Citroën c5 aircross phev was officially launched in China in July 2020, its name is the same as the fuel model, but after "Tianyi" added four letters of phev, simply and clearly tell everyone that this is a plug-in hybrid SUV.
Text: Song Yixing Photo: Shi Yulin
Tianyi Phev is a compact plug-in hybrid SUV based on the eMP2 platform. It differs from the plug-in hybrid models we have seen in previous images in that it is equipped with three electric motors and has a completely independent overall layout. It should be noted that the plug-and-mix models that sell well in Europe today are All German cars, such as bmw 530le, Volkswagen's Passat phev and other models are selling well in Europe. The arrival of this Tianyi phev can also be regarded as a clarion call for the French phev model to counterattack.
The French have never lacked design and creativity, and when it comes to the Tianyi Phev, cirquencated designers naturally have to use some ingenuity to distinguish between the Tianyi Phev and the fuel version of Tianyi. However, since the car still uses an internal combustion engine, the more imaginative design approach to making changes to the enclosed front grille is obviously not feasible. Instead, the designers hit the front bracket with the idea of adding recognition to the front surround by changing the ring trim on both sides of the front enclosure to the exclusive blue color of the phev model, so that the advantage of the design is that it does not increase the cognitive cost of the car and makes people quickly realize that it is a hybrid SUV.
Nowadays, citroën's SUVs are very fond of the family-style front face layered up and down, although the recognition is there, but I am afraid that many people will oppose it if they really want to say how high its appearance is. But in any case, the use of a large number of rounded rectangles, layered headlights and the design of the through-the-middle net, these frontiers and some alternative design techniques are really only thought of by the French.
From the side, the shape of the new car is basically the same as the fuel version of Tianyi, only the nameplate above the front wheel arch will give you a little hint. Tianyi Phev uses Michelin-based Haoyue primacy3 st tires with a size of 225/55 R18, and its main focus is comfort and silence. Charging ports and fuel ports are placed on the rear fenders on the left and right sides of the vehicle. However, the charging port on the left only supports slow charging, which is inconvenient for some hypermarkets today to provide only fast charging charging piles.
The rear is basically unchanged, and it can be seen that Citroën's designer team is still satisfied with the rounded shape of the tail. In particular, the led taillights composed of four rounded rectangles in the taillight cavity are impressive.
Entering the car, the interior of Tianyi Phev also follows the design of the fuel version of Tianyi, and the French luggage-style design style enhances the sense of luxury of the vehicle interior. The 12.3-inch full LCD dashboard has been replaced with a new display mode, which can be independently adjusted to display important information such as engine speed, hybrid status, pure electric mileage and so on. The central 8-inch central control screen can intuitively observe the power distribution of this four-wheel drive model.
On the top model of tianyi phev, the front seats are equipped with seat massage functions, and the adjustment options of massage functions are quite rich. In addition, the interior padding of the seat itself is relatively thick, and it is slightly hard to ride, and after turning on the massage function during the journey and arriving at the destination, the whole body can be completely unblocked. The active safety protection items that only exist in the top model of the Tianyi fuel version are also installed in this Tianyi phev, which has the ADAS 2.0 driver assistance system, which includes functions such as full-speed adaptive cruise, lane keeping, parallel assist, speed limit sign recognition and active braking.
The dimensions of Tianyi phev are no different from the Tianyi fuel version of Tianyi, its length, width and height are 4510 mm, 1860 mm, 1705 mm, and the wheelbase is 2730 mm. Due to the high ground clearance, even with the addition of three motors and four-wheel drive layout, the rear floor is still close to flat. After the measured front seat was adjusted to the normal sitting position, the 1.81-meter man was sitting in the back seat. There is still one punch room in the head space and 4 finger space in the leg space, which is of the upper middle level for a compact SUV.
After opening the engine cover, the fully loaded cabin is exposed to the air, and the hybrid system of the Tianyi Phev consists of a 1.6t engine and 1 front and 2 rear three motors. Its four-wheel drive system is naturally also driven by the front and rear motors. Dongfeng Citroen's 1.6t engine has actually been famous for a long time, it was once the product of psa and BMW cooperation, and has won many engine awards.
Driven by three motors, Citroën did not squeeze the 1.6t engine further, which was capable of delivering a maximum power of 147 kW and a peak torque of 300 Nm. The front axle motor has a maximum power of 81 kW and a peak torque of 320 Nm. The combined maximum power of the rear axle motor is 83 kW and the peak torque is 166 Nm. The combined maximum power of the hybrid system is 221 kW and the combined torque is 520 Nm. Matching this powertrain is the 8-speed automatic transmission from Aisin, in addition to having a kinetic energy recovery B-gear, Citroën is also very generous to equip this car with paddle shifters, so that the owner can find a little fun in the middle of the road.
In actual driving, the Tianyi Phev with multi-link independent suspension is more like a German car, rather than the "soft and hard" chassis feeling brought to us by the previous phrc magic carpet suspension. However, although the chassis has been adjusted, this Tianyi phev with quite good power parameters still feels quite "legal" to me.
Because its throttle pedal response area is partial to the middle and rear section, which leads to the need to overtake the gear, I can not "gently give oil" to output power because of the comprehensive peak torque of 520 Nm, I still need to press the accelerator pedal to the middle and rear section to output the acceleration when starting still to prevent the "jamming" action of the vehicles on both sides...
Tianyi phev offers four variable drive modes, namely hybrid, pure electric, sport and four-wheel drive. Among them, the cruising range in pure electric mode is 58 kilometers, which can basically meet the commuting needs of commuting to and from work. In Sport mode, it is the most restless, because in this mode full throttle output, in the full power output of three motors and 1.6t engines, they can push the SUV with a curb weight of nearly 1.9 tons to complete a 7-second 100 km acceleration performance.
It is also important to mention that the quietness of this car is indeed extraordinary, and it has achieved two completely contradictory advantages of acceleration and quietness. It is no exaggeration to say that the silence of Tianyi Phev can even be compared with the 300,000 yuan luxury brand SUVs. In addition to the visible Michelin silent tires and double glazing, it is also equipped with a large number of acoustic materials, water tank damping pads, front shielding film and other transgressive configurations in the hidden place.
Short comment: Tianyi Phev is indeed a high-quality product in the joint venture hybrid SUV, and it does not sell well in China in part because it came too late, coupled with the lack of influence of the brand itself. If this Tianyi phev is replaced by the honda or Toyota logo, then with its product strength, I think it can at least rank in the top ten sales of the same level. But in any case, the arrival of Tianyi Phev at least opened the "chronicle" of French plug-in hybrid models.