We drove the all-electric AWD iCaur 03T

iCaur is further expansion of the Chery SA automotive group. To date, the brand has launched a few models locally and it is the entry level iCaur 03T that we recently got our hands on.

If you have never heard of iCaur before, you’re probably in the majority. Chery Automobile has a myriad brands under its umbrella. Among these are Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas, Jetour and iCaur. Many of these brands are all-new, having been created in the last few years. In some cases. South Africa was the first export market to receive some of the latest products. Chery also decides which model carries which badge in which market. So what may be called a Jaecoo in one country may be a Chery in another. It can be confusing, but we are sure time will sort that out.

iCaur is one of the more recent additions to the parent company’s portfolio in SA. There are two models on offer from this NEV (new energy vehicle) brand. The car featured here is the smaller of the pair and referred to as the 03T. We spent a few days driving the model in the depths of winter and have a few observations to share. Without further ado here are…

Five Things we Learned While Driving the iCaur 03T

No one seems to know what iCaur is. The first comment we heard from most people was: WHAT are you driving? That is unsurprising, considering the relatively newness of the nameplate in SA. In fact, we’d have been more surprised if people did know what it is. We got our first experience of the car featured here in China a few years ago. At the time it was envisioned that the model would come to SA wearing the Jaecoo J6 badge. But Chery decided, instead, to launch it using the iCaur name, which is an EV brand in its home market.
People really liked its appearance. The name may be completely unfamiliar, but the look of the 03T was immediately and universally accepted, mostly praised by onlookers. The 03T’s upright stance, broad shoulders and exaggerated wheels arches give it masculine edge. Many made comparisons to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. We consider it more like a larger Suzuki Jimny, another car that seems to cheer up people from the moment they see it.
There is loads of passenger space in the cabin. The 03T has a high cabin that requires one to step up into it. A long-ish wheelbase, along with a tall-ish roof, provides plenty of space for occupants. We did note that that has one other similarity to a Jimny, that of a small-ish boot. You’d be hard-pressed to cram luggage for four and other necessities in there for a weekend away.
It is too tech savvy. As is commonplace these days, the 03T has dual digital screens and there are almost no physical buttons anywhere save for the steering and window openers. Simple functionality such as adjusting the mirrors, unlocking the car and even opening the glovebox require a dive into the 15,6 inch touchscreen. Even the door openers inside are digital switches instead of manual levers. The system also offers the usual niceties such as Bluetooth, wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, voice command, three USB ports, one USB Type C port and a 50 Watt wireless charger. There is also a high-grade 12 speaker Infinity sound system in the range-leading version we drove.
It has nice punch from the electric drive system and usable range from the battery pack. iCaur is, for now at least, a purely EV brand. The 03t is offered with two powertrain options. Our test car was the powerful, twin-motor, all-wheel-drive derivative. It has twin motors than combine to deliver 205 kW and a decent 385 N.m. The latter may not sound like an abundance, but it is available at any speed. One simply punches the accelerator and the SUV zips around like a scalded cat. Thanks to the power delivery and minimal overhangs, one can really dart about in traffic more so than expected. This version is also equipped with a battery pack that gives it a claimed 436 km of range. That’s a decent figure for, what will essentially be, an urban SUV.

Summary

Chery SA is on a serious market offensive. We won’t be surprised if the company launches another new brand by the time you read this report. The segmentation is interesting as it could create a bit of confusion for potential customers. However, should you opt for a Lepas over a Chery, or an Omoda over a Jaecoo, all the money goes back to the same parent co.

iCaur is a bit of an outlier as it is an NEV-only brand. Chery’s other brands are growing daily. Why add iCaur? NEV options, particularly BEV (pure battery electric vehicles) cars are still struggling to find sales success in SA. The EV space is a tough one to crack. And that’s not purely because of the products on offer, but a number of external factors as well. We saw BMW try something similar when it launched its i3 and i8. The rationale, back then, was that if its NEV ‘experiment’ failed, BMW would simply shut down the ‘i’ -sub-division without hurting the BMW brand too much. We wonder if that is perhaps also the case here.

Model: iCaur 03T
Price: R699 900
Engine: dual motor
Transmission: automatic, AWD
Max power: 205 kW
Max torque: 385 N.m
0-100 km/h: 6,5 sec
Top speed: 150 km/h
Range: 436 km