The American automotive industry has a long history of disruption by pint-sized interlopers. The Caroll Shelby–tuned Dodge Omni Goes Like “Heck” (GLH) brought muscle car performance to American econoboxes in a bid to fend off affordable but gutless economy cars from Japan. The original Suzuki Samurai upended the offroad space by pairing cute and capable at cut-rate cost; with a base price of $6,550, a 1986 Samurai was about 30 percent less than a comparably equipped 1987 Jeep Wrangler. And remember those rebadged JDM imports from Toyota’s now defunct youth brand, Scion? The affordable, nicely equipped microvan (xB) and tarted-up four-door compact xD established a youth (and senior citizen) beachhead, but it was the “made for America” Scion tC that really leveled up the economy segment by delivering premium features including automatic climate control among others.
Is history set to repeat itself? In the spring of 2023, leading Chinese automaker BYD shocked the world with the Seagull, a compact, five-seat EV runabout with a claimed 300 miles of range and an entry-level price (in China) of $11,000. This was before the Biden administration announced plans for a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made EVs, but visions of Seagulls pooping on America’s compact car party had us itching for opportunities to sample the low end of the Chinese buffet.
We recently got that chance thanks to DCar, one of China’s top automotive media outlets, who invited us to test drive 19 of China’s “new energy vehicles,” everything from full battery-electric vehicles (BEV) to electric range-extended vehicles (EREV), across the sports car and ultra-luxury segments. Our friends at DCar were willing to secure almost any vehicle for us, except that BYD bird, saying: “Seagull is old news—we recommend the Baojun Cloud and iCar 03.”
Baojun Cloud Seeded by General Motors?
If you’ve never heard of Baojun, you’re not alone. It’s one of hundreds of nascent brands that have sprung in China up alongside the four government-backed car companies in the race to modernize and now electrify the Chinese automotive industry.
Baojun was one of two brands (Wuling being the other) that was established as part of GM’s joint venture with Chinese automaking giant SAIC. This SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) collaboration is responsible for building the Yun Duo, as the Cloud is known in Chinese. It’s SGMW’s most affordable EV offering, built to combat the aforementioned Seagull and Dolphin (which we test-drove at its launch in Brazil).
Announced in August of 2023, the Cloud comes in four different trim levels, 360 Plus, 360 Pro, 460 Pro, and 460 Max, in which the 360 and 460 refer to the EV driving range in kilometers. They’re powered by lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs with 37.9 kWh and 50.6 kWh of capacity, respectively. All Clouds use a single 100-kW electric motor that sends 148 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels.
Dimensionally, the Cloud is similar in size to the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV. The latter is 0.4 inch longer but gives up an inch in wheelbase. The Cloud is over 3 inches wider than the Bolt and almost 1.5 inches taller. We found the size and front-drive powertrain similarities intriguing, but more on that later.
Stops Like a Cloud
We tested the second-from-the-top Baojun Yun Duo 460 Pro with an as-tested price that equates to roughly $17,400. Testing director Eric Tingwall found the Cloud’s 8.7-second sprint to 60 mph and 16.8-second quarter-mile time perfectly acceptable for a car in this class, though he did note intrusive wind noise around the A-pillar at highway speeds.
Braking was an entirely different story. “The Cloud delivered the most dramatic brake stop I have ever experienced,” Tingwall said. “Its 140-foot stopping distance is on par with full-size pickup trucks weighing twice as much and wearing all-terrain tires. When it finally comes to a halt, the car rocks back and forth several times on its springs with exaggerated movements. It’s so bad, it had me laughing my ass off.”
In our figure-eight test, the Cloud delivered just as forgettable numbers as its braking, with steering described as “light and vague, with no feel or feedback.” At real-world driving speeds, I and senior editor Christian Seabaugh found the Cloud’s handling perfectly acceptable, even a bit fun.
Where’s the Silver Lining?
For a car in this country, class, and price range, how it drives is clearly far less important than the overall experience it delivers. With its bubbly profile, rounded corners, and minimal surface details, the Cloud is cute but as sexy as a fancy new washing machine. As for where it gets its name? You need to open a rear door to find out.
Behold what Baojun claims is “the industry-first Cloud Sofa,” a puffy, deeply diamond-tufted couch for three that wouldn’t look out of place in RuPaul’s ballroom. Apparently finished in hand-sewn “lightweight and breathable” leather-ish fabric, this sofa can recline up to 135 degrees, and yes, it does feel as soft as a cumulonimbus.
