BAIC’s new energy Arcfox brand debuts at Kyalami Festival of Motoring

Following its branding being shown at BAIC dealerships in Gauteng earlier this month, Arcfox officially displayed its first model at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring this past weekend ahead of sales kicking off in October.

What is it?

Named after a polar fox, or “jihu” in Mandarin, the new energy vehicle brand will commence its operations with the T1 that went on sale in China last year.

The only model so far teased on Arcfox South Africa’s social media pages, T1 will, however, be joined by other models at a later stage as part of BAIC’s expansion of what it described as its premium and technologically focused sub-brand.

T1 fundamentals

Build at Arcfox’s Zhenjiang plant, the T1 is powered solely by an electric powertrain and despite being a five-door hatchback, has been re-classified as a compact SUV.

Arcfox has classified the T1 as an SUV and not a hatchback. Picture: Charl Bosch

Updated in its home market two months ago, which saw a name change to Beta T1, the newcomer rides on a dedicated electric vehicle platform, with the following dimensions:

• Length

  : 4 337mm;

• Wheelbase

  : 2 770mm;

• Width

  : 1 860mm;

• Height

  : 1 572mm.

According to Arcfox’s Chinese website, the Beta T1’s boot space varies from 459 to 1 352 litres with the rear seats folded flat.

Two trim levels confirmed

While exact specification is still to be announced, BAIC did confirm the availability of two trim levels when the T1 goes on sale; Pro and Pro Max.

Minimalist interior still has physical buttons on the steering wheel, but a decluttered centre console plus a 15.6-inch infotainment display. Picture: Charl Bosch

As such, expect features to include:

• 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels;
• auto on/off LED headlights:
• rain sense wipers;
• imitation leather upholstery;
• keyless entry;
• push-button start;
• electric, heated and ventilated front seats;
• automatic air-conditioning;
• 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster;
• four or six-speaker sound system;
• panoramic sunroof;
• 15.6-inch infotainment display;
• voice assistant;
• embedded satellite navigation;
• wireless smartphone charging pad;
• electric tailgate.

Taking care of safety and driver assistance will be:

• six airbags;
• tyre pressure monitor;
• front and rear parking sensors;
• 540-degree camera system;
• Adaptive Cruise Control;
• Lane Keep Assist;
• Traffic Sign Recognition;
• Lane Keep Assist;
• Automatic Emergency Braking;
• Hill Start Assist;
• Lane Departure Warning;
• Driver Attention Alert;
• Lane Change Assist.

One powerplant option

Residing up front, only one of the two powerplant options available in China has been confirmed for South Africa; the flagship 42.3kWh unit that has, surprisingly, been detuned from the 95kW it makes at home to the same 70kW as the smaller 33.4kWh battery South Africa won’t be getting.

Based on the WLTP cycle, the T1 will do 310km on a single charge and support DC charging up to 80kW, which will require a waiting time of 25 minutes from 30-80%.

More later

As its stands, BAIC is only expected to reveal final specification and pricing once the T1 officially launches in October.