Faw Pentium NAT test drive experience specially designed for network car
Who says taxis are greasy middle-aged uncles? On NAT, what we see is the vitality and youthful beating of small fresh meat.
First of all, NAT is completely different from the common taxi cars in the market. It adopts the large space body shape of MPV and has strong recognition. Even in the queue of tens of meters, passengers can give up NAT at a glance.
At the end of last year, the customized network car D1 jointly developed by Didi and BYD officially met with us. The compact body size hides spacious seating space, and there are many configurations specially designed for passengers, which is impressive. Today, what I want to introduce to you is the customized model of FAW Pentium for the mobile travel service market-the new car is developed by FAW Group, and T3 travel auxiliary development. Let’s take a look at its performance.
The full name of "Next Automatic Taxi" is an intelligent sharing model for mobile travel service, which is built on the electric platform of FAW FME. In the future, the new car will launch six different versions, one for four different taxis, and two versions for T3 and Didi Chuxing. Because it mainly faces the B-end travel platform, the appearance and interior design have little to do with our passengers, but first of all, we should briefly introduce them.
In appearance, the size of the 2022 vehicle is 4450X1840X1680 and the wheelbase is 2850 mm. As a compact MPV model, the 2022 model has a very distinctive appearance. At the front of the vehicle, the air intake grille is closed, the headlights on both sides are blackened, and the headlights are connected by black decorative strips. When the two headlights are connected, the engine compartment cover and the air intake grille are effectively separated.
On the side of the car, the 2022 model adopts a square design method, and the waistline runs through the whole from the front to the rear. As a whole, it seems that the interior space will be very large. In addition, there is another bright spot that is very distinctive, that is, the shape of the D-pillar and the tail, which can be said to be very bold and avant-garde and very futuristic.
At the rear of the car, the taillights of the 2022 model are designed with characteristics and arranged vertically. The taillight group is connected by a black decorative board, creating a similar through shape; The license plate frame adopts a concave design, which effectively increases the layering of the rear of the car, and the lower surrounding part is equipped with a thick black decorative board, which gives people a simple feeling. The brand LOGO at the back has become the expression of Pentium English letters. Overall, the 2022 model has an outstanding appearance and strong recognition.
The two-color stitching interior takes a simple and fashionable route, and creates a good sense of layering. The suspended central control panel adds some sense of technology. The steering wheel wrapped in leather feels good, and there are holes on both sides. Unfortunately, it only supports up-and-down adjustment. The dashboard adopts TFT liquid crystal, and the display content is rich, but slightly messy, but it has nothing to do with ordinary consumers. The system of the 10-inch central control panel is customized, which integrates various functions such as travel order taking system, face recognition, in-vehicle monitoring, etc., and cooperates with the steering wheel to take orders with one button, so that the mobile phone bracket is no longer standard for drivers.
Just in the appearance and interior of NAT, you can’t see how much difference NAT has from ordinary family cars. But once you understand the customization function of NAT, it will be an unprecedented taxi, which will bring people a completely different travel experience.
In the near future, when you book a NAT taxi, you will enjoy the "VIP" treatment: the electric side sliding door will slowly open for you.
The advantage of the side sliding door is that it can bring a larger opening and facilitate passengers to get on and off. When you get on the bus, you will find that the door on the left side is an ordinary push-pull door, but as a taxi, this door is rarely used in practical use scenarios. In addition to the side sliding door, a spherical reflector is designed on the door frame on the right side, which is convenient for observing the situation behind when getting off the bus.
There is also a "BOSS mode" in the rear seat, which supports the co-pilot seat to slide forward and bring boss-level enjoyment to the rear passengers. In more than 100 thousand family cars, this function is obviously impossible to expect.
In addition, the rear center armrest is equipped with a USB charging port and a storage hook on the back of the co-pilot’s chair, which makes it more convenient for passengers to use.
At first glance, NAT doesn’t seem to be big. The length, width and height of the new car are 4450×1840×1680mm, but the wheelbase is 2850 mm. The short front and rear suspension design is also conducive to maximizing the interior space. For example, in the back row space, NAT provides 1007mm legroom in the back row, which is comparable to medium and large luxury cars.
In addition, passengers can remotely control the heating and air conditioning temperature of the rear seats through the APP, so as to fully create a luxury car ride experience for passengers.
It is worth noting that FAW Pentium specially created the concept of "double C-position", with the rear C-position of the co-driver and the driver’s seat. Obviously, NAT also attaches great importance to the care of drivers. The driver’s main driving space is larger than the auxiliary driving space (the ratio of main driving space to auxiliary driving space is 55: 45), and the seat can be completely laid down, which is convenient for the driver’s master to have a rest. The seat pays more attention to the support of long-term riding, and also supports the ventilation function of the seat.
In terms of passenger safety, NAT has a one-button alarm switch under the left and right B-pillars and under the right side of the passenger seat, which are the standard functions of titration plate making.
I had a simple driving experience in the venue. This one is based on Pentium’s brand-new FME platform, and it is the same platform as E01 which was listed before. The whole car is in a very special situation in terms of starting acceleration, and the switch is designed very lightly. You can feel that the power reserve in the initial stage is still sufficient when you step on it lightly. This setting can reduce the driver’s foot fatigue for taxis.
Although NAT is an electric car, its steering is as easy and easy to drive as Pentium fuel car. In addition, the size of the whole car is small, so you can feel very relaxed when you test drive in the venue, and the steering wheel with electronic power is more comfortable.
For trams, kinetic energy recovery is the most important point for everyone, and it is also an important aspect of whether it can give consumers comfort. The kinetic energy recovery design is very similar to the feeling of a fuel car, and there is not much drag when releasing the switch.
In terms of configuration, NAT is considerate for drivers. For the driver, the driver’s seat is provided with 6-way electric adjustment, 4-way electric lumbar support, seat ventilation, seat heating/massage, change/bill/key/towel storage space, etc.
It is worth mentioning that the front seats tend to be more comfortable for the driver in design, and the width of the main driver’s seat is about 10% wider than that of the co-pilot, which also makes the driver not feel tired during long-distance driving.
In terms of riding experience, our chassis adopts the suspension of the former McPherson rear torsion beam, but because it is built on the FME platform, we can still see some efforts in chassis adjustment. It is comfortable to ride in the second row, especially the seat cushion, which is very comfortable.
Moreover, during the test ride experience in the venue, the filter of the ditch ridge on the road surface is relatively complete, and the posture of the car body is still good when turning, which is worthy of recognition. After all, it is a model for the travel market, and comfort is more important.
In terms of power, the new car will be equipped with a motor with a maximum power of 100kW, and a rechargeable lithium iron phosphate battery version and a rechargeable ternary lithium battery version will be introduced, with a cruising range of 419km.
As a model mainly aimed at the B-end market, I’m afraid it’s a model that you can’t buy with money.
For the driver, it is undoubtedly a work that satisfies the driver, such as driver identification, one-button receiving function, language translation function, expanded main driver’s seat, flexible power exchange mode and so on. For passengers, the convenience of sliding doors, more comfortable and spacious rear seats and exclusive C-seat also meet the needs of passengers when using the car.
Summary: The online car rental market has become a hot spot in the market segment. From our body, we can see more meticulous care for passengers and drivers. Compared with the first generation of online car rental models, it has undoubtedly evolved too much, making people’s travel life better.
