The recent epidemic led to a stricter security check, which had been relaxed for a long time.
As we all know, it’s hard to see a movie this year. To my surprise, I watched the first movie of 2020 at the Aiways V launch event. I believe that many people who attended the event share the same feeling with me.
This new car launch event is slightly different from the previous ones. The Aiways V launch event was held in a cinema, and after passing through three security checks, I arrived at the screening venue of the Aiways V. After a micro-movie called “Taste,” the Aiways V was officially launched.
The new car has three different versions of driving range and a post-subsidy price range of 15.96-23.96 million yuan (CNY).
Compared with the starting price of 170,000 yuan (CNY) during the pre-sale, the actual starting price of the Aiways V has been reduced by more than 10,000 yuan (CNY). The price drop has reignited the confidence of users who are interested in this car. Next, I will give you a brief introduction about this model.
Lower starting price, richer configuration
The Aiways V has four versions based on driving ranges and five models based on different configurations (divided by various configurations), and the post-subsidy starting price and driving range of the five models are as follows:
From a price perspective, the basic model, the 60 Intelligent Edition, has reduced its price to 15.96 million yuan (CNY), compared with the pre-sale starting price of 170,000 yuan (CNY). However, in today’s market where the mainstream driving range has reached 500 kilometers, the driving range of 400 kilometers of the 60 Intelligent Edition has only attracted users as an entry-level model.
Compared with other cars in the same class, the entry-level model of the XPeng G3 has a driving range of 460 kilometers, while the WmAuto EX5 and NETA U are also 400 kilometers. The 60 Intelligent Edition has a slightly higher price, but it doesn’t have a clear differentiating advantage from other models. Therefore, from the perspective of driving range, the 60 Intelligent Edition is not a high volume model.
The 70, 70 PLUS, 80, and 80 MAX versions are more expensive. After the 70 version, there are multiple models with different configurations. Among them, there are up to ten models with the 70 and 80 versions combined. The starting price of the 70 version ranges from 177,600 to 189,800 million yuan (CNY), while the 80 version ranges from 199,600 to 215,000 million yuan (CNY).
The reason for the different prices of these models is due to differences in configuration (details can be found on the official website). Here, I will mainly discuss the differences in auxiliary driving configurations.
The biggest difference for the 70 version is that the entire series cannot be equipped with the ADiGO 3.0 fully automatic driving assistance package, including the ADiGO 2.5 automatic driving assistance package + highway driving assistance HF + high-precision map, as well as the 5G Pioneer Package. These two configurations are only available as optional on the 80 and 80 MAX versions.
The advantage of having many car models is that users can choose a higher cost-effective model according to their own needs.
But having many car models also has disadvantages. For novice users, they will generally find them too complicated and are unclear about the configuration, not knowing which ones they need or not.
Take, for example, a potential buyer of an EA-V that I interviewed, who selected the luxury smart package but did not know if it was necessary. If it was unnecessary, she felt that she could save some money.
This EA-V potential buyer is named Yuanqi Tongtong. After chatting with her, I found out that her car purchase budget jumped from the initial 100,000 RMB to 400,000 RMB, and she ultimately had to choose between EA-V and EA-S.
When the EA-V announced its pre-sale price, she said to me, “I mainly pay attention to the price of the 600 km version. I think that most cars on the market today have a range of more than 500 km. If EA-V can make it to 600 km with a price of 5,100 RMB per 100 km, then I think pricing at around 210,000 RMB is reasonable.”
After the EA-V was launched, I asked her again about her thoughts on the price.Yuanqi Tongtong said that the price of the 80 Intelligence Enjoy Technology version is within her budget. After inquiring about some of the configurations, she is ready to buy it for 208,800 RMB. If she opts for the ADiGO 2.5 Automatic Driving Assistance package and Luxury Intelligent package, the total price will be 228,900 RMB.
For Yuanqi Tongtong, she is mainly attracted by the spacious interior and 600 km NEDC range of the Aiways V.
Compared with its competitors in the same level, the Aiways V also has certain advantages in terms of maximum range and dimensions.
From the table, we can see that except for the BYD Song Pro EV being slightly longer in length, the overall dimensions of the Aiways V have certain advantages.
During the launch event, I took a rough experience of the Aiways V’s interior space. Due to its long wheelbase, the rear space performs well, and there is no bump on the rear platform, which is quite friendly to the middle passenger.
Looking further into range, the highest range of XPeng G3, WM EX5, and NIO U are 520 km, 520 km, and 500 km, respectively.
Compared with other vehicles in the same level, the 600 km range provided by Aiways V is at a clear advantage. In addition, the starting price of the 600 km entry-level version has dropped to below 200,000 RMB (199,600 RMB), which adds a new choice for users.
About Automated Driving Assistance
In addition to range, the official positioning of the Aiways V is also as the “Next Generation Intelligent SUV”. I believe that its intelligence is primarily reflected in the aspect of Automated Driving Assistance, which is also what I am going to talk about next – the ADiGO 3.0 Automated Driving System.
