If you haven’t heard of Aiways, now’s the time to take a closer look at its all-new electric U6 coupe-style SUV that’s on track for launch in Australia
- How much does the Aiways U6 Coupe cost?
- What equipment comes with the Aiways U6 Coupe?
- How safe is the Aiways U6 Coupe?
- What technology does the Aiways U6 Coupe feature?
- What powers the Aiways U6 Coupe?
- How far can the Aiways U6 Coupe go on a charge?
- What is the Aiways U6 Coupe like to drive?
- What is the Aiways U6 Coupe like inside?
- Should I buy an Aiways U6 Coupe?
- For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales’ Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast
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Chinese car-maker Aiways is getting better and bigger, with its Aiways U6 Coupe EV coming ahead leaps and bounds over its maiden car, the U5. Planned in right-hand drive for both Australia and the UK, Aiways hopes the U6 Coupe will stand on its quality as much as its pricing. It doesn’t have the biggest battery or the sharpest charging rates, and it is short of the best German, American and Chinese engineering inside and out. But it’s a very credible effort, if they price it correctly. If.
Aiways U6 Coupe
International Launch
Lisbon, Portugal
How much does the Aiways U6 Coupe cost?
European pricing for the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe hasn’t been finalised yet, but the list pricing will come in at under €50,000 – and just how far under will be the key to its success or failure.
Conversion rates alone would correlate the Australian pricing to somewhere around the $80,000 mark, which puts the newly minted car company’s mainstay model right in a band of some pretty accomplished EVs.
For its size, at 4.8 metres long, it’s one of the lighter EV SUVs going around, at 1790kg. That’s because the 63kWh battery is relatively small, but still ekes out 405km of WLTP range.
There are plenty of inclusions here, and few options.
Its problem, at a $70,000 to $80,000 position, is that the mighty Kia EV6 (from $72,590), Hyundai IONIQ 5 (from $72,000) and the top-selling Tesla Model Y (from $68,900) are already there.
Australia’s woeful exchange rate might not allow Aiways to duck far beneath them and, even if it does, the newcomer might have a hard time convincing buyers to switch from better-known brands.
What equipment comes with the Aiways U6 Coupe?
The Aiways name might not be uppermost in mind for EVs after just four years in the car business, so the Shanghai brand counters on the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe with some serious kit, inside and out.
Its exterior design is neat and entirely credible in the segment, and it rides on 20-inch aero alloy rims, to pull its drag coefficient down to amongst the cleanest in the segment.
The exterior is notable for its striking face, active front air intakes and hidden, pop-out door handles, plus its LED headlights and turning lights.
The interior gear includes a heat pump for the two-zone climate control, which also has its own rear vents.
There’s a panoramic roof, keyless entry and a front phone charger to go with the standard 10-speaker audio system, which also mates to Bluetooth and USB systems and has 64 gigabytes of storage on board, plus DAB and FM radio. AM is a bit too yestertech for Aiways.
How safe is the Aiways U6 Coupe?
The 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe sports a wide range of active and passive safety features, ticking most modern boxes for top-end crash avoidance and crash survival.
That includes front, side and central airbags up front and curtain airbags for all four external seats and, critically, a power-off system after a collision has been detected.
What technology does the Aiways U6 Coupe feature?
While it doesn’t have an NCAP rating yet, even from China, the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe driver assist tech suite runs to autonomous emergency braking (AEB), front collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance and a highway assistant.
It also has tyre pressure monitoring and, to minimise frustration, its Level 2+ active cruise control includes stop-and-go features, which is all helped by 22 radar, ultrasonic and camera sensors around the car.
There are 11 standard driver assistance systems in all, with the sensors and artificial intelligence software to manage their data developed by Continental and Mobileye.
What powers the Aiways U6 Coupe?
The permanent magnet synchronous electric motor in the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe is unusually high revving, hitting 16,000rpm, which is at least 20 per cent higher than most of the competitive segment.
It brings with it 160kW of power and 315Nm of torque, and that’s enough to urge the 1790kg U6 Coupe to 100km/h in 6.9 seconds on its way to the speed limiter at 160km/h.
Developed and built by Aiways, the motor revs higher because, Aiways insists, it can be smaller and lighter that way, and uses fewer rare-earth ores in its manufacture.
It also uses a single-speed reduction gearbox to reduce the running noise of the motor, and Aiways claims it’s good for 16kWh per 100km.
Part of its efficiency drive comes from the use of a heat pump, to bring waste heat from the drive motor to warm up the battery and the passenger compartment.
How far can the Aiways U6 Coupe go on a charge?
Others might show up with sexier powertrains or more powerful EV systems, but the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe has been developed around the real world, right down to the relatively small 63kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
Rivals might insist bigger is better, but Aiways believes right-sizing is more important, and that battery capacity that isn’t used is battery capacity, and therefore weight and cost, wasted.
