Aiways U5: Chinese with flaws, but attractive price | Review and Video

Aiways U5 arrived in Italy, has been renewed with a Model Year that has already begun to polish some of the defects reported by customers of the previous version and, in this, is demonstrating an excellent reactivity of the manufacturer, flexible enough to evolve its project in the running. in a similar way to what Tesla did, with the strategy of incremental innovations that do not necessarily wait for the classic “mid-career restyling” to bring the news.

U5 is an electric SUV of medium / large size (large for Italy, medium for other markets), and is making its debut in a range that we could define as “electro-premium” because battery-powered cars tend, with rare exceptions, to reserve greater care in terms of interior and proposal of accessories included in the fittings. The formula, in fact, is that of “all (or almost) first-level seriegi”, while the thermal models tend to remain bound to that layering of the fittings also made up of business versions for fleets or many accessories to be chosen from the catalog and bound by a tree made up of packages that become mandatory requirements for subsequent ones.

Faithful to the need to justify the electric price, Aiways U5 offers a more complete interior than the average: the seats are enveloping, with adjustable headrests, electric adjustments, soft seat. The passenger compartment shows greater care in the door trims, with the pockets covered in felt and different materials superimposed on the plastic. In short, the attention in detaching oneself from the usual “raw” production is all there, even if the materials never go into the world of luxury. Their variety is good, the quality of the assembly is discreet, showing some burrs from time to time.

The same happens with the instrumentation: behind an almost hexagonal steering wheel they find a place three screens. The central one contains the classic information, the lateral one dedicated to the on-board computer with data on consumption, mileage, tire pressure and so on, and the one on the right displays multimedia information on music and radio.

Infotainment compatible with Apple CarPlaywhile for Android you need to download an app which takes care of carrying out the mirroring smartphone: similar to Android Auto as a concept, but without the dedicated applications. To improve the fluidity of the interface, acceptable with the proprietary system but subject to some lag when we use CarPlay. The test specimen could not use the remote control app instead, which is available on the models on the market.

Summing up, the quality in the passenger compartment is good, but on the software side Aiways must work to improve fluidity and solve a series of necessary optimizations, making the interface more intuitive in the instrumentation part: if it is able to obtain these results with updates, then it will have nothing to envy to its European opponents. On the other hand, Volkswagen also started with a software with defects, fixed over time with updates (first in the workshop, then OTA) which also managed to affect the optimization of consumption.

The boot well made, but not excessive in size because the 430 liters they do not represent excellence in the segment: Aiways has chosen to privilege interior space where rear passengers have a real living room at their disposal.

Folding down the seats you get to 1,555, and the frunk (front trunk) very convenient for storing all cables (45 liters) and benefits from a hood with pistons to assist in opening and closing.

Aiways U5 mounts 63 kWh batteries with cells provided by CATL, liquid cooled and backed by a warranty of 8 years or 150,000 km. It also has the standard heat pumpunlike several Western competitors who offer it as an option.

Battery side we can not complain, the supplier is the same as many European companies (Volkswagen uses CATL on the ID.5 Pro Performance and the LG are only for the GTX). The motor is a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor which does not thrill in performance because it focuses more on reducing consumption. The resulting efficiency is good, but the car must be driven in Sport to have an acceptable response since the normal driving mode is very castrated, but this is a choice that other manufacturers have also made. Performance is just under 8 seconds for the 0-100 km / h and 170 km / h top speed.

Charging side, MY2022 has improved AC performance: finally the on-board charger 11 kW three-phasean excellent choice that puts the Chinese on a par with all the others rather than limiting to 6.6 kW single-phase that make you lose a lot when using public columns. Mediocreinstead, in direct current: the maximum peak of 90 kW, the charging curve does not excite and you reach 60/70 kW and then lose them quickly and stabilize the charging around 40/50 kW. Over 80% stands at 20 kW in rapid decrease.

In short, we are not in the generation of very fast reloads, we are not even close to the excellent curve recently proposed by the latest Mercedes (high peaks maintained with a flat line, you can find it here). It is therefore necessary to take into account about fifty minutes from 20 to 85% unless you are in the ideal temperature conditions, where the battery accepts a higher power from the DC column.

The declared autonomy of 410 km with a recharge, data relating to the WLTP cycle. Those who are already a virtuoso of the electric could reach them with a lot of attention, but realistically in the combined cycle of they get 360 kilometers without too much highway. On the highwayindeed, consumption rises and they range from 22 to 26 kWh / 100 km (110-135 km / h range) due to aerodynamics that would need refinements and which also has consequences on acoustic comfort due to the noises it generates.

