The electric SUV that no longer asks for permission

It is not necessary to look twice to realize that Wuhua city 1,100 km south of Beijing and 340 km west of Shanghai, it is not exactly Detroit.

But in its own way, This Chinese city begins to resemble the epicenter of something. Chery – and all its brands, including Omoda and Jaecoo– He has turned his facilities into a kind of living laboratory of the future of the car. Here it is executed, it is not rehearsed.

And in the midst of that deployment, I have had the opportunity to drive the new Jaecoo 5 EV: the electric version of this Chinese SUV, reasonably accessible … and very serious.

The silence that speaks

The first thing that attracts attention is how well they have done, in addition to their suspicious nothing similar to the lines of the Range Rover (with whom Chery has an old agreement to be your manufacturer in China).

There is no trace of that condescension with which the West used to look at the Chinese automobile industry. Jaecoo 5 EV does not come to learn, but to compete. In Wuhu they know it, and that is why an almost provocative calm is breathed. As if they were already clear that they will win, but they were not in a hurry to prove it.

The second thing that attracts attention is autonomy: it marked 94% km with the activated echo mode. At the end of the test it marked 329 km for the remaining 73%. If we make a rule of three, at 73% should be superior, about 343 km, but we made use of the air conditioning and some moments of forced driving to test it through its sport mode. So and everything, it is still a more than remarkable autonomy.

In motion, the car confirms suspicions: this is not an experiment, but a mature product. The driving is soft, as expected in an electric, but also firm in what is not usually expected in a SUV: stability.

Take curves without drama or unnecessary inclinations. There is no ship feeling, not even when hurrying in faster sections. The suspension filters with solvency, in the potholes with some forcefulness, and at all times seems more focused on transmitting security than show. He gets it. And also with the sepulchral silence that can be expected from an electric.

The finishes, another maturity symptom, point in the same direction. There are no luxuries, but Criteria: Where to play, there are pleasant and padded materials; Where it is not seen or touched, hard plastics appear. The fair and the intelligent to keep prices at bay. It is a car that aims to be around 30,000 euros, perhaps something else, in this electric version, and that, More than reasonable, it is strategic.

Regeneration, yes, needs one more return. It has three levels: the lowest, which is almost decorative; Another intermediate but still very soft, and a third that flirts with excess. I miss a real intermediate point.

Also the brake pedal, otherwise, has a somewhat more abrupt stretch, as if he resisted to accept that the car has already stopped. It’s not much less serious, but it’s not the most elegant. And matters in a car that aspires to seduce for its silent refinement.

What is surprising is everything else: the visualization of surrounding traffic – at the style that Tesla marked the industry – works precisely and without histrionisms, as adequate are the recreations of the car in 3D and 360º.

Mention for driving aids, especially the anti -collisions system, which worked great: the speaker sounds and the steering wheel vibrates if the car detects that we throw ourselves towards an obstacle in braking. Not only in static, but detecting that the car in front is stopping even if it continues to move.

At the end of the journey, the Jaecoo 5 screen indicates that we have 1 hour and 37 minutes of driving and that the average consumption has been 13.1 kWh per 100 kilometers.

It is a very competitive consumption for an electric SUV of this size, which speaks of its good mixture of aerodynamics, efficient motor management and weightly contained weight. Is A autonomy consistent with what the car projects: more solidity than show.

More than a car, a statement

But the most interesting is not the car. It is the context. Wuhu is not just a geographical place. It is a coordinate on the map of who wants a change of rules. From here, Chery has created a pair with omoda and Jaecoo who no longer wants to imitate Europeans, wants to advance them. And with a known recipe:

• ATIBORRAR OF EQUIPMENT.
• Take care of aesthetics a lot.
• Offer technology that works.
• And maintain an aggressive price.

But they They do it without asking permission. They are not in the phase of learning from the greats or gaining respect. They do not copy or ask for validation, do not queue at the door of the European club to see if the goalkeeper is Majete and lets them in.

They are already inside.

And with products that no longer have a “Chinese car” aroma, but “this makes a lot of sense.” With own design decisions, with functional technology, with well -chosen materials and a stunning that surprises: precise direction, well -balanced suspension although sometimes something hard in bumps, and a soundproofing that isolates with solvency even in irregular sections. There are no squeak or no vibrations. There is a clear will for the car to feel well built and not just well equipped (That is).

And in the background, a clear strategy: saturate equipment, maintain the price at bay and offer an experience that, without being revolutionary – at least in these prices it is not the intention – is solvent, round and serious. Enough to compete with settled brands … well that, without asking permission.

They have not adapted to the European fee. They have created yours. Without complex, without the need to seem Germans. They do not try to replicate Japanese lightness or bavarian solidity: the result is somewhat more fluid and comfortable, driver -oriented that values ​​that everything works at first without having to understand it too much.

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