iCAUR V23

Highly anticipated, iCaur Malaysia’s (Chery sub-brand) second local release, the all-new iCaur V23, officially launched in Malaysia.

The C-segment (mid-size off-road SUV) Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) underpins Chery’s Intelligent Mission System (i-MS) electric architecture.

Fully imported (CBU – China), available via iCaur Auto Malaysia are two variants (V23 2WD – RM119,800, V23 iWD – RM132,800).

Prices (OTR, w/o insurance) include vehicle (seven years/150,000 km), EV battery (eight years/160,000 km – 1-to-1 battery replacement: <70% health) and drive unit (eight years/160,000 km) warranties.

Exterior (single-tone) colours (V23 2WD, V23 iWD: Off-Road Orange, Khaki White, Slate Silver, Army Green, Gravel Grey, Carbon Crystal Black). Interior (single-tone) colour (V23 2WD, V23 iWD: Black).

The all-new V23 gets a rectangular and tiered dashboard, linked to a floating centre console (armrest, wireless charger, upper-lower storage, gear selector-omitted).

Soft-/hard-touched (dash, steering wheel, centre console, doors), it sees upholstery (leatherette) in one colour scheme (single-tone: Black) with contrast panels (Aluminium) and stitching (White).

Equipped are a driver-centre display (instrument cluster, infotainment), air-conditioning vents (rectangular), a control panel (rotary dials, switches: vehicle telematics, media, AC), dash storage (passenger side) and grab handles (front, rear).

Inclusively, the layout is ergonomic (functional) with accessibilities purposefully arranged (driver-centric, passenger-oriented).

Installed (combined display – centre-dash-mounted) is a 15.4-inch TFT-LCD (Thin-Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display – Quad HD) fully digital (Multi-Information Display – MID) driver display (instrument cluster).

Features are vehicle telematics, Bluetooth, navigation, Intelligent Voice Assistant and customisable interface (drive mode dependent).

Comfortable, the interior sees upholstery (V23 2WD, V23 iWD: leatherette) in one colour scheme (single-tone: Black) with contrast stitching (White).

The front gets electronic-powered (driver/passenger: multi-way-adjust, ventilation) bolstered seats. The rear gets a manual-operated (50:50 split-fold-flat-stowable) bolstered bench (three-seater).

Included are headrests (front, rear), armrests (front: centre console – rear: centre seat fold-out) and grab handles (front, rear).

A five-seater (mid-size off-road e-SUV), the cabin offers generous space, providing comfortable seatings with ample interior mobility for the occupants (front, rear).

Sufficient head, shoulder and leg rooms.

Mounted is a three-spoke-round steering wheel. Leatherette (single-tone: Black) with contrast trims (Aluminium) and stitching (White).

Features are multi-switches (Bluetooth, media, Intelligent Voice Assistant, vehicle telematics), column adjustments (tilt, telescopic) and column gear selector (gear lever – right stalk).

Drive is aided by an Electric Power Steering (EPS) system (turning radius: 5.85 m).

Practical storage spaces. E.g., glove box, dash storage (passenger side), centre console compartments (armrest, partitioned, caverned, upper-lower stowage), concealed trays (front under seats) and pockets (seat back, side doors).

Provided are four cup holders (two: front, rear) and four bottle holders (one: side doors).

Equipped are two USB ports (two: front), two 12 V sockets (one: front, boot) and one wireless charger (centre console).

Included is a Vehicle-To-Load (V2L – 3.3 kW) function for powering of external appliances.

Accessing its side-hinged tailgate (manual operation) opens to 234 litres (rear seats up) and 744 litres (rear seats down) of load capacities.

Included (exterior tailgate mounted) is a storage box (utility box: 14.7 litres).

Weighing in at 1,710 kg (V23 2WD) and 1,820 kg (V23 iWD), the all-new V23 stands at 4,220 mm long, 1,915 mm wide, 1,845 mm tall and with a wheelbase spanning 2,735 mm.

Solidly sporty and ruggedly robust, it exudes an uprightly boxy and retro-modern outlook, emphasised by angularly clean proportions.

The front-end sees a formed bonnet (centre raised, upper-corner vented), angular quarter panels (flared fenders, wheel arch extensions, side scuttles) and a square bumper (hidden grille: SmartBar, bar insert, iCaur emblem – upper vent: strip insert – bumper guard: lower-centre vented, skid plate – corner radar camera).

