Geely Panda mini: Compact e-vehicle for a small budget

At the beginning of February, the Chinese manufacturer Geely presented its latest model, the Panda mini electric vehicle.

A total of four variants of the electric car are to hit the streets. The prices range from 39,900 to 53,900 Yuan (about 5500 to 7400 Euro) in China.

The Panda mini comes in a compact, small box shape.  There are decorative stripes around the edge of the radiator grille. The round headlamp group is intended to make the appearance friendly and endearing. In the interior, one encounters a 4-seater design. Access here is via the driver's and passenger's doors, as with other small electric cars.

The rear of the car has a relatively simple design, with polygonal tail lights and a built-in trapezoidal number plate area. The length, width and height of the new car are 3065/1522/1600 mm, with a wheelbase of 2015 mm. The interior is quite straightforward in design. For instance, the Panda mini is equipped with a 9.2-inch narrow-strip LCD instrument cluster and a floating central 8-inch control screen. Otherwise, electronic central locking, height-adjustable headlights and electric doors and windows are already present in the basic equipment, the manufacturer says.

In terms of configuration, the new e-car offers a mobile app remote control function that allows vehicle search, vehicle status query, remote unlocking, remote control of air conditioning and boot, etc. Furthermore, the Panda mini also offers a Bluetooth key for the mobile phone.

In terms of power supply, the Geely Panda mini uses Geely's proprietary EIC system, which provides lithium iron phosphate batteries with capacities of 9.6 and 17-kilowatt hours. It is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with an efficiency of up to 96.5 per cent, according to the manufacturer. The range is 120 km and 200 km under CLTC conditions. The Geely Panda mini offers two driving modes (Sport/Normal) and has a 3-stage kinetic energy recovery system.

Geely used the name Panda for its cars many years ago. The Geely Panda was an internal combustion car that looked like a Panda. In Europe, we were more familiar with it from Fiat. They also want to revive it. However, it will be a size larger than the Geely electric car.