Recently, the author had the privilege of a four-day, four-night test drive of the “TELLURIDE X” and was able to experience and study this pure electric SUV that was launched only a year ago (of course, the actual driving time was not as long as 96 hours and was around ten hours). Below are my driving experiences to share with everyone.
First of all, I have a special connection with “TELLURIDE”. If I remember correctly, around the end of 2014 (shortly after the first generation “TELLURIDE” was launched), “TELLURIDE” rented a storefront on the side of the main entrance of “Global Harbor” to showcase the real car of “TELLURIDE”, which happened to be discovered by the author who was strolling around. I tried it out statically and felt that the design was quite exquisite, showing a business style with a faint shadow of GLC. After answering several questions, the staff recorded my contact information on a big book and said that they would invite me for a test drive by phone at a later date.
Then… unfortunately, there was no “then” – for some reason, the salesperson failed to follow up, and I never received the phone call I was eagerly anticipating. Otherwise, after the opportunity to test drive, I might have become the owner of the first generation “TELLURIDE”! However, the exquisite brochure that was obtained at that time has been treasured by the author and not disposed of. I sincerely ask everyone to appreciate the juxtaposition of the brochures of the two generations of “TELLURIDE” – even professional car media personnel may not be able to take them out!
After that, the author also encountered “TELLURIDE” several times on the road – as expected, they were used as high-end business specialized cars, and the driver replied that it was pretty good when asked about the feeling.
After several years, new forces in car manufacturing have emerged, and the next wave is catching up with the previous wave, with everyone striving for first place on the track of new energy vehicles. However, the voice of “TELLURIDE” seems to be gradually disappearing. Just when people are worried that this brand may be abandoned, “TELLURIDE” that has been silent for a while made a breakthrough and unexpectedly launched a new generation of concept cars called Concept X in mid-2019, with a stunning appearance that made people’s eyes light up, and brought anticipation and attention for its official launch.
What is even more rare is that this concept car has successfully transformed into a mass-produced car and went on sale! The mass-produced car “TELLURIDE X” largely retained the essence of the concept car, which is indeed not easy.
As the last user experience tester of this test drive event in Shanghai, I originally did not plan to say too many flattering words (because all the compliments have been said by the previous users, ha ha). But “TELLURIDE X” really has many commendable features.I really like the appearance of this car. Although most electric cars have good aerodynamics, it’s hard to achieve a seamless design on such a big 7-seater SUV, but the designer’s skills are remarkable, it is really a visual pleasure.
The rounded shape of the front like a catfish is particularly sci-fi, and its temperament is not inferior to that of Tesla. Moreover, the downward curvature of the front edge of the hood brings an extra benefit, that the driver’s vision is particularly good, and the blind spots are much smaller than those of square-headed SUVs of the same size and level.
As a mid-size SUV, the size of TENGSHI X is only higher than that of Highlanders, not lower. But due to the designer’s ingenuity, it doesn’t feel cumbersome or too large when viewed from the side, but rather has a light feeling.
And the thing that catches the eye the most is the “bigfoot”. The mainstream SUVs on the market usually use 18 or 17-inch wheels for low-end models and 19-inch wheels for high-end and flagship models, and only a few can use 20-inch wheels.
However, “TENGSHI” directly uses 22-inch super-sized luxury two-color wheels, which surpasses its peers. Moreover, the plum blossom style of the wheel is quite unique, and it looks very comfortable no matter how you look at it.
However, at first, I was a bit worried about whether this design would make the wheel quality too concentrated on the outer edge of the wheel disk away from the axis, leading to a large rotational inertia and increased energy consumption. After careful observation, I found that this worry was unnecessary because the internal spokes adopted a lightweight design.
This hollow design also directly shows the racing Brembo brake system. Even if someone is completely ignorant of cars, but let him take a look at the oversized brake discs of this car, look at the perforated holes arranged in a cantilever shape and the huge calipers, he will immediately understand that this car is different! It’s different! The manufacturer is sincere by not reducing costs in this area. After all, a good horse not only has good power and can run fast but also must be able to stop.
Therefore, this “million-class” brake is definitely worthy of the positioning of this “performance car” and the word “Performance” on the tailgate. “There are two modes of standard and comfortable brake intensity in the setting-maybe because the braking system is too powerful, I feel that the comfortable mode is completely sufficient in my actual experience.”
