First shown in November last year, the Geely Panda EV might be the low priced EV that lower middle class Malaysians asked for.
Imagine this little Panda electric car being launched in Malaysia with a Proton badge. Say it is called the Proton X10 and looking at the selling price in China right now, which is between USD5,700 to USD7,000 (which is about RM25,400 to RM31,000 before handling, logistics and overheads) it could be a very popular city commuter vehicle.
This means it could be put on sale from RM35,000 to RM45,000 for Malaysians to own a starter electric car.
The retired, single mothers, young adults and even government employees who live and work in Putrajaya might be instant buyers.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Geely Holding has entered the electric microcar segment, which is gaining momentum in the Chinese market. There was a petrol powered Geely Panda that arrived in 2008 (China only). Anyway, right now this is the smallest Geely vehicle to date.
This Geely Panda electric car was initially expected to come under Geely’s Geometry brand but was instead unveiled under the parent company.
So far, the only rival to this Geely Panda EV is the Wuling Mini EV which has already delivered to Chinese buyers more than 316,000 in the first nine months.
Another rival is the latest version of the Chery QQ which has so far managed to find more that 81,000 buyers in China.
Meanwhile, here are some Panda Mini details. This little EV has a three-door body with a glass roof and a four-seat cabin configuration. The Panda is 3065 mm long, 1522 mm wide, 1600 mm high and has a wheelbase of just 2015 mm.
With all the seats up, there is virtually no room for luggage, so you will need to fold down the backrests of the split rear seats to carry any luggage (not too big as well).
The Panda dashboard fascia comes with a digital instrument cluster, an eight-inch media system screen and a separate climate control panel.
There is wireless smartphone charging, a heated windshield, a rearview camera, a keyless entry system and some features which can be controlled remotely from a smartphone.
This 1,105 kg electric car has rear-wheel drive that uses an electric motor with a capacity of 41hp, installed on the rear axle, which is a continuous axle.
Normal and Sport driving modes are provided. A lithium-iron-phosphate battery with a capacity of 17.3 kWh provides for about 150 km of driving range at best and one of the main advantages of the Panda over its competitors is the ‘fast charging’ capability as there is a DC device which has a power of 22 kW, while its rivals only have an AC charger with a maximum of just 7 kW.
