Electrical power

Photo: Kenan Cohen, Kenan Cohen

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A visit to the Chinese giant GAC from Guanju is a lesson on Chinese determination, motivation and ambition. What is the company planning to import Orion Mobility in about two months? And what scared me more than a price gun?

Kenan Cohen

Three days in Guanju, and there's no way this huge size and power called "China" will leave you indifferent to it. It can be astonishing standing in front of the city that until two or three decades ago looked like a good day and now it's like Los Angeles for another 20 years. Beneath these huge light towers are streets with a level of cleanliness that you don't have indoors, a branched (but crunched, city-wide) network of bridges, bridges, and decibels at street corners tell you how much noise is around - and on the other hand cameras at every corner shout silently "We see you" . Whatever the case, all the time there I saw only one dog on the street, he was also well kept by his owner and one colleague said he saw a cat, and everyone would think what he wanted ...

A routine night in Guanju, a mesmerizing skyline, dizzying intensity

GAC cars (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

You can say a lot of bad things about China. I also have a problem with this thing called the People's Republic of China, which is really not a republic - but very, very popular, really, there is a full mouth full of Chinese. You can criticize oppression, lack of access to information, incarceration of minorities, executions, is one of Iran's best companies, has wholesale human rights violations and if there is anything the Chinese understand is wholesale, go to AliExpress and you will understand. In short, there are enough reasons to be afraid of this country, and I am half Yemenite, the thing that scares me the most is a price gun.

And that power, when routed and engineered by setting a government target - is a rising force in the automotive world. Electricity boom, which removed one of the key barriers to penetrating Chinese vehicles into Europe - the Air Pollution Regulations, along with research and development partnerships with Japanese and Western automakers - paves the way for massive entry of cars from the world's largest auto industry to the West.

Israel first

The Chinese cars are leaving their country of origin and their arrival in Israel, several factors are linked.
In the global context, there is a growing demand for electric cars in Europe, a demand that European manufacturers have difficulty delivering in the immediate timeframe due to the need to replace existing production of many internal combustion cars. The Chinese? In forward-looking government "encouragement", they made this switch long ago.

In the Chinese aspect, due to the fact that the market is saturated in terms of supply and quantity of electric car sellers in China, and because the Chinese government is gradually reducing its subsidies for such cars, the electric market is declining and major Chinese manufacturers have very large incentives to move out of the country.

Electricity is the bridge between China and the West

GAC cars (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

Nice to know: GAC

Like the first meeting with China, the numbers of the domestic car market here are also dizzying. About 70 carmakers under 20 groups operate in China, 16 of which are fully government-controlled. It is the largest market in the world and accounts for 30 percent of the global market. Just to put things in proportion, GAC, is China's fifth-largest manufacturer and closed 2018 with the 2.3 million vehicles it produced. Not only does it produce for itself, GAC is also responsible for the construction of FCA, Toyota, Honda and other Chinese cars.

At the Guanju car show, its display spanned an entire floor as opposed to settling on complexes only to known manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Peugeot and others. They are very proud of being rated JD Power for the seventh time in China as the best Chinese manufacturer in terms of quality.

Also a visit to the company's headquarters, which is a huge integration that employs 800,000 workers, 17,000 of whom make cars, of which only 4,000 are in the R&D department, some of whom live and receive medical and education services in its huge complex. All this makes it clear that this is a manufacturer that takes its global aspirations very seriously. The tour of the new factory, which is responsible for the production of the electric "Aion" family, also tells the story of the company's transformation. A tremendous production line, with the best technology, use of components from Bush, Continental, Aisin, ZF and more, aluminum construction, robotics, painting facilities and strict production quality standards are just some of the picture.

In the research and development department, the sanctum of each car manufacturer and established in 2006, GAC holds innovation labs, noise isolation test cells, test facilities and calibration for shock absorbers, varying driving conditions, and simulations of trials on a variety of routes. In 2017 GAC establishes GAC NE (new energy) which is GAC's electric arm as an independent company.