Compared to the big “range-extender electric SUV” of a newly emerging and popular car manufacturer this year, Tencent’s route is the younger and sportier one, not only looking more dynamic in appearance, but also having a stronger and more powerful three-motor power system. So, if used purely as a “dad car” pursuing stability, the “Tencent X” is a bit of a waste, to be honest.
In actual driving, the only question is whether you dare to step on the “accelerator”, not whether the power is enough or not. Although the author did not drive on a real highway during this test drive, on the outer ring road, the car reached a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, and acceleration and overtaking were at will, simply put, it was very easy to drive.
Especially with the four-wheel drive, the car starts quickly and smoothly, and there is no obvious head lift phenomenon; the acceleration in the middle section is linear and not prone to motion sickness. When turning and changing lanes, there is almost no feeling of tilting, indicating that the suspension system is very solid, and the manufacturer has put a lot of effort into chassis tuning.
To “admire” the awesome chassis, the author specially found an opportunity to lift the car to check it out. As can be seen from the figure, although there is no mechanical engine, there is still a complete guard plate under the front engine compartment, worthy of praise. The middle section is a flat battery pack, which is well protected. The rear axle part does not have a guard plate, which is a bit regrettable, but it can also be understood. If there are any high foreign objects on the ground, before they invade the position of the motor and other parts, they are estimated to have been crushed by the front part of chassis during driving.
By the way, the minimum ground clearance of the chassis in the ready-to-go state is about 20 centimeters-although this is not worth boasting about, it is real, after all, you can see that the battery pack is the lowest position in reality, and there are no other inexplicable protrusions. Crossing a bump or stepping on a curb is a piece of cake.
When you open the car door, you will find that they are one-piece (rather than welded doors). The author specially paid attention to try it out and confirmed that both the front and rear doors have three limits, which is considerate!
Entering the car, the most eye-catching thing is the 15.6-inch full HD central control screen, which is obviously benchmarked against Tesla and can also be rotated 90 degrees to a vertical state.
The large screen is the soul of this car, which enables various operations, such as vehicle settings, audio and video playback, air conditioning on/off, navigation, and etc. Of course, you can also use voice control.
If you find the large screen distracting, you can turn it off completely. However, once someone or a vehicle approaches within a dangerous distance, the 360-degree panoramic view will light up automatically, which is quite intelligent.
It is worth mentioning that this car comes with an air purifying function. Last week, the air quality in Shanghai was not good for several days due to haze. When the author entered the car and started the vehicle, the large screen would display a prompt “The concentration of PM2.5 in the car is high. Would you like to turn on the air purifying function?” If you refuse this prompt, it will reappear after a while. (This caring and thoughtful approach for people’s health is very satisfying.)
After turning on the purifying function (air conditioning or ventilation), the concentration of PM2.5 in the car air will drop quickly in a short time (please pay attention to the indoor and outdoor air pollution indexes displayed in the upper left corner of the large screen).
It is notable that the central wireless charging compartment is large enough. Even a phone with a 6.5-inch display (nowadays a regular phone size) has plenty of space on both sides. (It should be noted that I have seen other car models launched in the past two years with built-in wireless charging compartments, but the width is not enough to place a phone flat. This indicates weak foresight of their designers.)
Translate the following Markdown content into English Markdown content in a professional way, keeping the HTML tags inside the Markdown and only outputting the corrected and improved parts. Please remove the middle air outlet from the three air outlets as it is redundant, and change the wireless charging grid to a more popular vertical one, which will be more practical.
Speaking of the external charging port:
When you open the charging port cover, the LED inside will light up with white light, which acts as a lighting function.
When the charging gun is plugged in and on standby, the light will turn yellow. And when the charging officially begins, it will turn into a green mode, which is very beautiful.
One thing that must be reminded to everyone: If conditions permit, try to choose fast charging. Because the “DENZA X” battery pack has a capacity of more than 80 degrees, if it is seriously discharged, the 3 KW slow charging will take more than 24 hours (that is, a whole day) to fully charge, which is too slow!
As for power consumption, I can also share with everyone:
If the air conditioning is not turned on after starting the vehicle, there is basically no power consumption, and the power display on the left side of the dashboard will show 0 KW; if the ventilation or slight use of air conditioning is turned on, the power is 1 KW; if heavy air conditioning is used (for example, the warm air is fully turned on in winter), it is 2 KW. These are the basic power consumption of this car, for everyone’s reference.
