Today, there are many times more talk about electric vehicles than electric vehicles themselves. I am now talking about Russia and Moscow in particular. Yes, you, if you are at least a little interested in cars in general, most likely have already seen Tesla, or even rode it in a car sharing. But it is one thing to hear and roll with a friend or in a karsh, another thing is to own it.
At the end of the year, a car from the new domestic brand Evolute, the i-PRO model, came to my test. Collected in Lipetsk, nee – Donfeng. You can discuss the topic of a new wave of “domestic” electric vehicles for a long time and a lot, but I decided to approach from the position “I bought an electric train while living in Moscow.” Let’s explore!
Specifications
- Engine: electric.
- Battery: 53 kWh.
- Power: 110 kW (~150 HP), 230 Nm.
- Transmission: gearbox.
- Drive: front.
- Drove: 157 km.
Acquaintance
So here you are, a domestic electric car …
…Wait, hieroglyphs?! Yes, that’s right, Evolute doesn’t really hide its roots. While studying the car, here and there I met stickers with Chinese characters. Moreover, it has been translated into English, but not into Russian. Nuances of the test version? Maybe.
I will briefly go over the “everyday” moments. Still, this is primarily a car that should be convenient and comfortable.
i-PRO is a sedan, so the trunk is classic here. It opens with a button or key, there are no buttons on the trunk itself. It snaps off and opens a little, inside the volume is a solid 502 liters … and emptiness. No lights, no hooks, nothing. But in the subfield there is a roomy organizer, there are cables for charging, a compressor and other things that a car owner needs by law. Why so many places, you ask? The answer is: the car does not have a dokatka or spare wheel (although there is a jack) and there is no gas tank (which is logical), here you have a good amount of trunk. Moreover, the opening will be the bottleneck here.
I press the key fob button – and voila, I’m in the cabin. I already noticed when I was preparing material on the Chevrolet Bolt that light materials are loved in electric vehicles. Apparently, these are attempts to create an “eco-friendly interior”, not otherwise. The Evolute is no exception. Plastic textured elements hint that the owner is doing well, and in general, the planet, thanks to you, breathes more freely (but this is not certain). Plastic is simple, it can be said in general about all the materials in the interior, but not annoying. Soft armrest available, excellent.
On the second row, there are only two USB Type-A and its own airflow, which is sudden. And there is nothing else, not even a central armrest. But thanks to the length of 4680 centimeters, there is plenty of room in the knees, even if the driver is very tall. The head is also generally free, so there is no need to complain about discomfort due to tightness.
Sitting on the second row, making notes to myself and basking in a warm stream of air, I catch myself thinking that the stove consumes electricity, and a lot. And if your friends also start charging their devices … it turns out that the power reserve will also decrease … Dress warmly and take power banks!
I move forward and the first thing that catches your eye is the steering wheel. On which almost all the buttons are climate control. Never seen this before! Actually convenient, but there are nuances, as they say. The buttons are a little blind … but the main thing is that there is no speaker volume control, just as there is none on the center console. Returning to the steering wheel, I will say that the remaining knobs and buttons are responsible for the tidy menu. Fortunately, nothing was tricky with the levers behind the wheel. The only thing is that there is no rain sensor or automatic light. So do not forget to turn off the headlights (the car will remind you with a beep), otherwise you will not go anywhere the next day.
Tidy, of course, digital. The graphics are as simple as possible, no flirting with style. It also reads well. Actually, the speedometer dominates here, and you will also be worried about the scale on the right, this is the battery level (although I would like to display it as a percentage, like in smartphones). Few menus in English and Chinese. And when the car turns on, the word Aeolus appears, don’t be alarmed, this is the name of the original Aeolus E70 model. The same word is hidden behind the deflector frame.
I continue. The center console is high, there are few buttons (but there is a Sport key!), The “gearbox” joystick a la BMW. The cupholders don’t stay in place, and a couple of medium-sized cups won’t fit in there (in fact, I’ve noticed this is a problem with many cars). Nearby is a niche for a smartphone, my old Huawei P30 fits perfectly into it, it was sometimes difficult to even get it, but a larger smartphone (and new devices are getting bigger) will fall as it will. Near the armrest, there is a deep niche. It is worth noting here that in i-PRO, in general, all niches and shelves are not finished with anything, this is a little inconvenient and impractical. And yet, this is originally a Chinese car (I noticed that cars from the Middle Kingdom have this way), so there is … a lower tier! There is a classic USB and a cigarette lighter socket.
Well, a few words about multimedia. It’s from MTS. There is no Android Auto and CarPlay, but there is Navitel … well, the main thing is Bluetooth is available. And the radio. There are only two speakers on board, but they play very well, which is sudden. And then I finally find the volume control, it is on the edge of the screen, the volume buttons are touch-sensitive. And there is no “no sound” at all. Uncomfortable. If there were Android Auto and CarPlay or a system from Yandex in general, there would be no complaints at all.
