Small, affordable electric vehicles—the ones from China, not the electric kei cars from Japan—have started to gain popularity here in the Philippines. But it’s not just our market that’s been seeing the arrival of these practical EVs; neighbors like Australia have had the same experience.
In fact, a new EV has just been launched Down Under, and it’s something we’re quite familiar with: the GAC Aion UT. Unlike what we have in our market, however, this is a new short-range variant positioned as an entry-level offering.
What we have here in the Philippines are UTs with about 400km of range, while this one here has 320km of estimated range (WLTP). Interestingly, however, both the Australia- and Philippine-spec models come with the same 44kWh Magazine Battery 2.0 pack.
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How exactly this shorter-range trim is spec’d to achieve these numbers is unknown. All we know is that this is a supposed new entry-level variant, which means it should come with a lower sticker price than what we already have. Locally, the Aion UT stickers for P1.068 million, so hypothetically speaking, something more affordable could sell for under a million.
Essentially, that’s the introductory price of the Aion UT, possibly lower. How does that sound to you guys?
