QOTD: Would You Ever Consider China's Best-Selling EV?
While Tesla’s Model 3 sedan is supposedly taking the world by storm, some hot competition has been reported in China. The Hongguang MINI EV has eclipsed the offspring of Elon Musk to become the country’s best-selling electric vehicle. Though at just 28,800 yuan ($4,200), it hardly seems a fair comparison. Tesla’s minimalist sedan is larger and costs roughly 10 times what SAIC Motor, General Motors, and Liuzhou Wuling Motors decided the MINI EV was worth.
That’s right, it took the combined strength of three automakers to birth this baby and we’re wondering what it would take to get you to drive one home if they were offered here.
Ludicrously low pricing seems a big help. While we’re fairly certain SAIC-GM-Wuling accounts for Chinese EV subsidies in its advertised price, offering a hatchback that seats four and costs roughly the same as a motorcycle is an achievement even if it happens to be the size of a Kleenex box. Measuring just 2,917 mm (114.8 in.) long, 1,493 mm (58.8 in.) wide, and 1,621 mm (63.8 in.) high, the Hongguang MINI EV is quite petite.
Targeting those trapped in an urban landscape, the MINI EV uses a 27 hp electric motor that’s optimized for efficiency. It pairs with a compact 13.8 kWh battery pack that delivers a claimed 120 miles of range. Basic versions, closer to that $4,200 starting price, don’t have as wide of an operating area and need to be charged somewhere around 75 miles — thanks to their less-advanced 9.2 kWh energy packs.
Assuming August wasn’t a complete fluke, it’s interesting to see a vehicle like this catching on. Chinese auto sales have been in a bad state recently, with electric vehicles taking a particularly severe hit as subsidies were walked back. Heavy discounting in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic has helped bring customers back into the showroom.
Data suggests August sales actually shot up by 8.9 percent against the previous year. But critics have claimed this is the result of the Chinese government pressuring the CPCA to enhance the numbers as a way to reduce the annual shortfall that’s already guaranteed. To be fair, we’ve found the China Association Of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) much more adventurous in its counting of cars than the China Passenger Car Association has been.
Shenanigans or no, both groups are predicting a return to strength for the Chinese automotive market and suggesting a sustained period of growth over the next few years.
While it’s certainly not designed for the North American market, what would it take for the Hongguang MINI EV to get inside your garage? Less Chinese involvement? Local manufacturing? A lower price tag? A tad more interior space? A new living situation for you and your ilk? Or would it have to be an entirely different vehicle for you to even entertain the possibility?
[Images: SAIC-GM-Wuling]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Why to compare with Tesla. More relevant is Leaf. Is it better than Leaf?
Were it a 2 door, 2 seater Daihatsu I could see using this for my bumming around. I start working at 6 in the morning, 8 miles from home and hit the freeway before too many larger vehicles come out. The rest of my regular driving can be done without freeway use. My monthly trip to my brother's would not work, but that's what my ICE vehicle would be for.