Exeed Sterra ET
The Exeed Sterra ET, known as the Exeed Exlantix ET outside the Chinese market, is a battery-powered and range extended battery-electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV manufactured by Chinese automobile manufacturer Exeed, a premium brand of Chery. The Sterra ET was first revealed at Auto Shanghai 2023 in April and sales began in China on 9 May 2024. It is the first vehicle to use CATL's Shenxing 2.0 battery packs.
Overview
The Sterra ET was first revealed on 7 April 2023 at the Chery Night event preceding Auto Shanghai 2023 when Sterra sub-brand was first unveiled, with the interior revealed later at the 2023 Chengdu Motor Show. Production started on 19 January, before presales opened on 15 April, and sales began in China on 9 May 2024.The Sterra ET is Exeed's second product in its Sterra lineup after the Sterra ES sedan. The Sterra ET is developed on the same platform as the Sterra ES, which shares its wheelbase. The Sterra ET aims to compete directly against models such as the Tesla Model Y, Nio ES7 and XPeng G9. It is positioned as a flagship medium to large-sized luxury SUV. It is similar in price to the Tesla Model Y, but slightly larger in size.
On 15 November 2024 pre-orders of the all-wheel drive range-extender version opened at Auto Guangzhou 2024, and deliveries began on December 15.
Design
Exterior
The front of the Sterra ET has grille-less design with a lower air intake with active shutters, with light bar style DRLs and a split-headlight design. The trapezoid-shaped lighting modules on the corners consist of LED headlights at the top and fog lights at the bottom, between which is an optional array of 180 LEDs forming an LED display marketed as the 'light language system', which can be used to communicate with other road users such as pedestrians. Lower end models without the display instead have a decorative panel. It has an optional roof-mounted LiDAR, 20-inch wheels, and pop-out door handles on its frameless doors. The rear taillights also have a light bar design, and consist of 262 LEDs. The Sterra ET has a drag coefficient of 0.26Cd.The Sterra ET uses double wishbone independent suspension for the front wheels, and multi-link independent suspension for the rear wheels. It has an air suspension system supplied by KHAT with continuous damping control, and the system uses the vehicle's LiDAR to adapt to future road conditions. The air suspension allows for up to of ride height adjustment in seven increments, and above it lowers to the minimum height to reduce drag to increase efficiency and improve stability. Exeed claims that the calibrated combination of the air suspension and continuous damping control reduced pitch and roll motions by 30% and 20%, respectively.
Interior
The interior of the Sterra ET is equipped with a 10.25-inch floating LCD instrument panel, 23-inch head-up display, a 15.6-inch 2.5K central control screen, and a two-spoke D-shaped steering wheel. The infotainment system was initially run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 SoC before later being upgraded to a Snapdragon 8295P, and uses the Lion AI model in its voice assistant. The center console is separate from the dashboard allowing for an open footwell area, containing dual cupholders and twin wireless charging pads. It has a three-zone climate control system that utilizes a heat pump for heating, electronically activated glovebox compartment, a fixed panoramic sunroof which later comes with a power sunshade, double-glazed windows, an automatic fragrance system, and an available 23-speaker 7.1.4 panoramic sound system.The front and rear outboard seats have heating, ventilation, and massage functions. Additionally, the driver's seat has position memory, the passenger seat has a 'zero-gravity' recline mode, the front seats have power lumbar support adjustment and leg rest along with speakers integrated into the headrest, and the rear seats have power backrest angle adjustment. The trunk has a capacity of, which expands to with the rear seats folded down; fully electric models are also equipped with a frunk.
Advanced driving systems
For its advanced driver assistance system, called the Falcon Smart Driving system, the Sterra ET uses an array of 30 sensors, including a Bosch-supplied LiDAR, in combination with two Nvidia Drive Orin chips capable of a total of 508 TOPS of computing power. At launch, the system was capable of Level 2 supervised autonomous driving on highways only. After an over-the-air update released in Q2, the system was able to be operate in urban conditions in a limited number of cities with high-resolution map coverage. In Q4, another over-the-air update enabled the system to be used on any road without relying on high-resolution map data. The Sterra ET is also capable automatic parking and autonomous valet parking.All Sterra ETs have V2L capabilities, with pure-electric models capable of outputting 6kW while range-extended models reach 3.3kW.
