30-thousand orders in an hour: Arcfox Alpha T7 goes after Xiaomi YU7 with a half price

Chinese manufacturer BAIC unveiled on September 16 new mid-to-large SUVs, the Arcfox Alpha T7, and in the very first hour of sales it racked up more than 30,000 confirmed orders. That pace is comparable to the successful launch of the Xiaomi YU7 we covered earlier. The difference is the price: the Alpha T7 costs about half of what Xiaomi charges for similarly sized electric SUVs.

Nine versions and prices starting from 19 500 dollars

In China, you can choose the Alpha T7 in nine versions. Four come with an extended range (range extender, meaning a gasoline generator that charges the battery) and five are fully electric. Prices range from 132,800 to 168,800 yuan, which is roughly $19,500 to $24,800 when converted. The CarNewsChina website notes that this is about half the price compared to the Xiaomi YU7 with similar dimensions and equipment.

Large family-SUV dimensions and low air resistance

The body follows the design language “Arc-Flow” and measures 5020 mm in length, 1996 mm in width, and 1685 mm in height; the wheelbase is 3040 mm, which are typical specs for large family SUVs. Despite the dimensions, the body achieves a drag coefficient of Cd 0.251, which directly reduces consumption at higher speeds in electric cars.

Electric version: up to 715 km, or 1315 km with a gasoline generator

The purely electric version is based on an 800 V platform with silicon-carbide (SiC) components and a single motor producing 227 kW (304 hp). With CATL LFP batteries with capacities of 72.8 or 84.8 kWh, it offers a range of 650 or 715 km according to the Chinese CLTC cycle. Thanks to the 800 V architecture, it can add up to 270 km of range in 10 minutes with fast charging.

The extended-range version combines a 1.5-liter gasoline generator with an electric motor rated at 200 kW (268 hp) and a smaller 43.9 kWh battery. On pure electricity alone, it covers 320 km, but with a full tank and a fully charged battery it reaches up to 1315 km total range—significantly more than a fully electric car can do on a single charge.

Head-up display across the entire windshield instead of gauges

Instead of a conventional instrument cluster, the Alpha T7 gets a 43.3-inch head-up display (P-HUD) that projects data over a large portion of the windshield. In the center of the dashboard there’s a 17.3-inch 3K touchscreen on a 4 nm chip supporting 5G connectivity, AI voice control, Huawei HiCar, and Apple CarPlay.

Roominess in the cabin and the trunk, plus Huawei driver-assistance system

The manufacturer claims an 88.8% utilization of the interior space. The front trunk (frunk) has a volume of 200 liters, and the rear cargo space is 645 liters, which expands up to 1845 liters when the rear seats are folded. Driving assistance is handled by the Huawei Qiankun ADS 5 system with a cabin lidar (“Limera”) and 27 sensors. It supports highway and city navigation with assistance and automatic parking in more than 160 different scenarios.

In Slovakia, large family SUVs have been selling extremely well for a long time, but among them there are still few electric models with a range over 700 km per charge, and they are typically among the pricier ones. Arcfox hasn’t entered Europe yet, but the Alpha T7 shows the direction in which Chinese manufacturers are trying to push down the prices of large electric SUVs. The question is whether and when a similar offer will reach our market.

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