Farizon V7E vs Lepas L6

What's the difference?

These are early days for Farizon in Australia and the V7E is indicative of that. Although it offers attractive sub-$54K drive-away pricing, peppy performance and substantial payload/cargo volume ratings, it lacks refinement in ride and handling, elements of cabin design and active safety calibration which detract from the driving experience. Whether this newcomer’s negatives outweigh its positives, though, only a potential buyer can decide.

Chery really doesn’t need any more brands in Australia, but here is Lepas, anyway.

While the L6 EV is rather characterless, it’s arguably the best Chery Group vehicle I’ve experienced to date. You can tell a lot of work has been put into localising it and as an electric mid-size SUV, it’s a pragmatic choice.

The V7E rides on a 3200mm wheelbase and features minimalist yet purposeful squared-off styling that’s a key factor in its big load volume.

Its light and airy cabin has a slimline dash design that’s free of protrusions to allow ‘walk through’ access from either door, which is handy for delivery work. It also features physical ‘piano key’ buttons for the climate controls, which are preferable to more fiddly touchscreen prompts.

The cabin also presents a tasteful blend of colours and surface finishes including the seats, although anecdotal evidence suggests the light grey tone of their fabric trim would be prone to showing grime and stains over time in a hard-working van.

At first glance the passenger seat appears to be a two-passenger bench but only one seatbelt is provided. Therefore, what would normally be the backrest for a centre passenger is purely vertical storage for the fold-down centre armrest (see Practicality).

Take away the Lepas badge on this car and you could tell me the L6 is a new model from any new Chinese brand in Australia.

The overall silhouette screams generic mid-size SUV with design elements to make it look modern, tougher and sleeker. There’s nothing revolutionary about it and as a result it blends into mediocrity.

What isn’t bland about the exterior though is the paint colours that are available. There’s a bright orange, as well as a lovely purple. You unfortunately don’t see colours like this on the road as often anymore.

If orange and purple are too lairy, Lepas also offers boring colours like white and grey. There’s also black, though it’s strangely only available to those who pre-order.

Inside the uniformity continues. It’s an ultra-minimal look with the majority of the dashboard focus being on the portrait-oriented 13.2-inch touchscreen multimedia system.

It’s nice to see different types of materials around the cabin as it helps to elevate the premium feel. There’s also barely any glossy piano black, though unfortunately it does feature on the steering wheel buttons which are frequently used and can get grubby quickly.

While the beige synthetic leather upholstery stands out, it’s not particularly family-friendly. It would be nice if there was a black or darker option for those who don’t want a light interior.

Its 1942kg kerb weight is relatively light for a full-electric commercial which combined with its 3150kg GVM results in a substantial 1208kg payload rating.

However, it’s only rated to tow up to 1000kg of braked trailer and given Farizon does not quote a GCM figure (how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time), we can’t confirm if it can carry its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight.

Internally,the cargo bay is more than 2.8 metres (2865mm) long, 1690mm wide and 1435mm high, which combined with 1251mm between the rear wheel housings allows it to carry up to two standard Aussie pallets or up to three Euro pallets.

And its impressive 6.95 cubic metres of load volume is larger than mainstream mid-size rivals including the Ford Transit Custom SWB (5.8), Hyundai Staria Load (4.9) and segment-leading Toyota HiAce LWB (6.2).

The cargo bay is accessed via sliding doors on each side with generous 1100mm openings, or through twin-swing rear doors which open to a full 270 degrees with ‘ball and socket’ magnetic stays to hold them there.

The floor has a relatively low 510mm loading height and is protected by a thick composite floor liner with a shiny metal-like appearance complete with non-slip ‘chequer plate’ finish. There’s also a full-length roof lining, bright LED internal lighting, fully lined walls and doors and a handy V2L 240V three-pin plug socket.

Cabin storage includes a large bottle holder and bin in each door, open shelving across the full width of the dash, a single glove box and the previously mentioned fold-down centre armrest containing two cupholders.

There’s also twin USB ports and a 12V socket in the lower dash fascia and enough space beneath the passenger seat to store the portable AC charger cable.

Like many SUVs, the driver’s seating position is high. This gives the driver a commanding view of the road ahead, though it may be a touch too high for taller people.

The front seats are comfortable and soft. The amount of electric adjustment available is enough, though it would be nice if the under-thigh support could be adjusted.

Looking ahead, the steering wheel is a classic, flat-bottomed Chery unit with a Lepas badge on it. It’s nice to hold and while the glossy piano button sections can get grimy quickly, there are physical buttons that press. There’s no awkward touch-sensitive button nonsense.

Behind the steering wheel is a short and wide 8.9-inch digital instrument cluster that, despite its size, displays a lot of content. There are a series of informative pages you can cycle through, which is good for customisation.

