Small SUVs are the flavour of the season and the market is soon going to explode with various options. Here we take a look at the iCar V23 which is part of a new brand from Chery, the Chinese car giant with whom JSW Motors has an agreement.
The V23 is an interesting car as it's aimed at young, adventure seeking buyers with a lifestyle twist. That means it's a Thar 3 door rival or a Jimny rival so to speak.
iCar V23: Design And Interior
The iCar isn't under 4m though as it is over it being slightly longer but the design is perhaps the coolest bit. It is retro, boxy and very different.
The front end is tall and has round headlamps like the G Wagon. There are coloured elements in the grille and a large chunky bumper. Ground clearance is ample and it stands tall.
You get offroad touches like a roofrack, rear storage and flush door handles. With 4220mm in length, the wheelbase is quite long at 2735mm. Ground clearance is 210mm.
There is also a side opening tailgate and a rear storage space for the charging cable.
Interiors are surprisingly spacious with a white premium theme while it has a large 15.4 inch touchscreen with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Chip. However wireless charging is missing.
The seats are comfy and you have a good view out. You also get proper buttons which is cool. That said, JSW Motors will engineer the car for India and could equip it with more features.
There is a surround view camera, 7 speaker audio system and more.
iCar V23: Powertrain And Expected Price
The V23 has a single motor and dual motor configuration with AWD. Range could be around 500km which is more than enough for its size and expected segment.
Power at 211hp is also quite enough for the AWD version. Despite being an EV it is meant for offroad and has good ground clearance for that which is useful.
We expect the pricing to be below Rs 20 lakh starting which is pretty much in the same ballpark as other 4m plus EVs.
The tough offroad looks are the big USP and that will be the key factor for this car to be find mainstream success when it eventually launches by 2027.
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