- The Changan Nevo E07 is a weird SUV-pickup-thing sold in China.
- It has a small 3-foot bed and a midgate.
- It's kind of shaped like a Tesla Cybertruck, earning it the nickname "Chinese Cybertruck" in its home country.
China is kind of kicking America’s ass when it comes to making electric cars. It makes more of them than any other country, packs them with interesting features and sells them on the cheap. Much of this is due to enormous government subsidies of all kinds for the country's EV market. China may even make a better Tesla Cybertruck than Tesla does.
OK, China doesn’t actually make anything called a Cybertruck. But it does make a weird vehicle that reminds a lot of people of Tesla’s shiny wedge of cheese. It’s called the Changan Nevo E07, and I came across a review of it from the Wheelsboy YouTube channel, an excellent source of English-language content on the Chinese car market.
According to Wheelsboy, the vehicle has earned the nickname “Chinese Cybertruck” in its home country. That's probably because it's an electric pickup and because of its slanted roofline and offbeat shape. But I actually find it much cooler and more compelling than Tesla’s truck for a number of reasons.
I’ve been seeing lots of Cybertrucks around my EV bubble of Northern California. And while I don’t hate it or anything like some in the automotive press do, I can’t say its style has grown on me. On the one hand, I kind of enjoy that such a bold, weird vehicle exists. At the same time, I find it ungainly and not very charming.
The Changan Nevo E07 is also an oddball. But in a much more appealing and endearing way, I reckon.
I’ll cut to the chase here, because hands-down the coolest part of the Nevo E07 is its bed. Or trunk. That all depends on your mood and what you need to do that day. At first glance, the rear portion of the Nevo E07 looks just like the back of any other slope-roofed crossover. (Or maybe something weirder like a Pontiac Aztek.) Press a button, however, and that slanted glass piece begins slides up toward the roof, creating an open pickup bed.
From there, you can drop the tailgate and load in whatever stuff you need to haul around. The bed is only around 3-feet long. Compare that to the Ford Maverick at 4.5 feet. But it has another party trick: a midgate. The divider partitioning the cab from the bed (rear glass and all) can fold down flat, opening up a whole bunch of extra bed space. It's a lot like what you'd get in an old Chevy Avalanche or current Chevy Silverado EV.
Payload capacity comes in at a mere 300 kilograms (661 pounds), according to Wheelsboy. So Changan owners won’t be hauling around anything too huge or heavy. But as a lifestyle vehicle that can sometimes do light truck duty—for going camping, to the beach or moving furniture—it seems perfectly acceptable.
In the video, Wheelsboy explains why this strange SUV-pickup mashup exists in the first place. And basically, it’s because of Chinese government policies that discourage the use of true pickups. So instead, you get an “SUV” that transforms, Optimus Prime-style, into some semblance of a truck.
As far as styling goes, lots of people find the Cybertruck off-putting. Tesla’s truck is angular and made mostly of flat pieces of stainless steel. The Nevo E07 manages to look super funky and futuristic, too, but without the out-there proportions and dystopian vibes.
It’s a nice size, too. Wheelsboy describes it as slightly longer than a Hyundai Santa Cruz, but a whole foot shorter than a Ford Ranger SuperCrew (the beefy, four-door model). In other words, Wheelsboy said, it’s “big enough to be useful, but not big enough to blot out the sun.” I like that.
I’ll be honest, the interior is weird, and not in a good way. It’s way too spartan for my tastes, and also appears to be almost entirely pink with little contrast. It needs some patterns, or other materials, or shiny bits to spruce things up.
That aside, this seems like the kind of electric truck I could actually see myself buying and using. (That is, if it were ever sold in the U.S., which is doubtful because of the steep tariffs on Chinese imported EVs.)
I don’t need a real truck, but a small one to haul bikes and stuff in would be great. Ideally, my little truck would be electric or plug-in hybrid, but that doesn’t exist in America. Here, you can either get a small, inexpensive pickup that’s gas-powered (like the Ford Maverick or Hyundai Santa Cruz)—or a big, expensive one that’s electric (like the Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevy Silverado EV or Rivian R1T).
So here’s hoping I can buy a Changan Nevo E07 someday—or at least that Tesla takes some notes on it for Cybertruck 2.0.
Contact the author: tim.levin@insideevs.com
