The market for affordable electric vehicles has exploded in China, with companies like Wuling and Chery coming out with tiny, cutesy city cars all vying for a piece of that sub-30,000 yuan pie. We know Geely isn’t interested in going down that route, but the newest model from its Geometry EV sub-brand – cheekily called the EX3 Kungfu Cow provides a new entry point nevertheless. The goal is to provide a “proper” electric car for young drivers at a relatively low cost. Although the Kungfu Cow retails for around double what those oversized Little Tikes cost, the 59,700 yuan pre-sale price is still quite a bargain considering what you get in return.
Chief among which is a much larger vehicle. The Kungfu Cow measures 4,005 mm long, 1,760 mm wide and 1,575 mm tall, which isn’t big by any means, but it absolutely dwarfs the recently-launched Chery QQ Ice Cream (2,980 mm long, 1,496 mm wide, 1,637 mm tall). You can fit almost an entire QQ Ice Cream within its 2,480 mm wheelbase, and you get the added benefit of being able to fit five people and their luggage.
The Kungfu Cow also trumps the smaller cars in terms of power, battery size and range. The front motor provides almost five times the QQ Ice Cream’s oomph, pushing out 70 kW (95 PS) and 180 Nm of torque. Geometry amusingly provides an acceleration time of 4.59 seconds, which seems fast until you realise it’s only from zero to 50 km/h. More impressive is that the car manages to squeeze out 322 km of NEDC-rated range from a relatively small 37 kWh lithium-ion battery – nearly double what the Chery is capable of. Charging from 30 to 80% takes 30 minutes through an unspecified fast charging system; it also accepts up to 6.6 kW of AC charging.
If the Kungfu Cow looks quite familiar to you, that’s because it’s based on the Geely Vision X3, a B-segment crossover that’s been on sale since 2017. The compact body has been lifted almost wholesale from its sibling, including the shapely headlights, cab-forward proportions and trapezoidal two-piece taillights.
Aside from the two-tone colour scheme and lime green highlights, the only real change compared to the Vision X3 is the grille – it is now comprised of several vertical slits and the centre portion flips up to reveal the charging port. The rest of the car remains unchanged, and you can even spot the unused tailpipe hole in the rear bumper. Inside, the Kungfu Cow receives the modern Geely dashboard design introduced on the Vision X3 this year. The geometric instrument panel with its full-width air vent design, freestanding infotainment touchscreen and streamlined switchgear bring the car in line with newer models such as the Emgrand and Xingyue L. The Geometry version is set apart by a rotary gear selector and a classy two-tone colour scheme.
Available equipment includes an eight-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen, the latter incorporating navigation and voice control. Safety-wise, the Kungfu Cow is pretty basic, only coming with dual airbags, ABS and rear ISOFIX child seat anchors. However, it should still trounce the micro cars when it comes to crash protection.
