At the past Beijing Auto Show, Chevrolet's first plug-in hybrid SUV, the Explorer Plus, was officially launched, with a price of between 149,900 and 179,900 yuan. Although this car is positioned as a mid-size SUV, in terms of body size, it is about the same as many compact SUVs of independent brands. From the point of view of the price range, it is relatively close to the Song PLUS DM-i, and there is bound to be a fight after the listing.
In terms of styling, the Explorer Plus is a standard American car style, atmospheric and tough, and the new car provides RS and Activ design styles for consumers to choose from. Among them, the RS is the sport style package and the Activ is the off-road style package.
The interior is also designed to be more in line with the current aesthetic. The full LCD instrument + central control screen is not absent, and the built-in Qualcomm 8155 chip improves the intelligent experience. In addition, it also adopts a pocket gear design, and the central control is more concise and refined. Judging from the actual car, the appearance of the Explorer Plus can be considered to be able to play in these current models, what do you think?
In terms of size, as shown in the figure below, the Explorer Plus and Song PLUS DM-i have their own advantages, and the Explorer Plus has more advantages in terms of vehicle width and height. The Song PLUS DM-i has advantages in terms of length and wheelbase. Of course, for a model of this size, the space performance is enough for the average family.
In order to cope with the fierce competition in the current market, the Explorer Plus is also quite powerful in terms of configuration. Driver assistance systems such as Level 2 drivers, automatic headlights, adaptive high and low beams, and active noise cancellation are all standard. Secondly, such as the electric trunk, seat ventilation/heating, driver's seat power seat memory, and interior atmosphere lights are also reflected in the middle and high-end models. Of course, the low-end model has no sunroof, mobile APP remote function, and no cup holder in the rear row is still slightly insufficient, after all, the starting price of the Explorer Plus is not low in the current plug-in hybrid SUV market.
Let's compare the top-of-the-line version of the Song PLUS DM-i with the Explorer Plus sub-top, which are very close in price points. In terms of configuration, Song PLUS DM-i is a lot more. In addition, the Song PLUS DM-i is also available in a lower-priced version, which is not inferior to the higher-priced Explorer Plus in terms of configuration.
Speaking of power, the Explorer Plus is equipped with GM's new generation of 1.5T plug-in hybrid system, using P1+P3 dual motors in series and parallel, with a comprehensive system power of 272kW, a comprehensive system torque of 370N·m, a 000 acceleration time of 6.8 seconds, a fuel consumption of 5.79L/100km, and a top model of 6.13L/100km. In terms of range, the top-of-the-line version has a pure electric range of 155km, while the rest of the versions have a range of 102km, with a comprehensive range of more than 1,000km.
From the perspective of power, the Explorer Plus performs very well in the plug-in hybrid SUV at the current price, which is more prominent than Song PLUS DM-i, Changan UNI-Z and other models. In terms of pure electric range, it has also reached the level it should have. Of course, in terms of fuel consumption, the Explorer Plus is worse than the current mainstream products.
In terms of products, the strength of the Explorer Plus is good, and at the same time, referring to the official guide price of the fuel version of the Explorer, the Explorer Plus also wants to make a difference. However, after this wave of price reductions, the prices of domestic plug-in hybrid models are now falling. Like Song PLUS DM-i, Song Pro DM-i, Changan UNI-Z, Galaxy L7 and so on are all very popular models, their product strength is very strong, and the price is not high, for the Explorer Plus, this is not a small challenge.