Up front, the seats look like comically overstuffed easy chairs, but once you sink down deep and start fiddling with the 8.8-inch instrument cluster and 15.6-inch central touchscreen, the coziness starts to make sense. Chinese car owners often linger in their vehicles while parked, which explains why there’s such an intense focus on the digital cockpit. In the Cloud, SGMW’s LingOS 2.0 operating system offers a wide array of features that have become table stakes in the Chinese market but would surprise and delight any American economy car shopper for this price. These reportedly include phone as key (à la Tesla), a customizable screen layout in which users can configure the size and location of the menus and apps, a voice-controlled assistant that responds to natural language prompts, integration with many of China’s dominant super apps, and remote control (via smartphone app) of vehicle features including the doors, HVAC, and parking assistance. Although we couldn’t test most of these features due to time and language constraints, there’s certainly a lot up in this Cloud for its low Chinese-market price.
Chery iCar 03: the Baby Bronco EV We Deserve
The low cost and high spec of vehicles like the Cloud aren’t the only nightmares that keep American, German, Japanese, and Korean product planners up at night. China Inc.’s blistering speed to market is exemplified in the iCar 03, which went on sale in February 2024, as the first model of Chery Automobile Co. Ltd.’s new iCar brand (the brand itself launched along with the 03 concept car at the Shanghai auto show in April 2023). From all-new brand and concept debut to cute ute selling in showrooms in ten months? Ni hao.
At roughly 173 inches long, 75 inches wide, and 68 inches tall, the iCar 03 is the same length as a Ford Bronco Sport Badlands, but it’s about 1 inch wider and 2 inches shorter. Its wheels are pushed out to the corners by more than 2 inches compared to the wheelbase of the Bronco Sport, all of which helps to explain why the iCar 03 gives off UFC flyweight vibes. It’s a tiny but tough package, with a chiseled, boxy body and all the right Chery-picked off-road cues, including blacked-out bumpers, overfenders, and running boards.
Despite its 4,171-pound curb weight, the 275-horsepower, all-wheel-drive iCar 03 hits 60 mph in a surprising 5.4 seconds. “Given the price and specs, I would have been happy with a time in the 7-second range,” said Tingwall, who also raised a brow after whipping it around the figure-eight course.
“You’d think a $20K SUV would flop around on corner entry and resolutely understeer through the ends of the figure eight,” Tingwall continued. After logging a 27.4-second figure-eight run at 0.66 g average, he said, “In fact, it’s quite poised thanks to the center of gravity and weight distribution advantages of the EV architecture.”
Although it’s much more entertaining to drive than the Cloud, the 03’s charms are similarly more about what it delivers when parked. If its curb appeal hasn’t raised eyebrows at Jaguar Land Rover, its interior surely will. Olive green upholstery with orange stitching, rose gold metallic accents, almost believable wood trim, and a large greenhouse help create a cabin experience that would shock American customers at its price point of just under $20,000 to start.
So, too, would the features on the iCar 03’s dash-mounted touchscreen. Even if the display’s resolution is a bit low (especially compared to the other vehicles we tested in China), the riches on offer include access to video games, audiobooks, an email service, WeChat messaging, and, yes, karaoke, on top of the expected radio, HVAC, and navigation features. User-selectable drive modes with animated sequences that dominate the screen are accessible by a (too) large drive mode knob on the central console. But what really blew our minds was the voice-controlled assistant, which can be hailed via touchscreen, a button on the steering wheel, and, hilariously, by passengers in the second row.
Press the small rectangular button with an asterisk next to the window switch located on either rear door, and a slim female avatar pops up in the bottom corner of touchscreen. Clad in a blue and white (and presumably anime-inspired) outfit that no Western car company would dare use these days, she takes requests via a microphone in the headliner and responds through the nearest speaker. While helpful, we have to think this avatar wasn’t clearly thought through; beyond adults outraged at her outfit, surely such easy access to an always-on assistant is a mistake for curious kiddos parked in the 03’s back seats.
Although there’s no frunk, the iCar 03 has a clever backpack-like storage box mounted on the rear cargo door where you’d normally find the spare tire on Jeep Wrangler. The floor of the main cargo area is a bit high, but like all the best off-roaders, its second-row cushions flop forward and seat backs fold down to create a sleeping spot for two.
So, Cushy Couch or Cute Ute?
This is not at all your typical MotorTrend comparison test. We only had the chance to drive these vehicles at a tarmac proving grounds, on a huge skidpad and Formula 2–rated test track. Nor could we verify the range or test the charging speed of either vehicle due to time and license constraints (we could not drive outside the proving grounds). The range estimates given (286 miles for the Cloud and 293 miles for the iCar 03) are on China’s CLTC fuel economy cycle and should be considered highly optimistic; we estimate low 200-mile range under real-world conditions.
But along with our test numbers and driving impressions, we did get to poke around the interiors and play with the screens and assistants enough that we came away seriously impressed by both, if not completely sold they pose a serious threat to the American car market.
“Like any EV, the Cloud marks a major upgrade over any ICE vehicle at this price point based solely on the electric powertrain’s smooth, quiet operation,” Tingwall said. “Otherwise, the car is entirely forgettable from a dynamic perspective.”
