With 300,000 RMB in hand, there are plenty of options to choose from in the current Chinese market for those who want an all-in-one pure electric car.
Ignoring the traditional brands of BBA like BMW iX3, the discounted Mercedes-Benz EQC, and the smaller Audi Q4-tron, it is the new emerging forces that have become the new darlings in this price range.
Tesla Model Y has repeatedly topped the sales charts, plus the transfer of orders for the extremely cool 001 even soared by 20,000 RMB, and the upcoming NIO ET5 also has very impressive order numbers.
However, there is an inescapable problem for consumers purchasing these three cars with cash – the delivery time is too long.
According to the official website, the delivery period for Tesla Model Y is 10-14 weeks (around 3 months), and for the long-range version, it can be even as long as 20-24 weeks (around half a year); the delivery of the 001 is at least 3 months. The NIO ET5 will be delivered in September, but for those who order now, they might not be able to receive the car until next year. Importantly, both Model Y and 001 have been on the market for a while now.
Therefore, on the launch of the AVITA 11, there were already many people in our interest group who cancelled their orders for the 001 and chose to pre-order the AVITA 11.
So, what makes the AVITA 11 so appealing and tempting for consumers to spend their hard-earned money on?
Competitive pricing
On the evening of August 8th, the AVITA 11 was officially launched, and pre-orders were opened simultaneously.
In tonight’s presentation, the AVITA 11 released a total of four configurations, with a price range from 349,900 yuan to 600,000 yuan, the specific configurations are as follows:
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Long-range dual-motor version for 349,900 yuan (delivery in December this year);
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Long-range dual-motor luxury version for 369,900 yuan (delivery in December this year);
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Ultra-long-range dual-motor luxury version for 409,900 yuan (delivery in the first quarter of next year);
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011 limited edition priced at 600,000 yuan (delivery in December this year).
The pricing of the AVITA 11 was a big surprise. Its main model’s price range of 350,000 to 400,000 yuan makes it highly competitive among its peers in the same price range.
## A sleek SUV that’s not a coupe
Do you remember when the Avita 11 first appeared in November last year? Its unique SUV appearance caused a lot of talk, mainly because the Avita 11’s design broke with traditional expectations for a coupe SUV.
In particular, the design of the front and rear of the car, compared with other innovative models, has taken the Avita 11’s aesthetics to a new level.
With dimensions of 4,880 x 1,970 x 1,601mm, the Avita 11 is classified as a medium to large SUV. It looks large overall, but is lower to the ground compared to other SUVs, similar in design to the Exeed 001.
For the front design, the Avita 11 features a closed-face design and split headlamps, similar to those of the Exeed 001 and the NIO ET5. The two upper headlamps are daytime running lights that extend downward to the front bumper. The design that resembles fog lights is actually the Avita 11’s headlamp unit.
As with most vehicles that use split headlamps, the Avita 11’s daytime running lights are designed to be the main focus of visual attention, while the double daytime running lights and tear ducts also reduce the weight of the vehicle’s front end. Upon further inspection, the Avita 11’s front face is reminiscent of a robot from a sci-fi movie.
Compared to the family-designed front end of Tesla, Exeed, and NIO, the Avita 11’s front face has a highly recognizable profile.
On the side of the car, each of the four cars has a completely different appearance.
The Tesla Model Y is a typical coupe-like SUV design, with the roof line dropping down after the B-pillar to a slope as seen in the Model 3 sedan, and a small ducktail angled upwards on the lid of the trunk.
As for the Exeed 001, the side profile of the car is more like a sporty hunting clothes sport coupe. The slender body, the stance of a sedan car and the large tilting angle of the tailgate make it one of the few pure electric hunting vehicles available.Next up is the NIO ET5, which also features a liftback design. However, with a body height of only 1,499 mm, the ET5 sits much lower, making it the lowest car of the four and a top choice for sedan enthusiasts.
Now let’s take a closer look at the Aveta 11. Despite being a mid-sized SUV, the car’s body height is not particularly high, even with 265 40/R22 wheels. It sits low to the ground with a height of only 1,601 mm, making it only 41 mm taller than the Keche Model 001, which is classified as a sedan, and 33 mm taller than the VW ID.3 compact sedan. As an SUV, the Aveta 11 embodies a sporty and low-slung look.
