DEEPAL G318 officially launched, can it meet the diverse needs of consumers?

On June 13, DEEPAL G318 officially launched with 6 models, and the price range is 175,900 - 318,000 RMB. The new car is officially positioned as a "New Technology Hardcore SUV", with the body size of a mid-to-large SUV, hardcore square box design, and spacious interior space. It also adopts a bearing body, equipped with a 1.5T extended range power, and offers electric rear-wheel drive and dual-motor four-wheel drive system. This time we take a look at whether this DEEPAL G318 can meet your needs according to the price.

Review of the highlights of the new car

It is believed that everyone is sure to have some understanding of the static and dynamic experience of DEEPAL G318, so this part won't go into detail here. To help everyone quickly understand the product information of DEEPAL G318, here are some important product highlights to review.

Appearance: The "Square Box" style is a necessary

Since DEEPAL G318 is positioned as a "New Hardcore SUV", so the classic "Square Box" style is essential. Specifically, the front of the car is square and burly, the body lines are also relatively rigid and three-dimensional. And plus roof spotlights, luggage rack PLUS, external spare tires, etc., the overall look is indeed full of hardcore style.

It is worth mentioning that DEEPAL G318 also adds more innovation on the basis of the square box style, which forms its own brand style. This style gives me the impression that it has a bit of cyberpunk feel on the basis of being hardcore, I don't know if you are satisfied with this style.

In terms of body size, the length, width and height of DEEPAL G318 are 4998/1985/1960mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2880mm, which is comparable to TANK 400 Hi4-T. In addition, DEEPAL G318 is inspired by the 318 line scenery and introduces 7 theme car colors with a wide range of choices.

Interior: Hardcore on the Outside, Soft on the Inside. Comfort is the Key

The interior design is still mainly simple, but the lines of the center console will be more distinctive. It is equipped with a 14.6-inch center console screen and retains physical buttons for common functions such as off-road mode. In terms of materials, great efforts were made to create a sense of sophistication. Most of the center console and the inside of the door panel are covered with soft materials, and it is also equipped with a 64-color ambient light and a high-quality 16-speaker audio system.

In terms of comfort configuration, the high-end models have front seats with electric adjustment/ventilation/heating and 4-way electric lumbar support to ensure comfort during long-distance driving. Furthermore, as for interior color matching, DEEPAL G318 provides three types of interior color options: glacier blue, holy lake green, and deep forest black.

Space: Dose it make up for the space pain point of hardcore SUVs?

Compared with the traditional tough SUV's non-load-bearing body structure with large beams, DEEPAL G318 adopts a load-bearing body structure, and its interior seating space and trunk loading capacity perform better.

Specifically, the rear seating space is very spacious, especially the headroom is quite spacious. The trunk is also quite capable, with a standard space of 818L, which can fit 13 20-inch suitcases at the same time. After folding the rear seats, the trunk space can reach 1747L, and it is officially stated that 29 20-inch suitcases can be placed.

In addition, it is also flexible in terms of space expansion. In addition to folding the rear seats to form a large space, after removing the headrest of the front seats, it can also be leveled with the cushion of the rear seats to form a large space.

Power chassis: Range extension plus Four-wheel electric drive

The DEEPAL G318 adopts range extension power, a 1.5T turbocharged engine, offering rear-drive and four-wheel-drive versions. In the four-wheel-drive model, the front motor power is 131kW, the rear motor power is 185kW, and the total system power can reach 316kW, where the official 0-100km acceleration time is 6.3 seconds. It is worth mentioning that the two-drive fed fuel consumption is as low as 6.1L/100km (CLTC conditions), and the four-drive fed fuel consumption is as low as 6.7L/100km (CLTC conditions), which performs well for a medium-to-large SUV. In addition, as a range extender model, the two-drive version of DEEPAL G318 has a pure electric endurance of 190km (forced EV mode).

This car uses a front double wishbone and rear five-link independent suspension. It adopts a monocoque design, not the traditional hardcore SUV with a non-monocoque design of large beam structure. This point does not need to be stressed, after all, the Land Rover Defender also uses a monocoque design. The key is to look at the stiffness of the body. The torsional stiffness of this car's body can reach 45000N·m/deg, which is higher than Land Rover Defender, and this is beneficial whether for off-road or handling performance.

What is worth mentioning is that this car is equipped with air suspension, CDC variable damping shock absorbers, and active magic carpet. In the category of rigid SUVs at this price, these are rare, and it can guarantee comfort performance whether on the highway or rough roads.