For further evidence, let us revisit the Cloud’s dimensional doppelganger, the Chevy Bolt EUV. In 2023, its last year on sale, a base-model Bolt 1LT could be bought for $26,500 or the more popular 2LT for $29,700. This, for a vehicle with a significantly larger battery (65 kWh vs. 50.6 kWh) and assuredly greater range: 265 miles on the stricter EPA test cycle.
The Bolt was ahead of its time (it was MotorTrend’s 2017 Car of the Year) and had a sad rollercoaster lifecycle, essentially ignored after launch and even when refreshed into the squinty, longer-wheelbase Bolt EUV. It was summarily canceled, then uncanceled as EV sales surged, and benefitted from a hot $7,500 tax credit that sent its price into the $20K range, or even the high teens in certain states with added credits and dealer markdowns—right smack on top of our Cloud’s as-tested price.
But you rarely heard anyone ever brag about their Bolt like many do about their Model 3s and Ys, which have become the bestselling EVs in the U.S. and then the world in the case of the Model Y—because of sales in China. As packed with digital features as the Cloud is, even if GM dared to bring it to the U.S., even in the face of the 100 percent tariff, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence anyone would want it.
Given all of this, the dimensional and powertrain similarities, and GM’s ownership stake in SGMW, we pinged Chevy to see if the two share any components and whether they would send a Cloud wafting its way over from China (as Buick has done with Envision, which is manufactured by SAIC-GM).
Chad Lyons of Chevrolet PR replied: “The Baojun Yun Duo was engineered to meet the specific needs of the Chinese market. The Yun Duo does not share the same platform as the Chevrolet Bolt, despite them having similar dimensions. As you know, we have already announced a new and improved Bolt for the U.S. market. It will be manufactured locally and will arrive in 2025.” No Clouds in our forecast, but a clear winner.
Our Pick of the Chinese Litter? The iCar 03
After all the Chinese EV and E-REV testing over two sweaty days in China, Tingwall was surprisingly definitive: “The iCar 03 is easily the most impressive car we drove and the one that would be best poised for success in the U.S. I’m legitimately bummed we don’t have it in America. If Ford’s skunkworks-cheap EV program still exists, this is the car they need to build to absolutely crush the Model Y and Model 3. It’s basically a Chevy Bolt EUV built for American tastes with the trucky styling, all-wheel drive, and assertive acceleration. I was blown away by this interior from a style, ergonomics, and quality standpoint. And there’s no obvious indications of cost cutting inside or out. While it’s not huge, it has adequate second-row space and enough cargo room to theoretically replace a RAV4, CR-V, etc.,” he said.
“The iCar 03 is an affordable, attractive, feature-rich, broadly appealing SUV that just happens to be an EV and drives quite well, too,” Seabaugh said. “It’s absolutely something Americans would be interested in—EV or not—and could sway intenders from vehicles like the Wrangler or Bronco Sport.”
Ford’s Bronco Sport Badlands costs $40,630 and comes with a 245-horsepower 2.0-liter I-4 engine that gives up 30 horses and over a second to 60 mph to iCar 03, but it delivers 368 miles of driving range on a fast-filling tank. Still, if available at its as-tested price of $20,900, we’d snap up an 03 for every member of the family. Double the price with a 100 percent tariff, and our lusty gaze goes a bit Cloud-y.
Software-Defined Vehemence
A few weeks after we completed this comparison test, the Biden administration announced plans to bar Chinese- and Russian-made hardware and software in vehicles sold and manufactured in the U.S., starting with the 2027 model year for software and 2030 for hardware. Should this proposal become law, it would kill any planned Chinese automotive incursion far more effectively than any tariff.
We can’t tell you what the future will hold, but we can tell you that the average cost of a new vehicle in America is $48,000, and $57,000 for the average EV, according to KBB.com. Clearly, we need more affordable options, especially for EVs, if greater adoption is the goal. It’s also clear that China is capable of building feature-rich EVs at staggeringly low prices, like our sweetheart iCar 03. But will any Chinese EV ever make it to our shores? Forecast unclear.
Photos Contribution by DCar
MotorTrend recently traveled to China to test-drive a broad range of Chinese “new energy vehicles”—battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and electric range-extended vehicles (EREV)—in an editorial content sharing partnership with Dongchedi (aka Dcar). A subsidiary of ByteDance, DCar is one of China’s top automotive media brands and publishes new car videos and social media for the Chinese market on its website and app. DCar invited MotorTrend to join a special summer test program in Wuhan, China, at proving grounds specifically designed for autonomous-vehicle development. All of the vehicles we tested were either purchased, rented, or borrowed by DCar; none were supplied by their respective automakers. DCar also provided travel and lodging arrangements for MotorTrend, along with editorial support, including photo, video, and translation services.
