Test of the Aiways U6 Coupé. A new Chinese electric crossover tested. It’s better than the U5, but expensive.
The Aiways U6 is the second model of a young Chinese car manufacturer. The U5 came in 2020 and with this U6 the brand shows that it wants to continue. We drove the electric crossover and were pleasantly surprised, but also see problems.
Aiways … help me out!
Aiways is a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars that has only been around since 2017. However, there are collaborations with existing manufacturers from the same country. In 2019, the brand showed its first car at the Geneva Salon, the U5. An SUV that we could drive in 2020. It wasn’t even that bad for a first model from a new car manufacturer and you sometimes see it on the road in the Netherlands. After the first year, sales numbers fell sharply, although that had to do with corona and all the production problems it caused in China. But now the brand is back with the U6.
A bit of Polestar 2.
The U5 was an SUV, so the Aiways U6 is a larger SUV?
No. It’s a five-door crossover. The Polestar 2 is most similar with its body shape, to give you an idea. In fact, the shape is very similar to that car, but with a somewhat busy mix of design. We see some Kia, some Polestar, some Hyundai… It’s going a bit far to say that it’s a tight whole. We do attract attention, bystanders clearly do not see the Chinese as something that already exists.
In the Aiways U6 I see differences with the U5
That’s right. The cockpit clearly goes a step further than that in the U5, which incidentally receives most of the updates from the U6 after the summer. The materials are nicer and the layout is different. The screen disappeared in front of you and only a narrow bar is left with some info such as your speed. A new multimedia touchscreen on the center console houses all information and virtually all controls. Even a bit too much for our taste, because unlocking the doors yourself is done via the menu, which is not convenient. We now have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and that is great. Navigation is missing, by the way, because people do it via their smartphone anyway, the Chinese believe. A strategy that we are going to see more and more. The screen also looks modern, but is not very user-friendly. Often you have to take your eyes off the road just a little too long. In addition, the interference while driving is annoying. Way too many beeps and warnings when you get too close to a line, when you drive a little faster than allowed and even when you don’t look at the road for a little too long.
A clear upgrade from the U5.
And how does it drive?
Surprisingly good for a new brand, we’ve seen worse with newcomers. It handles well on the road, and inspires much more confidence in corners than some of the other newcomers. The seating position is correct, and the steering feel is quite okay. Don’t expect dynamism. There is (partly thanks to the EcoContact tires) quick understeer when you start pushing, but the overall package scores well enough. For a new brand from this country it is really above average. The powertrain is less good. The transition between braking and regeneration is often poor, and the ‘power input’ sometimes feels a bit unnatural. The power of 218 hp on the front wheels is more than enough, but the dosing is not very good. Switching driving mode makes it different, but it is nowhere near perfect. It is not for nothing that many brands spend an awful lot of time on the parameters to get those driving modes right. On the highway you will not be bothered by anything, but on country roads there is sometimes some annoyance. Your passengers may get carsick because the driving isn’t completely smooth.
Is that the main problem of the Aiways U6?
No, that’s his price. The new U6 costs just under €49,000. The car has countless options (although we miss heated seats), but a Tesla Model Y is cheaper, and Volkswagen, Kia and Hyundai also have several nice models for that money. Aiways calls it “competitive.” That’s a strange kind of self-confidence, balancing between optimism and naivety. We see it more often with new brands that think they can knock over the existing order for a while. Aiways has its business pretty well organized. But it never beats the established order. The trick then is to market your models very favorably. After all, if you are cheap enough, the customers will come naturally. A strategy that MG successfully applied by making the ZS much cheaper than EVs of a comparable size. Aiways eagerly points to the space in the back seat, which is indeed extraordinary. The seat is good, the legroom is enormous and despite the sloping roofline, the headroom is okay. But people don’t just buy a new brand car for backseat space. That works pretty well in the cheaper segments, but not if you can spend half a ton. If space was so important in this segment, BMW would have gone out of business long ago and everyone drove a Skoda Suberb. For an unknown Chinese with an unknown residual value and reliability that has yet to be proven, you must above all be much cheaper than the competition. The range of 411 kilometers is decent and the car seems considerably more economical than the somewhat inefficient U5 during our first test drive with its new hardware and software. But it’s not all unique. The DC charging speed of 90 kW is also a bit meager for a new car and unique features or technical innovations are missing. It drives pretty well, but that’s about it. For €38,000, the U6 would offer a lot of car for its money. Now it is in fact too expensive and that limits its chance of success on the Dutch market.
The rear seat is very spacious.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl