When you think of wildly impractical doors, what sort of car do you imagine? Is it some sort of low-slung European surface-to-surface missile capable of dropping jaws from San Francisco to Shanghai? Perhaps a Countach, an Enzo, or a P1? Well get ready to reset those expectations. Welcome to the Dongfeng eπ 007, an electrified Chinese midsize sedan with available doors that go up.
If you haven’t heard of Dongfeng, don’t worry. This brand has primarily focused on Chinese customers, but it’s been around longer than you might imagine. Back in 1969, the Chinese government decided to found a vehicle factory in what was then the middle of nowhere. True mass production didn’t quite kick off until 1975, with the Dongfeng EQ240 six-wheeled military truck, but from there, things steadily grew up until China’s 21st century boom, when sales really took off.
Sure, eπ 007 is an exceedingly strange name for a car, but it might make a tiny bit more sense when you realize that eπ was originally imagined as a luxury spin-off. Instead of going full Lexus, Dongfeng decided to keep the brand under its umbrella, resulting in the eπ name. However, just because the eπ 007 is positioned as a luxury car doesn’t mean it’s expensive.
This Camry-sized sedan starts at a mere 159,000 yuan, or about $22,099. That’s in the ballpark of Hyundai Elantra money, although that’s only the start. Customers have three all-electric powertrains, one BMW i3-like extended range electric powertrain, and either normal or vertical doors to choose from. Let’s run through those powertrain choices, starting with the slowest one.
That aforementioned extended range electric powertrain features a 1.5-liter gasoline engine of unspecified output as a generator, a 160 kW electric motor, and a 28.39 kWh battery pack. Donfeng’s claiming EV range of 124 miles on the optimistic CLTC cycle and a total cruising range of 745 miles, the latter of which should more than make up for this extended range electric vehicle being the three-toed sloth of the model lineup. Granted, slow is still relative, with the EREV still sporting a claimed zero-to-62 mph in 7.2 seconds.
Yep, the Dongfeng eπ 007 gets much quicker than that once you switch over to full electric power. The entry-level EV drivetrain marries a 160 kW motor with a 56.86 kWh battery pack for a claimed 329 miles of CLTC range and a quoted zero-to-62 mph time of 6.8 seconds. Next up the range is another rear-wheel-drive model, this time with a 70.26 kWh battery pack and a 200 kW electric motor. This one should return 385 miles of CLTC range and a respectable zero-to-62 mph time of 5.8 seconds. That’s not bad. Top of the heap? Dual motors with a combined 400 kW output, the same battery pack as the mid-spec EV model, a CLTC range of 335 miles, and a zero-to-62 mph time of 3.9 seconds. Now that’s more like it.
Oh, and then there are the billionaire doors. They aren’t available on the base model, but pop for the mid-spec or top-spec electric powertrain, and they become roughly a $3,100 option. It’s an insane thing to see on a family sedan outside the context of “Pimp My Ride,” but ticking a $3,100 option box to make a midsize sedan less practical is wild and wonderful. Most people would never tick the box, but like the dedicated four-seat option on the sixth-generation Maxima, a factory option to make a midsize sedan worse as a midsize sedan generally makes it better as an intriguing car. It’s paradoxical, but the Dongfeng eπ 007 nails it.
Of course, it also helps that Dongfeng appears to have met the luxury brief inside the eπ 007. The upper dashboard is covered in stitched textile, the steering wheel features a dual-tone finish like a Bentley, the digital gauge cluster is motorized like the one on a McLaren 720S, and the main infotainment screen is a massive 15.6-inch display powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 octo-core processor.
Even some of the details are intriguing, like the chromed toggle switches for the power windows, the 50-watt wireless smartphone charging array, and illuminated trim etching that feels very Y2K futurist in a good way. Available equipment includes a 20-speaker stereo, massaging front seats, and remote-controlled parking, some considerably upmarket stuff.
