SGMW Baojun E300/E300 Plus in detail
Currently the most popular electric car from SGMW (SAIC-GM-Wuling) is definitely the Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, as you may have noticed from multiple articles I wrote. However, the reality is that this is a very spartan electric car without basic safety features required by European or North American standards.
The much better equipped electric cars Baojun E300 (two-seater) and Baojun E300 Plus (four-seater) also built by SGMW have much better chances to become world-class affordable electric cars.
Let’s see the specs.
Baojun E300 specs
- Length: 2.625 mm
- Wheelbase: 1.750 mm
- Width: 1.647 mm
- Height: 1.588 mm
- Weight: 920-940 kg
- Seats: 2
- Motor: 40 kW (peak) and 150 N.m of torque
- Top speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
- Battery capacity: 31 kWh (LiFePO4)
- Range: 305 km (NEDC)
- On-board charger: 6,6 kW (4,5 hours to charge)
- DC fast charging: 30-80 % in 1 hour
- Turning radius: 4 meters (rear-wheel drive)
- Starting price: between 64.800 and 79.800 yuan (8.281 and 10.197 euros)
Baojun E300 Plus specs
- Length: 2.894 mm
- Wheelbase: 2.020 mm
- Width: 1.655 mm
- Height: 1.595 mm
- Weight: 1.040-1.052 kg
- Seats: 4 (2 adults and 2 kids)
- Motor: 40 kW (peak) and 150 N.m of torque
- Top speed: 100 km/h (62 mph)
- Battery capacity: 31,9 kWh (LiFePO4)
- Range: 305 km (NEDC)
- On-board charger: 6,6 kW (5 hours to charge)
- DC fast charging: 30-80 % in 1 hour
- Turning radius: 4 meters (rear-wheel drive)
- Starting price: between 69.800 and 84.800 yuan (8.920 and 10.836 euros)
The most interesting variant is definitely the longer E300 Plus, because when needed the two extra seats can be folded down to give some luggage space.
In their top-spec trim level both the Baojun E300 and E300 Plus are extremely well equipped with modern safety features rare in small and affordable cars, such as:
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Lane Departure Warning & Assist System
- Intelligent Safety Protection
- Automatic Emergency Braking System
- Auxiliary and Valet Parking System
- Guided Vehicle Anti-theft Warning System
As for the battery, the cobalt-free LFP battery cells are provided by Great Power and the pack (320 V – 100 Ah) seems to have a 100s1p cell disposition (100 cells all connect in series, none in parallel).
The 305 km range in NEDC represents around 229 km (3/4) in WLTP, enough to make this electric car acceptable for many European customers if sold here for a decent price. However, the top speed would need to be increased to 120 km/h.
Anyway, the Baojun E300 Plus looks like a futuristic autonomous electric car from a Sci-Fi movie and you either love it or hate it. Since I’m a Sci-Fi fan I love it…
This one and the Leapmotor T03 are definitely the most interesting Chinese electric cars in the A-segment that could be successful in Europe. The Leapmotor T03 with its NCM 811 battery has higher range, but the Baojun E300 Plus with its cobalt-free battery can be cheaper and produced in much higher numbers.
What do you think about this A-segment electric car? Would it be a nice alternative to the Renault Twingo ZE or the FIAT 500 Action in Europe if it had a short delivery time and sold for around 15.000 euros before government incentives?
More info:
The good thing about that square design is that allows you to maximize interior and cargo space, vital in a small car. That is also the strategy on the (perfect) e-Up, the Sono Sion or the (extreme) Kia Soul, also seen in the Japanese key cars. But I go more for the utilitarian aspects than looks, and won´t dare to predict if these Chinese designs would be successful in Europe outside the EV enthusiast who have limited options to buy (I would just buy it for the durable LFP battery, I live in a hot climate).
