WCOTY LA Drives: Chevrolet Spark/Baojun Yep Plus review
This cute BEV could make it to India as it is a sibling of the MG Comet and is built on the same platform as MG's electric city runabout.
This cute little SUV is sold in China as the Baojun Yep Plus and in many Latin American markets as the Chevrolet Spark. It is a 5-door version of the 3-door Baojun Yep that shares its underpinnings with the MG Comet. They are all built on the same Global Small Electric Vehicle (GSEV) platform of the massive SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture. While the MG Comet is tiny like the Yep, the Yep plus has a wheelbase that has been extended to add the rear doors.
Consequently, with a 400mm increased wheelbase over the Comet, the Spark is longer, wider and taller than the Tata Punch and is just a little narrower than the traditional sub-4m SUVs in the Indian market, though a bit taller and similar in length. Compared to the Maruti Suzuki Jimny, it is slightly longer and wider and as tall as the off-roader. On the exterior, it is very similar to the Baojun Yep, if anyone has seen that vehicle. And despite the addition of the doors as well as the length, it maintains its quirkiness. The front is futuristic and as EV-like as any of the others, while from the side it is reminiscent of the Land Rover Defender with the blacked out C-pillars and a flat metallic finish plate replacing what would have been the rear quarter glass.
The rear, like the front, gives quite a modern look and the overall silhouette without is like that of a hard-core off-roader much in the vein of a Jimny or a Defender. It is a headturner from all sides and could most certainly create quite a buzz if and when it is launched in India. The Spark EV or EUV as the company likes to call it is driven by a 72kW motor that is mounted at the rear and powers the rear wheels only. It is fed by a 41.9kWh LFP battery pack that is claimed to give this little SUV a range of 401km.
There are a couple of other battery size options as well, depending on the market, with a base 32kWh battery pack and the range-topping 54kWh one. On the inside there is more space than one could expect in a small SUV of this size and though the instrumentation and the display screen are a bit underwhelming, the layout is neat, the displays look good when on the move, one does not feel the lack of anything – especially since we are also used to driving the MG Windsor – another EV from the same stable that runs similar OS for the infotainment and vehicle controls.
It is not a pocket rocket to drive but would certainly be quicker than ICE vehicles from the get-go. Visibility all around is good as can be expected in a vehicle because of its stance and overall the drive, though not spirited in any way, is a cool as the EUV’s exteriors. Overall, I must say that I cannot wait to see this EUV on Indian roads.
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This cute little SUV is sold in China as the Baojun Yep Plus and in many Latin American markets as the Chevrolet Spark. It is a 5-door version of the 3-door Baojun Yep that shares its underpinnings with the MG Comet. They are all built on the same Global Small Electric Vehicle (GSEV) platform of the massive SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture. While the MG Comet is tiny like the Yep, the Yep plus has a wheelbase that has been extended to add the rear doors.
Consequently, with a 400mm increased wheelbase over the Comet, the Spark is longer, wider and taller than the Tata Punch and is just a little narrower than the traditional sub-4m SUVs in the Indian market, though a bit taller and similar in length. Compared to the Maruti Suzuki Jimny, it is slightly longer and wider and as tall as the off-roader. On the exterior, it is very similar to the Baojun Yep, if anyone has seen that vehicle. And despite the addition of the doors as well as the length, it maintains its quirkiness. The front is futuristic and as EV-like as any of the others, while from the side it is reminiscent of the Land Rover Defender with the blacked out C-pillars and a flat metallic finish plate replacing what would have been the rear quarter glass.
The rear, like the front, gives quite a modern look and the overall silhouette without is like that of a hard-core off-roader much in the vein of a Jimny or a Defender. It is a headturner from all sides and could most certainly create quite a buzz if and when it is launched in India. The Spark EV or EUV as the company likes to call it is driven by a 72kW motor that is mounted at the rear and powers the rear wheels only. It is fed by a 41.9kWh LFP battery pack that is claimed to give this little SUV a range of 401km.
There are a couple of other battery size options as well, depending on the market, with a base 32kWh battery pack and the range-topping 54kWh one. On the inside there is more space than one could expect in a small SUV of this size and though the instrumentation and the display screen are a bit underwhelming, the layout is neat, the displays look good when on the move, one does not feel the lack of anything – especially since we are also used to driving the MG Windsor – another EV from the same stable that runs similar OS for the infotainment and vehicle controls.
It is not a pocket rocket to drive but would certainly be quicker than ICE vehicles from the get-go. Visibility all around is good as can be expected in a vehicle because of its stance and overall the drive, though not spirited in any way, is a cool as the EUV’s exteriors. Overall, I must say that I cannot wait to see this EUV on Indian roads.
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