Aion is a Chinese electric car manufacturer building affordable automobiles to cater to the lower end of the car buying market.

But don’t confuse “lower-end” with “inferior”, for the Aion Y Plus is far from being what you’d deem as providing a sub-par experience. Having said that though, we really didn’t have a lot of expectations ahead of our media test drive.

That’s because Aion, and by extension GAC, isn’t a legacy brand – at least, not in Singapore. As a result, we’ve never had the chance to try out a GAC car, so there’s really no point of references.

However, we are happy to report that the Aion Y Plus is a genuinely pleasant car to live with, and one of the better choices at this end of the market.

Safe Styling

The Aion Y Plus doesn’t redesign the wheel. It doesn’t employ a whole suite of design trickery in a bid to make it feel more futuristic. Instead, the GAC boffins decided to keep the car relatively anonymous, seemingly choosing to prioritise interior space over outright aesthetics.

Still, there are areas in which the designers were able to exercise some flair. For instance, its headlights. It almost looks like a guppy or a betta fish, the DRLs furthering that stylistic link. There are squared off wheel arch extensions, which aren’t in raw black plastic or in body colour, but an interesting shade of silver.

As mentioned above, the general shape of the Y Plus is very boxy. However, to soften and take away from the visual bulk, Aion merged the lines of the top and bottom edges of the side windows at the C-pillar, helping to add some additional unique touches to the side profile.

Round the back, the formula is much the same as the rest of the car. It adheres to modern design trends, with a roof-spoiler and a coast-to-coast lightbar, though it makes do without a diffuser. Shut lines and paint match across its panels are all very good, and the recessed handles also make the car feel more expensive than it really is.

Airy and Vibrant on the Inside

Aion has absolutely nailed the car manufacturing budget for the Y Plus. The Chinese automaker has really only spent money on trimming the high-touchpoint areas in various soft-touch materials. This means you’d never have any discomfort resting your elbow on either the centre armrest, or on the window ledge.

Expectedly, there are hard black plastic panels in areas that you don’t usually come in contact with – the top of the dashboard is a good example of this. But you’d expect that, seeing that it is an affordable Cat A EV.

Cabin space is excellent – you’ll have plenty of head, knee and legroom in all the seats in the car. And you’d need all the room to perform the Y Plus’ party piece – its ability to fold the front two seats flat, and with a mattress topper, convert the cabin into a properly spacious queen-sized bed.

Equipment levels are decent too, with wired phone mirroring currently available, and wireless connectivity one or two OTAs away. Ventilated seats, a panoramic sunroof, and vibrant interior colours all help to liven the interior experience, again making you feel a lot more special than most cars in its price bracket.

Rides Well Over The Rough Stuff

Let’s get this out of the way first – the Aion Y Plus isn’t built for performance. But you’d have expected that. Instead, this Category A electric family hauler is built to be a comfortable and usable daily-driver.

Powering the Aion Y Plus is a 63.2 kWh LFP battery. It sends all of its electrons to a front-mounted 134 bhp electric motor, which will return 430 kilometres on a single charge if Aion’s claimed 6 km/kWh is to be believed.

And there’s little reason to doubt it, as we returned bang on said figures. When you run the pack down, it can DC fast charge at up to 100kW, with a 0 – 100% time of just 1.5 hours. The car also rides incredibly well, and whilst the steering is obviously very heavily assisted, there’s still decent sensations through the rack that inspires confidence on the go.

The compact footprint and instant torque also make it a breeze to place on the roads, with it being able to effortlessly catch gaps in traffic when you need it to do so. There’s good weight on the throttle pedal too, making it easy to modulate the amount of regenerative braking on the go.

The Real Deal

The Aion Y Plus is the real deal. It is firstly a car of substance, something you can’t necessarily say about all of the cars exported out of the People’s Republic. It is well-made, comfortable and very easy to live with. It isn’t perfect, but then again, no car is.

And it is the real deal because of its pricetag. At the time of publishing, the Aion Y Plus Premium is $159,988, placing it squarely in the firing line of a whole suite of other Chinese EVs.

However, none of its competitors offer the same amount of equipment and interior space, making it a no-brainer if you are looking for a practical family car at this end of the price spectrum!

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