GAC Trumpchi Trumpchi ES9 -Hybrid PHEV

I picked up the car in October 2024, and as of now, it has driven over 10,000 kilometers. Overall, I am very satisfied with the performance of this plug-in hybrid at this price point. I'm surprised why the sales of this car aren't going up. During the May Day holiday, I drove alone from Xi'an to Zhagana. Before departure, the fuel tank was at 65%, and I traveled more than 1,600 kilometers round trip without refueling, relying entirely on charging. After returning, I calculated that the total charging cost was more than 260 yuan, and the fuel tank still had 22% left. The trip was three days and two nights. I slept in the car at night with the heater on all the time, which consumed about half the electricity overnight, approximately 12 kWh. Before entering the mountains, the battery ran out, and the charging pile at the entrance of Zhagana was not yet in use, so I drove into the mountains and crossed the Zhagana Jiangdie Highway in a low battery state. The Jiangdie Highway section had poor road conditions, and coupled with the car's stiff suspension, I didn't dare to drive fast. I saw several cars with flat tires by the roadside. The whole journey was a small test of the car's condition and gave me a basic understanding of its performance. Overall (so far), I highly recognize this car. First is the cost of using the car. My daily commute is within 100 kilometers, so I rarely refuel. I only refuel occasionally when traveling out of town for business or returning to my hometown. Another is the driving experience. Although it doesn't have the intelligent driving modes (similar to autonomous driving) like other electric cars, I think the car's assisted driving is sufficient, especially using adaptive cruise control on the highway, which is much easier than driving a manual transmission car before.

