Chinese brand launches six new EVs at once
We’re used to Chinese electric vehicle brands constantly rolling out new models, but not six at once.
That’s exactly what the Evergrande Group has done, revealing the first six models it will sell via its Hengchi brand.
The six models are numbered from 1 to 6 and include sedans, SUVs and a seven-seat people-mover.
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Another 13 models are claimed to be in development, with 25 billion yuan ($5 billion) in development funds committed out to the end of 2021.
By the way, the Hengchi name apparently means “run fast forever”.
No technical details have as yet been revealed, but at least three of the vehicles have been designed by Anders Warming, the former Mini chief designer who later worked at the reborn Chinese-backed German car company Borgward.
If you’re a tiny bit sceptical about Evergrande and Hengchi and the stated plans, that’s understandable.
But Evergrande does have plenty of business heft in China as a major real estate and health industry player.
It invested in the troubled EV start-up Faraday Future in 2018, took control of NEVS (National Electric Vehicles Sweden) in 2020, has a share of the supercar maker Koenigsegg and has established business relationships with a range of automotive suppliers.
It broke ground on its first EV factory in May and says it will soon have two bases capable of 200,000 annual production.
The first model scheduled to be produced will be the Hengchi 1 in 2021.
The 1 is an ultra-luxury sedan with a 3.15 metre wheelbase, while the 2 is a compact luxury four-door. The 3 is a large luxury SUV, the 4 is the people-mover, the 5 is a small SUV and the 6 a similarly-sized crossover.
To coincide with the vehicle launch, the subsidiary of the Evergrande Group repsonsible for Hengchi, the Evergrande Health Industry Group, has proposed a name change to China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group.
“Within three to five years, the company strives to become the world’s number one new energy vehicle group in terms of [operational] scale, and competitiveness,” Evergrande Health said in a statement.