Exeed Exlantix ET
Outside of the Chinese market, the vehicle is marketed as the Exlantix ET with some minor changes. It is offered exclusively with range extender powertrain options. Notable styling alterations include a waterfall-style grille featuring vertically oriented chrome strips, a simplified vertical headlight array that replaces the LED display panels found on the Chinese version, and a wider lower air intake with horizontal slats. The roof-mounted LiDAR unit has also been removed. To enhance winter weather durability for markets such as Russia, the Exlantix ET has stronger anti-corrosion coatings on the chassis, and all exterior body panels are made of aluminum to prevent rust and reduce weight.Markets
On 8 January 2025, the first Exlantix ET intended for export markets rolled off the production line. Exeed plans to introduce it to 20 countries by the end of 2025.Russia
The Exlantix ET for the Russian market was unveiled on 24 September 2024 and is expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2025 after being delayed from Q4 2024 to complete additional cold weather testing. The Russian market Exlantix ET is capable of receiving OTA updates, and has a localized infotainment system using local software such as Yandex Navigator.Powertrain
All versions of the Sterra ET use an electric drivetrain, with both purely electric and range-extended versions available in China, while export markets mostly receive the range extender versions.Full electric
The Sterra ET's pure electric variants use an 800-volt electrical architecture and use CATL-supplied battery packs, with all models equipped with a rear motor outputting and of torque.The standard models have a CATL-supplied 77kWh LFP Shenxing 2.0 battery, and is the first vehicle to implement the Shenxing 2.0 battery technology. It is capable of charging from 30-80% in 9 minutes with a 4C charge rate, or 20–80% in 24 minutes when in conditions. The all-wheel drive version uses an additional front motor outputting and of torque. Rear-wheel drive models achieve CLTC range ratings of, or with all-wheel drive. Rear-wheel drive models have a 0– acceleration time of 6.4 seconds, and all-wheel drive reduces it to 4.7 seconds; both have a top speed of.
The larger battery pack is a CATL-supplied 100kWh NMC Qilin pack, which has a slower 30–80% charging time of 15 minutes. The all-wheel drive Ultra model uses an additional front motor outputting and of torque. Rear-wheel drive models achieve CLTC range ratings of, or for the Ultra model. Rear-wheel drive models have a 0– acceleration time of 6.6 seconds, while the Ultra reduces it to 3.8 seconds; both have a top speed of.
Range extender
The range-extended variant is offered with two powertrain configurations, both using a 400-volt electrical architecture. They both use a 1.5-litre turbocharged direct-injected all-aluminium inline-four petrol engine using the Miller cycle and with a compression ratio of 14.5:1, achieving a claimed 44.5% peak thermal efficiency. It outputs at 5,200rpm and of torque at 2,500–4,000rpm, and does not mechanically drive the wheels.Rear-wheel drive configurations are powered by an electric motor outputting and of torque, with power supplied by a 32kWh LFP battery pack from CATL. It has a 0– acceleration time of 7.8 seconds and a top speed of. WLTP range ratings are an all-electric and combined, while the CLTC all-electric range rating is and combined.
The all-wheel drive configuration uses a dual electric motor setup marketed as Snow Leopard 4WD, paired with a larger 41.2kWh battery supplied by Gotion High-Tech. It uses a front motor outputting and of torque, paired with the same rear motor. The vehicle has a 0– acceleration time of 4.8 seconds and a top speed of. The Snow Leopard 4WD system of the Sterra ET extended-range electric vehicle has electronic slip control with a response time under 0.05 seconds. The four-wheel drive version has WLTP range ratings of off the battery and combined, while the all-electric CLTC range rating is, with a combined range of.