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Lipomotor T03: we did 1,000 km without a drop of gasoline - voila! Car

2022-11-23T05:43:53.623Z


We took the cheap tram in Israel for the trip to Eilat. Was the small car that costs NIS 100 thousand up to the challenge?


A combination of Smart and Mini in one car (Photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)

Today we travel south.

We have already made the long route to Eilat in several fast, spacious and especially more expensive cars, but today we challenge the test car and us, and take it out of its comfort zone into the desert.



Lip Motor T03 is the name of the last Chinese company to immigrate, and is imported to Israel under Metro Motor, which you have known until today as the largest two-wheeled importer in Israel.

The car is electric like most other Chinese cars, but the second electric car to land straight into the shrinking mini car market.

Competition for the Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10 (which are expected to become streetcars), Toyota Aygo X, Suzuki Ignis, and also the Fiat e500 which preceded it as the first streetcar in the group.

5-door configuration in contrast to the electric Fiat 500 (photo: Kenan Cohen)

Only the T03 has two important advantages over the Italian: it costs only 100,000 shekels, which makes it the cheapest electric car in Israel, and it has five doors.

The 500 has 3 doors (or 3+1 with a "half side door" for an additional fee) and costs NIS 120,000 in the most basic version, with a smaller battery than the Lip and a short range of about 100 km.



Unlike the 500, which has a retro design , and the rest of the new Mini Gasoline whose designers have invested in treating the surfaces to give them a more mature look, the Lip mostly looks cute. Big and round headlights, round and simple body lines, imagine the result of a night of love between a Mini and a Smart - now open your eyes and it is her. But she has grown In height, with almost 1.60 meters, 15 cm more than the Korean women.

You don't feel it until you stand next to it, or sit in it and discover at a traffic light that you are sitting shoulder to shoulder with Mitsubishi Outlander drivers and passengers.

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The design is simple, the operation is complex (photo: Kenan Cohen)

Inside, the design is simple and clean: a 10.1-inch central multimedia screen in the center and another one, 8 inches, that serves as a dashboard.

The air conditioning vents were placed at the top which is good, but then the designers stopped listening to the human engineering experts.

There are no control buttons, everything is done from the touch screen, which suffers from small fonts that are difficult to read while driving, multiple menus, too complex operation where basic functions require too many clicks and glances and reflections from the outside that do not allow you to see the information.

The rest of the passenger compartment is also very simple, a bit of fabric here and there, a surface for placing the mobile near the charging sockets (12V and two USB), a single cup holder and a small alcove between the seats.



Remember the height?

One of its advantages is a high sitting position, at the level of a jeep and not of a classic mini car, a bit like in the Ignis.

This makes for easy entry and exit, and very good forward visibility.

Only two seats in the back (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

A flat floor without a gear lever contributes to the sense of space in front.

The seats are flat, without side support.

We found them comfortable even after a long drive, but smaller drivers may feel less comfortable.

Short or particularly tall drivers will also have to make an effort to find a comfortable seating position, since the steering wheel is only adjustable up and down, and not for depth.

A passenger and a driver who are not petite will enjoy an intimate experience of rubbing elbows and will have to renegotiate the whole concept of "personal space".



The rear seat contains only two seat belts, making the Lipp a four-seater, the headroom is excellent, the kneeroom is a reasonable minus for adults.

A high window line will bother small children.



The trunk has a volume of only 210 liters, which is indeed 35 liters more than in the electric Fiat, but also 40 liters less than in the Picanto and the i10.

The cabin is deep, which requires effort to lift heavy objects.

Don't look under the bottom for a spare tire, there is an inflation kit.

You can increase its volume by folding the seat, but it folds in its entirety and is not split, so the concession is on sitting in the back at all.

They managed to maintain surprising headroom for those sitting in the back (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)

The equipment, as long as we don't talk about safety, is generous.

There's only one trim level but it includes lightweight 15-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a blacked-out roof at no extra charge, climate control, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors.



But the safety equipment is poor: only 2 airbags, and currently no active safety systems.

These are already offered on the Chinese market, but will only reach us in May, when the Lip will receive full European approval.

Until then, there is Mobileye installed locally, a sight we no longer expected to find in a new car in 2022.

There are indeed four disc brakes, while some of the competitors are content with two, but as a streetcar the Lipp is also significantly heavier, with 1.2 tons.

The loading opening is narrow and the volume of the trunk is not impressive (Photo: Walla! system, Audi Etzion)

The Lip is built on a dedicated electric vehicle platform, with a battery at the bottom of the chassis, but its space utilization is less good than some of the other streetcars.

The engine compartment is indeed used by the electric motor and its auxiliary systems, and is not used as an additional luggage compartment.