Moving across, the portrait-oriented touchscreen multimedia system has a simple layout and user interface that’s hard to get lost in.

There’s a handy swipe-down control centre menu with many key functions, plus you can swipe up from the bottom to change the climate control functions.

It’s great to see a bank of physical buttons under the touchscreen for key functions like the drive modes, air conditioning and the defoggers, among others. These aren’t guaranteed in every Chinese car now.

Around the cabin there’s a 50W wireless charger with a slot on the other side for the passenger to put their phone, two cupholders, a large centre console with an additional open storage area under the touchscreen, as well as a glove box.

In the second row there’s plenty of space on offer, like many Chinese SUVs. There’s oodles of legroom and headroom is good too, even with the panoramic glass sunroof.

The rear bench is reclined back a fair way, creating a lounge-like experience and the seat itself is soft and plush.

In terms of amenities there are air vents on the back of the centre console, a USB-A and USB-C port as well as a fold-down armrest with cupholders.

At the back there’s a power tailgate as standard. When it opens it presents the boot which offers 435L with the rear seats upright. It’s a decent space with a flat load floor.

There’s a surprisingly deep 99L underfloor storage area that’s great for charging cables among other odds and ends.

Lepas has said it’s exploring options of a space-saver spare wheel or an esky accessory to better utilise this cavernous underfloor space. Nothing is confirmed yet, though, so that means the L6 EV only has a tyre repair kit.

A single, range-topping version of the Lepas L6 EV, called Signature, is being offered at launch. It’s priced from $47,990, before on-road costs.

This sees it positioned slightly higher than the popular BYD Atto 3 Evo and Geely EX5, though it’s considerably cheaper than Chinese-made rivals from legacy brands, including the Hyundai Elexio and Kia EV5.

Like many Chinese brands, there’s a large standard equipment list. Highlights include the following:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Power tailgate
• Rear privacy glass
• 8.9-inch digital instrument cluster
• 13.2-inch touchscreen multimedia system
• Wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Eight-speaker Sony sound system
• 50W wireless charger
• Dual-zone climate control
• Interior ambient lighting
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Beige synthetic leather upholstery
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Six-way power-adjustable front seats

The V7E is powered by a single electric motor with up to 110kW of power and up to 230Nm of torque, with a choice of Normal or Eco drive modes and light or heavy regenerative braking.

This motor, which drives the front wheels through a single-speed automatic transmission, has an electronically limited top speed of 120km/h.

The V7E rides on double-wishbone front and rigid beam/leaf spring rear suspension with four-wheel disc brakes and electric power-assisted steering.

Power for the L6 EV comes from a front-mounted electric motor sending 160kW and 275Nm to the front wheels.

Lepas claims it can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 7.9 seconds, which historically would have been supercar territory, but it’s now average for EVs.

Our Extended Range test vehicle has an official (WLTP) driving range of up to 329km from its 66kWh LFP (Lithium Ferro Phosphate) battery. Farizon claims AC charging from 15-100 per cent takes around five hours while DC fast charging from 20-80 per cent trims that to 33 minutes.

It was displaying 100 per cent charge and 332km of estimated driving range when we collected the vehicle, after which we drove 187km in typical metro traffic with average energy consumption of 20.2kWh/100km, leaving 47 per cent charge and 195km estimated range.

We used DC fast charging to go from 47-100 per cent charge in 42 minutes resulting in an optimistic 422km range estimate.

On this second charge we drove another 163km, of which more than 100km was hauling its near-maximum payload, resulting in higher consumption of 22.4kWh/100km. We completed our test with 40 per cent charge and 165km range remaining.

So, based on our consumption figures, you could expect a real-world driving range of more than 300km which aligns with its official WLTP-based figure, but is short of full-electric rivals like Kia’s smaller PV5 Cargo with more than 400km achievable in similar conditions.

The electric motor in the L6 EV is fed by a 65kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that allows for up to 440km of claimed range, according to NEDC testing.

That's less than the BYD Atto 3 Evo Premium offers and is roughly equivalent to Geely EX5 Extended Range. Both of these mid-size Chinese electric SUVs are cheaper than the L6 EV.

DC fast-charging is available at rates up to 120kW, which allows for a 30 to 80 per cent charge in as little as 22 minutes.

AC charging, on the other hand, is offered at rates up to 6.6kW. This is much slower than the 11kW benchmark at this price point.

The driving position is more bus-like than car-like in terms of its steering wheel positioning and the seat has no adjustable lumbar support. There’s also no left footrest to brace against, so it can feel like you’re sliding towards the front of the seat at times which would benefit from some rake adjustment in the base cushion.

