Once again, it seems like every other day there’s some new Chinese EV that only further proves just how far ahead that market is compared to the rest of the world. While the U.S. struggles to effectively get reasonably priced EVs on the road, Chinese companies introduce new ones constantly. A few days ago, Geely launched the Galaxy E8, a fully electric Honda Accord-sized sedan starting at the equivalent of under $25,000.
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Geely Galaxy E8 Launched
The Geely Galaxy E8 is a reasonably priced full EV midsized sedan aimed at getting drivers away from traditional gas-powered cars.
This isn’t Geely Holding Group’s first electric sedan, no, Volvo, Zeekr, and Polestar have been tearing up the EV sales charts both inside and outside of China. However, this is the first Geely-branded EV on sale, and the first Geely car to use the SEA platform – the same platform in use by the Zeekr 001, and Polestar 4. This is majorly important, since, unlike Volvo, Zeekr, and Polestar, Geely is not meant to be a premium make, and therefore this car is meant to appeal to a wide variety of buyers.
According to a post from CNevpost, Geely says the Galaxy E8 is a “high-value” pure EV, competing in China’s B-segment (known in the rest of the world as the D-segment or midsize) category. Even in China, many cars in that segment are combustion-powered, so the E8 stands to serve Chinese buyers who want a big, fully electric sedan that won’t blow the budget.
It’s not lacking in features, either. Since it is an SEA-based car, the E8 is available with 800V charging architecture on its topmost trim, and a whopping 637 horsepower which should jolt the Galaxy E8 to 60 MPH in less than 3.5 seconds. The more reasonably priced versions make do with just 400V architecture and a lot less power. Battery options range from 62 kWh to 76 kWh, for a range of a maximum of 665 kilometers (413 miles), based on the CLTC testing cycle.
Gallery: 2024 Geely Galaxy E8
Stylistically, the Galaxy E8 is a handsome car, even if it’s slightly generic. The low-slung, windswept coupe-like sedan body is a refreshing change of pace from the crossover shapes made popular by so many EVs. Inside, the full-width 8K resolution screen controls all the car’s functions. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 processor and claims to have the most powerful screen in use on any vehicle on the Chinese market.
Now, there’s probably a snowball’s chance in hell this will ever make its way out of China. But, the Galaxy E8’s existence proves that Geely can build a feature-packed reasonably priced EV on modern platforms. The Galaxy E8 might not make it to the U.S., but some other reasonably priced EV using the same platform and ethos could very well show up here. We’ll just have to wait and see what form it could take.
Geely says the E8 is just the first EV in its Galaxy series. The Galaxy L6 and L7 hybrids have already gone on sale, and Geely plans on releasing three more EVs, and several more hybrids for this model line.
