What is your first impression when you hear the brand ARCFOX? Maybe unfamiliar, but let me introduce it briefly. The name ARCFOX is composed of “ARC” and “FOX”, “ARC” means Arctic and “FOX” refers to the animal, together they mean Arctic Fox, which is also the official Chinese name of ARCFOX.
According to ARCFOX, the Arctic represents “borderless” and the fox represents wisdom, elegance, and agility, which is the idea that the brand hopes to convey as a smart electric vehicle brand.
On the other hand, as a new brand, ARCFOX is easily associated with the recent wave of new automakers. However, in terms of building cars, it is not a “new force” in the traditional sense. To understand why, let’s talk about ARCFOX’s first mass-produced car, the ARCFOX αT.
Backed by a century of auto-making experience, on December 30, 2019, ARCFOX launched its first trial car, named ARCFOX αT.
Having driven this car before, my colleague had a static experience at the recent Beijing Auto Show and said to me, “Actually, ARCFOX’s interior is quite surprising. The comfort of the rear seats is excellent, the cushions are high enough, and the leather is delicate and soft, which shows a great sense of quality. The static NVH after closing the door is praiseworthy, and to be honest, I didn’t expect it before getting in the car.”
He added, “The whole car’s craftsmanship and sense of weight don’t seem like something a new carmaker would produce. I don’t know if it’s an illusion?”
It’s fair to say that my colleague’s perception in this regard is quite keen. Indeed, ARCFOX αT is not a “new” product of a new carmaker. This car is made through a joint venture and the main technical partner is Magna.
Famous Magna is different from most of the new automakers who build their own factories and produce their own products. ARCFOX has established a joint venture with Magna to build a factory in Zhenjiang, which created the Blue Valley Magna high-end new energy vehicle manufacturing base.In the words of Liu Yu, general manager of Beijing Automotive New Energy: “Half of the factory belongs to it, half of the technology company belongs to it, and half of the intellectual property rights of this platform belong to it. We are in cooperation, and we are the new ecosystem of joint venture brands.”
Speaking of Magna, perhaps non-professionals know little about it, but in the automotive manufacturing industry, it can be considered famous.
Here’s some knowledge sharing: Magna is one of the world’s largest automotive component manufacturers and was once the largest auto parts manufacturer in North America.
Its customers include automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Ford, BMW, and Toyota, and its business spans powertrain development, vehicle engineering and assembly, chassis system design, manufacturing, and more. Models like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the new BMW 5 Series, the Jaguar E-PACE, and the i-PACE are all products of Magna.
In other words, this is a large company with absolutely outstanding technology development and world-class manufacturing capabilities. Outside, ARCFOX has the endorsement of a world-class brand; internally, Magna’s years of R&D and manufacturing experience ensure the product strength of ARCFOX, and we can see this from the product side.
Powerful Products
ARCFOX αT has two very impressive figures: a NEDC range of 653 km and a 4.6-second acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h.
What does this mean? In the same class, ARCFOX αT’s NEDC range is the number one without any adjectives; the 4.6-second acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is also among the top in the same class.
Among them, the 653 km range is due to its 93.6 kWh large battery, and to ensure the performance and safety of the battery technology, ARCFOX also uses SK’s battery cells from South Korea.
The 4.6-second acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is due to ARCFOX αT’s dual-motor design, with a maximum power of 320 kW and a peak torque of 720 N·m for the 600 km four-wheel drive flagship model. I had the privilege of test driving this model a while back, and its power response is particularly swift. When you step on the accelerator, you are completely pressed against the seat.### Inner Beauty: Standing Firm with 300,000 Units Sold
Besides the battery and power performance, the workmanship and design of ARCFOX are also worth paying attention to.
At first glance, the ARCFOX αT did not give me a dazzling impression. Instead, it demonstrated MAGNA’s excellent car-making craftsmanship.
In terms of appearance, the front face of the ARCFOX αT is very dynamic and consistent with the “extreme fox” attitude. The body paint surface is very delicate, with uniform light and shade under the light, and the seams of the sheet metal parts are small and even. The ARCFOX αT reveals the profound skills of MAGNA car-making everywhere.
Sitting in the car, the first thing that caught my eye was the Nappa leather seats. The blue and white dual-color design is very appealing, and the delicate stitching corresponds with the highly consistent paint surface. I once praised this seat to my colleague, and he said after experiencing it, “Within the same class, regardless of the feel of Nappa leather or the comfort of sitting, it is in the top few.”
If the bodily comfort is not enough to convey high-grade feeling, then the 20.3-inch 4K ultra-high-definition screen that caught my eye will fully reflect the sincerity of this car. The 4K resolution makes the display effect very delicate, like a high-end tablet.
The storage compartments on the car door, glove box, and armrest box are all made of plush fabric. These details demonstrate the high-quality concept of ARCFOX’s materials, while also conveying the attitude of “quality comes first” to consumers.