Guangzhou Automobile New Energy released ADiGO 3.0 in early April, which was first used on the Aiways LX. Similarly, it can also be customized on the Aiways V.
The official claims that this is the only L3 automated driving system in the same level, and it is the second vehicle equipped with high-precision map full-road full-speed domain L3 automated driving technology in the world, following the Aiways LX. However, the definitions of L2 and L3 are still somewhat vague, so we will not dwell on this but focus on the functional aspect.From the configuration table of Aiways V, we can see that ADiGO 3.0 includes ADiGO 2.5 assisted driving package, highway driving assistance HF, and high-precision maps.
ADiGO 2.5 supports ACC adaptive cruise control, HWA highway driving assistance system, TJA traffic congestion assistance, ICA integrated cruise assistance, and other functions.
In my opinion, choosing ADiGO 2.5 can basically meet the daily needs of most people. At the functional level, ADiGO 2.5 can achieve follow-up at different speed intervals, automatic acceleration and deceleration within the lane, and automatic lane change with turn signal.
These functions are very friendly for daily city congestion and long-distance highway driving, which can save most of the driver’s energy.
For friends who care about ADiGO 2.5, we will test it for you after we get the car and tell you the actual experience.
Turning to ADiGO 3.0, the difference between ADiGO 3.0 and ADiGO 2.5 is that it adds highway driving assistance HF and high-precision maps.
According to the official description, ADiGO 3.0 adds high-precision radar and Mobileye Q4 camera double detection hardware and high-precision maps, which can predict the 1-kilometer path ahead on the highway in advance, thus realizing full automatic driving assistance on straight/curved sections of the highway. In other words, it is similar to NoA (automatic assisted navigation driving).
It should be noted that the highway driving assistance function will be available in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from July 2020 at the earliest, and other areas have not been announced yet. That is to say, if you are not in these two areas, ADiGO 3.0 is temporarily useless to you.
It should also be clarified that selecting ADiGO 2.5 for the 60, 70, 70 PLUS versions costs 19,600 yuan, while 80 version users who purchase Aiways V before August 31, 2020, only need to pay half the price to select it, which is 9,800 yuan.
In addition, Aiways V can also be equipped with a remote parking package. Different from ordinary automatic parking, Aiways V’s automatic parking is unmanned parking, which is also a function highlighted by the official.
At the press conference, the staff demonstrated the function, and I recorded a video.
According to the feedback from Weibo users, most of them think that the parking space is relatively wide, and there are doubts about whether this function is useful. Similarly, in the future, we will bring you actual experience effects, and it will be known whether it is just a gimmick.
Finally, the 5G car module has also become the official focus of promotion. Ean V is equipped with Huawei’s new generation of 5G car module, equipped with Balong 5000 5G chip. The official said that the transmission speed exceeds 100 times that of 4G, and the delay is only 1/50 of 4G, and can connect millions of terminals at the same time.
Real car effect is better, and the interior continues the Ean LX
After the pre-sale price of Ean V was announced, some real car pictures were gradually exposed online, and there were various opinions on its exterior design. Although good exterior design is indeed very important, the appearance is subjective, so I will not comment too much.
But what can be certain is that the originality of Ean V’s exterior design is very high, and it is basically difficult to see the shadow of other brands.
The front part extends from the original “arrow that pierces the cloud” design, and the official named this design as “mech-beast”. The main feature is the split design style used in the headlights. Compared with Ean S and Ean LX, Ean V’s recognition has been further improved.
The side of the car provides two sizes of aluminum alloy wheels. The 80 and 80 MAX models are equipped with 20-inch wheels as standard, and the rest are equipped with 19-inch wheels as standard and cannot be customized.
The taillights no longer use the through-design, and the official named it the “Universe Blade” style. The special thing is that the tail lights on both sides extend to the rear door handle, which forms an integrated design with the hidden rear door handle and looks more complete.
The interior of the car mostly follows the design of the EAON LX, with some details modified in places such as the air conditioning vents and the car doors.
Overall, the EAON V creates a strong sense of luxury, but there is still room for improvement in some of the details, such as the raised portion in the center console for holding a phone, hopefully this is only an issue with individual models.
Due to time constraints, I have not yet experienced many of the details and car entertainment system. I will explain them all one by one in later test drives.
Final Thoughts
At the press conference, I interviewed a prospective female owner of the EAON V who is about the same age as me. She has already placed an order and is waiting for delivery.
I asked her why she chose this car model, and she told me that it was actually ordered by her father. At the time, there was no relevant product information, but her father said that because he trusts the old brand quality of GAC and new energy is currently the trend, he chose this car.
This is similar to many of the users I interviewed when I was working on the topic “Why Haven’t I Ordered a New Energy Vehicle in Beijing After 90 Days of Obtaining the Quota?” They tend to be more conservative when choosing new energy vehicles, preferring traditional or joint venture brands they trust.
At the same time, this also highlights the challenges faced by new car companies in building brand trust.
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.