Its ‘summer body’ will arrive a little too late to enjoy the summer sunshine. But the Mifa 7 has lost 36 centimetres of weight and remains under five metres in length, while promising to be able to carry seven adults in a 2-2-3 configuration, with an interior space comparable to that of larger SUVs such as the Mercedes EQE or the Audi E-Tron. The last row folds down to provide 760 litres of boot space, in addition to the six ‘Ryanair’ suitcases already provided. The Mifa 7 is available with a choice of two battery packs: 77KWH and 90KWH. The larger 90KWH pack promises a maximum range of 480km on a single charge, while the 77KWH pack offers up to 410km of range.
Thanks to rapid charging, the Mifa 7 can be recharged from 5% to 80% in 40 minutes. A 244bhp engine propels the vehicle to a top speed of 180km/h. With its standard equipment (emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control) and options such as a 360-degree camera, the Mifa 7-- marketed by Astara from July in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany for delivery in September--has been awarded five stars by EuroNCAP. While the manufacturer seems to be targeting families, it’s not impossible that Saic Motor’s model will also be of interest to taxis and other passenger transporters. Its price, not yet announced in Europe, is between €36,000 and €38,000 in China.
This article was written for the of Paperjam magazine, published on 9 July. It was originally published in and is published on the website as part of the complete Paperjam archive. .