A few days ago, a friend lent me a range-extended version of the Voyah FREE for five days. This was the last batch of trial vehicles before production, and we just came back from crossing the uninhabited area in remote northwestern China with the media and reserved car owners. As a first-generation owner of the Voyah ONE, I have already experienced over 60,000 kilometers. This time, I want to talk about the different experiences between these two cars.
First, let me introduce the Voyah. Voyah Motors is a subsidiary of Dongfeng Group. The Voyah FREE is Voyah Motors’ first vehicle, with both pure electric and range-extended versions. Currently, about 90% of orders are for the range-extended version, so when I mention the Voyah, I am referring to the range-extended version of the Voyah FREE.
The range-extended version of the Voyah FREE has a body size of 4905 * 1950 * 1660 and a wheelbase of 2960, making it a large SUV. It has a battery capacity of 33 kWh and uses a 1.5T four-cylinder range extender.
Exterior
The exterior design of the Voyah FREE is completely different from that of the Voyah ONE. The long front of the Voyah FREE naturally transitions to the streamlined body, and the contour lines of the rear are also round and smooth. Overall, it gives people a slender feeling, like that of a young and handsome man.
My favorite posture is when the air suspension is lowered to the lowest, giving it an elegant European-style large travel car appearance from both the front and the side.
The exterior of the Voyah ONE is relatively square, with high front to rear sides. If it weren’t for the front and rear star-ring lights, it might look more dull. This style brings a sense of grandeur to the exterior and a surplus of interior space.
From an exterior perspective, the Voyah FREE has a fully elegant design, while the Voyah ONE maintains a large-car style and large space. The two styles and design directions are completely different, and it depends on your own preferences.
Driving Experience
The range-extended Voyah FREE is equipped with front and rear dual motors with a power of 516 kW and torque of up to 1020 Nm. This power is more than sufficient even for a fuel-powered supercar.In actual driving, although the engineers have tried their best to adjust the power to be gentle, the power under the Comfort mode is already more powerful than the ideal ONE Sport mode. If you pursue power, switching to Sport mode will definitely exceed the power response of the ideal ONE’s snap mode.
With a strong power foundation, a corresponding level of chassis is naturally needed, and the Roewe Marvel X fully demonstrates the traditional skills of Dongfeng Motor Corporation. It is equipped with a front double-wishbone + rear multi-link independent suspension and air suspension, and both front and rear suspensions are made of aluminum alloy, which is lighter and stronger.
During the test drive of the Roewe Marvel X, some electric vehicle enthusiasts in Jiaxing happened to have a small gathering. I specially invited more than ten other electric vehicle owners to test drive and compare various electric vehicles.
After repeated comparisons on the same site, we came to a unanimous conclusion: the chassis of the Roewe Marvel X is very solid and stable, and it is the most comfortable to cross speed bumps and manhole covers, surpassing other electric SUVs in the same test and reaching the level of a sports fuel SUV.
As for the power level of the ideal ONE, for me, it is just enough. I always put it in Sport mode for a long time, and I have never used the Snap mode except for trying it twice because the conditions for opening it are relatively demanding. Regarding chassis suspension, the ideal ONE uses the traditional McPherson structure, which has the advantage of occupying less space and maximizing the interior space of the car, but the disadvantage is that it gives people a lack of confidence and uncomfortable feeling on bumpy roads.
Regarding energy consumption level, I have discussed it on Weibo before, so I will not go into detail again. You can check out this link.### Interior
Regarding the operating conditions of the range extender, both cars exhibit obvious noise and slight steering wheel shaking at low speeds when cold. The difference is that the sound of the LanTu car is deeper, with a rumbling effect. At cruising speeds of 100-120 km/h, there is no significant difference in NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) or pure electric driving between the two cars. However, the sound of the range extender on the IdealOne becomes louder when exceeding 120 km/h.
As the LanTu FREE is a large 5-seater car and the Ideal ONE has a layout of 3 rows and 6 seats, it’s difficult to directly compare the space between them. You must make your own choice based on your own needs.
Personally, I prefer the driver’s seat of the LanTu car, especially the seats with obvious force feedback massage, which feels like a massage chair.
For the storage space design, the LanTu car has more types of space in the front row, but the location of wireless charging for phones is not as convenient as that of the Ideal ONE. Although both rear compartments are not small, they lack a hidden storage compartment under the floor, which is very inconvenient.
The Ideal ONE has a triple-screen design on the center console, giving you a sense of familiarity when you first sit in the car. However, when you actually experience it, you will find that the two have fundamentally different designs.
The LanTu FREE adds the function of the triple screen to the traditional cockpit layout, embodying a combination of ritual luxury and intelligent convenience. On the other hand, the Ideal ONE builds its cabin system while incorporating the triple screen design.
It’s difficult for me to describe this point accurately. The LanTu FREE reflects the luxuriousness of the ceremony and the intelligence and convenience of the triple screen system’s lift-and-fall functions. But the hand-touch panel in the gear lever area and the steering wheel’s auxiliary driving control area represent the genes of traditional cabins.
Intelligent Infotainment System
The ACC radar bracket of this LanTu FREE was damaged when crossing a remote area, resulting in frequent fault codes in the ACC system. Therefore, I couldn’t experience the driving assistance function, but I hope to have the opportunity to experience it again next time.
Intelligent interaction systems are currently the hottest topic among car infotainment systems. In this aspect, the LanTu FREE is not as mature and user-friendly as the Ideal ONE.
The main issue is that the logic of interaction is not clear enough and the functional modules are divided too widely, which requires further research to find and set through the second, third, and even fourth-level menus.Translate the following Chinese Markdown text into English Markdown text, with a professional approach, retaining the HTML tags inside Markdown, and only outputting the result.
For example, the previously used trip energy consumption statistics function in the car industry was really confusing, and this was discussed on Weibo.
Regarding the BUG that cannot remember the previous driving mode after a power failure, the engineer said that this problem will be solved through subsequent OTA updates.
I couldn’t help but sigh at the many features of the Voyah FREE, making one feel sorry for the manufacturer’s cost. Such features include infrared night vision system, AR panoramic navigation, panoramic electric sunroof, Denon sound system, bidirectional wireless hotspot, FACE ID login, voiceprint login, dual sets of in-car cameras, Sibi Chi’s full duplex voice with sound source localization, karaoke, upgraded central control large screen, air suspension, all kinds of lane departure warnings, front collision warning, door opening warning, rear collision warning, Huawei hicar, voice games, hotel booking, flight booking, takeaway booking, and traffic enforcement query…
Today, I wrote so much on my phone while on the high-speed rail, which are just some of my personal thoughts. To summarize:
Both the Voyah FREE and the Li Xiang ONE are mid-to-large-sized SUVs with extended range, and both can achieve worry-free mileage. However, they are completely different. In fact, the two are not even competing products; they just chose the same technology route. The Voyah FREE targets customers who prefer to choose the NIO ES6 performance model, but still feel uneasy about pure electric vehicle travel. Secondly, it is also a game-changer for traditional fuel-powered performance cars.
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.