AIWAYS U5 RANGE TEST AND FAST CHARGING TEST

I will first test the range at lower average speeds in the city. I wanted to know what the maximum range of this car could be. At the beginning of this part of the test, the battery is at 93%. I’m going to base my estimated range on average consumption and net battery capacity. I did the test in May and it was between 15.5 and 16.5 degrees.

The first part was about an 8 km ride in Brussels. It was in an urban area, with a lot of stop-and-go driving, resulting in a fairly high average consumption of 21 kWh. The rest of the ride was also in urban areas, sometimes more rural, but with plenty of opportunity for continuous driving, mostly between 50-70 mph. During that part of the test, consumption dropped to 17.4 kWh.

Let’s take a look at my results. I drained the battery to 78% over a total 50 km ride. Based on an average consumption of 17.4 kWh, the estimated range in the city is 362 km.

Now let’s test the range at higher average speeds. I want to know what the minimum range of this car could be. At the beginning of this part of the test, the battery is at 78%. The temperature was between 16.5 and 18.5 degrees. I took this test right after the city test. I drove from Brussels towards Liège in Belgium for a total ride of 62 km. I was trying to drive at a constant speed of 120 km/h. Let’s take a look at my results. After 62 km, the battery was at 57% and the average consumption was 21.2 kwh, resulting in an estimated range of 297 km.

Now let’s recharge the car. The AIWAYS U5 is equipped with a system that allows it to be charged with both AC and DC. For this test, I am going to recharge the car at a DC Fast Charger. The AIWAYS U5 can fast charge at up to 90 kW. AIWAYS says it takes 35 minutes to recharge from 20% to 80% at a rate of 90 kW. I took the test on a different day than the other tests.

At the beginning of the test, the battery sits at only 23% and the range indicates a range of 67 km. It’s 18 degrees outside. The car indicated that it would take about 1h25 to fully charge the battery. I do a 30-minute recharge test. After about a minute, the car charged at about 70 kw. After 10 minutes, I was charging at 62.5 kW. The battery increased to 42% and we gained about 71 km on the range indicator. After 20 minutes, I noticed that we were charging at a rate of 67 kw. I gained another 67 km of range and the battery is now at 58%. After 30 minutes, the battery is at 73%. The charging speed dropped to 52.9 kw. The range indicator reads 275 km, so we gained a total of 208 km.

I haven’t done an AC charging test with this car, but let’s look at some theoretical information. The charging speed of the on-board charger is 6.6 kW. AC charging time from 0% to 100% is less than 10 hours at 6.6 kW.

In conclusion, the range of the AIWAYS U5 is somewhere between 297 km and 362 km, based on similar driving conditions and measured at temperatures between 15.5 and 18.5 degrees. I suspect that in much colder temperatures you will probably get less range. In the summer, you probably get more coverage.

What I liked about this car was the attractive price and the space you get for that price. In the back seat, it is very spacious inside. There is more than enough legroom for passengers. The trunk also offers plenty of space, making it very practical as a family car. I also liked the image quality of the 360-degree camera and has many nice options such as a panoramic sunroof for an attractive price. It is a comfortable car to drive, but on a bumpy road, the U5 can feel a bit like a boat.

What I didn’t like about this car was the low charging speed, especially 6.6 kW AC charging. I think most people would expect it to be 11 kW. The range is not great either, but still good enough. I also did not like that there is no navigation, there is no physical start/stop button and the infotainment needs some work, both in look&feel and how it is structured. All in all, at a starting price of less than €40,000, I think there are almost no alternatives if you are looking for a spacious EV in that budget range.