Of course, don’t expect to see the Dongfeng eπ 007 in North America, but revel in the fact that somewhere in the world, someone is likely putting down a deposit on a sedan with vertical doors. It’s a deeply silly thing, which is why we’re glad it exists. After all, cars often get more fun when they make less sense.
(Photo credits: Dongfeng)
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First of all, how do you pronounce the name?
Second of all, what the fuck? Why?
(short) e-pi. I guess all the other numbers were taken, which mean’s somewhere there’s a Golden Ratio/Avogadro’s number/Planck length car in development. i is clearly not under development, as it is imaginary.
Pretty sure that’s a Lambo, dude
I got Lambo style doors. Dolla dolla bills y’all!
Look at how sharp those corners are (the door, not the car). I would walk right into that and take my own eye out within a day of ownership.
Thank you for reminding me of the Russ Hanneman scene. Chris Dimantopolous absolutely killed that scene and it cracks me up EVERY time I see it
Billionaire doors? The Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan has those doors beat by a mile. I mean how is your servant supposed to walk you to your seat in that thing. Not only that, but you have to make up your mind whether you’re sitting on the right or the left before you get into the car! Never mind that you get your choice of the traffic side of the car ( billionaires lives matter) or stepping into the gutter (yeach!)
The Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan has none of those problems.
well, except for looks. The Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan has got to be one of the ugliest things to ever ride on wheels. At least this Chinese joke doesn’t have me looking for the eye bleach
If you want to express bad taste, can’t you just wear a MAGA hat? 😉
I once mentioned suicide doors to a coworker to have him very confidently laugh at me and describe suicide doors as billionaire/scissor/butterfly doors. I guess I should let him know he might be able to afford “suicide doors” if he moves to another country.
Just go full geek-out and call it e^(i⋅π)
The population will know what it is. It’s China. They taught it in nursery school and PDE in 2nd grade.
Hey look, it’s the new generic car you see on bottles of car wash soap!
I would assume that range is based on just using one motor and the range loss is from the extra weight and friction.
I had Dongfeng once, antibiotics cleared it up
Me too, caught it from Stella down on the corner. Worst 20 bucks I ever spent.
“Well, I got gonorrhea”
-Kramer
Two questions:
1. When you say the model name aloud: is it “E Pie”?
2. What came first, Dongfeng’s logo or Polestar’s?
I was getting Scion vibes from that logo
I actually thought it reminded me of DS, at first, but the symmetry brought me back to Polestar the more I looked at it.
Honest question here, what kinds of crash standards are these cars built to, and in general exist in China, and are there any crash test videos like the IIHS has? I’d love to see an article comparing what manufacturers have to comply with to make a car for North America, EU, Japan / Australia, and China as I’m sure there’s a lot of overlap, but also unique requirements for each region.
China uses CNCAP (China New Car Assessment Program), which is more or less patterned after EuroNCAP, but with some obvious differences. There are some crash test videos online, along with EuroNCAP and German ADAC tests of some Chinese models.
these are must see videos. Some of the videos feature the driver dummies getting decapitated, losing limbs, and more! Be prewarned, this will be a 6-8 hour rabbit hole you’re about to fall into.
It’s pronouned “Dog-Pond” in my head.
That’s a pretty dull, sterile-looking interior. And I hate any interior with the “iPad glued to the console” look.
Sliding doors are the best doors by far.
Agreed! Especially with impatient children or hangry adults.
and deliverymen
The Peugeot 1007 agrees!
I once saw a Chrysler Sebring with lambo doors that I assumed belonged to some misguided teenager taking an autoshop class, this reminds me of that.
At least Chrysler had genuine ties to Lambo for a few years, including a 4-scissor-doored concept.
Meet The Lamborghini Concept Car That Inspired A Bunch Of Chrysler Sedans In The 1990s – The Autopian
Do these type of doors wear out differently or faster? I assume that they must have bushing or hydraulic arms for soft closing these days.
Those door are made from Chinesium – they’ll last as long as the warranty and then fail within six months.
It shares many of its material properties with Chryslerium.
That’s coz Chinesium is a knock-off of OG Chryslerium