Another day, another electric vehicle from China.
Thankfully, though, this isn’t another larger SUV with a price tag in the $60K range. Instead, the new GAC Aion UT hatchback is about the size of a Corolla, and it costs less than that petrol-electric hybrid model, too.
The entry-level Premium model has a promo launch price of $30,990 drive-away, while the flagship model I tested is $5K more. And that gets you extra features like a panoramic glass sunroof, a ventilated driver’s seat (but not for the passenger!), an electric boot lid, power folding side mirrors and a wireless phone charger.
That’s beyond the standard equipment in the base car, which is extensive for the money, including electric front seat adjustment, heated front seats, fake leather trim, a huge 14.6-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, a six-speaker sound system, connected services with a smartphone app to control the car, and the expected alloy wheels (17s), LED lighting, and clever parking safety tech like a surround-view camera and parking sensors around the car.
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Of course, there’s the array of safety technology and equipment that most modern cars have, and some of those are welcome, while others are outright frustrating.
There’s a driver monitoring camera that needs to learn how humans behave, and a speed sign recognition system that insists on chiming at the hint of a speed zone change. It’s incessant and annoying… and turning those things off? Beyond difficult to do every time you drive the car if you don’t like them.
There’s a software fix undoubtedly just around the corner to improve these elements, and it can’t come soon enough. Because otherwise, this is an entirely liveable and likeable car.
It’s fun enough to drive, perversely so when you push it through corners or from a standstill because it has Chao Yang tyres. They’re not great.
But the handling is surprisingly natural feeling, and there are multiple modes to choose from for acceleration, braking and steering response. It’s a cinch to hoon along in, and even has a Motion Sickness Relief mode to stop you from making your passengers sick.
There’s also the Power Save mode, which tries to maximise your range potential and uses the most assertive version of the car’s regenerative braking, though it’s not as on/off feeling as some rivals, and you can’t do the full ‘one pedal’ driving thing in it. That’s fine, though, and the braking response is otherwise predictable.
The electric motor isn’t the most powerful, but it allows it a claimed 0-100km/h time of 7.3 seconds – a smidge slower than a Golf GTI was a decade ago. It’s zippy and easy to park because of the camera tech, too. The other safety stuff is reasonable, but some of the controls will take some learning.
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The charging specs are reasonably good too – GAC claims an 8.5 hour full recharge time using 11kW AC (three-phase) power, while with a public charger it should be able to suck down half-a-battery ’s-worth of charge in 24 mins (from 30-80%).
Inside, it doesn’t feel like a mid-$30K car. In fact, some of the almost-decade-old petrol cars it competes with on price feel frankly archaic by comparison.
This is an interesting and attractive cabin, albeit without many buttons. Everything is done on the screen or by voice control, or by the few buttons on the steering wheel. That’s not unusual, but it can be hard to acclimate to.
The comfort and convenience are very good, even considering that only the driver gets a cooled seat in the high-grade model.
In the back seat, there’s more space than in some large SUVs thanks to its long wheelbase. It means you can fit grown-ups in with room to spare, but if you have kids, there are the requisite seat anchor points and directional air vents in the back.
The boot space is impressive, with either a flat load-in lip or a lowered boot floor for extra depth. Meanwhile, you can lift that false floor up against the rear seatback to allow space to the open well area below, because there’s no spare wheel taking up space. That could be an issue for some buyers, though.
The big question for buyers might be on the brand’s long-term aspirations here, but it’s backing this product with a long eight-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, and the battery has an eight-year/200,000km warranty plan, which is longer than most. But, frustratingly, it requires maintenance every 12 months or 15,000km, which is short for an EV.
This one has a lot of promising attributes, and if they fix the safety systems and software usability, it’ll be even more compelling.
4/5 stars
