Here’s an SRM E3L, a brilliantly utilitarian, fully electric ‘Cybervan’, seen at a car market in southern Beijing. The E3L was brand new, painted in Feather White, and fitted with ultra-cool steel wheels.
About SRM
SRM is a Chinese commercial electric vehicle brand. The owner of SRM is Shineray Auto (鑫源汽车), a subsidiary of the Shineray Group (鑫源集团).
Shineray Auto also owns the Italian motorcycle brand SWM, and another automaker called SWM Motors. The Shineray Group is a large industrial conglomerate founded in 1997 and based in Chongqing.
The SRM V3L
The SRM E3 is an electric van. SRM launched it in 2024 in two variants: the E3 base model and the slightly longer E3L. Each variant is available as a passenger van or as a panel van. The car in the photos is the SRM E3L passenger van. The side windows are of unequal size; the left-side window is much smaller.
This stencil lettering is a regulatory marking. It says: 核载 6人 (hé zài 6 rén, maximum capacity: 6 people). Chinese authorities require all commercial passenger vehicles — vans, minibuses, and buses — to have this information on the front doors so it’s visible to police and the public.
When launched in 2024, many reports in Chinese media compared the V3L’s design with the Tesla Cybertruck, dubbing it the “Chinese Cybervan”. They are not wrong; the front design of the V3L has a straight-line simplicity similar to the Cybertruck’s cabin.
The front lights are a work of art, much better than whatever Tesla does.
Beautiful steel wheels with a raised center with the SRM logo in the middle. It has Linglong 195/70 R15 tires.
The interior of the SRM E3L
Black or dark gray seats feel old-fashioned: even vans now come with light-colored interiors. The steering wheel’s positioning is typical for a van. The wheel itself is perfectly round with a thick rim and two spokes. The shifter is on the steering wheel column. It has an 8-inch digital instrument panel and a 4-speaker audio system. It has 3 seats up front and 3 in the back:
The rear bench tucks upright against the left side, opening up the floor for extra cargo space.
Size & Specs of the SRM E3L
The rear windows are of unequal size; the left-side window is much smaller. SRM positioned the third-rear brake light between the windows, an interesting location. The rear lights are quite arty again, with a complex, multi-layered, and multi-colored design.
I love the heavy-duty external hinge mounted on the van’s rear door. It looks so unintentionally cool. Characters: 鑫源, Xīnyuán Qìchē, Shineray Auto.
The SRM E3L is a sizeable vehicle: 4900/1780/1990, with a 2865 millimeter wheelbase. It has a 1655 kg curb weight and a full-lad mass of 2810 kg.
The E3L is a single-motor rear-wheel drive vehicle. The motor’s output is 60 kW (82 hp) and 220 Nm, good for a 100 km/h top speed. It has a CATL 41.86 kWh LFP battery with an energy density of 142.4 Wh/kg. The consumption is 16.2 kWh/100 kilometers, and the range is a rather limited 275 kilometers CLTC. Fast-charging takes 43 minutes.
Pricing
The SRM E3L six-seat passenger van costs between 98.800 and 102.800 yuan ($13.9K – $14.4K), and that is decent money for such a big van with Cybertruck looks. More about Chinese minivans soon!