The release of the Wenjie M5 will allow Huawei's automotive component manufacturing capabilities, as well as its vehicle software development capabilities, to begin to be showcased in a larger way.
(Image credit: Seres)
Huawei and its automotive partner, Seres, a brand owned by Chongqing Sokon, unveiled a high-end car brand called AITO earlier this month. Now the tech giant has unveiled the brand's first model.
Huawei held its product launch today, and the company's managing director Richard Yu unveiled the first model, called the Wenjie M5, demonstrating the tech giant's commitment on the automotive business.
The Wenjie M5 is an SUV with extended-range technology, similar to Li Auto's Li ONE.
It is positioned as a mid-to-high-end smart luxury mid-size SUV and was built by a team including Huawei's consumer business.
Huawei provided solutions including system software, industrial design, engineering technology, and HarmonyOS ecology. Compared to the Seres SF5, which was previously sold in the company's channel, Huawei has a very high level of say over the model.
The model is available in three versions, with pre-sale prices after subsidies as follows:
The standard rear-wheel-drive version is priced at RMB 250,000 ($39,000).
The 4WD performance version is priced at RMB 280,000.
The 4WD flagship version is priced at RMB 320,000.
The car will be on display and available for pre-order at 180 Huawei stores in 42 cities across China starting December 23, and will be available for test drives at 500 Huawei stores in 118 cities starting January 20.
Deliveries of the car are expected to begin at the end of February, and the first 10,000 pre-orders will receive benefits including a 20-inch wheel upgrade, a 64GB USB stick, and free lifetime base internet traffic.
The Wenjie M5 is equipped with the Huawei DriveONE drive system, which includes a 1.5T four-cylinder range-extender and a combination of asynchronous AC motors and permanent magnet synchronous motors.
The range extender boasts a 15:1 compression ratio, 41 percent thermal efficiency, and a maximum power generation efficiency of 3.2kWh/L.
It has a peak power of 365 kW in the 4WD flagship version and 315 kW in the 4WD performance version.
The model is powered by a 40-kWh battery pack, and its range-extender delivers 173 kWh when the vehicle is fully fueled, bringing the combined power to 213 kWh.
This gives the Wenjie M5 a combined WLTC range of 1,102km and a combined NEDC range of 1,195km.
Its extended-range hybrid system offers three driving modes, including pure electric priority, automatic and fuel priority.
With this powertrain, the Wenjie M5 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds for the 4WD flagship version and 4.8 seconds for the 4WD performance version.
It supports 7KW fast charging, which can charge from 20 percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes, and from 20 percent to 80 percent in 5 hours when using household AC power.
Wenjie M5 supports external output of 3500W, 220V AC power, which provides convenience for use when traveling.
The model offers five color options including green, white, gray, black and blue, and has a wind resistance coefficient of Cd = 0.32.
Yu said Huawei designed it to the quality and interior standards of a million-RMB luxury car, surpassing the driving experience of models priced in the RMB 500,000-1 million range, with interior space comparable to that of a large SUV.
Its center screen features a 15.6-inch screen with 2K HDR resolution.
The Wenjie M5 comes with Huawei's Harmony OS in-car system, which allows users to make video calls to mobile devices that also feature HarmonyOS.
Unlocking options for this model include a physical key, a watch key, and a mobile NFC key.
The vehicle supports L2+ assisted driving, which includes lane cruise assist, driving blind zone warning, forward radar alert, and lane shift. It also supports 360-degree panoramic parking.
Seres announced on December 2 the launch of a premium smart car brand called AITO, which stands for "Adding Intelligence to Auto".
The brand will feature Seres' capabilities in extended-range technology, as well as cutting-edge technology from partners including Huawei, to bring a new experience to users, Seres said.
Huawei will use the technology it has accumulated over the past 30 years in communications and ICT to help AITO build a mid-size luxury SUV, Richard Yu said at the time.
Seres will build more than 1,000 flagship stores and experience centers with Huawei in the next year to meet consumer demand for AITO's products and services, Yu said previously.
Huawei officially announced on April 20 that it will start selling cars in its flagship stores, with the first model being the SF5 SUV from Seres, which uses extended-range technology similar to that used by Li Auto's Li ONE.
It was previously reported that the Seres SF5, which Huawei chose to start selling, was already largely finalized and had limited room to play with, offering only a few intelligent components.
This also makes the Seres SF5 not much of Huawei's characteristics in nature, and even jokingly referred to as "Huawei Outside".
With the release of the Wenjie M5, Huawei's automotive component manufacturing capabilities and software development capabilities will begin to be more visible.
Seres unveils new premium brand AITO, aims to build over 1,000 stores with Huawei next year
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