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0Hello, welcome to QuickDrive, the podcast that gets you a glimpse into China’s car market.
Amongst them, in today’s episode,
00:08 Chinese EV maker NIO and Chang’an Automobile, China’s fourth-biggest car maker, jointly announced a cooperative agreement on battery swapping. The collaboration is expected to help US-listed NIO improve profitability.
Battery swapping allows drivers to replace depleted packs quickly with fully charged ones, and NIO is one of a few EV makers betting on battery swapping as a major power option for EVs. So far, the company has over 2,100 battery swapping stations across China and nearly 1 million charging poles.
00:43 Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp. is making electric cars, for real. According to a filing released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this week, Xiaomi’s long-anticipated EV will be branded Xiaomi SU7, and is a five-seat sedan with a panoramic glass roof. The EV is powered by batteries from CATL and BYD, depending on the battery types. The price, however as the most anticipated part, is not yet released
01:12 The Auto Guangzhou 2023, one of China’s biggest annual car events, kicked off on Nov 17 in the south-eastern coastal city of Guangzhou. Below are some of the highlights of the vehicles on display:
BYD Sea Lion 07
01:25 The first midsize full-electric SUV from China’s top car brand, the BYD Sea Lion 07 features BYD’s in-house “DiSus” body control system, which makes the car capable in almost any driving condition and scenario. The new car is estimated to be priced between 200,000 yuan to 260,000 yuan, putting it below the base Model Y which currently sells for 266,400 yuan in China.
Li Auto MEGA MPV
01:52 US-listed EV maker Li Auto finally unveiled its first pure-electric model. The seven-seat MEGA MPV secured 10,000 pre-orders within two hours of its release at the show. The design of the MPV was a major talking point with Chinese netizens nicknamed it as “highway bullet train” (“公路高铁”in Chinese).
Powered by CATL’s 1,000 kilometer capable Qilin battery, the MEGA MPV can charge to 500 kilometers of range in just 12 minutes. The anticipated price for the new car is above 500,000 yuan, and deliveries could start as soon as February.
Zeekr 007 sedan
02:32 Geely Auto’s premium vehicle brand Zeekr unveiled its first electric sedan, Zeekr 007, at this year’s Guangzhou show. With price starting at 229,900 yuan, Zeekr picked up 20,000 pre-orders in the first 48 hours.
Designed by a team lead by long-time Audi veteran Stefan Sielaff, the futuristic-looking car has clean lines and a tech-laden design, with the front bumper featuring a 90-inch intelligent lighting display. The 475kW all-wheel drive can go from zero to 100km/h in just 2.84 seconds. The Zeekr 007 comes in two ranges, 688 kilometers and 870 kilometers. Its fast-charging technology delivers up to 610 kilometers of range in 15 minutes.
Xpeng X9 MPV
03:24 The seven-seater is the first pure electric MPV from Xpeng, which recently signed a partnership to develop two VW-branded EVs for the German auto giant. The new flagship will start at 388,000 yuan and offer 610 kilometers of range on a single charge.
The interior features a 21.4-inch entertainment screen, an in-built fridge and a maximum storage capacity of a spacious 2,554 liters. Xpeng’s autonomous driving features will also be deployed on this model.
That concludes this edition of the QuickDrive, the podcast that gets you a glimpse into China’s car market. I am Juliet Ye, thank you so much for listening, see you next time.