✔Exterior: The white exterior attracted me, especially when viewed from a 45° angle at the rear; the taillights paired with the "small backpack" design look really nice. Actually, the black dragon scale front face is cooler, but I ultimately chose white for easier maintenance and seating needs. I didn't consider other colors because black and white are safe choices, and I can think about other colors later if I feel like it.
✔Interior: I really appreciate the space of the entire vehicle. I'm quite satisfied with the beige interior, large central control screen, head-up display, etc. The business seats in the first two rows look very comfortable, and the third row can be used for sitting or lying down with ample space. I'm over 1.8 meters tall, and I feel very spacious in the driver's seat. The steering wheel can be adjusted up and down, and the size of the storage boxes for the main and co-pilot is just right. Especially, there are many charging ports and USB interfaces, available in both the second row and the back seat, which is very user-friendly. The seats can have their headrests folded down, and both the first and second rows or the second and third rows can be adjusted to rest mode. When tired from driving, you can rest directly in the car. It's completely sufficient, even more than enough, for family trips during holidays or camping with a few friends and some camping gear.
✔Power: The vehicle has a 2.0T engine with front-wheel drive, which is sufficient for urban commuting and outings. It has three modes: battery preservation, hybrid, and pure electric. The power is strong, and the choices are flexible. Using fuel can also recover energy to generate electricity. I personally value fuel efficiency; to put it bluntly, I want to save fuel, after all, oil prices are so high. Isn't pure electric better? The 0-100km/h acceleration is enough for me. I don't have high requirements in this aspect, and it drives smoothly. I use pure electric mode for daily commuting and fuel for long distances. Often, when the speed reaches 80-100 km/h, I don't feel it. I only realize how fast it is when I look at the speedometer, and there's no range anxiety. After buying the car, I didn't drive much due to work reasons, and the mileage wasn't enough to reach the first maintenance standard. I usually use the portable charger, so I won't evaluate the energy consumption for now. Being able to run on pure electric feels like saving money.
✔Configuration: Seat ventilation and heating, dynamic ambient lights, 360° all-round driving recorder, 2D/3D full vehicle images, L2 assisted driving, etc. Almost everything you need is available. The car can also discharge externally, which is very practical. I don't need to say much about the seats and driving recorder. I especially need the full vehicle images. This car is positioned as a large SUV, so there are blind spots, especially on the co-pilot side. When passing through some narrow roads, the full vehicle images are like a godsend. In addition, adaptive cruise control is very convenient, especially on highways. It can handle it easily without much worry. The car will automatically keep centered in the lane and follow the vehicle in front. If the front vehicle speeds up, you follow; if it slows down, you slow down. You can also adjust the following distance on the steering wheel. If it detects that you haven't touched the steering wheel for a period of time, it will give a timely sound reminder. The head-up display is also very convenient, allowing you to keep track of speed, navigation and other information at any time. There are also warnings for vehicles approaching from the left, right, front and rear, which is both worry-free and safe.
✔Range: The official data is measured under specific environments. In actual use, I don't think it can run that far. Various usage conditions and factors will affect it, but it's probably around 1,000 kilometers. I haven't driven a long distance yet. I usually keep half a tank of fuel in the tank, use electricity daily, and occasionally mix them. So far, it's comfortable to use.
✔Intelligence: I renamed "Xiao Qi" to "Xiao Bai", which is more comfortable to call. Actually, you can call it either "Xiao Bai" or "Xiao Qi". The voice recognition is accurate and fast, allowing adjustment of air conditioning, opening and closing the sunroof, etc. When approaching the vehicle with the key, it automatically unlocks; when leaving the vehicle, it automatically turns off and powers down. There's no one-button start; you can just step on the brake and shift to D to drive. There's also a function where the driver's seat automatically adjusts its position when getting on and off. Mobile phone car connection allows remote control such as pre-heating the car, unlocking/locking, opening/closing windows, honking and lighting. For example, in summer in Xinjiang, it's very hot, so you can turn on the air conditioning in advance to cool down; in winter, you can turn on the heating in advance, which greatly improves driving comfort. If you forget where you parked at night, you can honk and turn on the lights to quickly locate it. The direct service of the car connection is always online and answers all questions. So far, most of the questions I asked have been answered, with a satisfaction rate of about 96%. The intelligent assisted driving and head-up display mentioned earlier are very convenient and practical. Regarding the vehicle system, I saw many people complaining before buying. It's true that there are currently few available applications, and you can't install other software, which limits some personalized use by car owners, but it varies from person to person. I mainly use navigation and listen to music when driving. Gaode Map, music apps, and mobile phone car connection are almost enough. They are smooth to use. The screen has a pull-down menu, and setting related functions feels okay for now.
✔Investment: I really like this car; it's square and upright. After buying it, I spent a lot of money on soft wrapping, applied a car film, bought under guards, and other five major items. I sewed the trunk mat myself stitch by stitch. In total, I spent nearly 20,000 yuan. Since it's my first car, I pay special attention to it. Recently, I also bought folding chairs, egg roll tables, cassette stoves, camping cookware, sleeping bags, and an inflatable bed for both the back seat and trunk. I want to really live up to its "traveler" name!
✔Disadvantages: The large size of the car leads to large blind spots, so you have to drive more carefully, and washing it is more expensive than small cars. It lacks a one-button mute function, the paint is a bit thin, and it would be better if the chassis was higher. It needs a sentry mode. With such a large car, I always worry about scratches when parked on the roadside without monitoring. I hope the pure electric range can reach 200 kilometers and then consider adding four-wheel drive, which would almost solve all problems.
✔Tips: I'm relatively lazy and don't like putting things in my pockets, especially car keys and house keys. I studied the priority of car connection and keys, decisively gave up the function of automatically unlocking when approaching the car, and directly put the key in the car. After parking, I use mobile phone car connection to lock it remotely and leave. It's completely feasible after testing.
2024 is destined to be extraordinary. My story with Trumpchi has just begun, and I believe there will be more beautiful experiences and memories in the future.

I've actually been looking at this car for a long time, and the final decision to buy it was really because I paid for its appearance. Compared with other seven-seat cars in the same price range, this appearance is really my favorite; the others are all somewhat similar. When picking up the car, the service at the 4S shop was good, and my family all liked it. The salesperson even bought us a bouquet of roses, which was very thoughtful, and also took a video and many nice photos of us picking up the car. My parents really liked it. When driving, I feel it's quite fuel-efficient. I'm a new driver, so I don't drive aggressively. So far, I've driven 800 kilometers, and spent 323 yuan on fuel and charging, averaging about 0.4 yuan per kilometer. I think that's acceptable because such a big car would be very fuel-consuming if only using gasoline, but it still can't compare with pure electric cars. My family gets motion sickness in electric cars, so I had no choice but to look for a hybrid model. Since it balances fuel costs and my family's comfort, I really like the seats—especially the front seats have massage and ventilation functions, and the second row has heating. In particular, when I fold down all the rear seats, it feels as big as a double bed, which is basically enough for two people to sleep when going camping or sleeping in the car. The space is very large; when only folding down the last row of seats, it can hold a lot of things—definitely enough space for 5 or 6 suitcases. The instant acceleration when accelerating at green lights or overtaking can be completed in a few seconds, which I really like. For such a big car, that's really good. The acceleration from 0-100 km/h can be around seven seconds. On the highway, I think the lane changes and acceleration are very stable, not floaty at all. The car's chassis tuning is quite good—not too hard nor too soft. This is my first car, and I'm very satisfied with it.