Right to left: GE3, Ison S and Ion LX

GAC cars (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

The Chinese who come

The import of GAC products into Israel will be by a new company called "Orion Mobility", a separate company but owned by Union Motors, Toyota Importer of Israel. The start of the company's operations will be gradual as January 1, 2020, orders are scheduled to open and the official launch is expected by the end of February. In the first phase, the brand will have a single showroom in Tel Aviv and by 2023 three showrooms will be added. The service points for GAC cars will be at a number of dedicated service centers that rely on the Union Motors garage network.

Three models are expected to arrive in Israel, all three are electric but differ from each other. During the visit we drove all three, but the driving conditions, the time period and many of the components of the cars we drove have not yet been adapted to the Israeli specifications, so that this impression should be taken in limited warranty, a final opinion can only be formulated after proper driving in Israel, in the relevant versions.

GE3, based on the previous generation of converted GAC cars

GAC cars (Photo: Linc Xuan, PR)

GE3: The striker

The first model to arrive in Israel is called the GE3, which is actually an electric version of an existing GAC car. The exterior looks range from a crossover to a microwave, the design is not exciting and at some of the similarities to existing vehicles quite prominent. Its length is 434 cm, width 183 cm and height 164 cm. The wheelbase is 256 cm and the trunk has 370 liters. These are more or less equivalent to the Mitsubishi ASX.

The passenger compartment presents a kind of confused mixture, along with leather-like diffusers, the simple, stiffness and the unpleasant plastic steering wheel. The feeling is that of an out-of-date car, this is also evident in the dashboard with a slightly outdated appearance. The spacing is good, even for those in the back, who get separate air ports. The odd driving position and depth-adjustable steering wheel with limited altitude range do not improve this. The demo in the demo is different than it will be in Israel, in Orion Mobility talking about a higher standard, but without further details. One thing you can say is that advanced safety systems will not offer you and will only be satisfied with passive alarms from Mobilai, 360 degree cameras and a warning about a vehicle in a "dead area".

The GE3 passenger compartment

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

The GE3 is powered by a 54.75 kWh battery, which provides it with a declared range of 309 km according to the new WLTP standard. The electric motor power is 177 kW and the torque is 29.5 kgs. The vehicle has no load capacity of 100KW, so charging times Its not in line with modern electric cars. The declared acceleration per 100 mph is 8.4 seconds. Given the respectable numbers, I was expecting a stronger acceleration than I actually experienced. Probably the result is a low weight 1,648 kg. The car does come out of place with determination, but not dizzy. The cars that are about to arrive in Israel will also be calibrated to different racks and maybe different weight to the steering wheel, and this is great news, because on the demo ride the impression was of rigid racks, Probably to deal with the weight and heavy steering.

Official GE3 prices are currently unavailable. The closest electric vehicle in its dimensions and characteristics is the MG electric ZS which costs NIS 139,000 and is fully equipped, including advanced safety systems, but with a shorter declared range of 263 km. It is not surprised if the prices of GE3 are in this segment, it is surprised if They will not be lower.

Ison S, between family and large family

GAC cars (Photo: Linc Xuan, PR)

Ison S

The second car we drove was the Hyun S, also an independent development of the new generation GAC and it will be coming to us towards the end of 2020. A Chinese version of this car is sold by Toyota in its showrooms under a different name but with the GAC logo.

The exterior looks nice, 477 cm long, 188 cm wide and 153 cm wide, and 275 cm wide. In the trunk is 453 liters. It's a big family sedan like the Skoda Octavia, but smaller than the Mazda 6 for example.

Driver and cabin environment is very impressive in the Isle of S

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

Its passenger compartment is very impressive, the first thing the eye focuses on is the layout of the two giant screens, that of the dashboard and that of the multimedia style of Mercedes new cars and the quality of which does not fall off in its initial impression. Then you also see the rest of the passenger compartment, with excellent material quality, very high mounting level. The ambiance of the atmosphere continues with internal lighting that crosses the dashboard and the gear selector found on a floating console and below it a storage compartment. Almost everywhere the fingers reach there are some leather diffusers combined with metal. The seats are covered with Alcantara and in a very comfortable structure. Only the depth of the steering wheel was missing. The space at the back is excellent, and also the comfort of traveling and the view out of the large windows.

