A cool Changhe Beidouxing X5E EV268, seen on a car dealer area in north Beijing in late 2019. The X5E looked nice in white with blue trim in grille and lights, which is very common Chinese on electric cars.
The Changhe Beidouxing X5E is an electric panel van. It is based on the petrol powered Changhe Beidouxing X5, which, in turn, is based on the first generation Suzuki Wagon R.
Changhe Automobile (昌河汽车) is a Chinese car brand, founded in 1970, making all sorts of mini vans and mini MPVs. Some of those were based on licensed Suzuki designs. The cooperation went well and in 1995 Changhe and Suzuki established a joint venture.
The Changhe-Suzuki (昌河铃木) joint venture made several Suzuki-branded vehicles; and their best-selling car was the Changhe-Suzuki Wagon R, based on the first generation Suzuki Wagon R. Under the joint venture agreement, Changhe Auto had the right to sell cars made by the JV under its own brand, next to the cars sold under the Suzuki brand. This was a common arrangement in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Changhe started selling the Wagon R under under the Bedouxing (北斗星) name, even exporting it abroad. Eventually, Changhe started to develop all-new versions of the Beidouxing, including several electric variants and a longer version. The latter was called the Beidouxing X5. It was extended at the rear, with a longer rear overhang. Wheelbase remained the same. Later again, Changhe also made several EV versions of this Beidouxing X5 model. In the end there was an entire forest of variants of variants of variants, all based on the good old Suzuki Wagon R.
In 2013, the Beijing Auto Industry Corporation (BAIC) took a controlling stake in Changhe Automobile. The joint venture with Suzuki continued. At the same time, BAIC added many new vehicles to Changhe’s lineup, based on BAIC platforms. In 2018, Suzuki, after decades of slower than planned sales, completely exited the Chinese market.
This meant the end for Changhe-Suzuki and also for Suzuki’s other Chinese joint venture; Changan-Suzuki. However, under the termination agreement Changhe kept the right to the Baidouxing platform and engines. Amazingly, the petrol powered Beidouxing X5 is still in production today (March 2022). Just as a reminder, production of the first generation Suzuki Wagon R in Japan ended in 1998! Cars never die in China…
Like I mentioned, Change also developed several EV versions of the Wagon R/Beidouxing X5, including some electric panel vans. One of those was the Changhe Beidouxing X5E, and that is the car we have here today.
It is a pretty rudimentary affair, with simple panels covering the rear side windows. The 3M warning tape is obligatory by Chinese law on commercial vehicles like vans and pickup trucks.
The ‘1650 kg’ marking is obligatory on commercial vehicles as well, it shows the maximum-allowed full weight of the vehicle, including passengers, freight, and fuel. Characters: 总质量, zong ziliang, or total mass.
The two seat interior is nice for the segment, with blue detailing again and a shipload of gray plastics. The seats are simple and the steering wheel is large. The controls in the center stack are pretty basic too, but at least it had a CD players to listen to some music on those long delivery runs.
The Beidouxing X5E had some aerodynamic design details like the bumper and rear spoiler above the wing. Wheel covers look sporty.
There are two versions available: the EV168 and the EV268. Like the names almost imply, the former had an NEDC range of 160 kilometers and the latter a range of 260 kilometers. Our white car is an EV268 model
Characters: 北汽昌河, BeiQi Changhe. Beiqi is short for Beijing Qiche, Beijing Auto, short for BAIC.
The Changhe Beidouxing X5E EV268 was powered by an electric motor with an output of 75 hp and 180 Nm. The motor was mated to a 32 kWh battery. Energy consumption was 12.4 kWh per 100 kilometers. A full charge on 120 volt took five hours, which wasn’t that bad. An 80% fast charge took 45 minutes. Top speed was 105 km/h. Size: 3664/1610/1722, with a 1360 mm wheelbase. Price in 2017, the last year of production, was 115.000 yuan.
The typical blue EV badge was government supplied. Only full EVs were allowed to have one. PHEVs got other badges. The characters are: 电动汽车, diandong qiche, electric car. ‘268’ is the model.
Sadly, the Beidouxing X5E EV268 wasn’t a success. It was relatively pricey and small compared to the competition. It is therefore rather rare on the road. Nowadays it is completely irrelevant, thanks to the new generation of electric vans based on EV-only platforms. Still, it was a cool Chinese van based on an even cooler Japanese car!
Green license plates are issued by the Beijing Municipality for New Energy Vehicles (NEV). That category covers EVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs.