For a long time, the market for low-cost electric vehicles has been firmly occupied by "old scooters". Electric vehicles produced by small workshops are not only extremely high safety risks, but also the practice of drivers on the road without a driver's license is also repeatedly prohibited.
Since August this year, Shanghai has carried out special rectification of "old scooters", and automobile manufacturers have also begun to consider the "low-cost electric mini-car", a market segment with great potential.
Since the electric mini-car available within 50,000 yuan on the market is really limited, the previous Hongguang MINIEV was almost a must for consumers at this price point. In November, the car, which costs less than 50,000 yuan, unexpectedly became the only model in China's new energy market this year that sold more than 30,000 a month.
Chery also smelled the broad opportunities in the low-cost electric mini car market, and launched today's electric mini car priced at 2.99-4.39 million yuan: Chery QQ Ice Cream.
01
Appearance: Quite like a "big box"
The pink-purple paint made me think of taro-flavored ice cream the first time I saw this car. The short body, rounded rearview mirrors and the echoing "U" daylights make this car with a price of only 43,900 yuan at the top a bit exquisite.
But on closer inspection, I found something wrong: is this shape a bit too similar to the Macro light MINIEV?
Unlike the rounded shape of the fuel era QQ, Chery QQ ice cream looks more like a big square.
The front face cancels the middle net, and the daytime running lights on the left and right "U" shape create a visual sense of the smiley face; after the logo is turned over, it is a charging interface, supporting 250 V, 16 A slow charging; the front face is divided into a square area with black plastic material, and the fog lights on both sides are only plastic decorations.
Unlike the horizontal and vertical line design that can be seen everywhere in The Hongguang MINIEV, the headlight outline and front bumper shape of Chery QQ Ice Cream still retain a part of the rounded curve, which looks more affinity.
The design of the double door of Chery QQ Ice Cream, the convex curve of the front and rear wheel arches and the concave curve of the door panel are almost exactly the same as those of the Macro miniev. The rim adopts a more personalized clover shape, and is embellished with strips of the same color on the body.
The rear of the car is also equipped with "U" shaped width indicator lights and headlights to echo. Below is also a large black plastic trim with two rear reversing radars.
Chery's publicity called the car a "MINI SUV." Due to the chassis battery pack, this car is on the overall high side. The more boxy shape and 145 mm wide tires make the car look like a "big box" overall.
Limited by the body size of 2,980 mm x 1,496 mm x 1,637 mm, Chery QQ Ice Cream has only a narrow slit in the trunk space without the rear seats being reclined. The rear seats are 50:50 reclining to accommodate temporary loading of large items.
02
Interior: Don't ask for too much
Because the chassis was so high, as soon as I got into the car, my head hit the door frame. Looking closely, I noticed that the new car had a short section of door strips falling off. Looking at the body again, some parts are directly screwed in with cross screws, without the slightest concealment. However, the seam treatment of the body and interior is relatively uniform.
The long and heavy door makes it very difficult for the car to open and close the door, and the door is often closed at one time, which affects the use.
In the process of experiencing this car, I always remind myself: this is a car of 43,900 yuan, don't ask too much. Because of the limited cost, the interior of such mini cars can only meet the "usable", and you are advised to give up the expectation of luxury and comfort.
That being said, the car is not much of a problem in terms of functionality for everyday use, and is equipped with colored LCD instrument panels except for the lowest-end models. The middle and left sides of the dashboard are the speed display and the instantaneous power display, the right side can replace the display information, including average power consumption, motor speed, Bluetooth music lyrics and remaining power, and the bottom display area is the remaining power and mileage information.
The buttons to adjust the information of the driving computer are the two black buttons in front of the dashboard, and the adjustment function is not integrated on the multi-function steering wheel, which is somewhat inconvenient.
After hanging into the reverse gear, this dashboard display will cut to the reversing image interface, but in the process of hitting the direction, this small display will be blocked solidly, but fortunately, the body is small, and the reversing problem can be solved by relying on the rearview mirror.
Although it is equipped with a multi-function steering wheel, the buttons can only control music and mobile bluetooth phones. The "MODE" on the left side of the steering wheel is very misleading, it can't adjust any "mode", and can only cut the song when playing music.
What makes me cry and laugh is the two silicone phone holders at the top of the center console, which still look a bit cheap. However, the mobile phone can be fixed in daily use, and the acceleration brake will not be thrown off. From this point, it can be seen that the interior design of Chery QQ Ice Cream is for "functional" considerations.
There is a USB interface and driving mode switching button under the air conditioning knob on the center console, and Chery QQ Ice Cream offers three driving modes: "ECO", "ECO+" and "Sport".
The lift window button is placed in front of the gear shift knob, and the whole series uses a mechanical handbrake.
I looked down at the area above the throttle. Sure enough, due to cost, there are no trims or wraps here.
The seat is made of fabric and looks sporty, but you don't have any illusions about its wrapping and support. The seat padding is soft but not thick enough, and the backrest is thin, making it less suitable for long driving.
Because of the two-door layout, access to the rear row requires manual folding of the front seats. When the seat is moved back and forth, it is more laborious, one hand can not move at all, and consumers with less strength are better to feel it for themselves. I am 175 cm tall, and my back knees are already in the front seat after sitting in, which is still not suitable for adults to ride for a long time.
