The Chinese car market has another new player: Qineng Automobile. The manufacturer, launched last year, has now presented its first car: the GEV 1.
Qineng Automobile is a new car manufacturer that was created in March last year through a collaboration between the Chengdu City Investment Energy Investment Management Group and Xinte Automobile, one of the many sub-brands of the Chinese giant FAW that focuses entirely on electric car production. The first born of Qinent is this GEV 1. Although the model is completely new to us, it is in fact the sister model of the DEV 1 of partner Xinte introduced in 2018.
The Qineng GEV 1 measures 3.75 meters in length, is 1.66 meters wide and 1.55 meters high. The distance between the front and rear axle is 2.42 meters. With those dimensions, the GEV 1 is a bit 45 centimeters shorter than the Crossland X from Opel, a car that has the basic shape of this electric newcomer. The GEV 1 is powered by a 75 hp and 170 Nm strong electric motor that sends its forces to the front wheels. The battery pack has a capacity of 35 kWh, which according to Qineng is sufficient for a range of 305 kilometers, determined according to the NEDC cycle. An empty battery pack can be charged to 80 percent of its capacity in 40 minutes via a fast charger.
The GEV 1 also seems to be pretty good in its stuff. For example, the hatchback not only has a 10-inch display linked to the infotainment system, but also a 7-inch digital instrumentation behind the wheel. The infotainment system can be operated with speech, among other things, and the climate control can be set remotely via a telephone application. The starting price in China is about € 19,300. After subsidy, the Chinese government has gradually postponed and phase out subsidies for EVs by two years until the end of 2022, but the GEV 1 is allowed to join for only € 9,400 …