Aiways’ first EV moves from concept to reality

“We produce a lot of products for the rest of the world, but can we produce high quality cars for Chinese people?”

This question is at the heart of chief designer Luo Dongfei’s design philosophy at Shanghai-based EV start-up Aiways, and it is an interesting one. CDN saw the concept car U5 iON at the Beijing motor show earlier this year and on November 29th, the company launched its first production vehicle, the U5.

Far from setting out to radically reshape car design, or build an international brand, when we visited the Aiways studio in Shanghai in September, Luo Dongfei told Car Design News that he wants to build a high-quality electric SUV for Chinese consumers, followed by a larger, five- or six-seater electric aerodynamic crossover vehicle (launching Shanghai 2020).

The A5, a small SUV at 4.68m x 1.880m, has retained a lot of the striking look of the concept car A5 iON, and they are deliberately similar, according to Luo:

“We don’t want to create a concept which is totally different to the production car because for us we want to show the customers and investors that what we did for the concept that is what we will do for production.”

Luo started out designing motorbikes, then worked at Volvo Car China for some six years, under Lars Falk, and the Scandinavian design influences have certainly rubbed off. Inside his office, books about yacht design are open on the table, and he told CDN about the increasing popularity of Scandinavian homeware company Ikea in China.

Aiways U5 interior

The interior of the U5 clearly shows the Scandinavian design tutelage Luo received at Volvo – and Aiways’ designers have created a convincing and restrained interior space. Many of the Aiways technical people came from VW Group, and Luo told CDN that the company wants to to combine a high-quality German engineering approach with the Chinese take on Scandinavian design. The production U5 has a conventional steering wheel, rather than the futuristic U-shaped one seen on the concept, and there have also been some changes to the DLRs and mirrors, but overall, the aesthetic of the concept has been realised.

Aiways concept interior

Set in an old textile factory in Shanghai, when we visited in September, the Aiways design team has the feel of a high energy start-up. The design team consists of 20 people, including three clay modellers, graphic designers, colour and trim, exterior and interior designers. The ambition is to grow to a team of 30 to support the next model. There is also a clay studio in the Anting area of Shanghai, which houses two 14 x 17 clay platforms and a five-axis milling machine.

Luo told CDN that the interiors of the concept (and U5 production car) are heavily influenced by interior and furniture design trends within China. “We are inspired by the home decoration trend. We do a lot of research about the ‘home feeling’. Our designers are going to furniture fairs and we do our own research about Chinese people and how they live.”

Another view of the production interior

According to Luo, furniture design has changed a lot in China. “I think if we talk about five or ten years ago, it was totally different – people wanted to show the luxury stuff, the older stuff, now this has changed. If you see how successful Ikea is in China, peoples’ tastes have changed, become more international.”

The U5 is a vehicle designed to induce calm, with open pore wood trim in the cabin, a simple approach to the use of material and the colour palette, and a deliberately generous feeling of space. A layered approach to the sections of the IP and the mounted screens add to the ‘product design’ feel. Overall, it feels like a very grown-up design from a very new studio.