"The best pure electric SUV under 300,000 yuan," Mr. Xu was pleased with the Hengchi 5 that he kept praising. Are you brave enough to place an order?

Author: Jingtao Wu

Another “best” has emerged.

Today marks exactly 107 days since Mr. Xu proposed “working hard for three months to achieve the mass production of Hengchi 5” on March 22. Although the production time has been delayed until September 20 due to the impact of the epidemic, we seem to have not heard any news from Hengchi Automotive for a long time.

However, just yesterday, on the evening of July 5th, Hengchi held a press conference, officially releasing Hengchi 5 and starting pre-sales. The pre-sale price of the luxury version is 179,000 yuan.

Recently, new power brands have to use an “eye-catching” expression to attract everyone’s attention when releasing new cars. Hengchi 5 is no exception. They use the expression–“the best pure electric SUV under 300,000 yuan in history”.

As usual, we should first introduce briefly to friends who do not yet know much about Hengchi 5. Hengchi Automotive is an automobile brand under Evergrande Group, which specializes in real estate business. Hengchi 5 is the first model delivered by Hengchi Automotive.

The new car is based on the H-PLATFORM 3.0 intelligent pure electric platform, with a length, width, and height of 472519251676mm and a wheelbase of 2780mm. Currently, there is only one power configuration with front-wheel drive and a single-motor. The maximum power of the motor is 150kW, the maximum torque is 345N·m, and the official 0-100km/h acceleration score is 7.8 seconds. Equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries provided by CATL, the battery capacity is 72.8 kWh, and the CLTC’s range is 602 km.

Earlier, we conducted two tests of the new car, including static and dynamic experience evaluations. Interested friends can check out our previous video: “First Test Drive! This is What It Feels Like to Drive a Car Made by Evergrande“.

Today’s article mainly brings you some of the key new information from the launch event.

Specifications and Configuration

First of all, let’s talk about what everyone cares most about: power and range. The Evergrande Hengchi 5 uses the three-in-one electric drive system developed by Bosch and Lienuo, with a front-wheel drive single motor layout. Equipped with the Ningde CTP LFP battery pack, the acceleration performance and range have already been announced. The vehicle can charge quickly from 30% to 80% in just 28 minutes, and its lowest energy consumption per 100 km is 13.8 kWh.

In terms of handling, the Evergrande Hengchi 5 uses a front MacPherson suspension with a rear five-link suspension structure, which has been calibrated and tuned by a German team for all four wheels. It provides four driving modes and three gears for energy recovery, with a braking score of 34.5 meters per 100 km. According to Evergrande’s official statement, the handling of the Hengchi 5 is far superior to those of other luxury brands in the same class.

In terms of intelligent configuration and driving assistance, the Evergrande Hengchi 5 has an immersive 3D curved screen that measures up to 1.3 meters in length, together with a high-performance Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip. In terms of driving assistance, it can achieve L2 level assisted driving, with hardware featuring one monocular camera, four periphery cameras, five millimeter-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic radars. It can implement 19 driving assistance functions (some functions require additional purchase).

Regarding passive safety, the Evergrande Hengchi 5 is designed based on the five-star standard of C-NCAP and the highest evaluation of the collision safety standard of the China Automotive Technology & Research Center.

Booking Rights and Delivery Arrangements

During the launch event, Evergrande also announced the current booking rights, including: the first 10,000 cars with a deposit of 10,000 yuan can be credited for 20,000 yuan, the car can be returned for a refund within 15 days after delivery, lifetime quality assurance for the vehicle, and a 40% buyback policy within three years, totaling up to 10 benefits. The current down payment for a small booking is 1,000 yuan.

To ease consumers’ concerns about the financial situation of Evergrande Group, Hengchi stated at the press conference that:
To ensure the security of consumers’ funds, the pre-sale deposit, initial payment, and final payment will be directly paid to the special account established by the Tianjin Jincheng Notary Public Office.

The official announcement stated that Hengchi 5 will be officially delivered in October, and 10,000 vehicles will be delivered in the first quarter of next year. At the same time, the company will adopt a direct sales + authorized agent model and open 200 stores this year. Hengchi also stated at the press conference that:
It will utilize its own ecological resources to expand urban coverage. However, which specific resources the “self-owned ecological resources” refers to has sparked the public’s imagination.

Conclusion

As a new force in the automotive industry, Hengchi has received a lot of attention. However, objectively speaking, most of this attention is not due to the recognition of Hengchi’s brand concept or the expectation of its announced models, but rather the pessimistic financial situation of its parent company, Evergrande Group, which has attracted media attention. This is unusual and unhealthy for a new brand that has just pre-sold its first model.

So far, we have covered Hengchi 5 from static viewing, dynamic test drives, to release and equity policies. After reading through all of the content, we believe that you have a comprehensive understanding of the product information of this car.
Before this, Xu Jiayin, Chairman of Evergrande Group, praised Hengchi 5 in public after experiencing it personally, saying: “Beautiful, really beautiful!” We wonder if Hengchi’s promises, guarantees, and plans made at the press conference can be achieved beautifully.

Would you dare to order Hengchi 5? Please leave your comments in the comment section and share your thoughts.

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.