Recently, JAC-Volkswagen’s joint venture brand, SOL
(Chinese says “思皓”, Sihao), officially announced that the first EV,
SOL E20X, was officially launched. SOL E20X has a battery capacity of 49.5kWh
and a cruising range of 402 km. It launches two models, price range is
128,000-138,000 yuan (US$ 17,972 – US$ 19,377) after subsidy.
Who is SOL? SOL is actually an all-new brand jointly
released by JAC-VW, it is also an electric vehicle brand. In September 2016,
Volkswagen and JAC signed a memorandum of understanding on joint venture
cooperation. At the end of 2017, JAC Volkswagen Co., Ltd. was formally
established, with a 50% stake hold by each. JAC Volkswagen is not only the
third joint venture company of Volkswagen in China, but also the exclusive new
energy joint venture launched by Volkswagen for promoting the electric vehicle
strategy in China. From the approval of the project to the establishment of the
company, JAC Volkswagen only took half a year.
However, the speed came to an abrupt end after the
new car went offline last year. SOL E20X was debuted as earlier as 2018 Beijing
Auto Show, at the end of April 2018, JAC Volkswagen released the SOL brand; in
May, its first production model E20X held an off-line ceremony. Subsequently, the
E20X, which was originally scheduled to be listed in the second half of last
year, has been postponed for more than one year.
The E20X is the first A0 SUV of the SOL brand and
the first joint venture electric SUV in China designed and tested by the Volkswagen
Group. In terms of design, the new car adopts the X-shaped design language,
which presents a more fashionable visual experience. The closed air intake
grille design can also make people see the properties of its pure electric
vehicle at a glance.
Anyway, when we jump to the side view, it is totally
a JAC iEV7S! The length, width and height of E20X are 4135/1750/1565 mm, this is
also the exactly same as JAC iEV7S, the wheelbase is 2490 mm which is only 10 mm
different with iEV7S. In the rear parts, the overall style maintains similar to JAC iEV7S,
it adds bar-style taillight to make it more stylish.
In the interior trim, E20X is also similar to JAC
iEV7S in overall style, it only updated in some details, such as the
replacement of the new 7inch LCD instrument, the new style electronic gear
lever features stitching leather and the seat is crafted with Alcantara and
leather to further enhance the exquisiteness of the interior.
Regarding to configuration, it features keyless
entry, push button starter, 8-inch central control touch screen,
high-definition 7-inch LCD combination meter, 360 ° parking assist, blind spot
monitoring, 4G wireless network connection, charging port cover one-button
open, voice control system and remote control, as well as air purification
system.
In terms of power, SOL E20X is powered by a
permanent magnet synchronous motor with maximum power of 123 hp and peak
torque of 270 Nm. The battery group is the 21700 cylindrical battery from
Tianjin Lishen, capacity is 49.5kWh, and the range declared by MIIT is 402 km, it takes around 50 mins charging from 15% to 80%.