Since the implementation of the Shanghai license plate number restriction policy, the topic of “green plates” in Shanghai has become increasingly hot. Especially the news that non-Shanghai license plates will be restricted from entering the Inner Ring Road during certain periods after the May Day holiday next year has made many people anxious.
Some of my friends who work in Shanghai have similar anxieties. After the license plate restriction policy was released, my friends who have non-Shanghai license plates or have not yet bought cars began to consult me about new energy vehicles.
I sorted out the key words that they shared the most: “over 100,000 RMB”, “joint venture brand”, “stylish”.
Therefore, I want to talk to you about a pure electric car–Chevrolet Menlo, which is priced at about 150,000 RMB.
Preference for Joint Venture Brands and Appearance
Chevrolet Menlo has a total of 4 models, with a price range of 159,900-179,900 RMB after subsidies. After deducting the Chevrolet official brand subsidy of 25,000 RMB, the price range comes to 134,900-154,900 RMB.
For friends who are interested, I personally recommend the 2020 Nebula Edition, which not only has some auxiliary driving configurations such as active braking and cruise control, but also has some practical and comfortable configurations such as electric seat adjustment, heated seats, and keyless entry, and the price is quite moderate.
Looking at the price range after subsidies, the main competing models of Chevrolet Menlo are Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Aion S, BYD Qin New Energy, BYD Qin Pro New Energy, and its sister model, Weilan 6. Throughout the competing models of Chevrolet Menlo, you will find that the number of joint venture brands is particularly rare.
Before writing this article, I chatted with several Chevrolet Menlo car owners and learned that the reason why they bought Chevrolet Menlo was not only because of its characteristics and affordability, but also because many of them have a certain “emotion” towards joint venture cars, and the feedback mainly focuses on the points such as “the quality is more reliable,” “the face is still decent,” and “more trustworthy of big brands.”
“My personal feeling is that although many joint venture cars may not be as well equipped as some domestic cars, I personally feel that most joint venture cars are better in terms of quality, stability, and brand power,” said Mr. Zhang, who was the first one to mention Chevrolet Menlo in the country.
Regarding the quality aspect, let’s talk about the workmanship. My initial impression when I received the car was that the joint seams of Chevrolet Menlo’s sheet metal parts were small and uniform, and the paint surface of the car body had good consistency and continuity under lighting. Both the appearance and the interior can give people a sense of compactness.
Except for some obsessions with joint venture brands, one thing in common among the potential car owners I have encountered is that they believe that the Changan CS75 Plus has a very high appearance value and is particularly unique. Mr. Liu, a Changan CS75 Plus owner, told me that “the appearance of this car is the most important factor for me in deciding to buy it.”
I generally do not comment on whether a car looks good or not, as everyone has different tastes. But since so many people frequently mention the appearance of the CS75 Plus, let’s talk about it briefly.
The personality of the CS75 Plus comes from its Wagon-style design, which is concise and proportionate. The design inspiration comes from the Chevrolet FNR-X concept car, but the overall style has been simplified, while retaining some prominent sporty and futuristic elements. The highlight in terms of detail is the taillights, which occasionally give you a sensation of a “little Camaro.”
There are a total of 4 colors to choose from for the CS75 Plus, including Magnesium Blue, Zinc Blue, Platinum White, and Titanium Grey. I personally prefer black and white, but for the CS75 Plus, I prefer Magnesium Blue because I think the CS75 Plus with this color has a better texture and sense of luxury. Coincidentally, the model I borrowed is also Magnesium Blue, so my liking for the CS75 Plus increased significantly when I saw it.
The only somewhat regrettable thing is that the CS75 Plus comes standard with 215/55 R17 Maxxis MC5 tires, which I think are a bit small. It may be due to energy consumption considerations. If 18-inch wheels could be optional, it would enhance the overall appearance.
Trade-offs Between Space and Configuration
Entering the car, the wing-shaped interior style corresponds to the exterior, and the dynamic and sharp style of the entire car is reflected from the outside to the inside, with a compact and sleek appearance.