We also noticed the steering column shaft (complete with universal joint) passes through the driver’s floor to the left of the brake pedal, which restricts where you can rest your left foot. The driver’s door mirror also doesn’t pivot outwards far enough, so about one third of the mirror’s view is filled with the side of the van.

It’s quiet at speeds up to 80km/h thanks to the near silence of its drivetrain but noise from the Chinese-made Wanli tyres increases and becomes intrusive at highway speeds, where wind buffeting around its large door mirrors was also detected.

Thanks to its relatively light kerb weight, the V7E offers energetic acceleration around town when unladen with acceptable ride quality on smooth bitumen. However, it starts to lose its composure on bumpy roads with excessive bouncing of the suspension, which could benefit from refinement of spring and damper settings.

To test its GVM rating we forklifted 975kg into the cargo bay, which with driver resulted in a total one-tonne-plus payload of 1065kg that was about 140kg less than its legal limit.

The stout rear leaf springs only compressed about 25mm but such a big increase in sprung weight failed to iron out the suspension’s excessive bouncing, resulting in harsh and at times unwieldy ride and handling on uneven road surfaces.

Some of the active safety systems were also overly intrusive, particularly the lane keeping function with its unnerving fluctuations in turning weight and forceful steering inputs.

Combined with relentless warning chimes, often with no obvious visual confirmation of what they were warning about, we decided that the most annoying of these offenders were best left switched off.

Behind the wheel, the Lepas L6 EV offers just the right amount of oomph. Goldilocks would approve.

Around town you can accelerate with traffic easily, plus if you boot it a little harder, there’s still enough in the tank. It’s fun watching the power gauge on the instrument cluster go red when you accelerate harder.

It’s worth noting if you gun it from a standstill, there may be some tyre squeal. This is a front-wheel drive car with 300Nm of torque.

There are three drive modes available - Eco, Normal and Sport - which all do what they say on the tin. Normal as a default mode is all you really need in a car like this.

For regenerative braking there are also three modes and you can cycle through them using a configurable button on the steering wheel. None offer one-pedal driving, however, meaning you need to use the brake pedal to come to a complete stop.

My favourite of the three regen modes tended to be the weakest. This more closely simulates a combustion or hybrid driving experience, as with the stronger modes the transition to regen can be a little too strong.

With the steering there’s an adequate amount of weight, though there is almost no road feel. It feels like you’re steering the car in a video game as there’s no feedback from the front wheels.

Lepas claims the L6 EV has “European” tuning for the suspension and in practice it is a little more composed and settled than previous Chery Group vehicles I’ve driven.

You wouldn’t call this a sports car by a long shot, though, as the car wallows about when pushed harder. In the everyday this car is agreeable enough, just mediocre and soulless to drive.

For noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), the L6 EV is naturally already a quiet car given it’s an EV. We didn’t do a great deal of high-speed driving at this launch, so we’ll have to wait and see how road and tyre noise is at a later date.

The Lepas L6 hasn’t been crash-tested by ANCAP yet and is therefore unrated for now.

However, a full suite of safety kit comes as standard. Highlights include:

• Seven airbags
• Auto Emergency Braking (AEB)
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Lane-keep assist
• Lane centring
• Adaptive cruise control
• Intelligent speed limit assist
• Driver attention monitor
• Automatic parking assist
• Remote parking assist
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Surround-view camera

Lepas claims it has gone to great lengths to calibrate the advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) for Australian conditions and you can tell as all the systems operate as they should, and critically, aren’t annoying.

This has been a gripe of many Chery Group vehicles and it’s great to see a step in the right direction.

The Farizon V7E comes standard with a five year/200,000km vehicle warranty and the lithium-ion propulsion battery is covered by a separate eight year/200,000km warranty.

There’s also five years of complimentary roadside assist.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/30,000km whichever occurs first. Capped pricing for the first five years/150,000km totals $2385 or an average of $477 annually.

Farizon has a national network of seven dealerships (sales/service) represented in all states except Tasmania and is expanding its national vehicle servicing network through an approved third-party provider.

Lepas covers the L6 EV with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, whereas the high-voltage battery pack is covered for eight years or 200,000km.

Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km. The first seven services are capped-price and total a pretty sharp $2043, or $291 on average.

There’s also up to seven years of roadside assistance and as part of an introductory offer, L6 EV buyers can get either a complimentary home charger or public fast-charging subscription.

It’s worth noting Lepas has a separate dealer network from Chery and Omoda Jaecoo. At launch there are 23 dealers and the company plans to have a total of 30.

Thanks to the Chery Group, Lepas already has official channels for aftersales and spare parts. A metro dealer is claimed to be able to receive a spare part overnight, for example.