The luxury S7 from Huawei and Chery: a luxury electric sedan

So now: Huawei joins the automakers. Until now, the activities of a large technology company in the automotive industry have not been understood – at least from afar. Manager Yu Chengdong, who is known internationally as Richard Yu and is responsible for the car business within the group, said that they do not want to be independent manufacturers, instead remain distributors. Then news came from China that suggested the opposite – for example about the Seres brand. However, this will continue to be the responsibility of the merger between Dongfeng and Sokon Motors, or DFSK for short. Huawei only provides technology for the infotainment system – including Seres 5, which we present to you in more detail in the video.

Now Huawei seems to be taking steps towards becoming a car manufacturer again. As Yu Chengdong aka Richard Yu announced on his Weibo page in August, an electric luxury sedan that he calls “a new type of smart car” will debut soon. He accompanied his post with a photo of the car, which brings back memories of competing products. Information including technical details about the car also appeared on the website of the Chinese patent office “Ministry of Industry and Information Technology” (MIIT). And its name and dimensions: The competitor of the Model S and EQS, which is about 5.00 meters long, 1.96 meters wide, 1.47 meters tall and blessed with a wheelbase of 2.97 meters, is called the Luxeed S7. The interior previously worked under the factory code EH3.

A well-known combination of design

At the front you can see a hint of the Porsche Taycan, which is probably due to the design of the low lights and the lines that draw sharply down on the outer edges, which together with the apron create a vertical air intake. The gently rounded roof and panoramic window could be straight out of a Mercedes EQS. On the windshield – à la Nio or Volvo EX90 – there is a box that houses the lidar part of the equipment necessary for the assistance systems. We’ve also seen sleeker door handles, lip design and taillight lines in a similar way on other cars.

The all-electric Luxeed S7 comes from a joint venture between Huawei and Chinese automaker Chery. He is said to be the owner of the trademark, name and logo, providing his E0X platform and building the Luxeed S7. Huawei contributes electric motors and everything digital. It’s not the first such partnership the tech group has entered into. Along with BAIC, Huawei had already presented the Arcfox Alpha-S mid-range sedan, or αS for short, in the spring of 2021. Soon after it was said that the company had also entered into partnerships with Chongqing Changan and Guangzhou Automobile Group.

The first vehicle with a CATL-M3P battery

The Luxeed S7, which weighs 2.0 to 2.2 tons depending on the vehicle and battery, has air suspension, rolls on 19- to 21-inch wheels and optionally comes with Brembo brakes. The entry-level model will have a 215 kW (292 hp) electric motor mounted on the rear axle, which draws its energy from a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery from specialist CATL. On top of this are two engines – i.e. wheel drive – different with 365 kW (496 hp). The maximum speed in both cases should be 210 km / h.

The second battery option is the M3P battery from CATL, a further development of the LFP energy storage system. Here some of the metal in the cathode is replaced by other metals such as magnesium, zinc or aluminum. Furthermore, it is a hybrid battery whose external cells have a standard nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemistry and uses only LFP cells internally. This should not only improve the cold resistance, but also the energy density by ten to 20 percent and thus increase the scope. As for the latter, Chinese media reports put it at about 700 kilometers into the air.

It operates through 45 cities in China

Huawei is responsible for everything that entertains, informs and digitally in the Luxeed S7. In the interior, several screens compete for attention. The S7 is the first car to receive Huawei’s new Harmony OS 4.0 operating system, which is said to have a smart voice assistant and short-range communication technology that works faster than Bluetooth. The driving assistance package also comes from Huawei. In terms of equipment, it relies on long-range lidar and short-range radar, as well as cameras placed around the vehicle. The Luxeed S7 is said to be capable of autonomous driving in 45 Chinese cities.

As Richard Yu announced, Huawei and Chery want to launch the Luxeed S7 on November 17, 2023 as part of the Guangzhou Auto Show. According to Chinese media reports, the model will be available to order from October and will be delivered to the first customers in China before the end of the year.