If you judge a car based solely on public reaction, the iCaur V23 is an instant winner.
From skyward thumbs to broad smiles and one guy who exclaimed “yoh, yoh, yoh, is it a G-Class!?” — the Chinese electric car elicits joyous responses.
While parking last week someone in another Chinese electric car approached me, keen to find out more and regretful that he had not waited a bit longer for the iCaur’s official launch. That takes place later this month.
Even in this shade of Defy washing machine white, the court of public opinion seems to be swayed in favour.
We will have a chance to liven it up. Part of our extended-term custodianship entails a customisation exercise later in the test.
It has been almost a month since we took the key (or should that be “card”?) to our unit. And it has proved to be an endearing car beyond the aesthetic retro charm.
There were some initial gremlins, as you would have read in our recent introduction. Plus some quirks that were not mentioned then that have since appeared: finicky window switches, no reach adjustment for the steering column and an audio system with a ridiculously low maximum volume.
The company’s PR manager, Shannon Gahagan, said the reason for the quirks was due to the unit being a pre-commercial unit — and that the faults would be rectified and corrected on actual sales models. In fact, our early-run tester will be replaced with one of these vehicles after the official market launch this week. We look forward to drawing those comparisons.
But the areas that really matter — like the electric powertrain and road manners — appear to be nicely resolved.
Silent, zero-emissions electric cars make one realise just how fatiguing constant engine noise can be.
The iCaur’s hushed cabin makes for a relaxing daily commute in Johannesburg’s hubbub. Comfort levels are respectable too, with plush seats, though the large alloys fitted to the car do dial-in a tangible sense of firmness.
Since the car is of unibody construction like a typical passenger car, it does not jitter and jostle occupants as would an equivalent ladder-frame contender (think Suzuki Jimny five-door).
Speaking of rivals, iCaur seems to be on a social media offensive, ruffling feathers of competitors. Its newest post features a jibe aimed at GWM, with the words “How to Lose a Tank in 10 ways” — against a reimagined movie poster that features an AI-generated Matthew McConaughey.
Not going to lie, it made me laugh, but we will have to see where the V23 comes in price-wise before commenting further. Because there are a number of compelling picks in the genre, including that Tank 300, which offers internal combustion engine familiarity for buyers who are not ready to embrace electric.
The bar for electric vehicle ranges and powertrains have been raised over the past five years. And the V23 offers a big enough battery (close to 82kWh) to go for days between plug-ins, if your driving cycle involves the standard home-work-shops regimen.
The indicated range on a full-charge in standard mode is about 430km. Making my drive from home to office the other day, consumption for the 9.5km trip was indicated at 15kWh/100km. Pretty sure it could have gone even lower had the heated seat and fan not been in operation.
For reference, the last electric long-termer we had, Mini’s Countryman SE; had an average electricity consumption of 20.1kWh/100km. But that car had considerably more power at 230kW/494Nm versus 155kW/292Nm.
This week group motoring editor Denis Droppa pointed the V23 to Gerotek’s off-road sections — getting some of its wheels dangling in the air. More in the next update.
iCaur V23 long-term update 2
- ODOMETER ON DELIVERY: 422km
- CURRENT ODOMETER: 1,422km
- PRAISES: A real smile-maker from a looks perspective, comfortable seats, easygoing daily driver
- GRIPES: Little quirks — window switches, low audio volume and lack of steering reach adjustment — spoil an otherwise sorted package.
- AVERAGE CONSUMPTION: 15.5kWh/100km
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