China’s Skywell has unveiled an intriguing new electric hatchback at the Paris Auto Show. It makes us wish more cars like this existed instead of the new cookie-cutter crossovers we see unveiled every other week. The new model, known simply as the Skywell Q, will be available with two battery packs, although their capacities haven’t been announced. What we do know is that the flagship battery will give the hatch a touch over 482 km of range on a charge. All Skywell Q models come standard with a single electric motor driving the front wheels and producing 201 hp.
Skywell says the Q needs just
3.9 seconds to hit 100 km/h. For an EV that likely weighs quite a lot,
has ‘just’ 201 hp, and is front-wheel drive, that time is a little hard to
believe. We’ll have to wait until deliveries begin to see if the Q is as brisk
as Skywell claims it is. The Chinese brand has equipped the car with DC fast
charging and says the flagship model needs just 20 minutes for its battery to
be topped up from 10% to 80%.
The Q looks quite cute. It’s
4,297 mm long, 1,836 mm wide, and stands 1,536 mm tall, and comes standard with an aggressive front fascia that
includes an LED light bar and a blacked-out lower grille. The side profile of
the hatch is particularly bold, with dramatic creases on the doors and small
vertical slits directly behind the front wheel arches, similar to the slits
found on the Porsche Taycan. Other intriguing design elements of the car
presented in Paris include side skirts and a rear diffuser that looks to be
made from faux forged carbon fiber. The Q also has aero covers on the wheels to
improve efficiency and an LED light bar out back.
The interior is quite minimal but appears
well-equipped. There’s a large panoramic glass roof, configurable ambient lighting,
bright orange accents, and a large 15.6-inch infotainment display. Skywell has
also added an eight-speaker Metz audio system and a small touchscreen for
rear-seat passengers. The company has yet to confirm all of the markets it
plans to sell the Q. We do know the UK will be one of them, and they will start
to receive the first examples in the third quarter of 2025. It will be sold
with a 7-year, 100,000-mile warranty and an 8-year, 155,000-mile warranty for
the battery.