First Seat Test Avatr 07: A Message to Europe!

At first glance, it's clear: The grass-green Avatr 07 impresses with its exquisite workmanship and chic design! And for the first time, it brings its own new innovations that have never been seen in a production model before—and that's what should make all other car manufacturers think! A brief background: Avatr is a joint venture between the state-owned car manufacturer Changan and the battery manufacturer CATL. Changan holds 40 percent of the shares, CATL 17 percent. The rest belongs to local investment funds. Additionally, Huawei is on board as a technology partner and main supplier of components. So, it has a strong background.

Briefly on the dimensions: The 07 measures 4825 x 1980 x 1620 millimeters with a wheelbase of 2940 mm. This places it at the very top end of the electric mid-size SUV class or at the very bottom of the upper mid-size class, depending on your perspective. The five-seater is the smallest Avatr to date and is still noticeably larger than Tesla's Model Y. And it is innovative.

The 07 offers many innovations

First, there's the communicating screen under the windshield, which allows the 07 to actively interact with its environment. It can let pedestrians cross and display this actively, as well as set parking times (arrival at x:xx hour) or indicate that you have a birthday or a breakdown, and so on…the possibilities are almost endless, and Avatr has skillfully integrated this into the design. Just like the rear door pull handles, which have been invisibly integrated into the curve of the rear door panels.

It's details like these that allow a brand to set its own accents and stand out from all the others. And that's exactly what makes Avatr a game changer, especially since it already features an extremely elegant design both inside and out. The Avatr 07 stands on large 21-inch wheels. It features (not entirely practical) retractable door handles and rear-view cameras instead of conventional mirrors. A LiDAR sensor is also positioned on the roof of the SUV, providing data for object recognition and collision avoidance.

What else? Plenty of space on all seats, some bold yet fresh interior colors, and a coherent ergonomics. For the very flatly styled steering wheel, we hope for very direct steering and a competent parking assistant, as it is rather unsuitable for extensive turning. The display arc in front under the windshield already anticipates BMW's new class, and at least buttons were retained on the steering wheel and steering column. Otherwise, everything is on the screen.

As a range extender up to 1,152 km range according to CLTC cycle

It will be the brand’s first range extender where a combustion engine generates electricity. Alternatively, the SUV will also be available as a fully electric model. The EREV battery with a capacity of 39 kWh can offer a purely electrical range of 245 kilometers according to the Chinese CLTC cycle. In reality, this would be more like 150 kilometers. The battery can be charged at peak rates of over 100 kW. The charging time from 30 to 80 percent is therefore given as 15 minutes. A 100 kW combustion engine serves as a range extender. It is supposed to generate more than 3.63 kWh of electricity per liter of gasoline. With a full tank and full battery, the total range is said to be 1,152 kilometers according to CLTC, realistically closer to 800 kilometers. The range increases massively with the EREV system, but efficiency suffers.

The purely EV version is also highly innovative: The battery can avoid a significant drop in performance at low charge states. According to Avatr, the battery pack can be charged with up to 350 kW of power when fully charged, and even at low charge states, 273 kW should still be possible. Since the electric motor of the Avatr 07 EREV delivers 231 kW, it should be able to call upon full power regardless of the battery charge state.