Geely Galaxy A7 PHEV Is A Hybrid With 1,300 Miles Of "Are You Kidding Me?"
Image Credit: Geely.
China. The place where electric vehicle concepts pop up faster than you can say "range anxiety," and where, occasionally, a car emerges from the general hubbub that makes even a cynical person like myself sit up and spill his tea. Much of what we hear sounds fantastic on paper but often turns out to be "creatively marketed." But every so often, there's a spark, a genuine glimmer of "hold on a minute, they might be onto something here." Today, that glimmer comes from Geely, a name you might know, and their new creation: the Galaxy A7 EM-i.
You might not have Geely parked on your driveway just yet, but this is one of the behemoths of the automotive world, quietly gobbling up familiar names like Volvo and Lotus, and even having a significant slice of the Mercedes-Benz pie. They're a Chinese powerhouse that's gone from making "inspired" runabouts to producing some genuinely clever metal. Geely is a prime example of how quickly things are moving over there, pushing the boundaries of what we expect from cars, especially of the electric and hybrid persuasion.
Image Credit: Geely.
Back to the Galaxy A7. First off - and I'm being very polite here - its looks aren't going to set your trousers on fire. If a Toyota Camry and a very sensible pair of orthopedic shoes had a love child, it might look a bit like this. It's a sedan. A competently designed sedan, sure, with a trendy full-width light bar at the front and a matching one at the back, some sharp creases, and wheels that look like they mean business. But it's not exactly screaming about the future from the rooftops. However, as my dear wife likes to say, it's what's on the inside that counts. Or, in this case, what's underneath.
And what's underneath, my friends, is where things get properly bonkers. Geely claims this plug-in hybrid can achieve a total range of over 2,100 kilometers. Let me just translate that for those of us who think in miles and gallons: that's over 1,300 miles. On a single tank of gas and a full battery. My eyebrows are currently trying to escape into my receding hairline. That's enough to drive from New York City to Miami without stopping for fuel.
Image Credit: Geely.
Before we all rush out to book our flights to China (assuming they'd even sell it to us, which is a whole other kettle of fish), it's important to note this figure is based on the CLTC cycle. That's the Chinese testing standard, which, like a fisherman describing his latest catch, can occasionally be a tad optimistic. Still, even if it "only" manages 1,000 miles in the real world, that's still astonishingly good. They also claim fuel consumption of just over 2 liters per 100 kilometers when the main battery is depleted and it's running as a hybrid. That's roughly 117 miles per gallon. In a car that looks like it was designed by a committee of librarians.
The responsibility for that ridiculous frugality falls to the tiny 1.5-liter gasoline engine, which on its own produces a rather modest 112 horsepower. This little petrol sipper is then teamed up with an electric motor. Geely hasn't exactly spilled all the beans on the A7's total system output just yet, but if it's anything like its bigger sibling, the Star 8 EM-i (which uses a similar setup), we could be looking at something in the neighborhood of 350 horsepower combined, channeled through a single-speed DHT (Dedicated Hybrid Transmission). That's more than enough to get this sensible sedan moving with a bit of pep.
Image Credit: Geely.
So, how big is this marvel of alleged mileage? The Galaxy A7 EM-i measures up at 4,918 mm long (that's about 16.1 feet), 1,905 mm wide (around 6.25 feet), and 1,495 mm tall (a smidge under 4.9 feet), with a wheelbase of 2,845 mm (roughly 9.3 feet). For context, it's playing in the same sandpit as cars like the Camry and Accord. It's a proper mid-size sedan, not some tiny, wind-cheating science experiment. It even has traditional door handles, which, in an age of pop-out aerodynamic wizardry, feels refreshingly practical. Someone at Geely clearly understands the frustration of a frozen, un-popped handle on a frosty morning.
Step inside, and the theme of "sensible but modern" continues. You get a dual-spoke multifunction steering wheel that looks quite smart, a big digital screen for the instruments, and another large, floating touchscreen in the center for all your infotainment needs. Mercifully, they haven't banished all physical controls to the digital netherworld. There's a rotary dial for media and actual, honest-to-goodness buttons for the air conditioning. Plus, cupholders with a flip-up cover, since spilled coffee and groundbreaking hybrid tech do not mix. It all looks perfectly pleasant, functional, and unlikely to offend anyone.
Image Credit: Geely.
Buyers will apparently get a couple of choices for the electric-only part of the equation. There's a version with a battery offering about 37 miles of pure EV range and another beefier option good for roughly 81 miles on electric power alone. These are, again, CLTC figures. The 37-mile version is said to achieve a total combined range of 932 miles, while the 81-mile EV range variant pushes that to 994 miles. And then there's that headline-grabbing "over 2,100 km" version, which presumably has an even bigger battery or some other trick up its sleeve.
And now for the other number that made me choke on my metaphorical crumpet: the price. Geely is apparently targeting the 100,000 yuan segment. In proper money, that's about $14,000 US dollars. I had to triple-check my source, but not - it's not a typo. Fourteen. Thousand. Dollars. For a brand-new, mid-size plug-in hybrid sedan that could potentially cross several states on a single fill-up. I've had laptops that cost more than that. Of course, that's the Chinese market price, and if it ever magically appeared elsewhere, taxes and import duties would have their wicked way with it. But still, as a starting point, it's deeply impressive.
Image Credit: Geely.
So, as my dear friend would say: What's the catch? Is it all just a fantastic dream, a "puff of imagination," as some might say about ambitious claims from afar? The proof, as always, will be in the driving. And in independent, real-world testing. I'm maintaining my stance of enthusiastic skepticism. The technology sounds plausible – modern PHEVs are incredibly clever bits of kit. The price sounds almost too good to be true.
Will we ever see the Geely Galaxy A7 EM-i on American roads? Probably not in this exact form or at this exact price. But that's not really the point. What this car represents is the sheer pace of development happening in the electric and hybrid space, particularly in China. It shows what could be possible. A car that doesn't shout about its green credentials with wacky styling, but quietly gets on with the job of delivering incredible efficiency and range, potentially at a price that doesn't require a second mortgage.
If Geely can genuinely deliver anything close to these figures in a production car that people can actually buy, even if it's only in China for now, then it's a massive wake-up call. I wonder which automaker is going to answer it?
