China’s best-selling electric car assembled in Southeast Asia

Chinese manufacturer Wuling is actively expanding the market for its best-selling electric vehicle in its home market – the Hongguang Mini EV. The automaker is expected to introduce the Wuling Air EV, a similar small electric vehicle, to the global market, and heavily tweaked the exterior as well as the inside.

Wuling EV launched in Indonesia recently.

Indonesia is one of the first Southeast Asian countries selected in this expansion strategy, in particular, the small electric vehicle was renamed Wuling EV and manufactured at the Cikarang factory in Bekasi (West Java, Indonesia). ) also with some other “brother” models.

Following the launch of the MPV series in 2017, the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture has announced it will introduce micro electric vehicles based on the Global Small Electric Vehicle (GSEV) platform. Wuling EV will use this platform, but with a different appearance with a sportier and more modern style, despite still having the familiar boxy shape.

The shape of the Wuling EV is different from the Hongguang Mini EV.

The car’s information has not been announced too much, but through a brother model in the domestic market, many details about Wuling EV have been revealed. Accordingly, the car owns 12-inch wheels and is made from steel with plastic wheels wrapped outside. Despite being arranged with 4 seats, this model still has extremely compact dimensions with length x width x height respectively: 2,974 x 1,505 x 1,631 mm and wheelbase of 2,010 mm, Wuling EV also has version 2 seat with an overall length of only 2,599 mm and a wheelbase of only 1,635 mm.

Powering the car is an electric motor with a maximum capacity of 40 hp or 67 hp, nearly twice as powerful as the version sold in China. Along with that, Wuling EV is offered with 2 Li-ion battery options of 26.5 kWh and 28.4 kWh, for a maximum operating range of 300 km per full charge.

The interior compartment of the Wuling EV may be similar to the “brother” model in China.

This model is expected to integrate many technologies such as: Internet connection, driver assistance, parking assist and voice control. The car is expected to go on sale globally in the second half of this year.