The Chinese manufacturer Changan has a small electric city car in its development rooms with which the brand wants to piggyback on the success of tiny EVs from brands such as Wuling and Dongfeng.
The 2.92 meter short Hongguang Mini EV from Wuling is not available in China. The electric city little one now has various competitors, including from Dongfeng and Chery. Now the Chinese manufacturer Changan is also coming with an electric car that is mainly intended for city use.
In these photos that we have surfaced from the database of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, you can see the Changan Lumin. It is a remarkably chunky newcomer. Its length is 3.27 meters and that makes it slightly larger than its competitors, but it is still not a colossus. For comparison: a Volkswagen Up is about 25 centimeters longer. The Lumin owes its relatively sturdy appearance mainly to its angular body and its width of 1.7 meters. Changan gives the Lumin striking headlights that resemble somewhat sleepy-looking eyes. The Lumin basically weighs 805 kilos and has a 41 hp electric motor with which it reaches a top speed of 101 km/h. Unfortunately, we do not yet have information about the contents of the battery pack and the range.
What does the subtitle of this article have to do with the story? Well, in China models often have more than one model name. In addition to a model name for international use, manufacturers often also apply a ‘Chinese designation’. In this case, it translates into English as ‘waxy corn’, a sticky and waxy type of corn. What exactly does the Lumin have to do with the sticky crop? We really have no idea, but the corn variety seems to be used in many industries. Perhaps that’s the link to the Lumin that Changan no doubt hopes will pop up everywhere as well.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl