Europeans stop production, huge parking lots store ready-made cars that cannot be sold because they lack the necessary chips.
Americans offer their vans minus certain systems just to keep moving inventory and not to jam the production lines.
With some Japanese you can order a car now and in the meantime get a calendar with pictures of it and count the months.
With the Chinese?
Well, where business as usual seems, the largest car market in the world has hardly been affected by the Corona (20.8 million vehicles, down only 2 percent in 2020) and the chip crisis that is plaguing the industry does not seem to be something that bothers them very much.
On the contrary, they have a mission and this is their opportunity.
What is the mission?
Take advantage of the growing growth in demand for electric vehicles in Western markets, to break out into new markets.
When the use of electric propulsion actually erases almost completely and sometimes completely erases any advantage that European, Japanese and Korean manufacturers have bothered to achieve over the years in the field of internal combustion engines.
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Like its competitors, it is based on a gasoline model (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
You may not have heard of Gili, which is a huge industrial power in China and the largest car brand in China.
But this private corporation dominates a ramified network of corporate costs, from those you know in the automotive industry like Volvo, Lotus to new and lesser-known brands like LYNK & CO, Ziker, partnership in the Smart brand and more.
But it encompasses much more than that, from buses and commercial vehicles, three motorcycle manufacturers (including Japan and Benley), VOLOCOPTER that makes mega-skimmers for urban transportation, mining companies, finance, technology institutes, two universities, a racetrack and we are not in the third list.
But here we are talking about its product that is more relevant to us than a giant glider (for now) - the geometric C.
The design is nice, although it does not record new chapters in the field's births (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
So Gili's first electric swallow for markets outside China is like quite a few of its competitors converting an existing petrol car to electric propulsion, it makes things simpler and cheaper.
In her case it's Amgrand GS, what's Amgrand?
I don't know, maybe it's a "generic-but-good-looking-hatchback-crossover-car" in Mandarin.
Because it really is like that, except for the opaque front and the continuous light strip at the back, there is no aesthetic line here.
In the cabin, well, the name of the story is different not to mention - completely different.
In contrast to the ornate and sometimes gimmicky look of things from China, the business here is restrained on the one hand and quite innovative on the other.
This shows what compares to what we would expect, for example, from European manufacturers in the field of combining materials, colors and textures.
So true, while the center console and dashboard are different from the petrol original, the quality of materials in the doors for example does not align with that of the rest.
The interior design is modern and elegant (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
The relatively small dashboard is loaded with information, the top view solves some of the need to focus on it to get important information.
Solves some but not all, so for example when you have to scroll through menus, it is done from the corner of the screen and in a font not large enough for a quick peek.
Next to it is the 12.3-inch multimedia screen that controls most systems.
It is quick to respond, the main icons are large and accessible and the climate control shortcuts are very well executed.
It does not have an Android and Apple pairing, and should be equipped with one, in the meantime, customers will be able to use a built-in Wise.
It has another smart feature - sliding the screen to the left leads to shortcuts to common actions.
I know I've seen it somewhere before, and then the token falls on me - in the electric Volvo XC40 ...
A puzzling location of the abolition of stability control and downhill travel control (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
The element of hexagons in the center console is nice and handsome especially at night when the ambient lighting gives the whole business a very spacey look.
Indeed, I can argue with the logic of putting there the activation of the two least likely functions in such a vehicle - disconnection of stability control and slope control - instead of putting there things that you will actually use on a daily basis such as driving modes (eco, eco + and sport) or at least Scrolling through regenerative braking modes, turning on peripheral cameras - stuck inside the menus.
The floating center console and below it has more than enough storage space, a wireless charging pad for mobile, a compartment that closes between the seats holds a single cup holder and two smaller compartments.
The buttocks pick up two very comfortable seats, electrically adjustable for long legs they will be slightly short and will lack thigh support.
At night lighting the atmosphere upgrades the look of the cabin (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
Worth lingering on the armature of the Geometric C, because you will not get everything that is here in any of its direct competitors, in fact you will climb deep into the electric worlds much more expensive than it like Ionic 5 and Ianac to get what is here and I am talking about their high finish levels of 200 thousand Shekels and north.
The power seats, the BOSE audio system, the panoramic roof (there is an opaque cover, hallelujah), a 360-degree camera that switches views to the side of the vehicle when signaling in slow turns and more.
It has all the safety systems here (automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, lane departure correction, etc.).
The vehicle has not yet been tested in the important euro ncap crash tests and we are still waiting to see how it will cope there.
