Volkswagen and one of its two local joint venture partners, First Auto Works (FAW) have unveiled a new China only brand – Carely.
It appeared at a ‘green auto show’ in Beijing on the EV, an all electric model derived from the Chinese market Bora compact sedan (a local version of the global Jetta).
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Local website ChinaAutoWeb said it had been known since mid-2011 that FAW-VW would launch Carely (Kaili in Chinese) and noted that the EV carrying the new brand has since been spotted several times. The car is believed to have evolved from the pure-electric Bora (Bora Blue-e-motion) shown at the 2011 Guangzhou motor show.
Built on a wheelbase of 2,610mm, the Carely EV is 4,540mm long with curb weight of 1,450kg. Driven by an electric motor developing up to 90kW of power and 210Nm of torque, it can go as fast as 145km/h with a range of up to 110km (about 70 miles) in cities, the report said.
ChinaAutoWeb said FAW-VW had set up an EV research center in Foshan, Guangdong, where it recently opened a VW Golf assembly plant.
Several Carely cars are being road tested in Foshan as well as Changchun, Jilin, where the joint venture is based. According to Carely spokesperson Li Pengcheng, Carely is ready for volume production as far as technology is concerned, but no timetable is set for its market launch as “the infrastructure is still to be improved”.