Regarding the range, during my test period, I charged a total of 153.63 yuan at public charging stations (at a rate of 1.8 yuan per kilowatt-hour). I traveled 263 kilometers, starting with the battery at 26% and ending at 33% when returning the vehicle. Roughly calculated, the cost per kilometer is just over 50 cents (it is worth noting that there were many congested roads during the test period). If the owner has their own private charging station and can charge during off-peak hours at night, the cost per kilometer can be reduced to about 1 cent.
As for other features, I won’t go into too much detail. Here are a few points:
- The entire vehicle, including the headlights, all-weather lights, and rear fog lights, are LED. The front fog lights (all-weather lights) also serve as turn signal lights.
- The car has various driving assistance functions, such as ACC and lane keeping, as well as active safety features like FCW and side collision warning. I tested all of them during my driving process, and the performance was adequate.
- It must be emphasized that there is no L5 level autonomous driving yet. Drivers must be fully focused while driving. For example, while driving on the outer ring road in Shanghai, a long truck suddenly changed lanes in front of me. Because the truck was so long, even though its front had already entered my lane, it still seemed quite far away. As a result, my car did not detect the obstruction and did not automatically slow down. At the last moment, I had to step on the brake and slow down manually. Therefore, although driving assistance is good, for now, we must always remember to be “in control” of the car.
- Additionally, it seems that the “TEsla Model X” does not have the function of automatically changing lanes after signaling. I’m not sure if anyone has figured out how to activate this feature yet, but at least I haven’t.
Despite its strengths, there are also areas for improvement. Below are some suggestions for the manufacturer:
- On the first night, I came home feeling a bit embarrassed because I didn’t pay enough attention to charging. As a result, when the display showed a remaining range of 20 kilometers, the car began to limit its speed. My suggestion is to always reserve a buffer range. If you are unable to make it to a charging station, don’t worry too much. Pure electric vehicles can ask their insurance company to provide towing services to a nearby charging station.
- I feel that the low-beam headlights are not bright enough, and the height cannot be adjusted.
- The 360-degree panoramic camera stitching effect is good, but the camera’s image clarity is slightly lacking. However, it can still be used as a reference for parking and for narrow roads. I heard that the manufacturer has already developed a solution to this issue and will continue to improve it.
– The built-in dash cam has an average effect. If you want better results, it’s recommended to purchase separately.
- When driving at night, even if the brightness of the full LCD instrument panel (as well as the central control screen) is adjusted to the lowest, there is obvious reflection on the left window, which affects the line of sight and driving safety.
- The rotation of the central control screen by 90 degrees is not applicable, and there are no necessary application scenarios (although this is the design of Tesla, it is not necessary to follow suit). Moreover, many operation buttons are set at the far end of the wide screen, which is tiring to click after a while. It would be more practical if it could rotate towards the driver’s seat or the co-pilot’s seat. This is one of the improvement points that the author hopes to receive. In addition, at present, mobile phones start at Full HD resolution, and the 1920*1080 resolution of such a large 15.6-inch screen is no longer delicate enough. And the far end has slight color difference due to the visual angle problem. It is recommended to upgrade the screen resolution and material.
- The car system has some commendable features, such as being able to decode 4K videos, but it still needs optimization. For example, the U disk video cannot be played in full screen (as shown in the picture, there is a control bar at the bottom); for example, after the mobile phone is connected to Bluetooth, it can be used to make calls on the large screen, but cannot set which SIM card to dial with; for example, after connecting to Bluetooth, WeChat voice cannot be heard; for example, U disk videos and audio files cannot be browsed in the form of folders, and “next” cannot be played directly without exiting first, etc.
- There is no spray water and wiper on the rear window-because it is a coupe style, this can be understood. But it may be nicer to add them to the back?
- There is no storage compartment at the door handle (there is only a storage compartment below), which is inconvenient.
- “Hill descent control” is very useful, but the speed is too slow after turning it on-it can be appropriately relaxed.
- The function of the side mirrors tilting down when reversing is very useful, but it would be better if it could tilt down more thoroughly.
- The color of the interior atmosphere light can be adjusted, which is very warm and cozy, but it’s not really continuous (21 levels) adjustable in the operation interface, but only 7 colors. It feels a bit insincere and clever.
