Geely has its fingers in a lot of pies when it comes to electric cars. In addition to its core business, it owns Volvo Cars, which it bought from Ford in 2010. Volvo is transitioning to electric cars and has designated Polestar — its in-house tuning arm — to be the standard bearer for its all electric cars of the future. Geely also owns the London Taxi Cab Company and has entered into a collaboration with Daimler to build electric versions of the Smart car in China.
Credit: Geely
It is developing electric commercial vehicles and pickup trucks with another unit, Yuan Cheng Auto. And it is the owner of Lynk & Co, another division that seeks to blend Volvo styling and Chinese technology. At first it said it would offer Lynk & Co vehicles in the US but not much has said about that of late.
As if it didn’t have enough irons in the fire, the company on April 11 unveiled yet another division, this one called Geometry. An Conghui, president of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, issued a statement on Thursday saying, “The launch of Geometry and its first product advances Geely’s strategic goal of becoming one of world top 10 automotive groups,” according to a report by Reuters.
Lots Of Features, Not A Lot Of Money
Geely unveiled its first car, the Geometry A (catchy name, that) on Thursday. For technical details, we turn to a report by CNET. The Geometry A will come with either a 51.9 kWh or a 61.9 kWh battery. Range for the smaller battery is said to be 255 miles and 311 miles with the larger battery. Both numbers are calculated using the hopelessly optimistic and largely discredited NEDC testing protocol. Subtract 20% or so to arrive at likely EPA equivalents.
The electric motor puts out a modest 161 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Tesla Model 3 owners have nothing to fear in the stoplight Grand Prix from Geometry A drivers. 0-100 kmh comes up in 8.8 seconds. But it comes with an adequately large touchscreen along with a full complement of safety systems and driver aids. They include automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise with stop-and-go functionality. Self parking with the touch of a button is standard, too.
They say the three most important words in sales are the price, the price, and the price. The Geometry A with the smaller battery sells for between $31,000 and $34,000. The long range version goes from there to a top of about $37,000. All prices are before incentives, tax credits, and local rebates. Not bad for a fully featured electric car.
The car itself breaks no new ground in the styling department. It looks a little like the Clarity from Honda but it has a drag coefficient of just 0.2375, which is very good for a largish sedan such as the Geometry A. Geely says it has over 25,000 reservations for the car already and is working on more models, including an SUV or two to round out its lineup by 2025. There is no indication Geely intends to sell the Geometry in the US although it does say Singapore may be included in its sales plans.
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