Chery Introduces Fulwin A8L, Rivals BYD Qin L DM

Chery Launches Fulwin A8L, Setting New Guinness World Record for Hybrid Sedans

It’s end of 2024 now, and carmakers are launching new products during this days, in order to catch the market at the beginning of the new year. Recently, Chery introduced four new models in a short time, among which the Fulwin A8L is inevitable to miss.

Positioned as a mid-size hybrid sedan, Fulwin A8L is an important addition to the Chery Fulwin series for the 100,000 yuan auto market, rivalling directly with best-selling models such as the BYD Qin L DM, Sealion 06, the Destroyer 05 etc.

Record-Breaking Achievement

On December 17th, Chery Fulwin held a grand launch event for A8L. On the site, the company claimed that A8L set a new Guinness World Record for "the farthest distance traveled by a plug-in hybrid production sedan without recharging," by traveling 2369.915km, on a full tank and a full charge. This showcased Chery's world-leading plug-in hybrid technology. Besides, Chery also demonstrated a crash test and a spherical scraping test at the launch event, highlighting the vehicle’s reliable safety technology.

Is it so good? As far as you learn more about the configurations of the car, you will know how A8L achieve this.

Equipped with Chery's Kunpeng Super Hybrid C-DM5.0 system, the Fulwin A8L is able to travel an ultra-long range over 2,300km. For comparison, BYD’s fifth-gen DM Technology released this May, can achieve 2100km.

Key features of the Fulwin A8L include:

1) The car is equipped with Chery’s fifth-generation 1.5T hybrid-specific engine, which has a peak thermal efficiency of up to 44.5%

2) The WLTC combined fuel consumption without charge: 4.2L per 100km

3) The combined fuel consumption: 1.01L

4) The continuously variable super hybrid DHT on the car has an efficiency of 92%

5) The pure electric range is 145km under CLTC condition, with a total range exceeding 2100km

The Fulwin A8L is also excels in performance:

1)     Hybrid-specific engine maximum power: 115Kw

2)     Hybrid-specific engine Peak torque: 220N•m

3)     The drive motor maximum power: 150Kw

4)     The drive motor peak torque of 310N•m

5)     0-100km/h acceleration rate: 4.8 seconds (lowest)

Superior Safety

The Fulwin showcased a crash test and a spherical scraping test in a video at the launch event to demonstrate its excellent safety technology.

In the crash test, the vehicle ensured the integrity of the passenger compartment during a collision with all passive safety measures being activated normally.

In the abrasion-resistant spherical scraping test, it caused no malfunction to the entire vehicle or to the power battery system. From the video, we could see that the battery pack achieves no leakage, no fire, or explosion. Full of a sense of security, isn’t it?

Furthermore, the safety performance is also supported by the hardness of the body materials. According to the company, the Fulwin A8L uses 80% high-strength steel, 20.6% hot-formed steel, and a front bumper coverage of 78.13%.

Pricing and Market Position

The Fulwin A8L offers 5 models, with prices ranging from 109,900 yuan (approximately USD15,000) to 149,900 yuan (approximately USD20,000). The vehicle has a dimension of 4790mm in length, 1843mm in width, 1487mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2790mm long. It seems the sedan can offer a good space performance. Here are the 5 trims:

- 1.5L-DHT 70KM Standard: 109,900 yuan (approximately USD15,000)

- 1.5L-DHT 70KM Comfort: 119,900 yuan (approximately USD16,400)

- 1.5TGDI-DHT 145KM Standard: 129,900 yuan (approximately USD17,800)

- 1.5TGDI-DHT 145KM Comfort: 139,900 yuan (approximately USD19,200)

- 1.5TGDI-DHT 145KM Luxury: 149,900 yuan (approximately USD20,000)

In China auto market, the 100,000 yuan segment is the mainstream market for most of the family users, in which, plug-in hybrid sedans are top options for them. BYD Qin L DM, Sealion 06, Qin PLUS DM, and Destroyer 05 are always ranking the top five best-sellers, with a total monthly sales surpassing 100,000 units. Will Chery Fulwin A8L can hold a place and even become a leader? It remains to be seen.