Finally, it’s time to talk about the R7 that I’ve been obsessed with. I went for various test drives and picked up the car two days later. Let me share my experience with you, which covers choosing, swapping batteries, and using the car.
Firstly, the experience of picking up my new car:
1. Choosing the car
Pay attention! I strongly recommend this car for those who want their cars to be equipped with both technology and a sense of luxury, have a lower down payment cost, unable to install a charging pile but wish to swap batteries and are unwilling to pay for a license plate. Please take this car into serious consideration.
Now, let me tell you why I chose the FEYVAN flagship model (top configuration without LiDAR). Here are three reasons:
1. Good-looking appearance and features
2. Separation of vehicle and battery policy and lower price
3. Swappable batteries
Appearance and features: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As for the car’s appearance, I chose the gray color, and I think the side view looks great with a 21-inch wheelbase, which looks domineering (two strangers asked me about the car on Friday night). As for the interior, I chose brown, but there were only a few colors available to choose from. The overall interior style is somewhat similar to that of a Mercedes. Only brown matches the level of the car. The car’s spaciousness is not bad at all, and you can definitely use it for home use. It is very roomy.
Sealing performance: Although it is a frameless car door, the noise isolation is pretty good. You can hardly hear any noise when you close the window.
The car’s onboard screen: Voice commands! It is no longer a vintage operation with an oil car that requires mechanical operation. You can just use voice commands to control it. There is also a sub-screen on the passenger side, which allows your family members to watch videos and take a rest.
2. Separation of vehicle and battery policy:
Similar to NIO, the battery follows a leasing model. The battery’s cost can be transferred to FEYVAN, which means you can pay 100,000 yuan less at the outset (I selected the 90-degree battery version). Of course, if you plan to keep the car, it’s better to buy the whole car. The leasing model is suitable for those who sell their cars and buy new ones within five years. (90-degree battery: 10,000 yuan/(1560 monthly rent*12)=5.34)
3. Swappable batteries:
Pay attention! Pay attention! Pay attention! The swappable battery feature really caught my eye. I live in an apartment in Shanghai without a charging point. It’s expensive and time-consuming to charge the car outside while also having to wait in the queue. Swapping batteries is really fast and convenient. I’m a big fan of swapping batteries. Later on, I’ll share a diary of swapping batteries after picking up the car.
4. Free Shanghai green license plate
I don’t need to say much about this. Pure electric vehicles are eligible for a free green license plate nowadays.## II. Waiting for the Car
After placing the order, the next step is to wait for the car. The waiting process is usually long.
III. Collecting the Car
Without much ado, let us first show you some pictures. Here is the Shanghai Anting Delivery Center where you can collect your car.
The process goes like this: showing you around the car, paying the balance, paying the insurance, waiting (for the consultant to handle the invoicing, car quality inspection, temporary license plate, etc.). It usually takes around 1-2 hours.
Talking about the First Battery Swap
Let’s talk about the first battery swap. To emphasize, battery swapping is ten times faster than charging and you don’t need to queue up; the battery leasing model means that you don’t have to bear the battery depreciation cost. Battery swapping is very user-friendly for people like me who don’t have a charging station at home.
The first thing to do after collecting the car is to go to the battery swapping station, haha. (Anyway, the batteries at the swapping station are all new, so it doesn’t matter.) According to the staff at the swapping station, I should be the first user of RisingAuto battery swapping in the country. Let’s show you some pictures.English Markdown Text:
Place battery replacement order on the app (can also operate on car screen, just shout through voice command).
Battery replacement station is right next to the delivery center.
Very nervous for the first time to replace the battery. The station is a bit narrow here, so everyone should pay attention while driving.
Be sure to follow the operational steps to replace the battery (pay special attention to always keep in the Neutral gear! I personally switched to Park gear and encountered a bug, ended up waiting for 20 minutes at the replacement station).
Start the battery replacement.
End the battery replacement, it took less than 3 minutes.
The whole process was very smooth and fast, except for the bug I encountered. Battery replacement is very friendly to users like me who don’t have a charging station.
Of course, the fact that there are few battery replacement stations and no coverage on the highway is a problem. I heard that there will be 40 more battery replacement stations built nationwide by the end of the year, let’s wait and see. In the urban area, the supplementing energy is definitely more attractive than most electric cars.
Finally, the driving experience
Spent Saturdays and Sundays running on Shanghai’s high-speed and surface roads, and I almost take on the highway. Overall experience:
1. Voice commands is really useful
Frees your hands and eyes, no need to look for and poke around the car screen while driving, everything can be done by voice command.
2. Sound insulation
Very good sound insulation, even the sound from the outside cannot be heard when the window is closed.3.Acceleration
That’s what makes electric cars so powerful! It took me only 3 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h!
4.Easy to attract attention
When we went to visit houses on weekends, two people asked me about this car, wondering what brand it was and how cool it looked. It’s understandable because it’s a new car, hahaha.
5.AR-HUD
I have to say that it’s something impressive. I just need some time to adapt to it, and in the future, I can just look ahead while driving.
6.Navigation
Occasionally, the navigation system’s positioning drifts a little, so we have to wait or ask for verbal guidance again.
That’s all I have experienced. I will share with everyone if there are any updates.
Finally, the R7 is a car that offers great value for its price. One can see SAIC Group’s determination to establish itself in the new energy sector. However, it would be great if they could build more battery exchange stations and resolve the navigation problem. Also, they could organize more activities for car owners. I hope we grow together with this brand.
PS: The next report will probably be about the experience of driving on the highway and camping.
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.