Moving to the rear, we can see that the Aveta 11 has a distinct design compared to its competitors. The Model Y, 001, and ET5 all feature liftbacks, with the rear glass sitting flat on the trunk lid. However, the Aveta 11 is designed as a three-box sedan, with only the hatch opening and not the rear glass, which is a unique feature for an SUV.
The rear window of the Aveta 11 is positioned at an almost vertical angle, reminiscent of the rear window design of the Lamborghini Gallardo from a few years ago. This distinctive feature gives the car a more unique and recognizable aesthetic, much like Tesla, NIO, and Keche are known for.
Finally, we want to mention the impressive feature of an electric, adjustable rear spoiler on the Aveta 11. While the other three sports-focused models opted for small ducktail spoilers, the Aveta 11’s electric spoiler really stands out, adding to the car’s already dynamic appeal. Combined with the small rear window inspired by the Gallardo, the car has even more powerful visual cues.Although the practical significance of electric tail wings may not be particularly significant, as the first car at the intersection, it is still very interesting to open the tail wing and rush out first.
Overall, all four vehicles have their own unique characteristics in appearance and demonstrate their own design language on their products. Of course, since the exterior styles of vehicles are different from each other, it is up to everyone to decide which they prefer.
Interior design is Avta’s specialty
On May 20th, Avta released the interior design of the 11th vehicle, which attracted a lot of attention due to its design and attention to detail.
Cockpit design
Putting the interior pictures of these four cars together, it is not difficult to see that they all focus on a single screen. In an era where screens have become the focus of the cockpit, interior design is becoming more and more similar. If a creative and distinctive interior is to be created based on a large screen, designers undoubtedly have very high requirements.
First, look at the three horizontally positioned cars. Tesla is the most straightforward one, simply ending with a large screen on an empty dashboard. It seems to tell us that since we all have to rely on the screen anyway, it is very simple and straightforward to just have one large screen.
Similarly mounted in a horizontal position, our domestic brand very well takes care of the comfort of occupants. The interior of the Zeekr 001 is also centered around the screen, but there is a large area of double-stitched leather wrap and ornamentation on the center console for decoration, creating an overall sense of luxury.
On the Avta 11, in addition to the center screen and the conventional instrument panel, there is also a secondary screen, which is the current popular three-screen design. And the entire interior uses a symmetrical design, with the center screen serving as the focal point, and the instrument panel and secondary screen incorporated well into the interior. Plus, with the overall enveloping center console, it can give passengers a strong sense of luxury when they get in the car.
However, the horizontal screen also creates a new problem.
First of all, the suspended horizontal screen creates exposed corners, which have caused users in both Tesla and Avta groups to complain that when in the driver’s seat, there is a certain probability of hitting the edge of the screen with their right foot. It can be imagined that accidentally bumping into it would be quite painful.In addition, horizontal screens to some extent occupy the position of the air outlet of the air conditioner, so everyone has hidden air vents to improve the heating and cooling efficiency of the car.
Therefore, when everyone has used the hidden air vents to improve the air conditioning situation, the vertical screen used by the NIO ET5 is at a disadvantage. Especially in terms of audio and video effects, even if the sound quality is high, the vertical screen viewing experience is far inferior to the horizontal screen.
The car system has always been a weakness of traditional car companies, but thanks to the cooperation with Huawei, the AVITA car system adopts the operation and system of HarmonyOS and uses the Kirin 990 as the car system chip, so it can directly battle with new forces at the software level.
However, in the test drive at the end of June, the AVITA 11’s car system was still in an engineering machine state, so the responsiveness and reaction of the whole screen were not the best, and the car system performance after official delivery is highly anticipated.
Here at JiKe 001, the car system chip has been upgraded to 8155 recently, and the software has also been OTA upgraded several versions. Currently, the user experience of the car system has made a qualitative leap compared to before. The same situation has also occurred in the Tesla Model Y. After replacing the AMD Ryzen chip, both the loading speed and the smoothness of operation have been greatly improved.
In terms of seating space, due to the different positioning of the four cars, the comfort of the seating experience will also be slightly different.
