Since the official release of the Ideal ONE in October of last year, the evaluation of Ideal ONE’s range-extended model within the industry has been polarized. Supporters of Ideal ONE argue that this is Honda i-MMD without direct drive work mode, which provides a driving experience of pure electric vehicles without worrying about the problem of endurance mileage. However, opponents believe that Ideal ONE is simply redundant and inefficient. It generates electricity from the engine and then drives the motor with electricity.
Currently, plug-in hybrid vehicles using the extended-range electric drive are rare in the automotive industry. Most people have not experienced the feeling of an extended-range electric vehicle. Moreover, Ideal Automobile is a new force in car making. What do prospective Ideal ONE car owners think about it?
Currently, within our 42 Garage mini-program, there are 320 certified Ideal ONE prospective car owners. Let’s first take a look at their regional distribution.
Firstly, Ideal ONE is identified as a plug-in hybrid vehicle model by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and can obtain new energy license plates across the country, except for Beijing where a fuel car quota is required to register Ideal ONE. Therefore, the result that the number of Beijing intention deposit users accounts for the highest share is somewhat unexpected. We thought that it might be due to data errors. However, we conducted a previous survey: “Would you still consider Ideal ONE if there were no quota restrictions?”
The result is also very obvious: 85% of the intention deposit users still choose Ideal ONE. From these two points of view, most of Ideal ONE’s potential car owners are not limited by license plate policies.
Who does Ideal ONE attract?
As a medium and large 6/7 seat SUV, Ideal ONE is obviously aimed at families with children.
In our survey, it is indeed the case that 80% of the intention deposit users already have children or are planning to have children, and nearly one-third of the families have two or more children.
However, the following survey on how many cars prospective Ideal ONE car owners currently have in their families is interesting.
Yes, you read it right. 87\% of potential Ideal ONE buyers already have at least one car at home, and what is more unbelievable is that nearly half of them have two or more cars at home… One can’t deny that potential Ideal ONE buyers are quite affluent.
Overall, Ideal ONE’s main user group are well-off working parents.
What Makes Ideal ONE So Attractive?
We have learned about the attributes of potential Ideal ONE buyers earlier. However, as a domestically-made car costing over 300,000 RMB, the price of Ideal ONE is considerably higher than traditional domestic brand cars of the same class, and there are many luxury brand car models available at similar prices. So, what are the features of Ideal ONE that impress people most?
Let’s start by looking at what potential Ideal ONE buyers focus on when choosing a car.
As there are too many car models, we have selected some representative ones. The top 4 models in terms of attention are Model 3 (49\%), Odyssey (24\%), Highlander (24\%), and ES6 (22\%).
Although the positioning of these four models is completely different, if we put their advantages together, they all have electric drive, 7 seats, and large space, which seems like NIO ES8. However, if we add the fact that there is no range anxiety, then Ideal ONE is just what we need, isn’t it?
I thought that other than space, the most attractive factors of Ideal ONE for people would be its cost-effectiveness and future usage costs.
First, when it comes to car size, configuration, and intelligence, Ideal ONE has no competitor in this price range.
Second, according to our survey, over half of potential Ideal ONE buyers have the ability to install a home charging station.
Ideal ONE can be used as an electric car in the city with almost no usage cost, even without home charging. If the official urban fuel consumption of about 6 liters is used, the usage cost of the same level of vehicle is almost the lowest. But, in reality, I was wrong, very wrong… 90\% of the pre-order users actually choose the driving experience of a pure electric car, with the second and third choices being no range anxiety and interior space, respectively. Clearly, the driving experience is highly valued for Ideal ONE, as an extended-range electric car, it not only has the driving quality of a pure electric car, but also completely eliminates range anxiety, which is really attractive. Of course, the spacious interior is also essential, after all, it is a family car.
If we delve deeper into it, we find that most of the pre-order users for Ideal ONE have at least one car in their family, mostly gasoline-powered, and they don’t really care about usage costs. So why do they want an electric car? Obviously, a car that is purely driven by an electric motor has some advantages over traditional gasoline-powered cars in terms of driving experience.
Now, what are the dissatisfaction or concerns of the potential car owners of Ideal ONE? First, Ideal ONE has always been promoted as a luxury car, but some friends who have actually seen the car are not very satisfied. However, after all, everyone’s understanding of luxury is different, let’s take a look at what parts of Ideal ONE can truly be called luxury from everyone’s perspective. Apart from configuration and sense of technology, almost none of the external appearance, interior design, brand, workmanship, and materials have been selected by anyone. It is clear that Ideal ONE is lagging behind in creating a traditional sense of luxury. However, there may be reasons why the display car was not the final version, and there is still room for improvement in workmanship and quality control in mass production.
Secondly, Ideal ONE’s ability to build a brand is slightly inferior to NIO. Let’s take a look at the differences in everyone’s understanding of NIO’s and Ideal ONE’s brand positioning just from the perspective of the brand.
Regardless of NIO or Ideal, those who choose independent high-end brands are the same 47\%. However, 45\% of people still think NIO is a luxury brand, while Ideal is only 33\%, and NIO far exceeds Ideal in the proportion of first-line luxury brands.
Although many people say that NIO’s brand is smashed out with money, for new forces in car manufacturing, product strength is more important. However, for a car with a price of over 300,000 yuan, the brand is also one of the factors that many people consider. After all, face is also very important.
Of course, compared to these minor shortcomings, everyone is more concerned about the reliability of the vehicle. As can be seen from the above survey, the top 3 rankings are all related to reliability and quality. It is inevitable that everyone is concerned, whether it is for new forces in car manufacturing or the rare range-extended power system of Ideal ONE.
Regarding this point, I can only hope that the Ideal team will do a good job of testing and not let everyone, especially early users, down.
Next, we interviewed two Ideal ONE reservation users, and asked them what they had to say about Ideal ONE.
Idealist Twenty-One: In order to buy Ideal ONE, I sold the original Corolla and Roewe ERX5 at home.
Q: How long have you been paying attention to Ideal ONE, and how did you learn about this car?
A: I started paying attention to Ideal when I started following the electric vehicle field. Previously, there was a Roewe ERX5 at home, but the range was not satisfactory. I also paid attention to many new forces in car manufacturing, and actually liked the appearance and technology configurations of NIO, but the range… Later, I wanted to change to a WM EX5, but I cancelled the order after seeing the Ideal press conference, and finally reserved Ideal ONE.
Q: What attracts you most about Ideal ONE, so you finally want to buy Ideal ONE?
A: Mainly because it meets the needs of people like me who run small businesses, are married but have not yet had children, need a car with large space, cargo loading capability, driving pleasure, fast acceleration, and can run on electricity in the city and oil when going outdoors. It’s really convenient.Q: What are the concerns or dissatisfactions about the Ideal currently?
A: The long-term reliability is definitely a concern, as I live in Chongqing and the climate conditions in summer are quite harsh.
As for dissatisfaction, the battery capacity feels too small, I think it should be at least above 55% capacity, so that it feels more like an electric vehicle. In addition, many users are willing to pay for additional configurations. If it comes with a head-up display, air suspension or hands-free tailgate, people are willing to pay for it.
Finally, I hope that the specifications and battery of the Ideal ONE will not become outdated within 5 years. Reliability is a must, so that it can win in the market. After all, relying solely on loyal fans is not sustainable.
Fat Dawei: There are three cars in his family, preparing to purchase Ideal ONE for the second child.
Q: How many cars do you have in your home? What are they?
A: Three cars, Honda Accord, Skoda Kodiaq, and Alfa Romeo Stelvio. But after buying the Ideal ONE, one car will be sold.
Q: What attracts you to the Ideal ONE? Why do you still want to buy one after owning these cars?
A: First of all, it has lots of space, necessary for two children. Secondly, the overall cost of using the Ideal ONE is quite good.
Q: What did Ideal do well and not so well?
A: I feel that the Ideal ONE’s comprehensive product strength and positioning are very good, but the brand promotion is too average.
Q: What are your concerns about the Ideal ONE?
A: I am concerned about quality and long-term stability, and also worried that once the extended-range mode becomes popular, traditional manufacturers may have short-term difficulties in surpassing it in overall performance. At the same time, I also hope that Ideal doesn’t quickly bury us in the dustbin of history during product iterations.
By now, everyone can see that the Ideal ONE has the power characteristics of an electric vehicle, many intelligent configurations, and functions. In addition, without the anxiety of range anxiety, Ideal ONE is not only competitive with Tesla, Nio and others, but also has certain appeal when competing with traditional fuel vehicles. This shows that the overall strength of the Ideal ONE is quite good.However, as no one has actually test-driven the Ideal ONE, it is still unknown how it feels to drive and use it, and whether it is really as advertised by the manufacturer.
Nevertheless, we have great news: in mid-August, we will conduct an in-depth test drive of the Ideal ONE. In order to help you better understand the Ideal ONE, feel free to leave any comments in the section below if you have any questions about this test drive.
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.