Hongqi has presented a brand new colossus of an SUV: the E-HS9. As the ‘E’ in its name suggests, the Chinese battleship is fully electric.
At the IAA in Frankfurt, Hongqi, the luxury brand of the Chinese giant FAW, showed the E115 Concept. This electrically powered concept car turns out to be much more than just a flashy design study. Hongqi is adding the E-HS9 to its delivery range, an electric SUV that is clearly based on last year’s show car.
Hongqi E115 Concept
Like the E115, the E-HS9 has a remarkably high, almost Rolls-Royce-like muzzle with vertical cooling vents and flat viewers determining the image. Even the concept car’s turbine wheels survived the transition to the production stage in slightly modified form. Although the ‘digital side mirrors’ do not return to the production version, Hongqi does give its E-HS9 recessed door handles. Hongqi is also transferring the strikingly designed, apparently chrome-plated C-pillar from the E115 to the E-HS9. At the rear, the differences between the production-ready SUV and the prototype are greater. The striking relief in the tailgate is referred to the wastebasket, in its place the E-HS9 has a fairly modest buttocks where the rear lights are connected by means of a thin LED strip. It is no surprise that the muzzle of the new SUV in particular evokes associations with Rolls-Royce. None other than Giles Taylor has been at the head of FAW’s design department since 2018, which means that Taylor is no longer allowed to draw Phantoms and Ghosts, but Hongqis.
The 5.2 meter long SUV is 2.01 meters wide and 1.73 meters high. The wheelbase is a hefty 3.11 meters. The optional four-, six- or seven-seater SUV is standard on 21-inch light alloy, but more interesting is of course which technology is hidden under the carriage. The four-wheel drive E-HS9 has in its least potent form two electric motors, each good for 218 hp and 350 Nm. The most powerful variant retains that 218 hp unit on the front axle, but gets a 350 hp unit on the rear axle. A battery pack with a capacity of 92.4 kWh has been incorporated into the soil. The monster sprints in its strongest form in less than 4 seconds to 100 km / h. The range should be around 500 kilometers – according to the not exactly accurate NEDC cycle. You can already feel it coming: the Hongqi E-HS9 is not coming to the Netherlands.