Author: Chen Jianli
It is surprising that GAC can firmly establish itself in the new energy vehicle market. Although it sells for as much as 570,000 to 800,000 yuan, the HiPhi X, with its “strange” appearance and fantastic functions, truly satisfies the pursuit of “being different” from the high-end consumer groups.
This is GAC’s way of survival. In the trend of new energy vehicle models becoming “more and more alike”, GAC directly draws the line with other brands. When its second model, HiPhi Z, debuted, its strange design no longer surprised people, and compared with HiPhi X, HiPhi Z has even more amazing functions.
HiPhi Z is positioned as a pure electric sedan, but its fastback design gives it a visual effect similar to the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo and the Xpeng P001, except that HiPhi Z, created with elements of mecha style, may make the other two somewhat inferior.
At first sight, it is hard to believe that this is a real car. Nowadays, sci-fi vehicles can only be seen on the screen of a powered-on device. Now it has broken through the boundaries of the screen and come into reality. Speaking of sci-fi, on the one hand, it is the car’s body contour that creates the effect, and on the other hand, it is the lighting. This time, Audi may have to hand over the title of “light factory”.
The front lamp layout of HiPhi Z is similar to that of Le Mans race cars. It uses the second-generation intelligent lighting system, which, in addition to the star ring ISD light curtain, interaction, and light language projection that HiPhi X also has, can even project films and character expressions, and interact with the owner through expressions. It’s amazing!
The LED light strip is also equipped on the side door, and the rear door can even display different subtitles, which is more appropriate to describe it as a mobile billboard.
HiPhi Z boasts the largest production car tail lights and they occupy more than half of the rear, with LED light strips above and interactive lighting on both sides below, synchronized with the front headlights.
Aside from the lighting, HiPhi Z also has many highlights, such as scale-like active closure of the front grille for reducing wind resistance or heat dissipation.
The wheel design achieves both low wind resistance and a stylish appearance, with a size of up to 22 inches, creating a visually impressive effect. It’s worth noting that the central badge on the wheel hub remains level during driving, similar to the design of Rolls-Royce.
The coach-style doors are also similar to Rolls-Royce, with a 90-degree opening angle, ensuring easy access for getting in and out, and support for electric opening and closing. However, manually opening the doors requires pressing a button, which is not very user-friendly for first-time passengers.
The lift-up rear spoiler is a standard feature of hatchback sports cars, which can be manually or automatically raised at certain speeds. In reality, it is more of a decoration rather than serving a practical purpose.
In terms of size, HiPhi Z measures 5036/2018/1439mm in length, width, and height respectively, with a wheelbase of 3150mm, comparable in length to the Panamera Sport Turismo, but significantly wider than the LI One. Driving it may not be so easy.
The interior layout of HiPhi Z is simpler compared to the aircraft cabin layout of HiPhi X. Instead of a dashboard, there is only one large screen on the central console, supporting horizontal and vertical screen display modes, and the back of the screen is fixed by a mechanical arm, which can be adjusted infinitely in all directions. The control buttons on both sides of the steering wheel are actually touch screens that can switch between different button modes.
The ambient lighting inside the car is worth mentioning, with a surprisingly large area just like the exterior lighting. There are double-layer light strips on the central console and door panels, making the car look extremely cool at night.
The second row of seats adopts an independent seat layout (there is also the option of a conventional 5-seater layout). The central armrest is fixed, and in addition to the angle adjustment, the seat also supports ventilation, heating, and massage functions, which can be updated with more options through OTA.
As for power, the HiPhi Z is equipped with front and rear dual-motor layout, and the parameters have not been announced yet. The 120kWh battery pack can achieve a range of 705km.
In addition to the air suspension and CDC control system, the new car is equipped with a rear-wheel steering system with a steering angle of 13.2°, which can reduce the turning radius, a necessary hardware for such a large car.
HiPhi Z is currently open for blind pre-orders, with a pre-sale price range of 600,000-800,000 yuan, very close to HiPhi X. Unless there are unexpected changes, it will again be labeled as a product for “stupid and rich” customers, but for potential consumers, the cool design and functional highlights are enough for them to swipe their cards. As for the factors behind this brand, who cares? Being niche and unique is exactly what rich people need.
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.