Outcome? Mixed feelings. It seems like a simple car, but many Chinese offer “more car” for a lower price. But I haven’t mentioned the cherry on the cake yet – there is no heating, no seats, no steering wheel. And still it would be possible to make cruise control, non-adaptive. Considering that all engine control here is electronic.
Time to go!
Driving
…or looking for an outlet
I adjust the chair for myself, all the adjustments are mechanical, but it’s not so scary. There is no lumbar support, but the chairs wrap around well and there was no discomfort in them. At least in city driving. The steering wheel is adjustable only in height, but, again, it turned out to sit comfortably without any problems.
I turn it on and … silence. This is the electric future. When the car is standing, only sounds from the street are heard (for greater acoustic comfort, you will have to make additional noise), blunder! I turn on the stove, and yes, this is the main thing that will make noise while you are standing still.
I’m touching! Wow, that instant electric pickup, even in Eco mode, the studded wheels slip a little, you need to take this into account. Yes, if you have ever driven an electric car (or even a scooter), you know that the first meters are covered very quickly. The electrical installation transmits traction to the wheels in a completely different way, so it’s time to say that 150 electric horses are not 150 horses from an internal combustion engine. The i-PRO has a torque of 230 Nm, so all legal city speeds, even if there are a lot of you in the car and the condo or stove is turned on, are easy for her.
I’m not talking about the sport mode, in which the responsiveness of the gas pedal only increases. Yes, the winter test and studded tires are not the kind of conditions where you can fool around, but even at a few starts from the traffic lights, it became clear that it would not be difficult to leave many behind.
And here I turn to the main thing – power reserve. When the car is fully charged, you can see the figure of 430 kilometers on the tidy. But no matter how much I drove, changed the recovery mode, my power reserve indicator could be safely divided by two. That is 220-250 kilometers. And it’s even worse in traffic.
And what to do, I thought. There is no charging near the house, the nearest one is a little more than a kilometer away. In summer you can walk, but in winter? Then it turned out that there was no way to find fast charging for Evolute nearby (there, in about an hour, almost 70% of the battery would be charged), and on the available ones, you can charge only three hours, which is a little more than 30% of the car’s charge. Further trick, in the application it is impossible to extend the charge if you are not near the station. I even tried fake GPS (substitution of coordinates), but then it turned out that the cable needed to be physically re-plugged. So it goes.
And this is even more a claim not to the car, this is a description of how things are now with charging an electric car in the capital. But! If you always have a suitable charger at point A and point B (at home in the parking lot, garage, office, and so on), then the problem generally disappears. And what remains is everything that today they love and take “electric trains” for – no tax, free parking and free city charging. So here it is important to understand in what conditions and scenarios you will use the car.
But with what it will be, alas, difficult, it is with travel. You are unlikely to find suitable fast chargers on the track. And to drive about 300 km per day along the highway, and then charge the car for almost nine hours … in general, you understand.
At the same time, i-PRO has a very comfortable ride, its suspension is ready to give odds to many colleagues from both China and Korea. Yes, even Europeans! This is a pleasant surprise. But the steering wheel (with electric power, of course), on the contrary, does not feel very eager to return to the zero position.
What else? Noise, and first of all it is the noise from the wheel arches of the spikes. I suspect that it is plus or minus here, like many initial models of manufacturers, but there are simply no other sound sources here. In general, I understand that with the development of electric machines, the buyer’s requirement for sound insulation will increase.
Review
Welcome to the Enthusiast Club
Yes, I felt like an enthusiast while I dealt with the unusual life of the owner of an electric car. On the one hand, there are many bonuses from the state, which today allows you to feel in a special caste. On the other hand, if you do not have a place where you are guaranteed to be able to recharge, there are many difficulties. After all, city charging can be tritely occupied by someone else, or the nearest “column” simply won’t suit you. Yes, there are adapters on sale … but the prices bite.
The Evolute i-PRO itself confuses more with the price-to-equipment ratio. For a price of almost three million, you want to have a heated steering wheel and seats, a more modern multimedia system, and simply more “household” car equipment. At the same time, the level of comfort in the suspension is very, very worthy.
So who are you for, Evolute? The manufacturer from Lipetsk himself has repeatedly mentioned taxi companies. Yes, if there is the required number of bases with electric chargers, it will be great. But how much will a taxi fleet cost per kilowatt? Will it be cheaper than gasoline in terms of range? There are many questions and only time will tell. But one thing must be given its due – to promote a new format of a familiar product on our market, this is bold. And how relevant this format is for you, it’s up to you personally.
Pros:
- vigorous dynamics;
- no need to warm up the engine, sat down and drove off;
- roomy trunk;
- comfortable suspension;
- surprisingly decent sounding speakers.
Minuses:
- I would like the interior to be quieter;
- lacks many household moments in the cabin and trunk;
- the power reserve is small, especially in winter.
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
