The Neta GT is not the definitive in any particular area. But the price of entry is staggering.
This review is done by ChinaDriven, which creates content about Chinese EVs on YouTube & Twitter.
In 2020, there was a slew of Chinese NEV brands bursting onto the scene, after the likes of start-up starlets Xpeng, Nio & Li Auto.
Neta was one of those newer brands making a small, sensible, no-frills EV, the Neta V. And after a little success, they took the natural step and released a mid-sized EV crossover. A path trodden by many around them.
Then they went completely off-script. They brought a mid-sized sleek, sexy sports sedan to the market, at a price point well below the likes of the Nio ET7 & IM L7.
The 2023 Shanghai auto show, in my eyes, was Neta's 'mic drop' moment, as they pulled the sheets off the Neta GT. An EV sports coupe starting at under $25,000! From frumpy little EV to sports coupe in 3 years. Impressive.
Price, Battery, Range, Charging
The Neta GT's pricing is astounding when compared to the price of EVs a few years back. It's basically split into three levels.
The Neta GT 560 lite & GT 560 are RWD with a 64.27kWh battery. Both have a claimed range of 560km. The feature-stripped GT 560 Lite costs under $24,500 while the GT 560 carries a price tag just shy of $26,000.
If you shell out around $28,000 you can have the GT 660. Still RWD but equipped with a larger 74.48kWh battery and a range of 660km.
For full performance, you'll have to opt for the GT 580, the dual-motor model. It will set you back $31,000 but that is still about $4,500 less than a base Model 3 in China. The GT 580 comes with an even larger 78kWh pack and a range of 580km.
Charging is the standard, half an hour to go from 20-80 percent using a DC fast charger. Home charging depends on battery size but falls between 11-14 hours.
Exterior
It's a cracking-looking EV. Its bowing front end with long headlights gives it an insectile look. It's almost reminiscent of Lotus cars, like the Elise or Exige, with their Alien Bug-like faces. It looks mildly aggressive and stylish.
The side profile is a classic sports 2+2 coupe. Relatively long nose, a rising straight belt line, with a roof line draping and tapering hard into the rear.
Every angle looks great. If I had to pick a niggle with the exterior looks, it would be that the car sits a tad too high, its wheels not really fully filling the wheel wells.
But the diamond cut alloys look striking, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4, a proper tire, not some cheap budget tires.
The rear is somewhat less exciting. There's nothing wrong with it, but compared to the stand-out front end the rear is far more restrained. There's a diffuser, but it's almost certainly just for show. And keeping in line with its sporty styling a nice protrusion of hips above the rear wheel arches.
In a world of fast, sleek sports sedans, it was a welcome couple of days hopping in and out of something that looked like the Neta GT. And in the back of my mind, the price only made me grin even more.
Interior
But with everything, there is give and take. The interior is where some of the "take" happens. It's a suave, well-designed interior. But the materials are of its price point.
That is to say, you won't find any Napa leather or Alcantara sneaky its way inside. It's almost all plastic. Decent plastic, but plastic. The fake carbon fiber is quite good. And the synthetic leather on the seats and door cards feels decent. I'm quite happy for the trade-off to be in the interior materials because I'd rather the exterior and performance to be the focus.
That being said, there is all the tech we've come to expect from Chinese EVs. After all, Neta all this a 'Junior sportscar' aimed at young buyers looking for their first sports car. And young buyers value their tech.
It has a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel, and a huge vertical 17.6-inch central touchscreen powered by a Snapdragon 8155 CPU.
One interesting feature of the NETA OS is the map will show TikTok symbols on the map. Tap them and it will link you to TikToks that were filmed at that location, most of them seem to be restaurant-orientated, but it's an interesting idea.
Something that took me by complete surprise was how good the 12-speaker 'Unbranded' surround sound speaker system was. The clarity was superb, especially in the mid-range. And coupled with the in-seat bass it really gave a pleasant audio experience.
The 6-way front sports seats come with heat and ventilation as standard on most models. There's also ambient lighting, a 4G connection, a wireless charging pad, and a decent amount of interior storage for a sports coupe.
Talking about interior space, the rear of the Neta GT is as expected. Extremely limited. I'm only 1.7m and my head could touch the roof!
As for legroom...there isn't much. But the worst offender of rear seat discomfort is that the seats pin your feet to the floor. The front seats do not adjust upwards, so you cannot make any space for your feet under the seats.
Besides somewhere to "sit" there is nothing in the back. I couldn't even find a USB socket.
But the Neta GT has an impressive combined 347L of storage space, which is pretty good for a 2+2 coupe. It has 297L in the trunk and an extra 50L frunk.
ADAS
Neta is by no means a leader in ADAS. It doesn't seem to be a huge focus for them right now as they continue to try to cement their brand. The Neta GT does have an optional L2 ADAS, but we suspect it is rather basic, a combination of Lane keep assist and Adaptive cruise control.
It's powered by dual Horizon Robotic Journey 3 chips with a total of 10 TOPs, a setup we saw in the Li Auto ONE. The Li ONE was able to deliver a half-decent NOA highway feature using that compute power.
Driving Impressions
So we've established, the Neta GT looks the part. The interior appears stylish with the tech the youth desires. But if you look like the Neta GT the driving better back it up. It does. Now this is no second coming of the Lotus Elise, it's not a hardcore racing machine.
Body roll is present when you push around a corner, but in return, you get a splendid ride. It's nicely dampened but with enough agility to have some fun thanks to the double wishbone up front and multi-link in the rear.
We drove both the RWD and the AWD versions, and there are some differences. First, the RWD with its 170kW & 310Nm, isn't lighting the world on fire. It's dreary 6.5/6.7s sprint to 100kph is a bit of a letdown.
It would have been nice to see it somewhere around 5-5.5s when it looks the way it does. But without the extra motor on the front axle you're able to point the nose with much more agility, and having all the drive at the rear, oversteer is easy to instigate, and with the low power levels, easy to control. It's a fun car to drive, not intimidating, just good clean fun.
The AWD doubles up on the power, putting down 340kW & 620Nm. It also rockets off the line to 100kph in a staggering 3.7s. It feels a tad heavier over the nose, and thus a little less nimble, but what you lose in agility you make up for in raw speed and sure-footed cornering.
One remark on the power is, that once you hit 100kph the torque does start to taper off rather quickly, it's definitely been tuned to hit that headline figure of 3.7s. Either way, on-road it's monstrously fast.
In short, this is not a case of all show and no go. The AWD will deliver that liver-crushing acceleration performance EVs are known for. Whilst the RWD plays it slightly differently, let you have a bit of fun at more reasonable road speeds. It's simply a case of picking your poison.
Conclusion
The Neta GT is not the definitive in any particular area. It's not the world's most beautiful car, nor the most tech-savvy. There's a myriad of better-driving cars.
BUT the smiles per mile, for the price of entry is staggering. Neta has taken their boring Neta V to Thailand an RHD market...here's to hoping they'll bring the Neta GT to the UK and Europe!
