After being in suit and tie and attending a vigorous amount of conferences it was time to do what we love to do best which is get behind the wheel of a vehicle and what an exciting car did iCAUR had lined up for us.
We finally had a shot behind the wheel of the brand new iCAUR V27, the brands newest flagship model that is well on its way to South Africa, which we first saw in the flesh at last years Chery User summit where for the most part the car was undergoing final phase testing and was wrapped in the spy shot protective gear. Read about that trip on here.
Even then our stint with the car was short through a muddy course test which is where we can recall just how refined and well built the vehicle felt even on tricky terrain but now iCAUR had given us the go ahead on a longer trip on the roads of China to fully immerse ourselves in what is the V27.
Technical aspects
First some technical aspects to understand is that the vehicle is the first in its brand and lineup to offer both ICE and battery setup but not in the normal way since that’s not in the iCAUR brands nature because this vehicle is a Range Extender Electric Vehicle which means there's a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine acting as a generator under the bonnet for aAtkinson-cycle system. And yes, as the picture shows this vehicle also has Vehicle to Load capabilities where the whole vehicle acts as a backup power source.
Altogether this setup means that the car produces a power output of 339 kW and 505Nm through dual electric motors that powers all of the four wheels via a high-efficiency hybrid transmission/drive system, where the electric motors directly drive the wheels without traditional shifting gears which was developed and engineered by the joint group of Chery in order to do good and benefit all under the portfolio. Being a range extender means that the V27 can easily traverse 1000km granted that the two power sources are filled up to the brim, the engine is paired to a 34.3 kWh or 44.5 kWh battery.
Exterior
The exterior of the vehicle is one of a large bulky SUV in stature, it measures at 5,045 mm (with spare tyre) in length, 1,894 mm in height, 1,976 mm in width, and a wheelbase of around 2,900 mm.
Interior
The interior of the car is your typical iCAUR setup which means there a playful minimalist layout that consists of big screens, one for the infotainment which measures at 14.5 inch, that supports phone connectivity wirelessly and hosts its own computing systems that help you fuss less about being connected as it has its own navigation and built in Spotify app. Whilst the other screen is driver display that gets a smaller rectangular display that is bright, clear and crisp enough to understand.
The cabin is wrapped in a mixture of premium feeling leather on the seats, door cards, and the chunky multifunctional steering wheel whilst the headliner is a swede material that goes around these dual pano screens that shift from opaque to transparent at the push of a button. Here there are electrically operated seats that heat up, physical A/C controls, and up to 50 storage compartments including a built fridge for cooling of beverages.
We also couldn't help but to wonder if customers back home would have the option of choosing alternative interior colors to choose from like the Peanut Butter colors or the Purple-ish Burgundy color in their new V27 however on sight iCAUR personnel did warn off this possibility claiming that "The market does often go for other colors besides black interior colors".
The interior also had a Sony sound system which or Co-driver quickly took advantage off to test and it was unsurprisingly excellent and we certainly hope to receive it in South Africas market, the cabin is so spacious from the rear letting one reap ample leg and headroom thanks to their being no transmission tunnel and a tall vertical roof design which has two individual glasses instead of a traditional panaramic roof.
The drive.
Not that it is important or anything but this thing moves, for a big car it is quite boggling when you first experience and it is that same thing that would give one the courage to overtake courageously if need be, surprisingly the throttle calibration of the vehicle seemed to have some more smoothing out and a little less off feel when applying in the form of lag, take can be a bit too sharp though cause one to get motion sick as the car is dead silent which is actually a great thing for interior comfort. The driving position is largely adjustable and it boxy dimensions allow for good vision out and around the vehicle.
The drive had a mixture of town and city driving and here we saw that the car has a active 360 radar that seems to scan not only surroundings close to the vehicle but also object a couple of meters away and this is displayed on the screen that clearly shows, other cars, humans, and potential obstacle with a subtle warning to either be careful here which was certainly a bit less in your face as these safety systems tend to be nowadays.
Final Verdict.
A comfortable ride, decent power delivery when you apply some weight on the peddle and potentially good returns on fuel economy whilst looking good? It could be the beginning of a very popular car that slots into very serious conversations as "the one to go for." After speaking to some of the brand representatives they did confirmed that this vehicle is most likely to go after your favorite off road themed/capable SUVs including the newly introduced and popular Jetour T2, They claimed that their key selling point will be the pricing it will launch in and the packaging that the price will give one access to..we now wait to see what price this car is set to debut in Mzansi.