Accentuations, body clad (Black: bumper guard, skid plate, wheel arch extensions, side sills – body-colour: fenders), body trims (body-colour: bumper, grille bar insert – Black: SmartBar, vents, side scuttles, side mirrors, window/light surrounds, corner radar camera, iCaur emblem) and side steps (Black).

Solidly athletic, it continues the uprightly boxy and retro-modern profile, emphasised by horizontally symmetrical and flat surfaces.

The rear-end sees a straight cut roofline, angular quarter panels (flared fenders, wheel arch extensions), a flat tailgate (side-hinged: mounted storage box, tailgate handle, iCaur/V23 emblems) and a square bumper (bumper guard: skid plate – corner radar camera – exhaust-omitted).

Accentuations, body clad (Black: bumper guard, skid plate, wheel arch extensions, side sills – body-colour: fenders), body trims (body-colour: bumper, tailgate handle, D-pillars – Black: window/light surrounds, corner radar camera – Chrome: iCaur/V23 emblems), storage box (Black-body-colour – Black: iCaur script) and side steps (Black).

Grille-embedded, the headlamps are framed circular with vertically separated slit-shaped DRLs. Installed are full LED (adaptive projectors) units.

Features are automatic On/Off/cornering/levelling, Adaptive High-Beam Lights (AHL), Daytime Running Lights (DRL – LED), welcome/leaving lights and sequential turn signals (LED).

D-pillars-embedded, the tail lamps are housed sleekly slim and vertically elongated. Installed are full LED units.

Features are automatic On/Off, welcome/leaving lights and sequential turn signals (LED). Included is a high-mounted stop light (roof-edge integrated).

The side mirrors (single-tone: Black) are electronic-powered (auto-fold, adjust), with turn signals (LED), blind-spot indicators (Blind Spot Detection – BSD) and heating.

Fitted are ventilated (front) and solid (rear) disc brakes. 

Drive is aided by an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) with Auto Brake Hold system and a regenerative braking system (Co-operative Regenerative Braking System – CRBS).

Mounted are sets of 19-inch (V23 2WD: Smoothie-style, Black) and 21-inch (V23 iWD: five-star-spoke, Black) alloy rims.

The sets (front, rear) are rubbered up in 255/55 R19 (V23 2WD) and 265/45 R21 (V23 iWD) Chao Yang Radial RP76+ tyres.

The all-new V23 is installed with the following suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

Grouped are Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Door Opening Warning (DOW), Driver Attention Indicator (DAI), Front Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Departure Prevention (LDP), Lane Change Warning (LCW), Rear Collision Warning (RCW), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) and Traffic Jam Assist (TJA). 

Other systems include Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist System (BAS), Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Brake Override System (BOS), Comfort Stop Technology (CST), Co-operative Regenerative Braking System (CRBS), Traction Control System (TCS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), Hill Descent Control (HDC), Hill Hold Control (HHC), Adaptive High-Beam Lights (AHL), Around View Monitor (AVM – 540-degree, 3D, transparent chassis), Driving Video Recorder (DVR – 360-degree), Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) with Auto Brake Hold.

Passive safety includes six (driver-passenger, front sides, front-rear curtains) airbags, seat belts (reminders, pre-tensioners, anchors), ISOFIX (two: outer-rear seats), parking sensors (four: front, rear), parking cameras (reverse, 540-degree, 3D, transparent chassis), rear-view mirrors (exterior: BSD – interior: automatic-dimming), automatic-door locks (speed-sensing, central-locking, walk-away-auto-lock), automatic windows (anti-pinch, one-touch up/down), automatic headlamps (On/Off/cornering/levelling/low-/high-beam), automatic wipers (rain-sensing, intermittent), door ajar warning, impact beams and anti-theft system (security alarm, immobiliser).

Multiple drive modes enabled via the ‘iRoad’ drive program (V23 2WD: ECO, COMFORT, SPORT, INDIVIDUAL, SLIPPERY – V23 iWD: ECO, COMFORT, SPORT, INDIVIDUAL, SLIPPERY, OFF-ROAD).

Cocooned in the all-new V23 (V23 2WD, V23 iWD) is an all-electric e-powertrain (BEV) with variant-specific setups.

First e-powertrain (V23 2WD) is a single-electric-motor (rear-mounted: Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor – PMSM) setup (100 kW/136 PS, 180 Nm).