In the constant extra-urban, at 90 km / h, we have excellent efficiency with a result of 17 kWh / 100 km which translates into 370 km of autonomy at this pace. The proof of the BrianzaRing showed interesting data, very close to ID.4 which, however, was tested with software prior to 3.1 (and we have seen here that 3.1 also improves consumption).

If we have already talked about the engine, and in summary it can be said to be correctly sized for a family car that does not seek performance, in this paragraph we will define the dynamic behavior of Aiways U5. The car aims for comfortmakes it immediately clear a setup and chassis that are typical of modern SUVs, calm down in the roll in everyday driving, but with a strong intervention of the electronic controls when you force extreme behavior, a sign that the manufacturer is well aware of the limits of the platform and calibrates the electronics to never reach them.

In any case, safety is guaranteed, and the only dynamic point can be made to a tendency to let go to pitch in sudden braking. The ADAS are all present as standardhere you don’t pay anything extra, but the hardware generation is not the most advanced used by the Germans, Koreans and so on.

The result is that the ADAS are perfect for active safety: you can rely on automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise, the system that warns us and takes us back to the lane, but they do not give that safety when semi-autonomous driving functions are activated such as centering the car in the lane. The steering asks us to intervene even in slightly marked corners, and in the straight (at low speeds) it makes many small but conspicuous corrections to keep itself in the center.

The steering wheel is too power-assisted, even in Sport the load is never “sporty” and we understand that we aim for maximum power assistance, which can throw off those accustomed to a kart feeling.

Honorable mention for the keyless Tesla, no need to push any buttons, and for the rear view camerawith a 360 degree view of excellent quality and resolution.

TECHNIQUE

• MOTOR: electric with permanent magnets
• POWER: 150 kW, 204 hp (maximum) – 60 kW, 82 hp (nominal)
• TORQUE: 310 Nm
• TRACTION: front (2WD)
• SUSPENSION: MacPherson front, Multi-Link rear
• BRAKES: 4 314 mm discs

DIMENSIONS

• LENGTH: 4.680mm
• WIDTH: 1,865 mm
• HEIGHT: 1,700 mm
• PITCH: 2,800 mm
• LIGHT FROM THE GROUND: 150 mm
• LUGGAGE: 432 – 1,555 liters (+45 liters in the frunk)
• RIMS: 17 “, 19”
• TIRES: 215/65 R17 or 235/50 R19
• WEIGHT: 1,795 kg in running order (1,845 kg for Prime)
• BATTERY: 63 kWh

PERFORMANCE

• MAXIMUM SPEED: 170 km / h
• ACCELERATION 0-100 Km / h: 7.5 seconds
• CONSUMPTION: 16.6 – 17 kWh / 100 km (combined WLTP)
• CO2 EMISSIONS: 0 grams per km (combined WLTP)
• STEERING RADIUS: nd meters
• CHARGING: 10 hours (AC, max 6.6 kW)
• DC CHARGE: 35 minutes from 20 to 80% (declared)
• WARRANTY: 8 years / 150,000 km (battery)

PRICE: from 43,250 euros

Aiways U5 starts at 43,250turnkey amount (including street setting) for the X-cite version with pastel white paint included as standard (the other colors each cost 800). The price includes a 5-year or 150,000 km warranty and roadside assistance on the car, as well as an 8-year (or 150,000 km) warranty for the traction battery.

The version Prime costs 46,000 And the accessories in the catalog are non-existentwith the exception of the color, the maintenance package for 3 years (490) and the 1,549 energy package which includes the wallbox and a card for 1,000 kWh on public columns

The segment of electric SUVs is very crowded, because they are the most profitable and able to justify (more) easily a higher price. The queen still Tesla Model Y, but it costs much more than the others, especially now that the Americans have increased the price lists. Let’s exclude it then, and let’s look at who the opponents are with starting figures more or less in line: here we find Volkswagen ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Compared to the moment when the video was shot, however, ID.4 Pure Performance disappeared from the configurator: today we start with the Pro Performance (77 kWh, 204 HP) which costs 53,650 and therefore no longer in line with the U5. At Volkswagen, therefore, the real opponent Skoda Enyaq iV 60 with its 58 kWh of battery and 44,500 of attack price. The Koreans, on the other hand, challenge the Chinese with 47,050 Ioniq 5 Progress (always 2-wheel drive, 58 kWh and 170 HP). Going to Japan there is the most recent Nissan Ariya which starts at 51,400 with its 63 kWh battery: it has an excellent DC charging curve, a more elegant and precious interior and an all-round driving pleasure.

There are pros and cons for all: Skoda and Hyundai have more sophisticated ADAS systems, more modern infotainment, even a larger trunk, for example. For Aiways it proposes a completely standard logic with only two very complete set-ups. In short, to each one the evaluations based on tastes and needs. Which would you choose?