The CS75 Plus is equipped with an 8-inch LCD instrument panel and a 10.1-inch central control screen, while the Star Enjoyment Edition and Star River Edition have slightly smaller 8-inch central control screens.
The LCD instrument panel mainly displays routine vehicle status information, and the displayed font is small, which may require some effort to read. The secondary menu can be accessed by the right side button of the steering wheel, and the display effect is decent.
The central control screen mainly integrates functions such as navigation, air conditioning adjustment, media, Anji Star service, Apple Carplay, and Baidu Carlife. Since the functions are not complicated, the operation is relatively simple without any lag, and the overall fluency is good.
What’s more friendly is that the car system supports Apple Carplay and Baidu CarLife. If you are not used to using Changan’s built-in map and music functions, Apple Carplay can help you solve these problems.
For me personally, if a car model at this price range can solve the experience of high-frequency-use map and music functions, it basically meets my psychological expectations, and other functions and experience optimizations are extra points.
As for the extra points inside the car, I give it to the spaciousness of the Changan. First of all, the parameters reported are: the length, width and height of the Changan are 4665/1813/1513 mm, and the wheelbase is 2660 mm. The wheelbase is not superior to domestic independent brand models of the same level, but the actual seating space in the rear is beyond my expectations. Here are two pictures for your reference:
In addition, the rear platform of Changan is basically flat, which is also very friendly to the middle passenger. With the cooperation of a panoramic sunroof, it can greatly reduce the sense of oppression for rear passengers.
It is worth mentioning that the rear seats support a 4/6 ratio folding, which is close to flat after folding, seamlessly connected with the trunk space, and the loading capacity is expanded from 433 L to 1077 L. Here, the advantage of the Cross model over the sedan is reflected, whether you want to load more things or lie in the car and watch the stars, Changan can give you a good experience.
Translate the following Chinese Markdown text to English Markdown text in a professional way, preserving the HTML tags inside Markdown, and outputting only the corrections and improvements without any explanations:
最后聊聊一些配置不太合理的地方，我拿到的是一款顶配车型，但座椅的电动化只做到了双向调节。你要说它不够意思，但它又有座椅加热、外后视镜加热......
而算是顶配车型，畅巡也没有配备 ACC 自适应巡航功能，取而代之的是定速巡航、自动泊车等功能。配置其实不算少，但不够集中，如果能把实用配置集中一些，体验也会变得更好。
## 高于预期的驾驶体验
得知要试驾这款车时，我心里想着：一款 15 万左右的家用车开起来肯定很一般吧。因此并没有对它抱有太多的期望，但开上之后我发现我的想法错了。
先说结论，畅巡的整体机械素质高于我的预期。
**机械素质高于预期的地方主要体现在刹车、电门和悬架部分**。畅巡搭载了一台最大功率 110 kW、峰值扭矩 350 N·m 的永磁同步电机，从参数上看并没有什么优势，但对于家用而言也基本够用。
其驾驶模式一共有三档可选，分别为经济模式、普通模式和运动模式，切换模式时，液晶仪表的主题色也会对应发生变化。
从运动模式逐级切换到经济模式，阶梯感比较明显，三者动力响应速度也做了很好的区分。运动模式前段响应及时，但不会有突兀感，整体输出功率非常线性，深踩电门前轮也不会打滑。
另外，畅巡还提供三种不同程度的能量回收力度，分别为轻、中、强。但实际上的感受只有两种，轻和中基本没有区别，只有调节到强才会有很强的拖拽感，个人更喜欢一「强」到底。
刹车方面与电门的线性程度对应，脚感偏舒适调教并有较好的阻尼感，急刹车时也能给我很强的信心。一句话，畅巡的刹车调教甚至要比一些我体验过的 20 万级别车型好很多。
Finally, let's talk about some unreasonable configurations. The model I received is a top-of-the-line model, but the seat only has dual-directional adjustment for electric control. You can say that it is not impressive, but it also has seat heating, external rearview mirror heating, etc. ...
