Motorinvest has just received the Vehicle Type Approval (OTTS) for the Evolute i-Joy crossover and immediately introduced the Evolute i-PRO electric sedan. Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, the oldest and most authoritative automobile publication in Russia, attended the presentation of the car.
The cost of the new sedan should be about 3 million rubles, but you do not have to pay full price for it, since in our country there are state subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, which can reach 925 thousand rubles. As a result, the car will cost about a few million euros, which is (actually) comparable in price to, for example, Lada Vesta.
But there is one catch. Private individuals cannot purchase the Evolute i-Joy. For now anyway. The sedan is only sold to taxi companies. But anyone can drive it and ask the driver about its characteristics.
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Behind the wheel”:
— This is a Chinese Dongfeng Aeolus E70. But it’s easy to spot the old Almera G15, which has been redesigned beyond recognition. I like it. The interior is perfect for a taxi. Only the plastic lifting panel on the front, under which the charging connector is hidden, is questionable – thin, they will break quickly.
The battery is relatively small – 53 kWh, should be enough for 400 km on the NEDC cycle. The real reserve in urban conditions is about 250 km, I think. Electric motor: 163 hp, acceleration to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds – watch out now.
Taxi drivers watched. They liked it. First of all – indestructible chassis Renault. I will immediately answer taxi connoisseurs, “whose engines are not turned off in winter”: there is a diesel heater, there is a small plastic tank in the trunk.
The same separate diesel heater is also installed on other Russian-designed electric vehicles. For example, on the electric version of the UAZ. We have to think that the Evolute i-Joy crossover, which goes on sale this fall, will have the same heater. This significantly saves battery power, allowing the electric car to drive much more on a single charge in winter.
A picture: Telegram—channel I drive Maxim Kadakov
The same company will start selling a new crossover in the fall, which will compete with the Creta.
