Here’s another sighting of the GAC M8 on Malaysian roads, and this time the MPV has been sighted at Ardence Labs near Eco Ardence in Setia Alam, Selangor, courtesy of the Malaysian Electric Vehicle Owners Club Facebook group. Sold in China as the Trumpchi M8, the three-row MPV from GAC made its debut in September 2022 and is offered with petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The latter is known as the E9, and this gets its own front-end styling which has horizontal slats in place of the M8’s vertical elements. This sighting also offers a peek into the MPV’s cabin, which reveals the upholstery of this particular unit to be that of the ‘Royal Opera’ trim option that is offered in the Chinese market, featuring a two-tone red-and-black that appears to be a comination of leather and suede, along with gold trim elements. The standard specification is leather upholstery of a more subdued design.
The three-row MPV from GAC measures 5,212
mm long, 1,893 mm wide, 1,823 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,070 mm, and is
therefore mostly larger than the Japanese establishment that is the Toyota
Alphard/Vellfire duo save for being lower in overall height. The petrol-powered
M8 in China gets a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that
produces 255 PS and 400 Nm of torque, sent to the front wheels via an
eight-speed automatic gearbox. The hybrid gets an Atkinson-cycle version of the
petrol engine making 190 PS and 320 Nm, paired to a Toyota-sourced e-CVT and
184 PS/270 Nm electric motor.
Meanwhile, the E9 PHEV gets a 190PS/330 Nm
version of the turbo petrol engine, mated to a 182 PS/300 Nm electric motor
with a two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT). Combined outputs are 373
PS and 630 Nm, good for a claimed 0-100 km/h time of 8.8 seconds. Energy stores
for its electric drive are by a ternary lithium-ion battery with a capacity of
25.57 kWh, enabling 106 km of purely electric running on the WLTC cycle. For
the PHEV E9. GAC quotes a combined range of 1,032 km with all aspects of the
PHEV system utilised, and a fuel consumption rating of 6.05 l/100 km. An AC
input takes 3.5 hours to charge its battery, while DC fast charging takes 30
minutes.
Exact specifications await confirmation,
though going by what the E9 PHEV variant packs, possible equipment includes
ADiGO Pilot driving assistance functions such as front and rear autonomous
emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control with traffic jam
assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, park assist and an
around view monitor, which are enabled by a sensor suite that can contain up to
10 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars and four millimetre wave radars.