As a top-of-the-line model, the Chanjing model does not have ACC adaptive cruise control function, but instead offers functions such as fixed-speed cruising and automatic parking. The configuration is not too little, but not concentrated enough. If the practical configuration can be concentrated, the experience will be better.
## Driving experience higher than expected
When I heard that I was going to test drive this car, I thought to myself: A household car that costs around 150,000 yuan will surely be mediocre to drive. Therefore, I did not have too much expectation for it, but after driving it, I found that I was wrong.
In conclusion, the Chanjing model's overall mechanical quality is higher than my expectation.
**The areas where the mechanical quality is higher than expected are mainly the brake, throttle, and suspension parts.** The Chanjing model is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 110 kW and a peak torque of 350 N·m. From the parameters, there is no advantage, but it is basically enough for household use.
There are three driving modes to choose from, namely economy mode, normal mode, and sport mode. When switching modes, the theme color of the LCD instrument panel also changes accordingly.
When switching from sport mode to economy mode step by step, the sense of stairs is more obvious, and the power response speed of the three modes is also well distinguished. The front response of the sport mode is timely, but there is no abrupt feeling. The overall output power is very linear, and the front wheels will not slip when the throttle is deep.
In addition, the Chanjing model also provides three different degrees of energy recovery, namely light, medium, and strong. However, there are only two types of actual feelings, light and medium are basically the same, and only when adjusted to strong, there will be a strong drag sensation. I personally prefer to be in "strong" mode all the time.
The brake corresponds to the linear degree of the throttle, has a comfortable foot feeling and good damping feel, and can give me strong confidence when braking sharply. In short, the Chanjing model's brake tuning is even better than that of some 200,000-yuan-level models I have experienced.
The suspension part is also worth mentioning. The chassis of the Cruze adopts the front MacPherson suspension and the rear multi-link structure. Although the hardware structure is not bad, whether the actual experience is good or not depends on the tuning.
Overall, the suspension tuning of the Cruze is biased towards a comfortable style, which is in line with its positioning as a household car. It also filters out some large and small bumps fairly well, although it is comfortable, it is also quite crisp, with no extra bouncing and a good sense of resilience, which avoids a loose feeling.
However, there are some places that may affect comfort due to NVH. It does not have much impact on medium and low speed driving, but when the vehicle speed exceeds 100 km/h, the wind noise reaches its maximum value. If you are playing music, this feeling will be more prominent, and you need to turn up the volume.
Overall, from the initial expectations to actually driving the Cruze, its driving quality surprised me. This also made me feel the deep foundation of General Motors as a car manufacturer with a history of more than a century in the aspect of tuning. In fact, not only General Motors, many large companies have the same excellent quality.
Final Thoughts
The experience of the Cruze is basically described here, let’s summarize this car. I have tried many new energy vehicles launched by traditional car manufacturers and found that most models have a common feature: they have a deep foundation and understanding of the mechanical aspects.
Chevrolet Cruze is also the same, if you treat it as a traditional car, it can meet your needs for personality and comfort. But if you add the word “intelligent”, it is not the best solution.
Finally, let me say a few words about the most concerned issue of everyone, the range. The reason why I didn’t mention the range in the previous text is that the time for using the vehicle is limited and I didn’t have time to do a complete range test for everyone. However, based on my experience of using it and the results of exchanges with several owners of Cruze, although the Cruze has a NEDC range of only 410 km, the actual range is very practical.
According to the feedback from these owners, their usual urban cruising range is basically above 390 km. Referring to my results of driving in the city, I travelled a total of 157 km, actually dropping about 166 km of power, which is about 95% of the original, and is not much different from the feedback from the owners.
In summary, if you want to choose a new energy vehicle in the joint venture market with a price of about 150,000 yuan and with personality, why not try the Cruze.
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.