Spacious rear seat, also air conditioning ports and USB socket (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
The rear seat is also spacious and with 270 cm it aligns with what goes with most family cars, only with better entry, exit and headroom, there is also a USB socket and air conditioning outlets. Remember that the base is a petrol car.The trunk of its 417 liters seems smaller than this official figure, will suffice for current family uses, but it is not some amazing warehouse.
Panoramic sunroof with opaque cover Thank God (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
Under its hood (it is not yet one of the trams that also offer a front trunk) there is an electric motor that is attached to the front wheels and sends 204 horses and 31.6 kg it is significantly stronger than its two competitors - Hyundai Kona (136 hp) and MG ZS EV (143 hp), and although their torque figure is higher, the geometry has agility and determination that is lacking from the other two on the way out, intermediate accelerations and the way it pulls strongly towards its maximum speed. The
two relevant driving modes it has are the ECO and -SPORT, in the first it is quite agile, in the second it may already be too nervous for most drivers. Even in its strongest state it does not really allow driving in "one pedal" and the power of regeneration is less tangible than other electrics.
Unrivaled driving ranges in its price range (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
With the 70 kWh battery of this version, it is supposed to offer a declared range of 460 km. I used the two days of driving in it to make the way north in a moderate driving mode that simulates reasonable and average vehicle use but steeped in battery-milled highways and mountainous features between the Netofa Valley towards Safed and from there through Mahnayim Junction to Golan Heights. 100 km, which means a real range of about 410-420 km, very close to the declarations. Strong acceleration, strong braking and strong turning. At the end of this act we moved to an administrative trip on Road 5 and back to Tel Aviv, this time the very strong driving gave its signals, consumption rose to 18.7 kWh per 100 km - that is about 370 km M of range - let us understand, these are excellent numbers, excellent at any scale of popular tram, for the purpose of comparison,The declared range of the Kona and MG duo is 305km and 263 respectively (and in practice both will scratch the 250 with awe and pity) sounds incredibly meager.
We did not have a chance in this test to charge the vehicle, so we will be satisfied with the manufacturer's data that talks about a full charge from 11 kilowatts in 6 hours and charging at a fast (DC) position of 75 kilowatts will bring the battery from 20 to 80 percent in 36 minutes.
When it comes to comfort, the Geometric C exhibits a very good level of interference damping on most types of roads and paving. Only on pits at low speed was he less impressive in the "smooth" absorption of the shock absorber move. Its bigger problem is in the area of noise isolation. They need to give a much better job there, the lack of engine noise leaves too much room for the tire noise that penetrates the cabin, the wind and road noises that penetrate the cabin.
The road behavior is not exciting, but it is predictable, has a very good grip and it is difficult to get it out of balance even in fast driving. In fact its main problem is the gap between the ability of the tires to lower the power to the ground especially came out of turns, where stability control is required to moderate the engine.
Wind noise is an issue that he will have to address in the next round of updating the model, if any (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
Gili's first electric vehicle coming to Israel does two really good things - offering generous range and rich instrumentation.
But there are other trams that do it as well, and maybe even a little better than it.
They do nothing better than that - and that is to offer this package at a lower price than the competition and at a much higher price.
His competitors have warmed up the area, he is the first to have the potential to actually burn it down.
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For NIS 134,000 for the 350 version and NIS 143,000 for the 460 version, it is not only cheaper and has higher ranges than direct competitors, it also brings another component to the table - unlike other electric vehicles in which the calculation of "return on investment" in the price gap Between them and a parallel petrol car subject to two or three years of use - when the price is a family failure or a crossover with an internal combustion engine or hybrid - the savings start from the first mile and from there it continues to register benefits in the cheaper routine maintenance of an electric car.
Will be marketed in two versions 350 and 460 according to the declared ranges (Photo: Keinan Cohen)
The only two "warning notes" that can be attached at this point are the matter of noise isolation, which you will have to test yourself on a test drive in it as well as our wait for the safety stamp of crash tests to the binding standard of euro ncap.
But as good news, at the end of 2021, the year of the electric revolution of the Israeli market - the Geely Geometric C is the move that establishes the breakthrough of these cars into the mainstream of the car market.
A name we will have to get used to (Photo: Ronen Topelberg)
On the technical side: Geometric Gili C 460
Engine, propulsion:
electric, front
Battery:
70 kWh
Power / RPM (
20
hp):
204
Torque / RPM (kg):
31.6
Gearbox:
reduction gear, single gear
Dimensions:
length (cc)
Mm
:
443
Width (cm):
183
Height (cm):
158
Wheelbase (cm):
270
Trunk (liters):
417
Performance:
Acceleration 0-100:
7.7 seconds
Maximum speed:
150 Km / h
Range:
460 (declared), 430 (test)
Competitors:
MG ZS EV, Hyundai Kona, Peugeot 2008e
Price:
NIS 143,000