About two years ago, we met in Israel the first representative of the Chinese car manufacturer Hongchi, the one that for years supplied the spare cars of the senior Chinese government, and underwent an electrical transformation in order to survive in the new era.
Then the e-HS9 was quite alone in a market that tried to lure customers with the ethereal concept of "Chinese luxury", since then, and with the addition of other brands that call themselves that, it seems that even if it is not the traditional luxury brands, at least the sound is already something that people are starting to get used to to his.
And like New, Xpeng and Ziker, Hongchi also now puts a dedicated electric car in this market of sedans that try to entice customers with space, performance and especially a price tag that offers an alternative to the German and European luxury brands.
In terms of the exterior design, this is another copy-paste product made by the Chinese electric car industry. Sealed front, narrow headlights, recessed door handles, and a coupe-like body. It does take a completely different direction from the EH9 whose appearance, as we said, is hard to digest.
In terms of dimensions, it is positioned in a kind of intermediate stage between executive cars such as the New ET5, Xpeng P7, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Tesla Model 3 and between saloon cars such as the New ET7 or the electric Genesis G80. In numbers, this means an overall length of 4.98 meters, 1.92 in width, a height of 1.49 meters and a wheelbase of 3 meters.
The drive is rear or dual, that is with a single engine or a pair, where in the most powerful version it offers 619 hp and 3.5 seconds to 100 km/h. There are also two CATL battery packs: the estimated range in European standards is about 450 km in the 85 kWh version or 615 km in the 111 kWh version. That is - on the face of it, it overlaps with what is common in the segment, but competitors such as the Ionik have 6 much smaller batteries (77 kWh).
Since the actual import of the model is only expected at the end of the year, it is too early to talk about the levels of finish and accessories. Although these are expected to be high, at least according to the importer And the past experience. If the importer keeps the original pricing of the model in China, an interesting competition is expected here,
since the price of the EH7 in its entry-level version coincides with the 2x4 version of the Xpeng P7, which costs 230 thousand shekels in Israel.