Huawei Goes From Smartphones to Launching its First Vehicle
Unlike Sony, which went no further than a concept, or Apple, which has yet to reveal its secret car project, smartphone maker Huawei has unveiled its first-ever vehicle with plans to sell it in China as early as next month.
The model was jointly developed with Cyrus and will be branded as the Seres SF5.
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It’s a compact SUV with a certain flair that does not look like a close copy of anything we have here in North America, which is often the case with some Chinese companies.
Similar to Tesla, however, you’ll find flush-mounted door handles on the outside and a massive centre display inside that calls to mind the Model S before its recent update. Since this is a Huawei product, the infotainment system unsurprisingly features the very latest technologies available, particularly when it comes to smartphone connectivity.
The interior also boasts a flat-bottom, two-spoke steering wheel, rotary gear selector, ambient lighting, sunroof and heated/cooled front seats with a massage function. The powerful audio system has 11 speakers and two subwoofers.
On the road, the Seres SF5 uses an array of cameras and ultrasonic sensors plus a millimeter-wave radar to control multiple advanced safety and driver assistance features.
It’s a plug-in hybrid where the 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine merely acts as a generator for the battery feeding a pair of electric motors. Total output is rated at 405 kilowatts (543 horsepower) and 605 pound-feet of torque, resulting in 0-100 km/h sprints in 4.7 seconds.
EV range is said to be 180 kilometres, but drivers can expect to travel more than 1,000 kilometres with a fuel battery and gas tank. These numbers were calculated using Europe’s NEDC standard, mind you, and are way more optimistic than typical North American ratings.
As for pricing, Huawei announced at Auto Shanghai 2021 that the Seres SF5 will start at ¥ 216,800, or approximately $42,000 CAD.