Second e-powertrain (V23 iWD) is a dual-electric-motor (front-mounted: Asynchronous Motor – AC, rear-mounted: Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor – PMSM) setup (front: 55 kW/75 PS, 112 Nm – rear: 100 kW/136 PS, 180 Nm – front-rear: 155 kW/211 PS, 292 Nm). 

Fused to the setup is a single-speed automatic transmission (column gear selector: right stalk gear lever).

Power is transmitted to the rear wheels (V23 2WD) and all four wheels (V23 iWD), via a Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and an intelligent All-Wheel Drive (iWD) system.

0 to 100 km/h is done in 11 secs (V23 2WD) and 7.5 secs (V23 iWD). Top speed is electronically capped at 140 km/h (V23 2WD, V23 iWD).

Underpinned (V23 2WD, V23 iWD) is Chery’s Intelligent Mission System (i-MS) electric architecture (800 V).

Powering the e-motors are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP: 59.93 kWh – V23 2WD) and Ternary Lithium (NMC – Nickel Manganese Cobalt: 81.76 kWh – V23 iWD) batteries, enabling a total driving range (NEDC) of 360 km (V23 2WD) and 430 km (V23 iWD).

AC charging (Type 2: 6.6 kW – V23 2WD, V23 iWD) takes 10 hours (V23 2WD) and 13 hours (V23 iWD) for a 0% to 100% State of Charge (SoC). 

DC charging (CCS2: 85 kW – V23 2WD, 104 kW – V23 iWD) takes 30 mins (V23 2WD) and 20 mins (V23 iWD) for a 30% to 80% SoC.

Included (V23 2WD, V23 iWD) is a regenerative braking system (Co-operative Regenerative Braking System – CRBS) and a Vehicle-To-Load (V2L – 3.3 kW) function for powering of external appliances.

The all-new V23 features these conveniences.

E.g., Smart Entry system (keyless entry, engine Start/Stop button, remote engine start, NFC key card, flush door handles), side-hinged tailgate (manual operation), single-zone automatic climate control system (rear-vents-omitted), electronic-powered (driver/passenger: multi-way-adjust, ventilation) bolstered seats (front), manual-operated (50:50 split-fold-flat-stowable) bolstered bench (three-seater – rear), headrests (front, rear), armrests (front: centre console – rear: centre seat fold-out), grab handles (front, rear), interior storage areas (dash compartments, centre console compartments, seat/door pockets, under seat trays), steering wheel (multi-function, column adjustments, column gear selector, EPS), interior illumination (cabin/boot), charging ports (USB, power sockets, wireless charger), Vehicle-to-Load (V2L – 3.2 KW) charging, parking sensors (four: front, rear), parking cameras (reverse, 540-degree, 3D, transparent chassis), rear-view mirrors (exterior: BSD – interior: automatic-dimming), automatic-door locks (speed-sensing, central-locking, walk-away-auto-lock), automatic windows (anti-pinch, one-touch up/down), automatic headlamps (On/Off/cornering/levelling/low-/high-beam), automatic wipers (rain-sensing, intermittent), door ajar warning, Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) with Auto Brake Hold and Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).

single-zone automatic climate control system (rear-vents-omitted).

A suitable all-rounder (on-roader, off-roader), the ride comfortability feels flexible and firm at the same time, providing great power with agile handling.

Propping-up the e-chassis (body structure: high strength steel – platform: Chery’s i-MS) is a suspension setup of MacPherson strut (front) and multi-link (rear). 

Inside and out, performance- and comfort-wise, the ride quality is satisfactory.

Good sound insulation with the NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) aspects accounted for. The cabin is well-designed, enhancing the in-car ambience.

Overall, the cabin can suppress unwanted noises well and make them barely noticeable, even when cruising through bumpy terrains or at high speeds. 

The all-new iCaur V23 is built with a robustly rugged appeal, offering appearance, space and practicality.

Solidly sculpted, its exterior is well-designed with boxy angular lines donating to a powerful overall character. 

Inside and out, the quality of the equipment installed is impressive with clean and minimalistic detailing.

Performance-wise, it offers a thrilling driving dynamic (RWD, AWD) with its on-road and off-road prowess.

Ultimately, the build quality is excellent, and with its distinctive outlook and energising e-powertrains, the all-new V23 is surely an e-off-roader to consider.