The engine has a power of 108 hp, good for a mini car, but again, one that weighs like a small family car. Note that its headroom, only 11 cm, is very modest and requires caution and slowness every time you get off the road.



Combining the drive from the gear stick behind the steering wheel, and starting urban traffic reveals a good initial response.

There are three drive modes, normal, sport, which accelerates reactions at the expense of electricity consumption, and economical, which whispers them in favor of reducing consumption, although it does not turn off the air conditioner and limit the speed too much, as in the Fiat 500, for example.

Survive long trips, but make it clear to you that it is not to her liking (Photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)

Although the maximum speed is limited to 140 km/h, the performance until then is good in sport and normal, and there is no difficulty in overtaking. It's a shame that the control of the recharging level is selected from the complicated screen, and the maximum charging is not strong enough to drive with one pedal.



Lip promises a combined range of 280 km , compared to 190 km in the basic Fiat and 320 km in the more expensive model.

But we finished the long drive to Eilat and back with 17.5 kW per 100 km, a practical range of 240 km, after driving at normal traffic speed.

Despite the promise of fast charging at a rate of 50 kWh, we did not achieve more than 45-47 kWh at the points where we stopped.

It's good that the battery is small with a capacity of 41.3 kWh. Home charging is not very fast either, with a promise of 7 hours due to a 7 kW charger (or 3.5 hours from 30 to 80%). The charging socket is located on the front, and not in one of the corners the rear, which forces parking with the front part in - which is not recommended under any circumstances.

The declared 280 km sounds ambitious (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)

Although it is not a sports car, or one with steering that we would like to remember, the Lip has the charm of small cars, accurate in curves as in urban traffic, and quick in reactions to steering wheel tilt.

The wheels in the corners of the chassis and the placement of the batteries in its floor allow it to produce a decent amount of grip, without drama - as expected from such a car, and in any case its performance envelope and speed don't really allow it to get into trouble and the modest range to begin with will cool any heavy-footed driver.

The noise insulation is good, but the height takes its toll over 100 km/h in the noise from the roof area and the mirrors. The ride comfort is reasonable.

On the beach of Eilat, now we are going back (photo: Walla! system, Udi Etzion)

Summary

The bottom line is the Lip is an efficient and useful mini car.

It offers low maintenance and usage costs, but needs a first check-up at 3,000 km, where the Metro Motor importer will come to you, and another one at 10,000 km, where you will have to go to the garage, both free of charge.

It will arrive 20,000 km later, with maintenance 30,000 and will cost about NIS 900.



It has the charm of a small car, the advantages of a high seat, and the absence of a single-clutch robotic gearbox like the Korean ones. The Lip T03 is at its best in the city, where the high seat is An important advantage, but you will also survive intercity driving, especially if you are patient and planned enough for charging on the way.

Narrow and tall, bigger in reality than in the pictures (Photo: Walla! System, Udi Etzion)

But it needs more work on the multimedia, its trunk could be smarter, and above all, its level of safety equipment is currently too low to recommend it.

Metro states that in May the car will arrive in full European standard, currently it is in partial standard which is limited to importing 400 cars per year.

When that happens, the Lipp will be a recommended car for anyone who wants to join the electric revolution on a limited budget, or with a tight parking space.

And she will wink mainly at those, because even though the electric cars are closing the viability gap against larger cars, here, in this segment, the price still plays a role.

And when its price is about 10,000 shekels higher than the price of a Kia Picanto, we are talking about an amount that is equivalent to gasoline that will be enough for about 24,000 km of driving that is not limited in range or requires a permanent charging station. It seems that at this stage it will wink mainly at owners of adjacent parking who need a car for short distances only and determined to move to the electric age.

A new actress in the electrical field, also from China (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

On the technical side: Lip Motor T03

Engine, drive:

electric, front wheel drive


Power:

108 hp


Torque:

16.1 kg


Battery:

41.2 kWh


Gearbox:

automatic, direct drive single gear



Dimensions:


Length (meters):

3.62


Width (meters):

1.65


Height (meters):

1.58


Wheelbase (meters):

2.42


Trunk (liters):

210



Performance:


Acceleration 0-100 (seconds):

No data


Maximum speed (km/h):

140


Combined declared/tested range:

240/280 km


Power consumption (test):

17.5 kWh


Home charging (30-80 percent, 7 kWh):

3.5 hours


Fast charging (30-80 percent, 50 kWh):

36 minutes




of competition:


Fiat 500e, Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10



Price:


NIS 100,000

  • vehicle

  • Vehicle tests

Tags

  • Metro

  • Metro Motor

  • electric car

  • electric car

Source: walla

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