It’s no secret that Proton is moving towards electrification. The local carmaker has already unveiled its first New Energy Vehicle (NEV) in the form of the Proton X90, and it’s already – since early last year – communicated its overarching plans towards its own home-grown EVs. Now, the company is finally giving us a closer look at its immediate future, and that will include seven new NEVs from both its home-grown and Geely-derived model line-ups.
Speaking at a media gathering yesterday, Proton CEO Li Chunrong said that “[the company] will [unveil] new NEVs based on the ICE model (internal combustion engines) platform”, represented by three hidden models on its presentation slides, as its priority number one. This will be followed by four models that are “developed by Geely”.
For the former, the company will be setting up a new research and development (R&D) centre in Hangzhou, China, where Geely is headquartered, that will be dedicated to developing its PIES (Persona, Iriz, Exora, and Saga – although the Exora is likely to be discontinued) home-grown models.
The company’s existing engines, including the 1.3- and 1.6-litre VVT mills alongside the GEP3 1.5-litre turbocharged inline-three, will all also receive upgrades as part of this roadmap.
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As for the latter, it will include two fully-electric vehicles, with the first one coming “very soon”. This will be followed by another model, to be launched some six to eight months after the first. These two EVs will be branded as Proton models, separate from the Smart #3 that has already been rumoured for launch here.
Li stopped short from sharing any further details, although based on the presentation slide above, they will only be launched after the new X50 and X70 facelifts – both of which are due some time this year as their camouflaged test mules have already been spotted roaming the roads.
The company announced during the launch of the X90 that it intends to launch “at least one NEV model every year“, and we could soon see the 48V BESG mild hybrid technology to be included in more models in the company’s line-up.
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