Yet another new EV will soon hit the Chinese auto market, this time in the form of the VW ID.3-esque Modern A.
The sun has risen again today, so it means that yet another Chinese automaker has been established. This time however it is rather more interesting than most other days as the automaker in question, Modern Auto, has a rather peculiar name, not to mention that its first car, the Modern A, looks remarkably like the Volkswagen ID.3.
Just taking a tangent to look into this automaker’s genealogy for a moment however, while Modern Auto may be a new brand on the market, it is not entirely an upstart as they are actually the EV subsidiary of BAW, the same people who came up with cheap Chinese Jeep. BAW meanwhile is in itself a subsidiary of BAIC, the producers of the G-Class clone and also 10% stakeholders in Mercedes Benz’s parent company Daimler.
Going back to the topic of this first car by Modern Auto, it has to be said that, on the outside at least, the Modern A does look very much like the ID.3. This is especially true at the front end, with it featuring a very Volkswagen-esque LED strip connecting in the thin slit grille that the twin rounded triangular LED headlights.
Nevertheless, there some distinguishing features on this Chinese EV as its front lights contains an additional black vertical trim piece which supposedly forms an M to signify Modern Auto. Moving down the side, this Modern A differentiates itself further from the VW by being slightly dimensionally larger than the ID.3.
Speaking of the sides, two tone paintwork helps break up the blobby egg-shaped side profile of the Modern A. This EV also looks to come as standard with flush-fitting door handles, alloy wheels and charge ports on either side of the front fenders.
Now moving round the back, the design cues from Volkswagen has been dropped in favour of a mix of Aston Martin and Lincoln when it came to the rear end design. The result therefore is a MKZ-like horizontal light bar that stretches the full width of a DBX-like tailgate.
Moving on to the topic of powertrain, while no concrete information has been divulged yet regarding this aspect of the car, what is being bounced around is that propulsion will apparently come from a single electric motor that outputs a reasonable 160 hp and 280 Nm of torque. Additionally, the Modern A will supposedly manage the 0-100 km/h sprint in 7.9 seconds, and have NEDC-rated range of up to 610 km on a single charge.
As for the interior, while it perhaps won’t look anything as futuristic as the render below, expect that the tri-screen layout, with that hilariously huge floating central infotainment touchscreen and the two smaller screen inset into the minimalist dash, to still remain in the production version. Furthermore, it is expected for the Modern A to come as standard with at least Level 2 autonomous driving and the ability to receive OTA software updates.
Set to officially Chinese debut some time in April this year, the first production versions of the Modern A will begin hitting dealerships in its home market a month later. On whether this Chinese EV will make it to Malaysia, it is reasonable to think that the likelihood of seeing a Modern A locally will probably be the same as the chance of the Volkswagen ID.3 being officially sold here.
