While electric vehicles have many benefits, one of the barriers for many who want to switch to electric is the higher sticker price compared to ICEs. Despite the promise of recouping the initial investment, the price is just too steep for many.
That will not remain the case for long, with Chinese auto giant Geely, unveiling an electric vehicle that costs less than $10,000. The new electric car is coming under the new Geometry brand and is known as the EX3.
As expected, Geely had to cut some corners to make the car affordable. The first reminder of the price is the 37.2 kWh battery which Geely claims will deliver 200 miles on a single charge, backed by the NEDC standards.
Charging is not the fastest, as it will reach 80% in about 30 minutes despite its smaller battery. That, however, should not render it unusable. There is regenerative braking to top up the battery while you drive around.
The EX3 is 157.6 inches long, 69.2 inches wide, and 62.0 inches tall, making it comparable to the Honda HR-V.
Geely has equipped the EX3 crossover with a single 70 kW electric motor that produces 132 pound-feet of torque.
Inside is another reminder of the price point, but you would find a wide LCD instrument panel and a touch-enabled 8-inch center console. Geely has thrown in built-in Wifi. There is seating for five riders but don’t expect the type of comfort offered by the Lucid Air.
The EX3 will never win an EV race nor tow impressive amounts of load, but it will work for buyers that simply want a car to get to work, pick the children from school, etc.
To make ‘charging’ the battery a fast process, Geely will build 5,000 battery-swapping stations all over China before 2025. It will put the carmaker ahead of its local competitor, NIO, which aims for 4,000 stations by the same year.
China is fast emerging as the center for affordable electric vehicles, with models selling as low as below $5,000 available. In contrast, more premium EVs remain popular in the US as several startups attempt to join Tesla as established EV makers by releasing more expensive models before making more mass-market models.
Similarly, China is leading in the battery swapping space and looks set to export the technology to other parts of the world.
Geely has in the works a bigger electric Geometry model that can compete with the Tesla Model 3.