Chery A5 ISG is Chinas First Hybrid

For the Chinese, automobile production is one of the most important and fastest growing industries. Various brands have sprung up seemingly out of nowhere, showing tremendous development in designing concepts, improving dynamics, reliability and build quality, and as silly as it sounds, making clones of other vehicles. But one thing that we didnt expect China to have is its own mass-produced hybrid this early. This Chinese automotive milestone was achieved by Chery with their new A5 ISG hybrid sedan.

 

The gasoline element of the A5 ISG comes from a tiny 1.3-liter ACTECO (and rather dyslexic-sounding spelling of GMs EcoTec) inline-four engine designed by Austrian firm AVL. But the interesting thing is that Chery wont be using a CVT as per the norm for a hybrid vehicle, but rather the car features a 5-speed manual transmission. This unusual combination is similar to Hondas first-generation Civic Hybrid, which was available in limited quantities with a manual gearbox, and of course the Insight.

But unlike the first-generation Civic Hybrid or Insight, the Chery is not a mild hybrid. Chinas most visionary automaker has forgone easing into the hybrid business, going straight for the full kit and caboodle. The system has a high-powered integrated starter-generator (hence the ISG in the name) that operates the cars idle-stop function, as well as regenerative braking to recuperate energy when stopping to recharge the batteries.

One thing that Chery hasnt yet specified is the type of battery that the vehicle will be using. Given that its trying to compete on a very uneven playing field, dominated by experts Toyota and Honda, its going to need the very latest to stand a chance. Theyve also neglected to release any info pertaining to the cars fuel consumption, emissions or performance - the final category of which doesnt look particularly bright. It doesnt take very much thought to see that the figures are not on Cherys side: a mid-sized, steel-bodied sedan with a 1.3-liter gasoline engine and electrical assist. It probably wont even accelerate as quickly as the aforementioned Insight.

As the A5 is one of the most popular Cherys in China, we figure that the brands customers will flock to this latest hybrid model. Its also expected that the A5 ISG will be one of the cheapest hybrids on the market to buy, which should make it a popular alternative to other hybrids. And given the increasing price of fuel and the poor state of air quality, we can see the A5 ISG picking up a couple of awards and quite a few sales at that. Also, the introduction of the A5 ISG means that Malcolm Bricklin will be able to keep his word when he announced early in the year that Chery would have a full model range including a hybrid vehicle.