Unsurprisingly, Huawei's first car comes with a massive tablet
Huawei collaborates with Seres for a stylish crossover
Huawei is now in the business of making cars, and no, that is not a typo.
Revealed at the 2021 Auto Shanghai, the brand famous for its smartphones and other gadgets debuted its first car. They call it the Seres Huawei Smart Selection SF5. This car came to life thanks to the tech giant's collaboration with California-based EV brand Seres.
Huawei says their car is an EV, but it's more like a parallel hybrid. It works similar to Nissan's e-Power system. The engine serves as a range extender, and it allows the EV to travel up to 1,000 km. Without it, the SF5 can only travel up to 180 km on a single charge. The Smart Selection SF5 can also be plugged in if the owner prefers that.
At the heart of the Huawei SF5 are a pair of electric motors that drives all four wheels. It has a total system output of 551 PS, along with 820 Nm of torque. It can run the 0 – 100 km/h sprint in 4.7 seconds.
As far as styling is concerned, it gets swept-back headlights, L-shaped daytime running lights, flush-mounted door handles, wraparound taillights, and sizable alloy wheels. Perhaps the main difference with the Huawei EV would be the new ventilation holes located on the front bumper.
It comes as no surprise that the SF5 has a massive "tablet" inside. It serves as the car's infotainment system and uses Huawei's latest Harmony OS-based HiCar System. It's essentially their take on Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and allows users with Huawei smartphones to seamlessly connect.
Complementing the high-tech touchscreen is an 11-speaker sound system that Huawei claims can deliver a 'theater-like experience'. The same speakers also suppress outside noise, which works alongside the soundproof glass and other noise dampening features. The company claims that this allows the SF5 to idle at a very quiet 38 decibels.
The Huawei SF5 is now available in China and currently retails for CNY 246,800 (about PHP 1,842,000). There's also a more affordable single motor variant which is available at CNY 216,800 (about PHP 1,617,567).
There is no word yet whether Huawei will launch their EV (technically a hybrid) in other markets. That said, it will be interesting how their showrooms will look like.
