First examples of the Deepal E07 are on their way to Australia, as the unconventional electric vehicle (EV) gets ready to shake up a fairly staid SUV and ute market.
“I can personally confirm that the first batch of the Deepal E07s are built, loaded and on water,” said Deepal Australia boss Cormac Cafolla in a post on the Deepal Owners Australia Facebook group, which included a photo of a handful of right-hand drive examples of the unique SUV/ute.
“We are just as excited as you to see these prepared for first customer handovers late August or early September.
“Check in with your local retailer for more info on your order details and timing.
“Second batch of orders are not far behind,” he added.
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The E07 Multitruck, as Deepal is marketing it, looks like a coupe-style SUV from some angles. However, the rear section of the roof retracts to create an open load bay like that in a ute.
Press another button and the glass behind the rear seats drops down, providing fresh air to the cabin, and the rear seats move forward to allow you to extend the length of the load bay.
With the E07, Deepal parent Changan – which sells it in China as the Nevo E07 – appears to have been looking to General Motors’ back-catalogue for inspiration.
The GMC Envoy XUV SUV had a retractable rear roof portion, while the Chevrolet Avalanche SUV-based pickup had a ‘midgate’ that allowed owners to drop the wall between the tub and the cabin.
The existing Silverado EV’s Multi-Flex Midgate has a similar arrangement in which the rear window glass can be removed or left in place while folding down the lower portion of the bulkhead.
None of those vehicles are or were sold here, and indeed there’s nothing on the Australian market today that’s even close to the E07 conceptually.
The rear compartment has a capacity of 524 litres and measures 941mm long and 1028mm between the wheel-arches.
Drop the rear seats and the cargo bay length expands to 1543mm and its volume to 1654L. There’s also a 131L storage compartment under the bonnet.
Deepal claims a payload of just 300kg, though it specifies this is for the load area only.
While an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrain incorporating a small petrol engine is offered in China, the E07 is launching here exclusively as a fully electric vehicle (EV).
A single-motor rear-wheel drive variant opens the range at $64,900 before on-road costs, powered by a 252kW/365Nm electric motor and offering 642km of claimed electric range under the NEDC cycle.
The dual-motor all-wheel drive variant is priced at $73,900 before on-roads, and pumps out 440kW and 645Nm – slashing the 0-100km/h time from 6.9 seconds to just 3.9 seconds, though offering slightly less range at 626km.
Both variants employ an 89.98kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery and an 800V electrical architecture, which can be charged at up to 240kW using DC power.
The battery also supports vehicle-to-load capability, with a discharge rate of up to 6.6kW.
The entire E07 range comes standard with the following equipment:
- Air suspension with continuous damping control
- 15.4-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- 14-way power-adjustable front seats
- Heating
- Ventilation
- Massage
- Memory
- Rear bench with electric backrest adjustment
- Heating
- Ventilation
- Massage
- 60/40 split
- 256-colour ambient lighting
- Head-up display
- Semi-autonomous parking assist
- Surround-view camera
- Integrated dashcam
Deepal will also offer the E07 with Resting and Camping modes, plus 360-degree Sentry Mode monitoring.
There’s also an extensive suite of active safety and driver assist technology.