TECH INSIDER | AIWAYS U5
Founded less than two years ago, Chinese startup Aiways
has begun the start of production of its electric SUV – an
a ordable alternative to the Tesla Model X and Audi e-tron
WORDS: ALEX GRANT
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // January 2020 // 17
Fast track
1. The U5 is an all-electric
SUV built on a low-weight
modular platform that
removes unnecessary
components to keep it just
1,730kg (3,813lbs)
Chinese carmaker Aiways doesn’t let the grass grow
beneath its feet. It first previewed the U5 electric
SUV in September 2019 ahead of production
starting at its €1.7bn (US$1.9bn) factory in Shangrao,
China in December. Since then it has gone on to be the first
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer to attain Europe-wide
type approval from TUV Rheinland.
Developed almost entirely in-house, not only was the
18-month process remarkably quick, but the business itself
was months old when the project started. “We don’t have
a brownfield operation, everything is greenfield,” explains
Dr Alexander Klose, the company’s executive vice president
of overseas operations. “The car is designed as an electric
vehicle, the plant is designed for manufacturing electric
vehicles, and it’s been optimized for that. We can just do
it a better way.”
Aiways now employs 1,000 staff, split between its
headquarters in Shanghai, R&D center in Jiading, and the
Shangrao plant. One new model per year is planned – larger
and smaller SUVs will be first – with sales planned for every
global market with “a certain propensity towards electric
vehicles,” Klose says.
“We have no engineers in Europe, the car was designed
and engineered in China, with global quality in mind,” he
explains. “The reason we can do that is the engineering
team has an international background.”
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