18 November 2015, Guangzhou. Geely Auto today unveiled the Geely Emgrand EV, the first high speed electric vehicle from China’s fastest growing automaker. On November 18th, Geely Auto announced its ‘Blue Geely Initiative’ which will see the company transform into a new energy vehicle manufacturer with over 90% of its sales coming from new energy vehicles by 2020.
The Emgrand EV is the first step in Geely’s ambitious new Blue Geely new energy initiative. The Emgrand EV is virtually the same body style as the strong selling petrol version which measures 4631 x 1789 x 1495mm (LxWxH) with a 2650mm long wheelbase.
To highlight the Emgrand EV’s pure electric drivetrain the Emgrand EV has received a design update which includes a revised grill that has blue overtones running through it, the front wings of the vehicle have also gained an EV badge whilst on the interior the same blue overtones run through the dashboard and on the leather seat upholstery.
Power for the EV comes from a 44.8kwh battery pack that allows the Emgrand EV to travel 330km at 60km/h or in a combined driving environment reach 253km. The 95kw motor will produce 250Nm of torque and will reach 0-50km/h in just 4.3 seconds.
When driving the Emgrand EV users are given three driving options; ECO, ECO+ and Sports mode. The first two options allow for lean and ultra-lean operation whilst sports mode will provide greater reaction to the accelerator pedal, when in ECO modes the Emgrand EV’s dashboard will remain in a blue color, but once the driver moves to sports mode the dashboard will change to a sports orange color. The dashboard also displays remaining range, battery capacity and real time energy use.
The Emgrand EV is equipped with two charging ports; slow charge and fast charge. Home users can use a regular socket to charge their vehicle with a full charge from zero to full capacity requiring 14 hours, users whom install the fast charger or have access to a public fast charger will reach a full charge within 48 minutes from zero capacity.
Costs of running the Emgrand EV are exceptionally low when compared to a traditional gasoline vehicle. The Emgrand EV uses 15.8kWh of electricity per 100km, with Hangzhou charging 0.54RMB per kWh of energy meaning every 100km of driving costs just 8.5RMB (1.34USD/1.24Euro), a fifth of what a gasoline version would use over the same distance.
The Chinese Central Government is currently offering a 54,000RMB subsidy for the Emgrand EV which is being matched by local governments, giving the Emgrand EV a subsidy of 108,000RMB within China, however subsidy levels are varied between different cities. Geely also offers a 4 year, 100,000km warranty on the Emgrand EV and a further 5 year, 100,000km warranty on the powertrain.
Geely Auto has a strong track record in safety which shows in the Emgrand EV with its strong passive and active safety systems that include a ninth generation Bosch ESP system, Traction Control System (TCS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Hill Hold Control (HHC) and a Regenerative Braking System (RBS), Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) and Electronic Power Steering (EPS).
Battery safety is paramount in electric cars and Geely has undertaken seven safety tests to emulate the stresses that the battery pack will undergo in the evening of a serious accident; these test include fire, direct strikes, and piercing to prove the battery pack is safe for use within the Emgrand EV.
The Emgrand EV is equipped with Geely’s G-Netlink intelligent automotive system which allows users to project their mobile phone screen directly onto the cars onboard entertainment system to easily use existing mobile phone navigation applications. Geely Auto’s engineers have also spent a great deal of time in perfecting the noise levels in the Emgrand EV; without the drone of an engine in the background a new level of NVH work is required to keep the cabin free of road noise.
Since its introduction six years ago, the Emgrand family of vehicles has reached sales of 850,000 units. In October 2015, the Emgrand saw sales of 20,079 units whilst over the first ten months of 2015 the Emgrand family had a combined sales total of 160,000 units, making it the best-selling domestic Chinese sedan.
As the first vehicle from the ‘Blue Geely Initiative’, the Emgrand EV has been well received by first clients whom include the Diplomatic Personnel Service Bureau in Beijing which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also the popular CaoCao Car Rental service.