Multimedia system in Mercedes-style layout

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

Bayon S has a 48.4 kWh battery in the base model and 58.8 in the senior model, which provides a very impressive range of 410 to 510 km, but keep in mind that these are ranges according to the old standard (NEDC). The power of the electric motor is 181 kW, The torque is 30.5 kg. The 100 km / h acceleration takes 7.9 seconds in the senior version. Unlike the GE3, the S characterization can also be loaded with fast charging positions.

In our short drive, the Aion S turned out to be a very nice car, the quiet is noticeable here compared to the GE3, it's hard to believe that only two years separate the two, the progress is tremendous. Despite the dimensions, due to the use of aluminum it weighs 1,575 kg (1,625 in the larger batteries). The acceleration is very good in its normal state and even better in the sport mode, while the intermediate accelerators are also very impressive. Progress in calibration of the suspensions and chassis is also evident. The GE3.

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

Traveled Tax: Is this the taxation trick of electric vehicles

At least according to the specifications I have seen, the Hyun S also has advanced safety systems and this includes automatic braking, adaptive cruise control and correction deviation from the lane. Here too, very early to talk about prices, in the absence of a close competitor, if the intention is to position it in front of another compact electric family sold here like Nissan Leaf and priced at NIS 165,000, we look more or less at this number.

The LX is the most advanced, certainly impressive

GAC cars (Photo: Linc Xuan, PR)

Ion LX

This, undoubtedly the GAC flagship model in the electric field. The platform here is the most modern, its design impressive and presence, also because of the dimensions and also because of the similarity to the Jaguar I PACE from certain angles and who said hidden door handles. His crossover appearance also receives the usual decorations of wheelhouse arches, black plastic skirts and other elements.

It is not only impressive in design, but also in size, with 479 cm in length, 194 cm in width, height of 169 cm and a wheelbase of 292 cm which is a lot. This new platform, which also uses advanced construction and aluminum technologies, brings it to 1.9 tonnes weight to the front paddle version we used.

The battery that comes with the standard version is 70 kW, which delivers a range of 503 km (NEDC standard). The power is 181 kW and the torque is 35.7 kgs. A strong version of the LX uses a 93 kW battery and two electric motors At 204 hp and 71.4 kgs, the acceleration is 3.9 seconds per 100 mph and the range is 650 km.

The Ision LX passenger compartment

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

Like the Hyun S, the LX as a son of the newest generation of GAC cars presents a spectacular passenger compartment. It is similar to the illustration S in the layout of the screens, but there are differences mainly in the central console structure. Here, too, the quality of the materials is very high and so is the finish. The front seats are comfortable, supportive and well-grip in the body and comfortable and with excellent space at the back and still with plenty of room for a spacious trunk. The performance is good, even if again, it's not a dizzying acceleration. In the two-and-a-half references that the track contained and the obvious reservations, one could say that the angles of rolling are moderate and overall the business moves very nicely, perhaps thanks to the multi-connection rear suspension that is here.

Very spacious in the back seat

GAC cars (Photo: Keenan Cohen, Keenan Cohen)

As far as safety systems are concerned, here as well as Bayon S, the car can be equipped with the more advanced safety aids the manufacturer has to offer. The prices? Good question, cheap is not going to be that pretty clear. Relying on the price gap in China, the LX is more expensive than the S by about 40 percent. Which means that an informed guess places it north of NIS 200,000. How far north? We'll have to wait and see.

The passenger compartment in Ion S, still underestimated in China? Think again ...

GAC cars (Photo: Manufacturer, PR)

Ni Hao

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the dissolution of the Arab boycott of Israel, the man who lent a hand to the Japanese car import franchise made his living. In the late 1990s, it happened with the big wave of Koreans. Is today, 20 years later the Chinese car import franchise next thing? So like the complexity of a huge country like China, here too, the question is who brand you have in your pocket. The visit to Guanju's auto show certainly shows huge gaps between advanced automakers like GAC and those still stuck very deep in the blatant copying phase.

On the bottom line, if you still snort in automatic contempt at the wording MADE IN CHINA on products, you are welcome to wake up and forget about it, maybe not in one morning and in one model, but looking forward, it comes and more how.