedan model, which was an unusual and challenging path. Almost all brands’ first pure electric vehicles were SUV models, due to their larger size and higher body, which accommodated larger battery packs. After all, the first requirement for electric vehicles at this stage is endurance!
The number of applications for new energy vehicle license plates in Beijing’s first phase has exceeded 440,000. Whether it’s the number of consumers choosing new energy vehicles under policy guidance or the number of consumers who want to experience the charm of electrification and intelligentization are increasing significantly. Yet, there are too few available models on the market, and many young consumers who want to buy pure electric sedans have to turn to oily SUV models. In other words, if GE11’s product power is up to standard, it will become a new option for consumers in terms of vehicle type.
So, how good is GE11’s product power?
NEDC Endurance 500 km
Since endurance is the first requirement, let’s first look at GE11’s three-electricity level. GE11 has two endurance versions:
- Standard model: battery capacity of 51.9 kWh, NEDC endurance of 410 km.
- High-endurance model: battery capacity of 61.9 kWh, NEDC endurance of 500 km.On the GE11 extended-range model, both indicators are quite impressive. The 61.9 kWh temperature-controlled battery stack is fitted under the 2700 mm wheelbase, and although the energy density of the battery is yet unknown, it has not been compromised in terms of density, as seen from its 1650 kg unladen weight. The NEDC score of 500 km is also firmly in the first echelon of electric vehicles.
In addition to the battery, the motor is also responsible for achieving this level, and the GE11 adopts a front permanent magnet synchronous motor, with a maximum power of 120 kW, a maximum torque of 250 N·m, and a hundred kilometers acceleration of 8.8 seconds. From the data, it is not particularly explosive, at the level of a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine. However, the output characteristics of the motor will feel faster, which belongs to a level that is sufficient, as power and endurance cannot be achieved simultaneously.
Appearance Part
After looking at the most critical electric-related aspect, let’s take a look at the interesting part of the GE11 – design.
First, the GE11’s drag coefficient has reached 0.2375 Cd – what does this concept mean? Let’s take a few examples. The drag coefficient of the Audi A6L is 0.3 Cd, the Honda Civic’s drag coefficient is 0.3 Cd, and the Mazda CX-5’s drag coefficient is 0.27 Cd. Are you impressed?
To achieve a low drag coefficient, a balance point must be found in the design and engineering. It is impossible to completely abandon exterior styling and interior space and achieve a low drag coefficient. This means that the two teams must coordinate and cooperate highly. In addition, a lot of funds are required for wind tunnel experiments, which need to be modified and optimized repeatedly.
What is the significance of spending so much money to achieve an ultra-low drag coefficient? For endurance!
However, it needs to be clarified that the impact of drag on vehicle energy consumption is negligible at low speeds, but it is entirely different once the speed rises. High-speed energy consumption of electric vehicles has always been criticized. In addition to the relatively low efficiency of the motor at high speeds, another reason is drag. So you can expect that the GE11’s low drag will help with its high-speed energy consumption.
Secondly, the GE11 has a very large sky roof, with an area of 2.6m² extending from the roof to the rear of the car, and the entire rear windshield has a very large area. It is similar to the Model 3 and, compared with conventional panoramic sunroofs, the space for rear passengers is better.
In addition, there are three details. The GE11 adopts a brand-new GAC New Energy logo, and I personally feel that the metallic texture is much better than the previous blue.Here is the English translation in Markdown format, retaining the HTML tags inside the Markdown:
The entire lighting system of the vehicle uses LED as light source and it comes standard across all models.
The door handle adopts a hidden design, which can not only reduce air resistance, but also enhance the sense of style.
Interior Design
At first sight of this interior, two words popped up in my mind: “trendy” and “technological”. Everyone should feel it, personally, I really like the interior design of GE11.
The most eye-catching part of the center console area is a suspended 12.3-inch large screen. Meanwhile, Geely did not completely abandon the instrument cluster and kept a 4.2-inch mini dashboard that can display six categories of driving assistance information: alarm prompt information, driving assistance information, multimedia information, Bluetooth telephone, navigation information and menu settings.
If you think it’s too small and inconvenient to read, there is also an 8-inch HUD head-up display, which is basically the largest and most richly displayed HUD I have ever seen. Information such as speed, indicator lights, Bluetooth phone, navigation maps, and more are displayed comfortably.
