VW’s Chinese joint-venture launches a ~$19,000 all-electric SUV

At the 2018 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, several new market exclusive electric vehicles are being unveiled by automakers.

Volkswagen’s Chinese joint-venture with JAC is now adding a ~$19,000 all-electric SUV to the list.

At the auto show, JAC Volkswagen launched a new electric brand for the Chinese market called SOL and unveiled its first product, the SUV E20X.

The company described the vehicle as “a pure electric SUV aimed at the volume market in China and has a NEDC range of more than 300 km.”

It’s not clear why they are using the NEDC standard here, but it’s safe to assume that buyers can expect a range closer to 200 km (~125 miles).

While the specs are not impressive, they come cheap. The vehicle is expected to cost roughly ~120,000 yuan (~$19,000 USD) after incentives when it launches later this year.

The vehicle itself appears to be a rebranded version of the JAC’s iEV7S.

Here are a few images from the JAC Volkswagen at the auto show earlier this week:

The vehicle is an early example of Volkswagen’s important electrification effort in China – along with many other foreign and local automakers trying to comply to the country’s aggressive ZEV mandate.

Between all its different brands in China, Volkswagen plans to launch 40 NEVs (New Energy Vehicles, which generally means electric vehicles in China) in the market over the next 7 to 8 years.

By 2022, they expect to have local production of battery-electric cars in at least six factories in China.

Automakers have been focusing on cheaper electric vehicles in the country.

On top of EVs having fewer availability restrictions in several important Chinese cities, local incentives can often bring the price down significantly – especially since the government updated its electric vehicle incentives to favor longer-range electric cars earlier this year.

Several automakers are now building EV models specifically for the market, like Nissan who yesterday unveiled a new Leaf-based electric car to be mass-produced in China.

We expect to see many more over the next few years.