Previously shown at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show the Chery Fulwin A8 Pro is based on the Fulwin A8 which is already on sale. It’s very common for Chinese brands to add ‘Max’ or ‘Pro’ to the name of an existing model and create a new variant. One of the most obvious differences with the new car is the far more enclosed front face.
Although the Fulwin A8 is already a PHEV the new Chery Fulwin A8 Pro looks far more like a new energy vehicle thanks to the new front. The original car looks very much like an ICE, and is indeed based on one, the Chery Arrizo 8. The sides and rear of the new model though are very much the same as the base car. Dimensions are 4780/1843/1469 mm (l/w/h), and the wheelbase is 2790 mm.
Inside the Chery Fulwin A8 Pro is also very similar to the Fulwin A8. One of the biggest differences is that the steering wheel now has Fulwin written on it rather than Chery. Also the interior color of the new car is largely white compared to the black of the original. There’s a dual 12.3-inch instrument, infotainment cluster of screens dominating the dashboard. The car supports both Apple CarPlay and Huawei HiCar. There’s an opening panoramic sunroof and the driver’s seat gets heating and ventilation functions.
The car will come with Chery’s Kunpeng Super Performance Electric Hybrid C-DM a plugin hybrid system built around a 1.5 turbo engine providing 115 kW and 220 Nm of torque. There is in addition an electric motor on the front axle providing 150 kW with 310 Nm of torque. Transmission is a 1-speed hybrid transmission (DHT) unit and the system combined power is 265 kW with torque of 530 Nm.
Range is likely to be the same as the Fulwin A8 so 127 km under CLTC or 106 km WLTC. That is based on the car having the same 14.2 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Total range is likely to be the same 1,400 km. Official prices of the Chery Fulwin A8 are 119,900 to 149,900 yuan (16,700-20,850 USD) and so prices for the A8 Pro are likely to be slightly above these.
The name Fulwin or Fengyun in Chinese was used by Chery for its first car, a sedan based on the Seat Toledo, which went on sale in 1999. Chery stopped using the name in 2016 but has now resurrected it to use for PHEV versions of Chery models. Fengyun means storm in English.
Editor’s note:
Chinese brands are very good at producing cars such as the Chery Fulwin A8 Pro which have little difference from another car already in the range, in this case the Chery Fulwin A8. Part of the reason is to create continual noise so that the brand can gain attention, however whether these additional models have anything other than a marginal effect on sales is debatable.
