This is the iCar V27, a super cool Chinese SUV with an EREV powertrain. I went to an iCar dealer in west Beijing to check it out. The showroom was still under construction, and the cars were parked outside. Happily, I found two factory-fresh V27s, one in Blue and one in Camel. iCar doesn’t do fancy color names. The iCar V27 has impressive specs, with 335 kW and 505 Nm of elektropower and a 1200-km range.
About iCar
iCar is a Chinese NEV brand founded in 2023 and based in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China, the home city of parent company Chery Automobile. The brand’s slogan is “Born to Play”. Unusually for a Chinese car brand, iCar launches new cars at a relatively low pace. Its first car, the iCar i23, debuted in 2024, and the iCar V27 in March 2026. A third model, the iCar V25, is set to launch later this year.
That’s 3 cars in 3 years. Most Chinese brands do one car a month! Sales haven’t been stellar due to a lack of new cars and dealers. In most months, iCar sits somewhere between the 47th and the 56th spot in the sales rankings. In July 2026, iCar sold 4070 cars, good for the 53rd spot (out of 103) and a 0.28% market share.
The iCar V27
The V27 follows iCAR’s “Future Classic” design philosophy, combining the proportions and familiar cues of traditional off-roaders with clean surfaces and modern high-tech details. I think that idea worked out very well. The iCar V27 is a looker, with a boxy body, a high hood, straight beltline and rooflines, wide wheel arches, and an enclosed C-pillar. It also has off-road-style bumpers, roof rails, and running boards. The wheels are big, fitting nicely in the arches.
The details are great too, like the indicators on the front-front fender, the spare wheel on the back, the rear light design, and the V27 stickers. The standard equiment includes a tow hook, which is still rare in China. The maximum towing weight is 1,600 kg.
This is iCAR’s robot mascot character. iCAR easter eggs this graphic in several places around the V27, including the running boards, under the hood, and in the luggage compartment.
ADAS
Both cars in the photo are the top-spec “iCAR V27 AWD Falcon 700” model. “Falcon” refers to Chery’s Falcon 700 L2++ ADAS. ADAS is a major marketing tool for Chinese car brands, so ADAS-related names and terms are often incorporated into model names. The Falcon 700 system comes with 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, 3 millimeter wave radars, and one lidar. A 560 TOPS Horizon Robotics Journey 6P chip. With all that, the system provides Urban and Highway NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) and automated parking.
The interior of the iCar V27
The iCar V27 is a five-seat car. The cabin is spacious and light, helped by the large windows and the white color scheme. The seats are wide, ventilated and heated, with a 9-point massage function. It has cool off-roady grab handles on the A-pillar.
Tech! The iCar V27 features a 15.4-inch 2.5K touch screen and an 8.88-inch driver’s display. The switches under the screen are a common design theme in this kind of off-road-style car. Buyers like the old-school mechanical feeling – like in a classic Jeep. The drive selector is on the steering wheel column, creating space for a 50W wireless phone charger, two cup holders, and a rotary dial that functions as an extra controller for the main screen. The operating system is “iCAR Cloudrive OS” featuring an integrated DeepSeek AI chatbot, and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P cockpit chip.
Other standard equipment includes a 15-speaker sound system and a 64-color ambient lighting system. Check the roof. That’s the unique “Sky Island” design, two slightly raised sections on each side. The dealer closes the roof, so I borrowed a photo from iCAR to show you how it works:
A great-looking roof! As far as I know, iCar is the only Chinese brand with a roof design like this.
The specifications of the iCar V27
The iCAR V27 is based on the i-SWIFT 2.0 platform. It is bigger than it looks: 5055/1976/1894, with a 2910 mm wheelbase. The iCAR V27 AWD Falcon 700 model has an EREV AWD powertrain. It combines a 115 kW/220 Nm 1.5 turbo range extender with two electric motors that put out 335 kW and 505 Nm. iCar claims a 0-100 in 5.5s and a limited 180 km/h top speed. It has a 60-liter fuel tank and a 34.3 kWh CATL LFP battery. The range is 1200 km, and the electric range is 200 kilometers. The iCar V27 is seriously capable off-road. The approach and departure angles are both 24.5 degrees; it has a 220 mm ground clearance and a 600 mm wading depth.
Price of the iCar V27 in China
Chinese cars are cheap! The top-spec V27, as it stands here, costs 196.900 yuan or $29 K. The RWD version, with one electric motor, costs only $25 K. That is a super good deal for such a large machine. Too bad iCar doesn’t sell an EV version of the V27, because I think that’ll be even cooler. But you never know; maybe iCar will launch one in the near future.