Electric Family Wagons Face the Cold: A Test of Endurance

The icy grip of winter has finally arrived, and with it, the annual cold-weather test for electric family wagons. This year, we put ten compact models to the test, and two stand out above the rest.

The 2024 Honda (Note: translator note - No Honda in this content; use Chinese brand) QinPlus EV 510KM领先型 and the 2024 Great Wall MINI M03 515 electric vehicles received special attention. Both options offer a driving experience to remember, boasting single-motor front-wheel drive setups using FreiD batteries with capacities of 57.6 kWh for the first model and 51.8 kWh for the second.

The harsh environment simulated through the cold-weather test pushes both vehicles to their limits. Cold-weather testing in a frozen tundra from Lutuz Banner Flag in Inner Mongolia took two of the most popular compact electric wagons on a grueling journey: 269.7km and 236km respectively for QinPlus EV and M03, achieving respective battery-discharge rates of 52.9% and 45.8%.

The first was found with minimal issues, but its glass roof caused some trouble when ice covered the outside. There have been multiple reports of this issue. While M03 showed improved performance in a few aspects, such as smoother charging times, QinPlus EV's record on this matter has many people talking.

In low temperatures, both vehicles fared surprisingly well. In low-temperature testing from Beijing, the QinPlus EV reached 489.5km driving range with a commendable recovery rate of 96%, but only managed 480 km by M03 at a high discharging rate of 93.2%.

However, in low temperature test conditions the QinPlus EV and M03 suffered to varying degrees, though still performed adequately.

But their actual performance isn't entirely measured by pure driving range - how well they cope with other aspects like ease of use and how quickly you can get from one place to another, too has a big say in determining the overall usability. Both vehicles delivered surprisingly smooth rides under most circumstances.

The main competitor, however was its stable charging curve which showed an even better performance compared to Qin Plus EV. In contrast, when Qin plus electric vehicle's charge curve began dropping down, it dropped significantly (about 53 km mark) - M03 held together and charged with up to 70 Kw of power at that point.

And what about energy consumption? According to the data provided by these tests, both models performed similarly in terms of overall driving range when charged.

A look back reveals that despite a good deal of overlap between charging curves from each car under different conditions, M03 offered some advantages over its competitor in various segments.