Perhaps you will notice that the indentation at the back of the car was not caused by the author. It was already there when the car was received! Maybe a previous car owner was rear-ended or didn’t judge the distance well when reversing…
In addition, there is no need to avoid acknowledging that this car is a facelift of the all-new “Tang”. As they say in northern dialect, “What’s wrong with BYD? What’s wrong with BYD! The all-new Tang is also a luxury car!” And in Shanghai dialect, “BYD is not collapsing!” There is no denying that the X is produced on the same line as the Tang at the BYD factory, with identical wheelbase, front and rear track, width, and height (with only a 20mm difference in length due to the difference in the length of the front face). So, to be truthful, you cannot deny the connection between the two.
Speaking of which, the author has been following BYD’s SUVs since the S6. Seeing BYD constantly upgrading and iterating, from imitation and improvement to independent R&D, and early layout of new energy vehicles, they have always focused on research and development. Whether it’s batteries, power systems or infotainment, BYD has mastered core technology and can manufacture them independently. It is fair to say that the “BYD” that builds cars seriously is a pride of domestic cars; and being recognized by Mercedes-Benz is also enough to prove its strength.
On the other hand, the X is only displayed and sold at Mercedes-Benz 4S stores, and maintenance is also done by Mercedes-Benz. That is to say, the pre-sales and after-sales experience that X owners get is the same as that of Mercedes-Benz owners. The VIP services that Mercedes-Benz owners enjoy, X owners also have. Isn’t that great?
It must be acknowledged that at first, the author was not sure about the 50% joint venture of Mercedes-Benz and BYD in creating the “Denza” brand and was worried that the new brand would compete with their own models. Only recently did the author realize that it is more appropriate to regard “Denza” as a Mercedes-Benz brand of electric vehicles manufactured by BYD.
After all, the century-old Mercedes-Benz had some concerns when it first entered the field of new energy vehicles, as it was afraid of ruining its own brand. Therefore, it is safer to create a sub-brand.
To use a vulgar analogy, the father of the X is Mercedes-Benz (X is only sold at Mercedes-Benz stores, and it is like it is inherited from Mercedes-Benz, and designed by Mercedes-Benz designers-Styed by Mercedes-Benz), and the mother is BYD (manufactured at the BYD factory through outsourcing). Combining the excellent genes of both, the quality is definitely guaranteed.
Finally, the author would like to express gratitude to “42 Garage” and the manufacturer:
As a new force in the numerous automotive media, “42 Garage” takes a unique approach and focuses on new energy vehicles, and does not overly focus on the past of brands and manufacturers, but looks towards the future and pays attention to the new trends in technology development.And “42 Garage” attaches great importance to interaction with car enthusiasts and has established many discussion areas, providing car enthusiasts with many test drive opportunities (I also participated in the Ideal ONE test drive organized by “42 Garage” before), playing a good bridging role.
During this car pickup, I witnessed the enthusiastic atmosphere of the “42 Garage” team in the office, which was touching. I believe that the future development will definitely be better and better!
And DENZA’s ability to provide its products to the media and potential users for in-depth experience and evaluation undoubtedly reflects the manufacturer’s confidence! By the way, during the experience, my friend asked if there were any domestic electric cars that could be recommended to foreigners-their Israeli boss happened to ask about this and was interested in importing Chinese electric cars to the European market for sale.
Without hesitation, I recommended DENZA to them (of course, I also recommended some other brands that I have experienced myself.), Clearly telling them that this car can compete with Tesla.
In addition, the pure electric endurance mileage of the first generation DENZA, which was launched in 2014, was 253 kilometers, while the DENZA X, which was launched in 2019, reached more than 500 kilometers-that is to say, the pure electric mileage doubled in five years! Can we also expect that DENZA’s next car will bring us the same surprise? Can the endurance of pure electric vehicles double again in five years and exceed the threshold of 1000 kilometers?
In addition, I would like to express my special thanks to Mr. Ma, who was in charge of my communication. He was quite dedicated before and after the rental. After returning the car, he accompanied me to a nearby Mercedes-Benz store to learn about the price of DENZA X-and I want to let you know that there are currently great discounts available.
Finally, I wish you all a happy New Year! May the world be peaceful and everyone be safe throughout 2021! Best wishes to all car enthusiasts for a happy driving experience!
H.W.
December 29, 2020
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.