Ssangyong Torres EVX

Exterior

First off, this is a distinctive midsize SUV. Make no mistake, there’s clearly some Land Rover/Range Rover influences in the design. Some foreign reviewers have remarked upon the Jeep-esque influence of the seven black squares that break up the full-width daytime running lamp cluster at the front. Meanwhile, the LED headlamps are situated lower down in the bumper and remind me a bit of the pre-facelift Mitsubishi Xpander. However, these are merely influences, rather than carbon copies. The vehicle won’t be mistaken for anything else, and in fact, drew plenty of inquiring glances as we drove it for our test. Rolling on sizable 20-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, and featuring chunky black cladding along the sides, this is clearly a soft-roader, but its design wouldn’t look out of place in the wilderness. Sadly, there isn’t an all-wheel drive variant of the Torres EVX, but I sure wish there was. The vehicle clearly has the looks to justify it.

Mech & Tech

The Torres EVX features a single electric motor driving the front wheels and kicking out a healthy 205 horses and 339 newton-meters of torque. Of course, it’s got no transmission, so to speak, being direct drive. The steering system is an electric rack, while the brakes are power-assisted discs, ventilated at the front. There’s also regenerative braking that recuperates energy back into the traction battery. Speaking of the battery, it’s a 73.4-kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate unit that’s slung beneath the passenger cabin. The suspension set-up is MacPherson strut at the front, and multi-link at the rear.

Driving Experience

The driving position is high-set, and upon settling into the power-adjustable driver’s seat, the first thing I notice out the windscreen are the twin ‘humps’ on the hood. Most new vehicles don’t let you see the hood from the driver’s seat, and I must say, I rather like being able to see it here. The next thing I notice is how sprightly the powertrain is. It’s got three driving modes (OK, four, if you long press the mode selector for Winter mode). Eco dulls everything down and is useful if you’re trying to sip as few electrons as possible. Sport sharpens the throttle response and makes things more exciting. Comfort is a great midway point. Either way, this is a vehicle that will happily chirp its front tyres if you’re moderately lead-footed with it. Torque steer is also apparent when pulling away from a standstill if you drive like Jeremy Clarkson, screaming POWEEERRR! Mind you, all this happens with the traction control switched on – given that this is a brand-new vehicle, I don’t want to turn it off to test the rate of rubber vaporization. The quoted 0-100km/h time is 8 seconds flat, and I don’t doubt it, especially in Sport mode, if you can manage the wheel-spin, which can persist for longer than you’d expect. Plus, the Torres EVX continues to accelerate with verve well beyond 100km/h. Don’t ask me how fast I went, but it doesn’t sharply ‘tail off’ beyond 100km/h like other EVs. The quoted top speed is 175km/h.

However, the average Sri Lankan driver will probably never venture into the last 30% of the throttle pedal’s travel, and you don’t need to if you’re not interested in driving thrills. Instead, you can surf the electric motor’s wave of torque, and select from three available regenerative braking levels (there’s also a zero level, for coasting). This is called one-pedal driving, and popular with many EVs. I found Level 1 to be appropriate for the highway, while Level 2 was great for faster-moving traffic. Level 3, on the other hand, is very strong, and you barely need to touch the brake pedal, even in dawdling traffic. When you do need strong and quick braking, you’ve got it courtesy of the all-round disc brakes, and the brake pedal feel is quite progressive, hence easy to modulate.

What about ride comfort? Well, those 20-inch alloys with low-profile tires do transmit some of the road’s imperfections, but we’re talking about properly bumpy stuff. In fact, I deliberately drove on the road behind the rear entrance of Cinnamon Grand just to test this out and came away suitably un-jostled. Otherwise, it’s a well-damped ride with barely any disturbances. Interior noise is also quelled, although I did notice some wind noise starting to creep from around the mirrors, but this was over 100km/h. Finally, I was impressed by the myriad safety features that the Torres EVX comes with. More on those in the Safety section of this review.

Living With the Torres EVX

This is a fully-loaded vehicle, even though it’s not the top spec available. Hence, you’ve got a digital instrument cluster and a central touchscreen, via which almost everything is controlled. This includes the dual-zone automatic climate control system, plus the heated and cooled front seats. Meanwhile, the outboard rear seats are also heated, with switches within their respective door panels. The left-side rear-seat passenger can even move the front seat forward via switches on its side, much like in older JDM luxury cars. Moreover, there’s fantastic rear-seat head and legroom, even with a six-footer sitting up front. The seats themselves are covered in soft perforated leather, while the door cards, and even much of the dashboard feature leather as well. Build quality appears solid, with switches and buttons exhibiting a positive action, devoid of any wobbliness or uncertainty. The screens are also quite bright and legible, although I found the instrument cluster to become a little dim when viewed through polarized sunglasses. You can minimize this by selecting the “Light” theme rather than the “Dark” one.