Starting with the wheelbase of these four cars, the approximate order is JiKe 001 with 3,005 mm, AVITA 11 with 2,975 mm, Tesla Model Y with 2,890 mm, and NIO ET5 with 2,888 mm.The first two are positioned as mid-sized to large sedans and mid-sized to large SUVs, while the latter two are positioned as mid-sized SUVs and mid-sized sedans. As for the first two models, the rear seat comfort can be guaranteed, whether it is the comfort of the cushion, legroom or headroom, is very sufficient for me who is 175 cm.
The Model Y’s riding experience is also much weaker than the first two, and the NIO ET5 has not yet opened for actual test rides, so we cannot experience its actual performance. It is expected that the ET5 will not have much advantage over the Space X 001 in terms of space, and its level is more similar to Tesla Model 3 and XPeng P7 in theory.
Among these four models, only the Avita 11 offers not only a five-seat model.
In the past, besides the basic five-seater in mid-sized SUVs, six- and seven-seater models are also available. On the Avita 11, practicality may not have even been considered but instead offers a four-seat version that pursues business attributes.
The rear of the Avita 11 continues the wraparound design of the front row, with elongated side armrests and an optional central armrest in the four-seater version, for a more complete sense of envelopment.
And the backrest of the rear massage seats can be electronically adjusted, based on preset positions it can be adjusted backwards by 12°, forwards by 28°, with a total adjustment range of 40°, closer to a lying position, in an enveloping embrace, comfort and security are fully assured. To be honest, signing a 5 million contract in the back seat of this car with champagne would not be an exaggeration.
If you don’t like it, and you want even more spacious space, of course, you can choose the standard five-seat version and save yourself 40,000 yuan.
In terms of riding comfort, there has been a frequent arms race in the past two years. In addition to the Tesla Model Y, the other three vehicles are also able to provide users with seat heating, ventilation, massage and other configurations. For speakers, the NIO ET5 directly brings over its big brother’s 23 speakers, with 1,000 watts of power, as the best in the field.
In terms of audio configuration, the Avita 11 features RNC (Road Noise Cancellation) active noise reduction technology. With proprietary algorithms and real-time calculation based on chassis vibration sensors and microphones, it actively reduces road noise in the car. According to Avita, RNC technology can reduce average in-car noise by 3 decibels and peak noise by 13 decibels.
Compared to Avita’s pursuit of aesthetic design and craft quality, Tesla’s interior can even be described as a rough house. At the same time, for the new energy brands emphasizing luxury on the market, it will also be a considerable threat.
Potential to Reach 4 Seconds
All four cars have a dual-motor layout and can achieve around 4 seconds of extreme performance in their highest versions, making them very aggressive.
Of these cars, Avita has the highest motor power. Equipped with a Huawei DriveONE three-in-one oil-cooled electric drive system, the dual-motor four-wheel-drive version has a front power of 190 kW and a rear power of 230 kW, with a maximum power of 425 kW, and an official 0-100 km/h acceleration of 3.98 seconds.
Next, there is the Zeekr 001, which has a dual-motor with a power of 400 kW and an official 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.8 seconds, slightly faster than the Avita 11.
Tesla Model Y is smaller in size and lighter in weight, achieving a 3.7-second 0-100 km/h acceleration with a power of 357 kW. Due to its weight, the ET5 with 360 kW is the only one of the four cars that does not reach 3 seconds, with an official 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 4.3 seconds. Of course, these four cars have more than enough power for everyday use, even for overtaking or rapid acceleration.
Even when overtaking or rapidly accelerating in daily use, the power of these four cars is extremely violent on public roads.
Comparable RangeBuying an electric car for 300,000 to 400,000 Yuan, the performance of the battery life and energy supplementation is surely a huge concern for everyone. AVITA 11 from CHN platform is equipped with battery packs of 90 kWh and 116 kWh provided by CATL, among which the 116 kWh has a high-density energy density of 190 Wh/kg, and also the largest capacity battery pack on the market. However, the delivery date has to wait until the first quarter of next year.
Under the blessing of the CTP technology, AVITA 11’s corresponding CLTC mileage ranges from 555 km to 680 km.
