The model in question is the Dongfeng Seres 3, a fully electric five-seater crossover that was seen plugged in to a DC fast charger at the Sunway ABB facility recently. This isn’t the first time you’ve heard of the Dongfeng brand in Malaysia. In December 2020, we got up close with the DFSK 580 Glory, a seven-seater SUV equipped with a 1.5 litre turbocharged engine and a CVT. The car will be sold by Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Malaysia for just under RM 90k.
Curious about the Seres 3, we asked the
company whether it was them that was conducting roadworthiness tests of the
electric car, but turns out it wasn’t. The Seres 3 seen here (known as the
Glory E3 in China) was a left-hand drive unit, and it was charging via a CCS2
connection. The Glory E3 in China is equipped with a GB/T connector, while the
Seres 3 (made for European markets) gets the CCS2 type.
The Seres 3 was not built from the ground
up as an electric car, but instead, it’s based on the Glory 500 with an
internal combustion engine. Specs-wise, the EV features a single 163
PS, 300 Nm electric motor that powers the front wheels through a single-speed
transmission. It will do the zero to 100 km/h sprint in 8.9 seconds, and tops
out at 160 km/h.
The automaker claims that the 52.56 kWh
battery can provide up to 405 km of range on a single charge, and that the
battery can be juiced up in eight hours when plugged in to a domestic household
socket. When plugged into a DC fast charger, it will take 30 minutes to charge
the battery from 20% to 80%. That’s not all that impressive, and it’s unclear
what the maximum draw rate the EV can support. In terms of size, it measures
4,385 mm long, 1,850 mm wide, 1,650 mm tall and has a wheelbase of 2,655 mm.
That makes it larger than the Proton X50 and Toyota Corolla Cross by all
accounts, except the latter has a 4,460 mm overall length. Otherwise, the Seres
3 has a larger footprint – on paper at least.
It gets a MacPherson Strut suspension up
front and a torsion beam setup at the back, and it sits on 18-inch alloy
wheels. The kit list includes halogen projector headlights, electronic parking
brake with auto hold function, electric power steering, a fully digital
instrument cluster, a 10.25-inch floating infotainment display, and a
Jaguar-esque pop-up style rotary gear selector. According to DFSK’s website,
the Glory E3 in China gets features such as forward collision warning and lane
departure warning, but neither autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping
assist nor adaptive cruise control are available.