Then, there’s plenty of storage space, including a multi-tier centre console with a wireless phone charger, and front plus rear USB-C charging ports. What you don’t have is a sunroof, but is it really a deal-breaker? Honestly, I’d prefer the relative strength of a normal roof (imagine if you park under a coconut tree at the right moment!), plus the superior thermal properties. I’ve been in sunroof-equipped vehicles where the sun was strong enough to overwhelm the climate control system, even with the sunshade deployed.

The infotainment system has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, plus good old FM radio. However, I was a bit underwhelmed by the sound system. It sounded rather weak in terms of sound definition and was lacking in low and lower-mid range. For the non-audiophiles among us, this means that it didn’t have much bass, and sounded a bit tinny. The situation prevailed even after I fiddled with the equalizer, as I usually check out a sound system with no equalizer settings, bass boosts, or other enhancements. The Torres EVX definitely needs a subwoofer, and maybe some upgraded speakers.

Given the Torres EVX’s overall length, one might be forgiven for thinking that it has seven seats. No it doesn’t; instead it has a cavernous boot. There’s definitely space for Ssangyong/KG Mobility to fit a pair of tiny seats if desired, but I’m glad that they didn’t. I’ve tested plenty of so-called seven-seat SUVs /crossovers and wished that there was a special place in hell for whoever thought putting a third row there was a good idea. There’s no spare wheel either, but the boot is large enough that you could buy one and carry it around without much penalty. Plus, there is a retractable cargo shade that can be deployed for a cleaner look. Meanwhile, the vehicle’s charging cable lives neatly in a dedicated pouch that slots into a purpose-build area on the side of the boot.

Safety Features

The Ssangyong Torres EVX has plenty of standard safety features. First off, I noticed that it has lane departure warning and lane-keeping assistance. The former audibly alerts you if you’re veering out of your lane, and the latter actually nudges the steering wheel to keep you inside the white lines. Given that 99% of Sri Lankan drivers think that the white lines on the road are for decoration, I may have been unduly overjoyed to see this feature on a relatively mainstream vehicle in Sri Lanka.

Then, there’s adaptive cruise control that’s actually very conservative. It’s not afraid to use a healthy amount of braking or throttle to adjust the vehicle’s speed in response to traffic ahead. I was glad to see that it maintained a very safe distance with the vehicle in front, which my untrained eye estimates to be more than five car lengths. There’s also a speed limit function, which is very useful because it’s supremely easy to overshoot 100km/h, such is the refinement of the ride and punch of the powertrain.

The Torres EVX doesn’t have automatic emergency braking, and I am very happy about that. Automatic emergency braking is more of a hazard rather than a boon in our chaotic traffic. Many cars with this feature will brutally slam on the brakes if a motorcyclist or three-wheeler merely thinks about venturing into your lane. Then, the vehicle behind you will come crashing into you, because its driver was travelling just one foot away from your rear bumper, while juggling a mobile phone in one hand, and trying to pick their nose with the other. So not having automatic emergency braking is actually safer in Sri Lanka! But, the Torres EVX does have rear traffic collision alert, which warns you if the vehicle behind is getting too cozy with your rear bumper. We saw this feature in action at traffic lights, when the rear camera gave us a picture-perfect view of the offender – typically a three-wheeler.

Other than these systems, the Torres EVX has eight airbags (as per my count), anti-lock brakes, stability control, child seat anchors, child safety locks for the rear doors, and a 360-degree surround-view camera system. The latter is very interesting as you can select multiple views, including birds-eye, and 3D. There’s also a feature that reminds you to take a break after an extended period at the wheel.

Range and Price

The Ssangyong Torres EVX is rated for a range of up to 462 kilometres, as per the brochure. Of course, this depends on myriad factors, including your driving style, and use of creature comforts and in-car amenities. The car comes with an on-board 10.5 kilowatt-hour charger. It can also be fast charged, at rates of up to 300 kilowatts.

Price, well, it’s best to ask Micro Cars. The reason for this uncertainty is the relatively uncertain landscape – at the time of writing, it is not possible to get any permits due to cessation of the whole vehicle permit scheme – even EV permits. So, you may have to buy a permit from someone who already has one, hasn’t used it, and is willing to sell it. And you know, that’s going to be costly – supply and demand, after all.

Final Words

At first glance, one might think that this is yet another Chinese vehicle on our roads. Given the Ssangyong Torres EVX’ lack of badging anywhere other than at the rear, you can’t fault them for misidentifying it – at least until it drives by. That’s why I’d strongly recommend naysayers or the skeptical ones to get behind the wheel and take a test drive before drawing any conclusions. I came away impressed with the Torres EVX, despite its minor niggles which I’ve mentioned in this review. So, let me leave you with the fact that many of the Ssangyongs (the locally assembled ones, as well as the imported ones) from the past ten to fifteen years are still running on our roads. So, the brand has already demonstrated some proof of longevity in our market and driving conditions, and I expect to see the same from the Torres EVX.