Off-road: All indicators are not weak

Let’s first look at the passability index. When the air suspension of the car is adjusted to the highest, its maximum ground clearance reaches 348mm, approach angle is 30°, and departure angle is 33°. These performance indicators are quite "hardcore".

Like many electric four-wheel drive cars, this car is also equipped with an energy interlock, which can flexibly control the torque output of the front and rear motors. The rear axle is equipped with an integrated electromagnetic drive differential lock, and the front axle is only electronically limited slip, strictly speaking, there are only 2 locks. However, even so, it is already superior to most urban SUVs, and it should be able to handle off-road difficulties in the medium and low range.

In addition to the 5 terrain modes (water crossing mode, snow mode, rugged mode, mud mode, sand mode), there are also 3 special scenes (spot turnaround, steep slope descent, off-road crawling), and beginners can easily handle it.

Camping: More scene extensions

Crossing and outdoor camping can be said to be the rigid demand of this group of people, this point can be fully met in DEEPAL G318. First of all, it is equipped with a 1.6T qualified trailer hook, which can be used for outdoor activities, such as bicycle, raft, caravan and other items. Secondly, the luggage rack PLUS has a dynamic weight of 80KG, which can carry more outdoor travel equipment. It can bear a static weight of 300KG,  can expand the roof tent and bear the weight of two adults without any problem.

Finally, it has 6kW external power output, which the official says can easily supply the use of 8 tents, plus it can provide 250 square meters of illuminated area of the roof spotlight, whether it's a bonfire party or camping barbecue, it can meet the needs and expand outdoor life more wonderful.

Who are the competitors in the market? And what are the advantages of G318?

Let's first look at the positioning of DEEPAL G318. At the previous test drive meeting, the official said an interesting sentence: "those who yearn for a better life can buy it, and those who climb and drive in the sand please give up". It's clear that the official positioning of this car is not for those off-road veterans, but for people who like outdoor camping life. In simple terms, it has the large space and comfort of urban SUVs, while the exterior is wild enough, and it has stronger off-road ability than urban SUVs, and the added range power can bring stronger power while the fuel consumption is lower. Just like the official said, it solves the drawbacks of traditional hard-core SUVs: small space, high fuel consumption, and poor comfortability.

This way, it can satisfy those who engage in long-distance crossings, outdoor camping, rural outings, and other light to moderate off-road and non-paved driving scenarios. It can be said that it meets the needs of most SUV users.

Editor's Comment

After a previous test drive, the wild design of DEEPAL G318 is able to satisfy everyone's imagination of off-road vehicles, and it also has good off-road performance. At the same time, it fills some of the shortcomings of off-road vehicles, such as small space, poor comfort and handling on the highway, and high fuel consumption.

Considering its price, the author believes that the positioning of the DEEPAL G318 is quite accurate. Although it is positioned as a new hard-core SUV, it is not about competing with those famous off-road vehicles. The core is to meet the needs of most SUV users, especially those who like long-distance crossings and outdoor camping will be more attractive. Overall, the DEEPAL G318 has successfully addressed the pain points of this group of users.

More information: Super Extended Range 2.0 Technology

The Super Extended Range 2.0 technology equipped in the DEEPAL G318 actually includes three parts, namely the electric drive assembly, the extended range engine and generator system, and the golden bell cover battery, all of which have been upgraded to the 2.0 version.

Firstly, the electric drive directly affects the vehicle's power output and energy consumption performance. The official working efficiency of the electric drive assembly has reached 92.59%, please note that this is the electric drive assembly, not just the motor, so this efficiency performance is quite high. The overall success rate density can be 2.53kW/kg, the next generation of electric drive total success rate density can reach 3.2kW/kg, and electric drive assembly working efficiency can also reach 94%.

Next is the upgrade of the engine and generator. The range extender uses the new Blue Whale engine with thermal efficiency as high as 44.28%, which incorporates many cutting-edge technologies, such as 16:1 ultra-high compression ratio, 150mJ high-energy ignition system, 500bar ultra-high pressure fuel injection system, and so on. At the same time, it has also made many optimizations to reduce internal friction. As for the generator, it uses a range-extender dedicated target oil cooling generator system, equipped with dual motor module, and the unique auxiliary drive motor cooling system to provide a better cooling effect. The whole system can generate 3.63 kWh electricity with 1L of oil, which the official claimed is the highest oil to electricity conversion efficiency in volume produced range-extender systems at present.

Finally, upgrades were also made to the battery section, including life span, safety, and charging efficiency of the battery, all of which have been systematically optimized for better performance.