New Chinese automotive marque Lepas announced this week that it has completed an “extensive” local testing and adaptation program for its first model in Australia, the L6 battery electric vehicle (BEV) which is due to launch in November.
Lepas, another “new energy vehicle” (NEV) marque from Chinese automaker Chery, was announced early last year as an export-only brand targeting annual sales of 500,000 across 45 countries by 2027.
Chery confirmed in April of this year that two Lepas BEVs would head Down Under, starting with the L6 electric SUV.
Full local specifications for the Lepas L6 will be announced closer to launch, but so far, we understand the car will be powered by a front-mounted electric drivetrain producing up to 160 kW of power and 275 Nm of torque, with an estimated driving range of 450 kilometres.
Lepas announced on Monday that it had completed an “extensive” local testing and adaptation program which it said was “designed to ensure its vehicles meet the unique demands of Australian drivers and conditions.” This included coarse-chip bitumen, country highways, winding mountain roads, and urban environments.
This allowed engineers to fine-tune advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) performance to ensure consistent performance across Australian road markings, signage, and traffic environments, as well as software integration and overall vehicle refinement specifically for local Australian conditions.
The prototype vehicles have also been exposed to the varying climate conditions across Australia, including both cold-weather testing and high-temperature durability and air conditioning performance.
“Australia presents some of the toughest vehicle conditions anywhere in the world,” said Lucas Harris, chief operating officer for Lepas Australia.
“Road surfaces vary enormously, distances are long, temperatures can be extreme and customers have very high expectations for ride, handling and refinement.
“Rather than simply bringing a global vehicle to market, we’ve invested significant time validating and tuning Lepas for Australian conditions and will provide confidence for our customers.”
The Lepas L6 BEV will be the first of the marque’s models to launch in Australia in November, with further details on the model range, specifications, and launch timing to be announced closer to the date.
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