If you pay attention to the new energy sales rankings, you should often see Chery’s little ant, also known as Chery eQ1. Although Chery New Energy already has many hot-selling products, it is obvious that it does not want to stop there, so it brought us the medium-sized pure electric SUV-Chery New Energy Ant (also known as "Chery Ant").
On September 22, Chery New Energy Ant was officially launched, with a price of 149,800-189,800 yuan after subsidies. Four models were launched in one month. So what kind of car is Chery New Energy Ant, what are its product highlights, which configuration is worth buying, and what are the future market prospects? Qi and Paike looked down slowly.
First of all, let’s take a look at the basic information of Chery New Energy Ant. Its body size is 4630/1910/1655mm and its wheelbase is 2830mm. It is positioned as a pure electric medium-sized SUV. In terms of power, it is equipped with a drive motor with a maximum power of 130kW and a peak torque of 280N·m, and adopts a rear-mounted rear-drive power layout. In terms of battery life, its battery capacity is 70.1kWh and its NEDC cruising range is 510km.
For the Chery New Energy Ant, Paike believes that we have to talk about the @LIFE modular platform, and Chery New Energy Ant is the first model of this platform. To put it simply, the @LIFE platform focuses on the two concepts of "green" and "smart". Take Chery New Energy Ant as an example. It uses an all-aluminum body frame, which can reduce the weight of the body-in-white by 30% and increase the stiffness by 20%. Its battery adopts a modular design to facilitate later replacement and upgrades; The group has 4 energy management zones and a liquid-cooled efficient heat transfer structure with four inlets and one outlet.
In addition, Chery New Energy Ant adopts a rear-mounted and rear-wheel drive power layout, freeing up space in the front to facilitate the later addition of a four-wheel drive or extended-range hybrid structure, which Paike is looking forward to. And because it is easier to lay out the electronic architecture for pure electric vehicles, Chery Ant has increased investment in electronic systems. For example, its electronic architecture technology has independent intellectual property rights and is compatible with multiple communication protocols such as 100M/Gigabit Ethernet and CAN/CANFD. It also supports the expansion of 5G and V2X functions, which also makes Chery New Energy Ant have more than 20 An L2 level intelligent driving assistance function.
After talking about the basic information and platform architecture of Chery New Energy Ant, let’s take a look at its product highlights. First of all, in terms of appearance, the shape of Chery New Energy Ant is different from other previous Chery new energy products. The round and full lines and split headlights make it highly recognizable. If you look carefully, Chery New Energy Ant's closed center grille has many "power generation windmill" patterns added to it, which can highlight the environmental protection concept of the car. Moreover, Chery New Energy Ant also added many "Y"-shaped embellishments to the front bumper plastic guard and 20-inch aluminum alloy wheels, making the entire car look unique.
On the side, Chery New Energy Ant feels relatively wide and flat. Of course, its width has reached 1910mm, which is quite wide among medium-sized SUVs. Moreover, it also adds more black plastic kits around the body to enhance the off-road atmosphere. The brake calipers in the 20-inch large wheels are also painted red to further highlight the sporty feel. As for the rear part of the car, through-type taillights have become a popular design language nowadays. The entire rear part is clearly layered, and the convex tailgate looks very full.
As for the interior, the first impression given by Chery New Energy Ant is that it is “high-end”. For example, it uses dual 12.3-inch LCD screens, an aircraft pushrod-style electronic gear lever, and wood grain-style interior trim panels, taking into account both a sense of technology and luxury. The shape of the entire center console is a bit like outstretched wings, making the entire center control area very wide. Moreover, in terms of materials, Chery New Energy Ant uses a large number of soft materials and adds stitching technology, which makes the class feel worthy of its price.
In this era, smart car-machine systems can be considered a "required course" for independent brands. Chery New Energy Ant's car machine supports multiple APPs such as Amap, Listening Partner, Kuwo Music, Meituan, etc., and has relatively powerful functions. Moreover, the display effect is very clear, the layout is simple and clear, and the operation is smooth.
In addition, the navigation interface can also be projected into the 12.3-inch full LCD instrument, further making it easier for drivers to read navigation information.
Thanks to the wheelbase parameter of 2830mm, Chery New Energy Ant’s interior space performance is relatively outstanding. It is also worth mentioning that its rear center platform is completely flat, taking more thoughtful care of the middle passengers. Moreover, its seats are quite thickly padded and have a good sense of wrapping. Coupled with a large panoramic sunroof, the riding experience in the rear row is great. What surprises Paike most is that Chery New Energy Ant provides both a 220V power supply and a USB interface under the rear air outlet, making it more convenient to use small electrical appliances in the car.
As for the power parameters, as mentioned before, it is not difficult for the 130kW, 280N·m drive motor to drag the Chery New Energy Ant, which weighs 1.76 tons. It can also be seen from the vehicle weight of 1.76 tons that the all-aluminum body structure is very helpful in reducing weight, because the dead weight of pure electric medium-sized SUVs usually exceeds 1.8 tons. In addition, the rear-mounted and rear-drive power layout gives Paike more expectations for its handling performance. At the same time, this car is likely to launch an electric four-wheel drive or extended-range hybrid version in the future.
As for which model is more worthy of recommendation, Paike thinks that if you want to buy it, buy the 2020 model of Chery New Energy Ant? High-energy pro version. First of all, from the price point of view, the price difference between it and the high-energy version is not large, which is within an acceptable range. Moreover, the subsidized price of the 2020 high-energy pro version itself is not high.
Compared with the 2020 high-energy version, the high-energy pro version has 20-inch wheels, front radar, side curtain airbags, panoramic images, merging assist, lane departure warning, electric induction tailgate, and mobile phone Wireless charging, front seat ventilation, main driver's seat memory, 220V power supply, automatic folding rearview mirror, sensor wipers and other configurations. Many of these configurations are very practical and difficult to install later, so those who really need these configurations might as well just buy the high-energy pro version.
Although Chery New Energy Ant is positioned as a medium-sized pure electric SUV, in terms of price, its main competitors should be BYD Song Pro? EV, Xpeng G3, WM EX5, Aion V and other compact vehicles pure electric SUV. Compared with these models, Chery New Energy Ant's class and size are superior, and the interior space is a highlight. In addition, the pure electric range of 510km is considered mid-to-upper level at the same price point, so battery life is not a problem.
And let’s not forget that although Chery New Energy Ant has little to do with Little Ant (eQ1), the market share of Little Ant (eQ1) has laid a good foundation for Chery New Energy . Whether it is brand awareness, sales channels, or product reputation, Chery New Energy Ant has inherent advantages over many new car-making forces. Coupled with the current relatively affordable post-subsidized selling price, Paike expects that Chery New Energy Ant’s future sales performance will not be bad, let us wait and see.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.