Avatr 11 review: A Rolls-luxe submariner
Changan, Huawei and CATL’s radical EV sells the pleasure of not driving, looks like a submarine and subverts the old rules of automotive luxury
Webservice User &
Leow Ju-Len
A DRIVE to work in the Avatr 11 begins before you leave the front door, maybe even before you’re out of bed. Start by using the companion app to cool the cabin while you brush your teeth. Unlock the car with the slender key and the driver’s door glides open as if tugged by a ghostly servant, then gently swings shut as you settle into the Nappa leather seat. You buckle up, call up your Spotify playlist, turn the seat massage on, and finally waft up the road in the kind of silence that you once had to buy a Rolls-Royce for.
It’s not a bad way to start the day (or end it, come to think of it).
If I had a dollar for every time a car brand claimed it was busy redefining luxury, I’d have enough for a handsome meal, but given how pampering the 11 is, Avatr seems to be actually getting on with it.
The badge is new, but the brains behind Avatr aren’t: Changan, a state-owned carmaker whose roots go all the way back to the Qing dynasty; Huawei, the tech titan whose HarmonyOS powers phones, laptops and, back home, Avatr’s most advanced driver-assist systems; and CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery supplier, whose cells power a third of the world’s EVs, among them BMWs, Mercedes and Teslas.
Looking at the 11 (pronounced “one one”), Avatr’s heavyweight parents clearly made a genuine attempt to move the luxury game on. The car’s category-defying form certainly hints at their neo-luxe ambition. It’s tall like a sport utility vehicle, yet it has frameless windows and its roof sweeps back like a coupe’s. On the other hand, the boot is separate from the cabin, which makes it a sedan.
If it’s like nothing else out there, the 11 also looks like no other car on the road, with a vertical rear porthole and high bustle. The front end is so smooth in shape that, in matte grey, the Avatr looks more submarine than car.
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In another subversion of the norm, while legacy marques still sell the pleasure of driving, the Avatr 11 peddles the pleasure of not having to. Its cruise control system handles most of the work when you’re on the highway, even changing lanes for you on command. The self-parking works while you watch from the outside, although it’s not as good at finding empty slots as XPeng’s system.
Three screens decorate the cabin but don’t dominate it like they might in other EVs. Instead, the dashboard curves dramatically, sweeping across the interior with a decorative centrepiece called the “emotional vortex”, whose main job is to look pretty.
The controls are practically devoid of physical buttons and switches, which means learning a whole menu system, but there are customisable buttons that give quick access to favourite features.
The 11 is slightly smaller than, say, BMW’s X5, but it has the same wheelbase so there’s plenty of legroom in the back. Yet, it’s clear the prime seats are up front. They recline to a zero-gravity position (apparently, Chinese office workers often steal naps in their cars), and you definitely want ready access to the entertainment system, which floods the cabin with music from 25 speakers.
Two versions are on sale here, both of them rear-wheel drive with a 308-horsepower motor. A Standard Range version packs a 90-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery for 475 kilometres of range, while the Long Range ups capacity to 116 kWh for 600 km but needs 6.9 seconds to hit 100 kmh. That’s slightly slower than the Standard Range’s 6.6 seconds, which is another new idea – luxury once meant power and performance, but these days it means range.
As for how it actually drives, the Avatr is more soothing than sporty by far. The accelerator is tuned to dole out power so gently that the 11 sometimes feels laggy. The handling isn’t sharp or poised, but the suspension generally delivers a calm, quiet ride without air springs or adaptive trickery.
You might not have expected air suspension for the price, but it’s surprising that the climate control is a simple two-zone setup. And all three rear passengers have to share a single USB-C port. The boot is passably big at 490 litres (with a 95-litre frunk), but it lacks practical touches such as hooks and nets. Perhaps the car’s biggest sin is how the panoramic glass roof lacks a sunshade, which isn’t a good idea in our climate.
It isn’t perfect, in other words, but the Avatr is definitely thought-provoking. It’s also quiet, plush and soothing to be in, with enough high-quality cabin materials to show that its makers understand the conventional rules of luxury, even as they set out to write some new ones.
Avatr 11 Long Range Motor Power/Torque 308 hp/350 Nm Battery type/Net capacity Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt / 116 kWh Charging time/Type 13.5 hours (11 kW AC), 25 minutes 30 to 80 per cent (240 kW DC) Range 600 km 0 to 100 kmh 6.9 seconds Top speed 180 kmh Efficiency 21.7 kWh / 100 km Agent Premium Automobiles BEV Price S$311,999 with COE Available Now
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