Jiyue has launched the Jiyue 07 electric sedan with a starting price of RMB 209,900 ($29,480). It delivered 2,117 vehicles in August, up 107.75 percent from July.
Jiyue, the electric vehicle (EV) maker created by Baidu in partnership with Geely Holding Group, has officially launched its second EV model, after a rough start but with sales starting to show momentum.
Jiyue rolled out the Jiyue 07 electric sedan at a launch event in Beijing yesterday, with a starting price of RMB 209,900 ($29,480), the brand's second model after the Jiyue 01 SUV (sport utility vehicle).
Jiyue CEO Joe Xia jokingly referred to the mid to large-size sedan as the equivalent of a hypothetical Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) “Model 5,” suggesting that it's better than the latter's Model 3, which is on sale now.
Deliveries of the Jiyue 07 began at launch, with the first owner being Robin Zeng, chairman and CEO of CATL, the world's largest supplier of power batteries, which also supplies batteries to Jiyue.
Jiyue's next model will be unveiled as soon as the Guangzhou auto show later this year, but specific plans are still to be finalized, Xia said yesterday.
The launch of the Jiyue 07 comes at a time when Jiyue's sales have begun to rise significantly. The brand launched its first model about a year ago, but its performance was lukewarm.
The Jiyue 01 -- a Tesla Model Y competitor -- was launched on October 27, 2023, when it was priced at a starting price of RMB 249,900 yuan.
However, just a month later, the price of the Jiyue 01 was drastically cut by RMB 30,000. Jiyue did not mention the reason at the time, but it seems to have been because the model's initial performance was less than expected.
Earlier this year, the marketing team was restructured and a new variant were added to the Jiyue 01. These moves seem to have improved sales performance.
On September 2, Jiyue said it delivered 2,117 vehicles in August, a 107.75 percent increase from July, the first time it has reported monthly deliveries. In June, Jiyue delivered 444 units, according to the figures.
The Jiyue 07 went on pre-sale on August 28, when it was offered at a starting pre-sale price of RMB 215,900 yuan.
The electric sedan's starting price at the official launch was reduced by RMB 6,000 from the pre-sale, a common practice among Chinese EV makers.
The Jiyue 07 is offered in three options -- Standard, Long Range, and Performance -- with starting prices of RMB 209,900, RMB 229,900, and RMB 299,900, respectively.
Customers who pay a deposit by September 30 and get delivery by January 31, 2025, will get a limited time discount of RMB 10,000 on any of the three variants, which brings the starting price down to RMB 199,900.
The Jiyue 07 measures 4,953 mm in length, 1,989 mm in width and 1,480/1,475 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,013 mm.
As a comparison, the latest Tesla Model 3 is smaller, with length, width and height of 4,720 mm, 1,848 mm, 1,442 mm and a wheelbase of 2,875 mm.
Its two less expensive variants are single-motor rear-wheel drive models with 200 kW of peak motor power and 343 Nm of peak torque. They can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and 6.5 seconds respectively.
The highest-priced variant is the dual-motor four-wheel drive version with 230 kW of peak power and 280 Nm of peak torque from the front motor and 300 kW of peak power and 373 Nm of peak torque from the rear motor. This variant is capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds.
The standard version of the Jiyue 07 is powered by a lithium iron phosphate battery pack with a capacity of 71.4 kWh and a CLTC range of 660 kilometers.
The long-range version is powered by a lithium iron phosphate battery with a capacity of 100 kWh and a CLTC range of 880 kilometers.
The performance version is powered by a 93.4 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery with a CLTC range of 770 kilometers.
Its performance version supports a charging multiplier of up to 5C and can charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in as little as 10 minutes.
The model comes standard with two Nvidia Orin X smart driving chips with a total computing power of 508 TOPS. Its smart cockpit is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P chip, which is the current choice for mainstream high-end EV models.
The Jiyue 07 supports the Apollo 2.0 driver assistance system, which comes with a standard price of RMB 29,900. Customers who purchase the system before September 30 can enjoy a discounted price of RMB 4,999 yuan.
($1 = RMB 7.1208)
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