We’ve found him, the EV the Netherlands is waiting for
Wuling Hongguang Mini EV
The Wuling whatte? Chances are you’ve never heard of Wuling. It is a Chinese car brand owned by SAIC-GM-Wuling, a joint venture of General Motors, SAIC and Guangxi. Since 2020, the brand has been selling the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. An electric car that costs $4,200 converted, or $5,600 for the top model. Very affordable so.
Four seats
The electric EV seats four and comes standard with air conditioning, power windows, a sound system and storage space. Safety systems such as ABS, a tire pressure monitor and parking sensors are all standard. Nowadays, a driver’s airbag is also present. Pretty complete, then, that Wuling Hongguang Mini EV.
Within no time 500,000 units
Here’s the thing: Wuling has already sold more than 500,000 units (through January 2022) of the compact electric car since its market launch in July 2020. Half a million of them! The Wuling has achieved a veritable cult status in China. And rightly so, because this is what you call an EV for the people. At the time of writing, 700,000 have already been built.
Great specifications, only fast charging not possible
The specifications of the nearly three-meter-long city EV are quite acceptable. The base version has a 27 hp and 85 Nm electric motor from Siemens and rear-wheel drive, good for a top speed of 100 km/h. Thanks to a 9.2 kWh battery, the car gets about 100 kilometers on a full charge. With a 13.8 kWh battery, that’s about 150 kilometers. By 2022, Wuling has added a 26.5 kWh battery to the lineup with over 240 kilometers of range. This variant also has a more powerful 41-horsepower electric motor and also an upgraded interior. Fast charging is not possible. Charging is simply done via a household power outlet. That does take at least 6.5 hours.
Copy paste
The popularity of the cramped 1.5-meter-wide Wuling Hongguang Mini EV has caused other manufacturers to come out with an affordable EV, all models that look suspiciously like the Hongguang. Consider the Chery QQ Ice Cream, Dongfeng Fengguang MINI EV and the BAW S3.
Even a convertible!
Wuling has now also released several model variants of the Hongguang, including an exclusive Macaron variant, a colorful Gameboy edition and a genuine convertible! Production of the convertible began in September 2022.
Lithuania
In 2021, Lithuanian company Nikrob UAB announced a rebadged version of the Mini EV called the FreZe Nikrob. Final assembly takes place in Vilnius, Lithuania. The starting price starts at 13,000 euros and rises to 15,500 euros for the long range version. So Nikrob UAB got it right. Now we need a party in the Netherlands to bring the Hongguang to our little country. Because an affordable EV of around 15,000 euros is something everyone can see. Although we also realize that some design modifications would then be necessary, especially to increase safety.