It uses 24 CATL lithium-ion modules and charges at up to 90kW on direct current or 11kW from a three-phase AC wallbox.
That, Aiways claims, will give it a 35-minute recharge from 20 to 80 per cent on a DC fast-charger, and seven hours to go from zero to 100 per cent on an 11kW AC charger.
It also claims 405km from the WLTP test cycle, using 16kWh of battery for each 100km.
What is the Aiways U6 Coupe like to drive?
There is a lot to like about the way Aiways has gone about developing the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe from the bones of the lesser U5, and one of them is the way most of the tactile controls feel.
They are solid, with a high-quality movement to them and a sense of unbreakability.
It starts up easily enough, with either the keyless or key systems, and the twist-grip gear control is surprisingly, immediately, intuitive to operate. You just twist the padded handle between drive, neutral and reverse, and there’s a button on the side for ‘park’.
So far, so good.
There is an instant feeling that the ride and handling are more composed, too, and the body control is particularly good.
The steering is light, but perhaps too much so for quick work on a direction change, and it’s easy enough to park, with sensors and cameras clarifying every potential hazard as the U6 approaches it.
It has Sports, Normal, Eco and Custom driving modes, and they can feature single-pedal driving for maximum regeneration, or not, and an artificial engine sound, or not. Preferably not.
The high-revving electric motor is unnecessarily loud with it on and it’s a hassle to turn the artificial sound off, because you have to negotiate the standalone Aiways multimedia interface to figure it out.
It is not bad, but it’s not like anything you’ve used before, because nobody does it quite like this.
It’s one of the quicker systems to react to inputs, and there are fixed areas that retain the drive readiness, the driving mode the car is in, the range and the state of charge, as well as which driver profile it’s in, whether the phone is connected and how much GPS coverage you have.
But it’s all very touchy-not-feely.
Otherwise, the seats are comfortable and supportive, for what they are, and bravely styled in the launch colours. The cabin is practical, and easy to use, and maybe the boot floor is a little high for loading, but Aiways hasn’t made many obvious mistakes here.
Not many obvious USPs, either, but not many obvious mistakes.
What is the Aiways U6 Coupe like inside?
It’s a very mixed bag, the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe interior, with some stunning pieces of design let down by some unfortunate materials compromises and some overlooked attention to detail.
A classic example of this is the entire front layout, with an INEOS-style small 8.2-inch instrument cluster for the driver backed up by a central 14.6-inch digital touch-screen in the centre of the dash and, somehow, both of them leave you craving a head-up display.
Most of the donkey work of navigation or entertainment or drive systems control is done through the central screen, and the frequent neck craning is definitely sub-optimal.
The smaller, driver-centric screen carries only advice on the U6’s speed, the state of charge, the range and the gear it’s in, plus whatever warning or driver assistance advice is necessary. Everything else is way … over … there.
Then there’s the feel of everything. The steering wheel, the heated leather electric seats, the arm rests; they all feel fantastic, but there’s a real eggshell sound to the harder plastics of the dash top and the door skins.
There is an inductive phone charger pad at the bottom of the dash, but it’s angled so steeply that the phone can fall out at more than three-quarter throttle.
Still, the equipment levels are good, with a six-way electric driver’s heated seat (four-way for the passenger), USB sockets in the front and back, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry, a panoramic glass roof, 10-speaker sound system, 360 ambient lighting settings and front and rear LED reading lights.
The 472-litre luggage area can be accessed via the 60/40-split folding rear seat (in an era of 40/20/40 seats), and can be enlarged to 1260 litres, and it makes good work of the 2800mm wheelbase to deliver a lot of rear legroom.
But its ergonomics are generally good, the vision from the car is better than most and, once you’ve become accustomed to Aiways’ proprietary multimedia software, it works easily.
That said, the software doesn’t always prioritise the things a driver might want more, like ways to change the driving modes or how the energy consumption is going.
There is dual-zone climate control (via the heat pump, too), and the vents are hidden so they don’t blow on your face.
Should I buy an Aiways U6 Coupe?
On merit, the 2023 Aiways U6 Coupe is solidly credible for everything from ride to range, from noise levels to build quality and from handling to ease of use in the daily grind.
There’s no compelling reason not to take on an Aiways U6 Coupe, but neither does it deliver many compelling reasons to take it over either a Kia EV6 or a Tesla Model Y, both of which have longer wheelbases in shorter cars.
Aiways first needs to build a brand position that Australians can understand, like MG did and BYD is doing, before it can ask for its cars to be considered in the same breath, and at the same price point, as the market leaders.
But the car itself is a strong, no-mistakes piece of automotive workmanship.
2023 Aiways U6 Coupe at a glance:
Price: $75,000 estimated (plus on-road costs)
Available: To be confirmed
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 160kW/315Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 63kWh lithium-ion
Range: 400km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 16.0kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested
For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales’ Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast
Join the conversation at our Facebook page Or email us at [email protected]
Keyword: Aiways U6 Coupe 2023 Review