The A-segment brings more than 1 million sales per year in Europe so it is quite important:
https://s3-prod-europe.autonews.com/2020-03/2019%20European%20segments%20NEW.pdf
Indeed.
That table shows that the FIAT Panda is extremely successful. I hope that the next generation becomes all-electric and is based on the FIAT Concept Centoventi.
https://pushevs.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/09/Fiat-Concept-Centoventi.jpg
With proper thermal management, the climate doesn’t matter for durability.
(Also, according to Jeff Dahn, LFP batteries hold up *worse* under elevated temperatures…)
You have a point but there are still cars in the market with poor thermal management.
I couldn´t find info to sustain that LFP hold up worse in high temperatures than other Li-ion chemistries. Apparently all move in a similar range of -20ºC-60ºC:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1002007118307536
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/364327/
My rational is that if my car is going to lose range for high temperatures no matter what, better get the battery with higher cyclability to extend its life.
At this price point it seems like the Great Wall Ora R1 would be a better buy.
Leapmotor might be headed for some difficult times.
The Leapmotor T03 is in fact based on/a modified version of another car, the Changjiang eCool. Leapmotor does not have a production license, needed to legally produce and sell vehicles in China, so it piggybacks on Changjiang’s license. Changjiang also assembles the T03 and Leapmotor’s other car, the S01 small coupe.
This Changjiang brand is one of China’s earlier NEV startups and the result of battery maker Sinopoly acquiring a small bus manufacturer. Apart from the eCool, Changjiang mainly produces electric commercial vehicles, like vans and light trucks.
Last week Changjiang was declared bankrupt by a Chinese court.
The implications for Leapmotor’s operations are not clear yet. I’m not familiar with China’s bankruptcy proceedings, but they are probably not that different from our own. A court assigned curator will decide what to do with the assets and debts. In the short term I think Leapmotor production will continue. In the longer term however, they might loose access to the production license and assembly line.
On the bright side, Leapmotor introduced its third car on the Guangzhou Auto show that currently takes place. The C11 is a Niro-sized electric SUV/crossover.
About A-segment electric cars, I think many people that are shopping in this segment and are not necessarily BEV enthusiasts, are looking for a price closer to €10.000. That might be a challenge for the short term. China’s low priced vehicles are partly possible due to the availability of cheap batteries and that’s lacking in Europe. The Baojun E300 is a cool car I think and it would find a market here as well, probably a similar demographic as the people that used to buy a Smart Fortwo.
Thanks for the heads up Leo.
I hope that Leapmotor survives.
That’s true, A-segment cars need to be close to a 10.000 euros price tag to make sense, but some may be willing to pay a 5.000 euros premium to drive electric and save on gas, especially car-sharing and rental services.
For a 30 kWh battery, the price difference between the cheapest and just average would be maybe $1000 nowadays — not irrelevant, but not a game changer. The reasons European makers can’t make cheap EVs (yet?) lie elsewhere…
15000 €, when you can buy a Leaf Acenta, wall box included, for 22500€ plus VAT?!
With VAT, most small EVs start close to 30,000 Euros… At half that, I’m pretty sure many people would consider something like the Baojun. And that’s before subsidies: with subsidies in the form of a fixed rebate in many places, the actual price difference could easily be a factor of three!
(It should be noted of course that with shipping costs an tariffs, the actual European price would be quite a bit more than 15,000 Euro…)
Wuling MiniEv: 2.917 mm long; 1.493 mm wide and 1.621 mm high
Baojun 300+: 2.894 mm long; 2.020 mm wide and 1.595 mm high
When bigger Wuling MiniEV costs only $4.200, why is this 300+ costs so much.
I believe the range is just 120 km more, but that does not justify nearly 3 times the cost.
No wonder MiniEV sells at such a higher volume. Anyway I hope Baojun will also reduce prices and push the sales higher.
The Baojun has a *lot* more range than the cheapest variant of the Wuling. And more power. And a lot more safety. And it’s not actually three times as expensive, either…
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