Read part one here.
12) IM LS8: Four-wheel steer-by-wirePHOTO BY TopGear.com
Four-wheel steering has been around for yonks, and variable-ratio steer-by-wire systems are slowly making their way into production EVs. But the IM LS8 range-extender SUV, from a sub-brand of MG’s parent company SAIC, is the first car to combine the two. The lack of physical connection to the steering wheel means the rear wheels can turn at up to 24 degrees, and the result is that this five-meter-long SUV has a turning circle of 9.7 meters, matching tricky EVs like the Fiat 500e and Leapmotor T03.
13) Xpeng P7+: Semi-autonomous techPHOTO BY TopGear.com
We could pick any of dozens of Chinese EVs (and indeed, those from other countries) to highlight impressive semi-autonomous tech, but we’re highlighting the not-yet-available Xpeng P7+ as one of the most advanced of all. Xpeng calls it an AI-defined vehicle, which might make you go ‘bleurgh’, but the result is a system that’s scarily good at piloting its way down a highway with minimal driver input (where regulations allow, as our legal team will doubtless be keen to remind us to tell you).
And unlike some other sophisticated semi-autonomous tech, it doesn’t use lidar, so there are no unsightly growths on the roof. If you’re already fed up with AI’s ever-greater encroachment into our daily lives, steer well clear of this car.
14) BYD: Cell-to-body batteriesPHOTO BY TopGear.com
Simple concept, this: Mostly, EV battery cells are split up into separate modules, then packaged up in one bigger battery pack, but this has efficiency and packaging limitations. To counteract this, some companies started skipping the modules and mounting the cells directly in the packs, but it’s now being taken further with cell-to-body setups that actually make the battery pack a structural part of the car’s chassis. This brings challenges in crash protection and temperature regulation, but if done properly, it is good for energy density, space efficiency, and weight savings. BYD was the first company to get there with the Seal sedan, although cell-to-body structures have also been adopted by BMW’s Neue Klasse EVs and the Volvo EX60.
15) Chery: 540-degree cameraPHOTO BY TopGear.com
We first came across this concept in some TV ads for the now ubiquitous Chery-owned Jaecoo brand in Britain, and our tiny brains couldn’t really understand it. How could you have more than 360 degrees of vision? Turns out, the extra 180 degrees come from cameras mounted on the underbody, whose views are stitched onto the regular 360-degree feed, so you can get a live view beneath the car too. Very useful if you’re going rock crawling in your Jaecoo 7.
16) Rox 01: Integrated kitchenPHOTO BY TopGear.com
A car you probably won’t be familiar with unless you live in China or the Middle East, the hulking Rox 01 range-extender SUV was actually designed by Pininfarina. But that’s not the thing we’re here to talk about. No, that’d be its kitchen. An optional extra, it includes a swing-down work surface, cooker and tap. Nothing new for campervan owners but, we’re fairly sure, a first in a ‘normal’ car, especially because the cooker’s an induction unit powered by the car’s vehicle-to-load capability, avoiding the need to carry a gas canister around. Which is always a nice bonus.
17) Arcfox Kaola: ‘Excretion mode’PHOTO BY TopGear.com
The Arcfox Kaola is aimed specifically at families with small children. So specifically, in fact, that it features an integrated baby seat. Said baby seat contains temperature sensors, which can detect when its occupant has suffered from a code brown, and switches on an air extraction system designed to get rid of any resulting stenches from the interior. Look, we had to learn that this feature exists, so you do too. It’s only fair.
18) In-car karaoke machinesPHOTO BY TopGear.com
As in much of Asia, karaoke is a big deal in China, although it’s apparently more of a private phenomenon for small groups of friends than the public-facing, Japanese-style karaoke we’ve seen (which anyone who’s been subjected to a wince-inducing cover of “Islands in the Stream” may view as a good thing). This approach has spread to cars, with an in-built karaoke machine first appearing back in 2003 in the unfortunately-styled and even more unfortunately-named Geely Beauty Leopard coupe, and there are now dozens of Chinese cars featuring such systems.
Some of them have made it to the Philippines, but it is unclear if the incoming Xpeng X9 will have it when it arrives here in the coming months. It’s a whole new way of passengers subjecting you to their horrible music taste!
19) Range-extenders with generally massive rangesPHOTO BY TopGear.com
China has embraced the range-extender EV faster and more enthusiastically than much of the rest of the world, although TG still stakes its claim as innovators here with the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust back in 2009. We’ll admit, though, that things have moved on a tiny bit since then. While the i-Thrust could just about squeeze out 40km of range before you were out of both fuel and electricity, the latest generation of Chinese EREVs can manage a bit more. The official figures for the Xiaomi Skynomad N70 Max, for instance, say it can do 1,461km before you need to refuel or recharge. Then again, that’s on China’s more generous CLTC test cycle—stick it on Europe’s WLTP test, and that figure will probably wind up closer to the i-Thrust. A bit.
20) The Xpeng Land Aircraft CarrierPHOTO BY TopGear.com
What you’re looking at here is a six-wheeled range-extender van-stroke-pickup truck whose rear section doubles up as a docking station for a two-person electric VTOL aircraft—basically, a halfway house between a drone and a full-on helicopter. ‘Great’, you may be thinking. ‘That’ll look good on a motor show stand, but it’s never going to be made, is it?’
Wrong, or so we’re told by Xpeng, who earlier this year confirmed they had upwards of 7,000 orders for the aptly named Land Aircraft Carrier and that it’ll supposedly start delivering them to customers in China by the end of 2026. Is there even a regulatory framework in place for such a thing? What do we look like, the Civil Aviation Authority?
21) Dreame Nebula Next 01: Rocket boostersPHOTO BY TopGear.com
This comes with the world’s biggest asterisk next to it, because the Dreame Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition, to give it its full title, is very much just a concept, and its manufacturer (who mostly makes vacuum cleaners) says that “the final production version is subject to the actual product.” Yes. Anyway, said product is a 1,900hp four-door electric hypercar complete with a pair of solid rocket boosters stuffed up its behind for a 0-100kph time of 0.9 secs.
If this sounds familiar, it might be because of Elon Musk’s 2024 claim that the new Tesla Roadster, a car that’s been just around the corner for nine years now, would be available with a similar feature. Dreame has at least shown us a picture of what its car might look like, but as for either car actually making it to production with actual rockets on board…Yeah, we’ll believe it when we see it.
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.