On August 28, pre-sales opened for the Xinghai S7, an EV sedan/hatchback produced by Dongfeng’s Forthing brand. The car will officially launch on September 20 and, before the opening of pre-sales, had already attracted blind bookings for 6,053 units. With pre-sales, two versions were announced, priced at 129,800 yuan (18,200 USD) for the Joy Edition and 139,900 yuan (19,650 USD) for the Luxury Edition. Both have a claimed range of 555 km for the car with energy consumption quoted as 11.9 kWHh per 100 km. It’s reported that there will be an extended-range EV version in the future.
Although bigger than the Xpeng Mona M03, the pricing and style of the car suggest that Dongfeng is aiming the Forthing Xinghai S7 as a competitor to the Xpeng car. The S7 has dimensions of 4935, 1915, and 1495 mm with a wheelbase of 2915 mm. It has a low drag coefficient of just Cd 0.191 and comes equipped with 19-inch wheels, which appear to have a low-drag design. There also seems to be an option for 20-inch wheels.
The S7 is the first sedan in the Xinghai series. However, although Chinese media are calling the car a sedan, it is really a liftback hatchback, and very obviously so. Overall, the design from the side looks quite awkward, as if the front half and the second half are from two completely different cars. At the front, the S7 has an enclosed face with striking light clusters, which are similar in shape to the figure 7. The car has adaptive high and low beams and is equipped with an active grille, which no doubt helps reduce the car’s wind resistance.
From the side, we can see that the car has concealed door handles, and the hatchback nature of the car is very evident. The roof line begins to fall steeply after the B-pillar, and by the time it gets to the C and D-pillars, it looks out of place. At the rear, there is a through type tail light along with a small ducktail type spoiler above. There is also a very prominent black lower surround design. Buyers will have a choice from five exterior colors: green, white, blue, red, and black.
Inside, the car has both a floating 8.8-inch instrument panel and a 15.6-inch infotainment screen. The S7 uses the Xinghai OS system and can support mobile phone connection and voice recognition. There is a two-spoke steering wheel with a flattened top and bottom. At a time when many producers are reducing the number of controls mounted on the wheel Dongfeng seems to have gone for a more traditional approach. There is a wireless mobile phone charging pad, and the driver’s seat gains heating and ventilation. Buyers have a choice between a black and a beige interior color scheme.
The S7 comes with an electric rear hatch as standard. With the seats up, the trunk space is 541 liters, and this is extendable to 1303 liters. It should also be noted that the car comes with a drunk.
At launch, the car has a 160 kW electric motor, which can deliver a maximum torque of 310 Nm. This provides the S7 with a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 6.67 seconds. A lithium iron phosphate battery pack with a capacity of 56.8 kWh gives the car a 555 km range using CLTC measurements. Using fast charging it can go from 30 to 80% SOC in 26 minutes. The EREV version will reportedly use a 1.5 liter engine as the range extender along with a 160 kW electric motor.
The car will offer an L2+ driving assistance function via 4 cameras and 8 ultrasonic radars as standard. The S7 is the second model in the Xinghai new energy range after the V9 MPV, and this year should also see the unveiling of the mid-size T7 SUV.
Sources: Autohome, Fast Technolgy
