In the ultimate frustration, the Chery Fengyun A8, a plug-in hybrid car, ultimately traveled 1,935 km on a full tank. Not far from the 2,000 km goal. However, this remains a completely surprising score.
There are those who speak and those who do. This is somewhat how we could summarize the battle for autonomy currently raging in China. If, for 100% electric models, the threshold of 1,000 km on a single charge seems to be the point to reach (and reached by the Nio ET5 and Zeekr 001), for plug-in hybrid models, Chinese manufacturers are doubling down.
Indeed, after the declarations of the Chinese group Geely, which notably owns Volvo, Lotus, Polestar and Smart, but also a small part of the capital of Mercedes, which announced its intention to launch next year a plug-in hybrid car with autonomy impressive 2,000 km, the Chery manufacturer responds with facts.
Just a few kilometers from the fateful threshold
With its Fengyun A8 model, the Chinese brand managed to cover 1,917.9 km with a first model and 1,935 km with a second. The objective of 2,000 km has not been reached, but it is as if it were the case because this score is so impressive.
The cars passed through several Chinese cities without incident, and you would think that they were equipped with gigantic fuel tanks and equally gargantuan batteries, but not at all. In reality, indeed, the 60-liter fuel tank is particularly large for a plug-in hybrid sedan.
In Europe, it generally ranges between 40 and 50 liters for premium models. The battery is not huge either, it is even rather standard for a vehicle of this type with 18.3 kWh announced. Some Mercedes hybrids exceed 30 kWh and announce more than 100 km of all-electric range.
The car is equipped with a “C-DM hybrid electric Kunpeng Super Performance” system developed by Chery, consisting of an ACTECO 1.5 liter TGDI hybrid engine which develops 156 hp and 220 Nm, all associated with a synchronous motor permanent magnet of 204 hp and 310 Nm. Combined, the car develops 360 hp and 530 Nm.
A battery not that big
Its 18.3 kWh lithium battery offers a 100% electric range of 127 km according to the Chinese CLTC cycle, or around 100 km with our European values under WLTP. Chery even announces “only” 1,400 km of combined autonomy, and by largely optimizing, it is therefore possible to do much better than the approved data. But the speed was ultimately quite low.
In any case, with its PHEV sedan, Chery is far ahead of the competition, starting with BYD with its Frigate 7, a large SUV which is announced with an autonomy of up to 1,200 kilometers thanks to its 1.5 liter thermal engine and a 36.8 kWh battery allowing it to travel more than 200 km entirely electric. Not bad, but the competition is now doing better!