Next, NIO ET5 and Xpeng P7 have battery pack capacities of up to 100 kWh. The battery capacity of NIO ET5 is 75 kWh for low-end models, and that of Xpeng P7 is 86 kWh. The corresponding mileage ranges are 550 km/700 km and 526 km/606 km/712 km, respectively.
Finally, Tesla Model Y is equipped with battery packs of 60 kWh and 78.4 kWh, which are the smallest battery packs on the market. However, the mileage can still reach 545 km/615 km/660 km across the three modes.
Regarding the energy supplementation system, each company has its own strengths. NIO has its own battery swapping system, Tesla has its V3 Supercharging system, and Xpeng has its own Xcharging system. AVITA’s highlight is that, compared with the three 400 V opponents, it has risen to a high voltage of 750 V. The fastest charging speed can reach 240 kW, which is very close to Tesla’s V3 of 250 kW. Meanwhile, the battery supports 2.2 C fast charging technology.
Overall, there is no need to worry too much about the ideal charging efficiency. Currently, Tesla’s Supercharging stations and NIO’s charging and swapping stations have been widely spread, which to some extent eliminated the range anxiety of car usage. In addition, Xpeng’s self-built Supercharging stations are also rapidly expanding.
Whether AVITA can reach the full 240 kW energy supplementation speed in the future depends on how the self-built system will be improved, and whether more users can enjoy the experience of ultra-fast charging. At the launch event, AVITA stated that it will install 100 high-voltage fast charging stations within 19 cities by the end of next year. This timeline is still quite long, and it remains to be seen if there will be any surprises in the progress of deployment next year.
What is the ceiling for assisted driving?At the press conference, Avita said that 11 will be the ceiling of assisted driving, equipped with Huawei’s intelligent driving technology, also known as HI, with 34 intelligent driving sensors on hardware. The key parameters are as follows:
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3 96-line Lidars;
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6 millimeter-wave radars;
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An all-round ADAS vision system consists of a forward four-eye + side two-eye + side rear two-eye + rear single-eye;
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4 surround cameras;
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12 ultrasonic radars;
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MDC 810 intelligent driving platform, with maximum computing power of 400 TOPS.
Most importantly, such a powerful ADAS hardware is not a semi-finished product. As Avita said, the cooperation with Huawei HI began three years ago, so the delivery of high-speed NCA is already available, and the delivery of urban NCA originally planned for the end of this year may be delayed until the first quarter of 2023, because the high-precision map is not fully ready yet. At that time, we can look forward to the surprises that Avita 11’s ADAS can bring us.
In addition to Avita 11, NIO ET5 is also equipped with Lidars. Compared to 11, it has two fewer Lidars and is a watchtower-style Lidar. Its specific capabilities can be referred to NIO ET7. Interested readers can also read this article: ET7 Basic ADAS Test Report
In the future, we will also gather models with Lidars and drive them into our 42Mark racetrack to see whose strength is strong enough.
Conclusion
Comparing these four pure electric vehicles of 350,000 RMB, it is not difficult to find that they are all comprehensive types. Each of them has brought out their top technologies, and whether it is acceleration or endurance, they are in the first echelon.
Avita 11, from the CHN platform, joined forces with Huawei and CATL in the background of a traditional car manufacturer. On the premise of having certain mechanical qualities, it made up for the shortfall of intelligentization of traditional car manufacturers and provided a very cost-effective price.The cost performance of Avita 11 lies in the fact that while everyone is engaged in an arms race, fighting for vehicle configurations, it not only achieves a comprehensive configuration, but also provides consumers with more luxurious, more design-oriented, and more tasteful designs compared to its competitors.
However, in recent years, new-generation brands, represented by new forces, have made service experience an integral part of their pursuit of high-end brands, in addition to the fierce competition in configuration. The first batch of stores will open 12 stores in 10 cities, and by the end of next year, there will be 110 stores. As a user, high-quality services throughout the entire life cycle, from pre-sales to after-sales and online to offline, are also expected from automakers, which will have to wait until the delivery of the vehicle to be verified.
With strong overall strength in the whole vehicle, how well can Avita 11 actually perform? It remains to be seen based on sales figures.
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.