Preface
I ordered a Pure Electric 515, bare at 183,900 yuan, insurance at 5,300 yuan, and the actual price is less than 190,000 yuan. The advantage of not choosing anything is that the delivery is fast, and various envy from car friends in the group.
After seeing the configuration and price announced on July 25th evening, I confirmed with the seller on the phone that I can reserve the right to be listed on July 26th, and then placed a deposit in the mini program. I added several sales WeChat accounts. The store near my home is not fully decorated yet, so I can only go to another store 30 kilometers away to test drive.
On August 6th, the sales contacted me and said that the display car has arrived at the store. So, I took my wife to test drive the car in the morning. The experience was pretty good. Initially, I wanted to book an extended-range version, because I wanted to control the budget to replace the family car. However, if I choose to install the sound system, the price will be 174,000 yuan. Besides, my family already has an Ideal One, so I locked in the Pure Electric 515 on the second day.
I matched the car on August 30th, shipped it on August 31st, arrived at the store on September 4th, and picked up the car on September 9th.
The whole process took more than a month, which is the second car in Anhui Province.
The satisfaction points: frameless doors are cool, good electric performance, and the driving chassis quality is beyond expectations.
The dissatisfaction points: heavy energy recovery, unable to remember the location of the multiple seat systems, unable to reserve a charging session, and the brake and throttle are heavy.
Other Choice
Background：
Around the beginning of July, I began to prepare to replace my wife’s car, which was originally a Mini Electric Vehicle. However, my wife became pregnant, so we wanted to change to a larger car with no odor and not too big, and a budget of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan.
Other Options：
The first consideration is the 401 high configuration of Haoma at RMB 141,000. After driving it, I felt that it was average in terms of standardization, and the comfort level was very high. However, the operating fluency of the system was only average, including a large smell in the interior that my wife minds a lot.
Later, I saw Smart, and I went to the mall especially to see the exhibition car. The static experience was excellent. The appearance and interior were much better than Haoma. We both liked it very much. At that time, we decided to order the top configuration, 220,000 yuan. However, the salesperson told us that we could not take the car before the end of the year if we ordered now, and next year we need to add the national subsidy price of 12,600 yuan. And still, we cannot test drive the car in advance, which leads to a total of more than 230,000 yuan. I felt that the cost performance was a bit low, so I decided to consider Haibao instead.
However, Haibao has always been a pre-sale, and there is no exhibition car, and it is impossible to determine what it will be like after it goes public. Therefore, it was not a priority consideration for us.Finally, I came across the Deep Blue SL03 when I was struggling to decide which car to buy. I was impressed by its cost-performance ratio and configuration after watching more than 20 evaluation videos.
Summary of Driving Experience
Exterior
Generally, people have different opinions on the exterior design of a car, but I think this statement does not apply to the SL03. Almost everyone agrees that the front is appealing while the back is somewhat awkward. This is mainly due to the car emblem being embedded in the taillights and wing, which makes it stand out too much. The reflector light in the middle of the back with the two decorative panels on either side also gives the car a distinctly fragmented look, which is not pleasing to the eye. Consequently, if I were to rate the appearance, I would give it an 80 out of 100, with the front scoring 95 and the back scoring 65. To improve its aesthetics, today I specially attached a black matte color-changing film to the back of the car, which significantly boosted its appearance. I hope this design can be optimized in future iterations or upgrades.
Interior
I would give it a 75 out of 100. Yesterday, when I went to the store to see the ET5, I noticed that there is indeed a gap between the two. But considering the price difference of almost 100,000 yuan, I think it is still quite good at this price point. The overall design is relatively simple but still has a sense of quality. Almost everything that can be touched is made of soft leather, and it is worth noting that the black interior version of the seats is decorated with pink stitching, which makes the car appear less dull and enhances its inner beauty to some extent.
Compared to the test car I drove, the headrest support of both front seats has been optimized, which makes the overall quality better. The workmanship is average. Nevertheless, there are several aspects of the interior that I think could be improved: the metal speaker cover on the front door panel feels a bit rough to the touch and could be better; and all the headrests are very hard, which is uncomfortable to lean against.
Noise Insulation
Since I did not choose Michelin tires, the standard tires have a higher level of tire noise that one can hear at speeds above 40-50 km/h. However, this is not noticeable on the highway as wind noise is louder. When driving in the city, you can hear the electric motor’s noise, which is audible when listening carefully.## Translation
But overall, it can be considered above average in this price range, after all, it has frameless doors and single-layer glass.
Infotainment System
Due to the use of the 8155 chipset, the infotainment system operates smoothly without any lag.
Voice Control
The incorrect wake-up rate is higher than ideal, and the overall level is slightly worse compared to new players in the market, but better than traditional brands. It supports continuous conversation.
Handling and Driving
I have driven 650 kilometers so far, and the overall driving experience has exceeded my expectations. I think it can score more than 80 points in this price range.
The chassis quality is even better than the ideal one in some working conditions, such as when driving slowly over high-speed speed bumps. The chassis is more solid, and the sound is crisp. When driving over bumps, it feels more grounded, and the road feel is clearer. It also filters small potholes effectively.
Space
If it is driven by my wife (164cm), and I (178cm) sit in the driver’s seat, there will be 3-4 fists of space in the back seat. If I drive, adjust the seat to the lowest setting, there will be about 3-4 fingers’ space above my head, and the rear space can accommodate a person around 175cm tall without any problems.
Storage
The glove box and central armrest box are of moderate sizes, and basically sufficient. The horizontal space on the door panel is large, but the vertical space is slightly small. Water bottles can only be placed horizontally, and only one bottle can fit vertically.
The front trunk is not small and can accommodate two boxes of water. The rear trunk is even larger and more spacious. The liftgate-style tailgate is really cool, and both the horizontal and vertical space are excellent.
Energy Consumption and Endurance
In daily urban driving, the endurance can reach about 12.1, which can cover a distance of around 430km. The power consumption on high-speed roads is about 15, and the endurance can reach around 350km.
Since my wife travels less than 30km to work every day, and there is a charging station at home, I think the endurance is completely sufficient.
Advanced Driving Assistance System
Since I rarely drive on high-speed roads, I have not used IACC yet. However, based on the rendering results of the lane and other vehicle recognition displayed on the dashboard, it should only be at the L2 level.
Conclusion
Deep Blue is Changan’s attempt to learn from new players in the market. I believe the product is competitive enough, but the delivery and service standardization of Deep Blue still needs to learn from those new players. There is still a long way to go.
Choosing Deep Blue this time was also the right decision.
Lastly, I hope Changan can accelerate production and deliver the cars as soon as possible, so that everyone can pick up their cars early.
If anyone has any questions, please leave a message, and I will try my best to answer them.
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.