SAIC Motor’s Maxus brand – known here as LDV – unveiled an electric concept car at this year’s Shanghai auto show with aggressive, Hummer-like styling.
The Maxus GST features a body-on-frame construction and a four-motor all-wheel-drive system with 746kW (1000hp) and a claimed peak torque of 14,000Nm, helping the car accelerate from 0- 100 km/h in about three seconds.
According to the company’s translated press release, its semi-solid state battery – which has a cell-to-frame construction – gives the concept a 1000 km operating range.
The 11kW V2L function allows you to power small appliances.
It also boasts a tank rollover function, as well as air suspension, a claimed 400mm of suspension travel, 12 terrain modes and what Maxus calls an automatic all-terrain exit function. image.
The latter, according to the press release, uses sensors to scan the terrain and establish a range of 50m in front of the vehicle.
The GST has a new design language for the brand, which the company calls “new electrified armor”.
Chinese automakers have recently adopted a boxy design language bluff – BYD’s Duong Vuong U8 and Chery’s Jetour tourists are just a few examples – and roll out more cars as the format becomes more accepted and allowed to drive around the country.
Inside, there are many design elements that are favored by Chinese brands at the moment, including the steering wheel and the adjacent screen cluster.
However, the passenger door and the absence of a B-pillar look much more like a concept car, as does the presence of a front passenger seat that can rotate to face the rear occupants.
Maxus says the bar separating the tub and the cabin can also be opened, and the rear seats can rotate 180 degrees and slide all the way to the rear door – ideal for fishing.
It’s unclear how many future Maxus/LDV products GST previews.
The company provided an electric ute, eT60, which last year became the first electric ute in Australia from a long-established automaker. But it’s simply an electric version of an existing internal combustion engine-powered vehicle rather than a completely clean vehicle like GMC Hummer EV or even a heavily overhauled ICE model like Ford F-150 Lightning.
