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“You have to be very clear about your audience and know where to aim”

This is what one of the people in charge of Ebro tells me who has seen the brand grow since its first days and who came with previous experience in one of the largest automobile groups in the world, now made up of a huge sum of brands with a diluted image that have lost their hallmark.

Ebro is looking for it by pulling Chery. As we tell you in Xatakathe brand has the challenge of recover a firm that was an icon of rural Spain through Chinese capital but trying to carve out its own niche in the market. They explain to us that there are already a thousand workers in the old Nissan plant where, curiously, those first Ebros were also assembled.

For now, the company continues working with kits partially assembled in China but those that are finished being sealed in Spain. The next step is for these kits to be components, more individual parts and greater weight of local assembly. Who knows if, in the future, they will be able to count on their own molds and purely Spanish manufacturing with a greater weight of Spanish suppliers.

What is certain is that, until then, the brand seems to be heading in the right direction.

Ebro S900 PHEV technical sheet

Chinese car plated in Spain

We could get an idea of ​​what we were going to find with the Ebro S900. If you have read our test of the Omoda 9 SHS You will have noticed that, aesthetically, it has many similarities. And its skeleton, the ingredients of the dish, are Chinese. But the chef is Spanish, there is no doubt about that.

And this Ebro S900 PHEV is tuned in Spain to resemble it a little more to Spanish tastes. The result is very good.

Like the Omoda 9 SHS, this Ebro S900 also arrives with a complex heart. It has a 1.5 TGDI DHE combustion engine that is accompanied by three electric motors. Two of them are at the front, with a three-speed gearbox and three clutches, and another motor is located on the rear axle.

This set that generates up to 425 HP and 580 Nm of torqueis distributed as follows:

• Electric motor 1 (front / generator): 75 kW (102 HP) / 170 Nm
• Electric motor 2 (front-wheel drive): 90 kW (122 HP) / 220 Nm
• Electric motor 3 (rear-wheel drive): 175 kW (238 HP) / 310 Nm
• 1.5 TGDI DHE engine (front-wheel drive): 105 kW (143 HP) / 215 Nm

So you can work on five modes different, considering what is the most efficient and appropriate for each moment:

• Completely electric
• Series hybrid: the combustion engine acts as an electricity generator and the electric motors drive the car
• Parallel hybrid: electric motors and combustion engine drive the wheels
• The combustion engine drives the wheels directly.
• Regenerative braking

Taking all this into account, the maximum power is 425 HP and a torque of 580 Nm. Its acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h is 5.8 seconds and the maximum speed of 180 km/h. This power arrives through six driving modes: ECO, Normal, Sport, Snow (longer gears), Sand (more work of the hybrid engine to improve traction in sand) and Offroad (smooth torque delivery to facilitate off-road handling)

All this is accompanied by a 34.46 kWh CATL battery of NMC chemistry that allows recharging of 6.6 kW in alternating current and 71 kW as peak power in direct current. We will have to wait to find out what the battery charging curve may be because Ebro only announces that to go from 30 to 80% charge with a direct current plug it takes 25 minutes, which is not a good figure if we see the size of the battery and the maximum charging power supported.

All this cocktail of data is brought to shore with a very nice plug-in hybrid in its use both on the highway and off it. What draws the most attention is the game that Ebro has put on his broadcast although, and without data we cannot confirm this for sure, it is likely that it is at the expense of his consumption.

When we tested the Omoda 9 SHS we said that we did not feel the approved 537 HP. You had to look for them with your foot deep and they didn’t always show their faces. It was difficult to get the car out of its lethargy as series hybriddesigned to save consumption at the expense of the combustion engine working as an electricity generator at specific revolutions and with the electric motors pushing the car.

This Ebro S900 behaves very differently. The transmission does not hesitate to connect the combustion engine to the front wheels to push harder when required. The maneuver is quick and much more subtle than in the Ebro S700 PHEV. Here, noise and vibrations are less noticeable in the cabin. But, above all, the car runs. Run a lot. As in the case of the Omoda, perhaps it does not give that feeling of having 425 HP stored under the hood but it is certain that it feels much more powerful than its brother, especially at low speed. Which draws attention, homologating 112 HP less.

Of course, after 100 km/h, the kick fades a little. The car continues to push hard but in a somewhat gentler manner. Yet, reliably covers any type of overtaking. It is likely that Ebro sensed that it is better to find all the strength possible in the lower part in exchange for offering a lower ceiling.

All this results in very good driving comfort on the highway, with smooth reactions when we move at the speed limit, and very reliable walking on secondary roads. A set-up helps here where the body feels more contained than in the Omoda 9 SHS. The support of the body, the time it takes to move the kg from one side to the other, is shorter and is preceded by a well-measured steering feel and, although lacking a certain weight, direct enough for the corrections to be exceptional.

To all of the above, we must add that the Ebro S900 PHEV comes with very complete equipment where, simply, there is nothing to choose from beyond the color. Do you want it? You have it. Note: 10.25-inch digital panel and 8.8-inch Head-Up Display that accompanies a 15.6” 2.5K HD central touch screen, with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, easy to use and fluid in operation.

In this case, unfortunately, modernity is once again confused with the absence of physical controls. That’s why we have exclusively digital climate control or… the mirrors. Yes, the mirrors. Every day more brands are betting on these wrong decisions.

The infotainment system comes with Androdi Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay compatibility, 50W charging for the phone that is also cooled, front and rear USB C and A sockets, a “540º degree” camera that shows what we have under the vehicle and a Sony sound system with 14 speakers.

To this we must add 26 safety systems, including lane maintenance, emergency braking, automatic parking or reverse travel assistant so that the car automatically circulates through a previously recognized space.

During our test, on mostly secondary roads, we were unable to put these to the test. assistants as we would like, but we can confirm that they were not invasive at any time, as usually happens with the lane keeping system and which has given us some headaches in other cars from China. It is very likely that this has also been refined in Spain.

It is a very complete piece of equipment that, until now, had helped Ebro position itself as an intelligent purchasing option. At that point of “for that money I’ll give you everything that doesn’t come standard in rivals.” But the Ebro S900 PHEV has a very good ride quality and promises a ridiculous daily cost with its 140 kilometers of electric range.

It must be taken into account that the car comes with a starting price of 53,990 euros. It may seem high but it is waiting for the aid that should come with the Auto+ Plan. Although it is not an electric car, it is classified within this category because its electric range exceeds 90 km, so it is expected that it will be able to access aid if it leaves out the plug-in hybrid.

And, above all, it must be taken into account that the company has announced a launch campaign that leaves the car at 38,990 euros if one adheres to its promotional and financing campaigns. What is clear is that before we emphasized its equipment. Now, we can do it in many other things.

Photos | Ebro

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