The color and materials of the interior are quite unique. Instead of using the traditional combination of solid wood and leather, composite fiber materials and fabric are used, and the gray and white color scheme presents a feeling of cozy home.
In terms of style, the fabric seats are very Nordic. However, most consumers’ perception of fabric seats is inferior to leather seats. The recently released Polestar 2, which is his fellow senior brother, also uses fabric seats. To be honest, excellent fabric seats are not inferior to leather seats in other aspects except for creating a sense of luxury. The official announcement from GE11 indicates that the seat material uses EU-certified Skin-care environmental protection fabric interior, which has advantages such as waterproofness, stain resistance, breathability, and low odor… It’s not just one level higher after dealing with Volvo.
Of course, the most technological part is the center console shift knob. Geely officially calls it the E-touch control area, and the hexagonal blue light digital touch area gradually appears after starting the vehicle.
In addition to these, Geely also prepared an air purification system for demanding young people, which monitors the air quality inside and outside the car and the PM 2.5 index. If there is an excess of standards, the air conditioner will automatically adjust the internal and external circulation.
Intelligence
Intelligence is divided into two parts, one is the intelligence of the car machine, and the other is the advanced driving assistance system.
The intelligent car machine system of GE11 has rich functions, such as navigation, voice control, mobile phone screen display, driving recorder, 360° panoramic imaging, etc. At the same time, remote control through the APP is a piece of cake. Moreover, it supports reservation charging, which is very practical for users with home charging conditions!
Another point is advanced driving assistance. After the acquisition of Volvo, Geely’s active safety configuration is very rich. Geely officially announced that GE11 can achieve L2 advanced driving assistance through the fusion of cameras and millimeter-wave radar, and the following are the functions that can be realized.
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DOW door opening warning
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RCW rear-end collision warning
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LKA+ lane keeping
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LCA lane-changing assistance+BSD blind spot monitoring
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ACC S&G start-up adaptive intelligent cruise system* FCW Forward Collision Warning
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ICC Intelligent Cruise Control System
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AEB-ped Automatic Emergency Braking System (Pedestrian Protection Enhanced)
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SLIF Speed Limit Identification Function
There are many features, but whether they are good to use or not depends on actual experience. From the pictures, I would like to share a few interesting features.
Automatic parking is actually a practical feature for many people, but most automatic parking on the market is not very easy to use, so in people’s perception, automatic parking is a very useless feature. Therefore, I am looking forward to whether GE11’s automatic parking is user-friendly. Another interesting feature is that the rear radar of GE11 can monitor objects moving behind the car in real-time. What kind of experience is this?
ACC and ICC can control vehicles at full speed range and adapt to the driving trajectory of the vehicle in front, which can effectively reduce driver fatigue in high-speed and city traffic environments.
Lane-keeping, as a threshold for Level 2 assistance, is different in the calibration of different manufacturers, and the level of it varies in actual experience. Therefore, we are also highly anticipating the skills of GE11’s lane-keeping.
What is distinctive is that Geely GE11 uses two rear millimeter-wave radars to detect cars coming from the left and right sides at the rear, ensuring safe lane changes and merging. Compared with other detection schemes, the detection distance of millimeter-wave radar is very long, reaching 70 m.
Also, GE11 can utilize the camera to see road speed limit information, combine with electronic eye to identify the current lane speed limit, and remind the driver through the instrument and HUD. 12 points of time are precious.
GE11, a pure electric coupe for young people
Overall, GE11 has achieved a good level of three-electrics, the interior design is very avant-garde, and there are many highlights in the configuration. So who is it suitable for?First of all, consumers who are willing to accept electric vehicles are mentally willing to try new things. Meanwhile, if consumers are willing to spend time and effort exploring, intelligent electric cars can give you more room for expansion and fun.
From this perspective, it is more suitable for “young people”. Geely GE11 has also done a lot of design to cater to young people in terms of appearance and interior, and has surpassed joint-venture brands in terms of power battery technology. If it can be better than new energy vehicles in terms of quality control and workmanship, consumers can consider leaving a place in their hearts for domestic pure electric vehicles.
GE11 is expected to be officially launched in April, with a pre-sale price of around 200,000 yuan. We hope that Geely can use this avant-garde electric vehicle to make a splash for the Geely new energy brand.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.