More than a year after offering the Dongfeng Box as its sole product, Central Auto Distributors (CADB) has previewed the 007 in Malaysia. Known as the eπ (pronounced “yipai”) 007 in China, this five-door electric sedan takes aim at the BYD Seal and is expected to undercut that car in terms of price. If the 007 looks a bit familiar, that’s because it has been rebadged by Nissan as the N7, which is also slated for export markets. Measuring 4,880 mm long, 1,895 mm wide and 1,476 mm tall, the Dongfeng is 80 mm longer, 20 mm wider and 16 mm taller than the Seal, while its 2,915 mm wheelbase is five millimetres shorter. Specifications haven’t been made known, but Singapore already offers the car there, available in two variants (discounting the 135 PS version, which has been specially developed for the island nation to meet its COE Category A limits). The rear-wheel-drive model features a single motor producing 272 PS (200 kW) and 310 Nm of torque, enabling it to accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds. The car you see here is the dual-motor all-wheel drive variant, which adds a second motor at the front, doubling outputs to 544 PS (400 kW) and 620 Nm; this completes the century sprint in just 3.9 seconds. A 73.48 kWh LFP battery delivers a claimed range of 650 km for the rear-wheel-drive model and 565 km with AWD, both on China’s lenient CLTC cycle. As for charging, the 007 supports up to an impressive 200 kW of DC fast charging, topping up the battery from 30 to 80% in 16 minutes. However, it can only accept up to 6.6 kW of AC charging, although it does offer a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function. The 007’s slightly anonymous styling has all the hallmarks of a Chinese electric sedan, with a low nose, a sweeping six-window glasshouse, frameless windows and flush pop-out door handles. The split headlights keep the upper daytime running lights and sequential indicators slim, mirroring the full-width taillights. Wheel sizes are 18 inches for the base model and 19s for the AWD version, the latter in a ten-spoke dual-tone design and paired with red brake calliper caps (that cover conventional silver callipers). In China, the car can be had with an active rear spoiler, but other markets get a simple lip spoiler instead. Inside, the 007 again takes after the vast majority of Chinese cars on the road, sporting a minimalist dashboard, a tall centre console with twin smartphone holders (one of which is a Qi wireless charger, of course) and a distinct lack of physical controls. You instead get a pair of screens – an 8.8-inch instrument display and a sizeable 15.6-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Available interior colours are black and white for the rear-wheel-drive model and this grey and white for the AWD. The powered and ventilated front seats come with six-way adjustment and memory for the driver and four-way adjustment for the passenger. You also get a panoramic roof, but it’s rather strange to see features like single-zone auto air con (instead of dual-zone) and tilt-only steering wheel adjustment (no telescopic adjustment) in this segment, and the entire bench folds down in a single piece – just like in a RM37,990 Proton Saga. There is at least a powered tailgate that opens up to a 452 litre boot, and there’s also a modest front boot. Safety-wise, the 007 comes with a full complement of driver assists, including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert with auto brake, rear collision warning and a door opening warning. As it’s only set to debut next year, the 007 will miss out on the tax incentives for CBU fully-imported EVs. While CADB does have plans for CKD local assembly to take advantage of CKD tax breaks, it is still in the preliminary stages of planning and has yet to select a partner. Do you think the Dongfeng has what it takes to compete in our EV market? Let us know in the comments. Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.