Uli Kaiser, President of ARCFOX BU, once stated, “Why do we have to find MAGNA, because we feel that if we cannot provide consumers with continuous and stable quality, which would lead to frequent issues, this kind of car may make consumers feel fresh in the short-term, but the competitiveness of the enterprise is seen in a longer dimension. Quality is always the first priority.”
In summary, the overall completion of ARCFOX αT is extremely high, and it has the basic qualities of a high-end brand. Therefore, as a car, the ARCFOX αT is very satisfactory.
Starts with a Screen, Dedicated to Intelligence
However, in the current era of intelligence, it is not enough for ARCFOX αT to be just a high-quality car. “High-end intelligent car” still needs the word “intelligence”. After my experience, I believe that it is still a distinctive intelligent car.
The intelligence here mainly refers to the car’s system and auxiliary driving.
Rich Car System FunctionsOn the hardware side, ARCFOX αT has a total of four large screens: a 12.3-inch full LCD instrument panel screen, a 10.1-inch functional touch screen, a huge 20.3-inch 4K central control screen, and an 8-inch HUD screen.
The most eye-catching screen is the 20.3-inch 4K central control screen, which integrates mainstream entertainment systems including Kugou Music, Himalaya, Baidu Maps, etc. You can choose to add new applications in the app store, or hide unused applications.
I have deeply experienced this screen, and its fluency is extremely high. With 4K picture quality, it not only is intelligent but also has a sense of high-end.
The most feature-rich is the 10.1-inch functional control screen at the bottom, which mainly integrates functions such as air conditioning control, vehicle control, volume adjustment, and seat adjustment. The screen brightness, ambient light, and tailgate opening height can all be adjusted through this screen.
One of the most intelligent features of this screen is the design of air conditioning control. After entering the air conditioning control panel, you can adjust the air direction with one button. You can choose “face blowing”, “window blowing”, “foot blowing”. What’s more humanized is that you can also slide the blue small slider on both sides of the avatar to control the air direction. This shows the designer’s attention to detail.
If you feel that driving an electric car without sound is a bit lacking in passion, don’t worry. Click the third virtual button on the DOCK bar, and you can choose from three different simulated sound effects. Users who switch from fuel-powered cars to pure electric cars don’t have to worry about this aspect.
In addition, it can also share personal hotspots, provide CarLife and NFC wireless connections, and other functions. In short, it has practically all the functions of the same level of car models, and can also meet your needs for functions that other same level of car models do not have. However, due to the richness of functions, there will be a certain learning curve when you first start using it, and you need to be familiar with it before you can find the corresponding function quickly.
It is worth noting that ARCFOX αT has Huawei’s shadow in the intelligent layout. ARCFOX αT is mainly responsible for the hardware part, while Huawei is responsible for the software part.When it comes to the strategic partnership between ARCFOX and Huawei, President Yuliguo stated that “our collaboration with Huawei is not only limited to 5G, but also involves communication, as well as cooperation in areas such as autonomous driving, chipsets, software, cloud, artificial intelligence, smart cockpits, and human-machine interaction. Huawei’s support has enabled us to fully digitize our cars and pursue globally leading autonomous driving capabilities. In the future, electric vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities should also possess these three genes: comprehensive electrification, excellent quality, and full digitalization. Therefore, I believe that these are the genes that we possess. Our collaboration with Huawei is iterative and new technologies are introduced every year.”
In other words, ARCFOX αT is endorsed by two major brands, Magna for the body and Huawei for the software, which highlights its high-end positioning.
Moreover, intelligent assisted driving is a hardcore indicator that new energy intelligent vehicles must possess, and the ARCFOX αT does not disappoint in this regard. It is equipped with one monocular camera, four surround-view cameras, five millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic radars. The assisted driving chip is provided by Intel.
The α-Pilot assisted driving system provides features such as automatic lane change with turn signal, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, automatic parking, and traffic sign recognition. When the “Super Cruise Control System” is opened on the 10.1-inch control screen, the assisted driving lever can be activated by continuously flicking it in the driver’s direction when driving on the appropriate road conditions.
Lane change with turn signal function can only be enabled at speeds above 60 km/h. ARCFOX primarily considers the assisted driving experience on smooth ring roads, as these speeds are relatively safe compared to congested urban roads, and the experience of turning with the signal on a smooth ring road is better. My actual experience aligns with this.
In conclusion, as a new brand, ARCFOX is not a new force, although its design and configuration are youthful and digitally styled in the direction of electric vehicles in recent years, its core manufacturing is backed by international old-school suppliers, making it relatively mature and reliable, or more appropriately called a “new force 2.0”. Moreover, as an electric car, it ranks high in terms of endurance and power, but it may not be a sight to behold, but if you care more about the car itself, it is worth trying and understanding.
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.