In the process of taking photos of Wuhu's tourist attraction "Yugeng Mountain", many Wuhu citizens took the initiative to ask for information about this car. I also invited a fifth grader to sit in the back row and have a taste.
After adjusting the front seat, the child can also have more than one punch leg room. Children said that the rear window is relatively small and can not be opened, it will be a little depressed, in addition to the ride is not bad.
It seems that Chery QQ ice cream is still competent as a means of transportation for children to and from school.
03
Sweet range 0-60 km/h
Turning the mechanical key, loosening the mechanical handbrake, holding the plastic steering wheel, with the windshield with a small tilt angle and the high sitting position, there is always an illusion that you are driving a van, and the view is good.
Select ECO mode to wander around Wuhu City. Although the motor power is only 20 kW, the weight of the 743 kg and the low torque of the electric drive make the car very lightweight at low speeds.
Driving this little guy less than 3 meters through the downtown streets at 12 noon, turning lanes and changing lanes in one go, interspersed with traffic without any pressure. The convenience of the small body in the city driving began to manifest at this time, and I could feel a little bit of driving pleasure, which was a bit interesting.
In addition, when I started, I could confidently and boldly throttle to the end. Don't worry about speeding, after all, this car has a top speed of only 100 km/h. Acceleration over 60 km/h has slowed down noticeably, and the wind noise that pours into the car will give you the illusion that you've accelerated to 120 km/h, an experience that will involuntarily slow down to within 60 km/h.
Compared with the ECO mode, the Sport mode of Chery QQ Ice Cream feels very unfriendly. Although the throttle response does become more sensitive, after releasing the throttle, the whole car will suddenly swoop forward and slow down. To verify this feeling, I turned up the speed of the motor in the trip computer. In Sport mode, I found that the motor speed did not decrease and increase after releasing the throttle after each acceleration, which made the driving experience of the car in Sport mode extremely bad and there was also a certain risk.
The maximum speed of the vehicle in ECO+ mode is limited to 60 km/h, and the vehicle will start slowly when half of the accelerator pedal is pressed, which is not suitable for daily use and is suitable for emergency when the battery is low.
Before driving, I didn't have too high expectations for chery QQ ice cream's suspension performance. However, the low-speed filtering of this suspension is not bad in actual experience, and running over the manhole cover will not make your ass upside down from the seat, but when the speed exceeds 30 km/h, the small vibration from the road surface will increase significantly, and the slight resonance of the vehicle can be felt after more than 60 km/h.
Chery QQ Ice Cream adopts the brake configuration of the front disc and rear drum. Due to the light weight of the car, the deceleration force brought by this set of brakes is sufficient, but the adjustment is very non-linear. There is no reaction in the front section of the brake, and once you step on a certain critical point, the braking force is suddenly released, and the foot feels like a switch: only "on" and "off" in two gears.
Overall, Chery QQ Ice Cream performs well at a speed of no more than 60 km/h, the low-speed driving power is not delayed, and the flexibility and parking convenience brought by the small body are also suitable for urban use; but the gradual increase in wind noise and vibration after the speed exceeds 60 km/h will make people feel uncomfortable.
04
The battery life is good, the tires are too narrow
Chery QQ Ice Cream is equipped with narrow tires of 145/70 R12, and such tire specifications do have a positive improvement in endurance. The top-of-the-line model I test-drove was equipped with a 13.9 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery with a NEDC range of 170 km. The average power consumption after a day of test drive is displayed as 10.5 kWh/100 km, which translates to an actual endurance of about 130 km.
I didn't use air conditioning at all during this day's test drive experience, which also helped to improve the range. The air conditioner I was assigned to the test drive failed, and after ten minutes of normal operation, it kept on strike, which also caused me to shiver in the sub-zero temperature of Wuhu. This test drive is a new car for the mass production version, and such a problem is indeed very undesirable.
On the day of the test drive, it was raining lightly in Wuhu, and in a U-turn I gave a foot of throttle, and the rear wheel of chery QQ ice cream with the rear drive layout immediately heard a slippery sound. The whole series is not equipped with ESP, coupled with a large steering angle and narrow tires, so you must be very careful when driving this car in rain and snow.
05
Write at the end
As a means of transportation, Chery QQ ice cream is undoubtedly very suitable. The 10.5 kWh/100 km power consumption during the test drive can be converted into an actual endurance of about 130 km, and the quiet, smooth output characteristics and flexible and compact body of the electric vehicle also make this car have a good driving experience when driving in the city.
However, the rough details, poor brake tuning and poor driving stability still make it difficult for this car to be perfect in the use experience, after all, the top model I test drove was only priced at 43,900 yuan, and it was limited by the cost and could not be used.
The trend of personalized car play led by Hongguang MINIEV has made people see the possibility of cheap cars transmitting car culture, while the exterior design of Qirui QQ ice cream is somewhat lacking in originality. Moreover, Hongguang MINI and Chery QQ Ice Cream are all equipped with ESP, no rear anti-collision beam, and low-end models have no airbags.
With the sales of low-cost micro-vehicles getting higher and higher, how to improve the safety of low-cost micro-cars through the formulation of new industry standards and policy restrictions is also an urgent problem to be solved.
Author: Mingming
Edit: Reinhardt
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