Volkswagen has partnered with China’s Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC) to introduce SOL, a new all-electric brand for China. The first model from the new brand, which is meant to churn out affordable electric cars, is a crossover whose name is yet to be announced. Based on the images, the model’s name will carry an ‘e-’ prefix.
The new EV is closely related to JAC’s iEV7S, which is powered by a 116hp/270Nm electric motor with a range of 280km on a single charge. The SOL-badged model is expected to be priced slightly higher than the JAC one and be powered by the same motor tuned to develop 114hp and hit a top speed of 130kph. Other details concerning the powertrain, like range, are not available as of now.
Both the JAC and SOL models share the same dimensions at 4,135mm in length, 1,750mm in width, 1,560mm in height and a 2,490mm-long wheelbase.
The German carmaker had signed an MoU with JAC back in September 2016 to form a joint venture to build EVs in China. The name of the brand was a point of contention between the two brands, with VW wanting to use the Seat name while JAC wanted to use a Chinese name. The name SOL, means ‘sun’ in Spanish. However, the Chinese name is Sihao (思皓), which loosely translates to ‘thinking’.
The SOL brand is VW’s second all-electric brand, after the introduction of the more up-market ID brand that includes models like the ID Vizzion concept sedan, ID Crozz crossover, ID Buzz MPV and others.