When you first look at the Lumin, it reminds you of a car-character from the movie “Cars”. It has a quirky, toy-like face, and it indeed is toy-sized, in a world of oversized SUVs and macho pick-up trucks. Built as a “City Car”, the full electric Lumin is full of character… when you walk up to it, it seems to be looking at you with sleepy eyes. And when you walk away from it - it seems to say – well I’ll reserve that for later in the story.
The Changan Lumin is imported to Sri Lanka by Deepal Sri Lanka, under the Senok Group umbrella. This car was part of a trio of EVs that we had the honour of first drive impressions with… While the Deepal S07 and E07 are rather larger and packed with tech, the Lumin, well…read on!
Exterior
Our test car; in a
shade of metallic pink called Rose Pink and replete with sleepy eyes and
Noddy-like wheels. The wheels - that have cartoon-like covers – are shod with
14” tyres(!) which are big, for this size of car. At first glance, our test Lumin looks
feminine to say the least. The other colours are Pearl White, Mint Cyan, Silver
Grey and Champagne Gold, and may appeal more to those who don’t want a pink car.
Yes, this is quite a light-coloured palette of offerings; there’s no black or
dark shades available. However, I suppose you could give it a wrap if you
really want your Lumin to look sinister.
The front and rear
are accentuated by halogen projector headlights and LED position lights that
look like they are winking every time you operate the turn signals. It has two
extra-long doors which no doubt has been designed to make access to the rear
seat that much easier but may cause some problems when parking the car and
opening doors in tight parking spaces. The door handles are the retractable
flush fitting kind that is currently in vogue with most new cars. Open the rear
hatch and you have 104 litres of luggage capacity despite its minimalist size.
Interior
The front seats have
adequate lumbar support. The driver’s and passenger’s seat backs can be
manually adjusted via a lever. They can also be tilted forward for easier
access to the back. The front seat(s) fore and aft adjustment is also via a
lever under the front of the seat. The rear seat is fixed and can accommodate
two full size passengers without much drama. However, the seat back can be
folded down in 50-50 split folding fashion, or fully to create very useful
extra luggage space. With the rear seat fully folded down, it has loads of
space to carry a full complement of luggage for two people or indeed use it for
one’s small business - to transport small packages or goods. The seats are a combination
of synthetic leather and fabric with smart coloured accents.
During our Test Drive, there were four fully grown adults at all times in the car – and none were complaining about the leg room, head room or shoulder room at the back – or the front for that matter. I did have a sojourn in the rear seat along with another six-footer, and we managed quite decently.
The dashboard of our test car was in a subtle grey colour with a lower lip in white and a light blue stylized strap placed across on the passenger side. The centre console also has an insert in the same blue as the strap on the passenger side. That blue strap continues on the upper section of all seats as well. All interior surfaces are soft to touch with perfect stitching and indeed perfect gaps, giving it a sense of chic plushness which is rarely seen in this budget segment of cars.
There is a large colour multi-function display in the centre of the dashboard, and a smaller screen ahead of the driver for those essential function display like speed, gear selection, how much power is being used, etc. The central screen offers smartphone connectivity, and we used it to play some music to test out the sound system. That was another surprise; how well it sounded for a mere two-speaker affair. The user interface is also far more grown-up than you’d expect. Overall, attention to detail is simply amazing for this segment of car, and shows how far things have indeed come along in the five year gap on new car tech experiences that we faced due to the import ban.
Mech & Tech
The Lumin that we
tested is powered by a 28.08 kWh battery with a 48hp motor. This translates to
a driving range of some 300 kms. This cute city car can be fully charged (0 to
100%) in under 10 hours using slow (home) charging. With a DC Fast Charger, 30%
- 80% charge can be achieved in some 35 minutes. That’s pretty decent and could
be accomplished during a lunchtime stop-over, or a leisurely coffee break.
The electric motor drives the front wheels and it has two driving modes – Eco and Sports. For stopping power…it has discs in front and drums at the rear. That’s pretty standard and there’s also regenerative braking, recuperating energy back into the battery pack. Other features includes Rear Parking sensors which detects obstacles and warns the driver when reversing. Tyre Pressure Monitoring system which gives real time alerts is also available.
Driving the Lumin
Now this is the fun
part! The driving experience of the Lumin is one of the most unexpected in my decades
of driving and testing cars.
Being a car with an ultra-short wheelbase (compared to conventional city cars and the ubiquitous kei cars that Sri Lankans love) one would expect a ride with some “rocking horse” motion. Not the Lumin. It has very compliant suspension that smoothes out uneven surfaces like a pro. Driving in the Eco mode, it has plenty of get up and go for your daily commute. But you switch to Sport mode, and it gets a new lease of life with a new-found urgency! Floor the throttle from a standstill and you’ll surprise many larger vehicles.
The first thing that
came to mind was that this was like driving a twin-carburettor, 1275 (classic)
Mini Cooper S. Those of you who have driven one of those Cooper S variants will
know what I am talking about. In short, this car gives you a huge adrenaline
rush and is a visceral experience that is incredibly enjoyable. The experience
is heightened by the fact that the car handles like it’s on rails, and you as
the driver feels absolutely in control. When you drive the Lumin, park it and
get out; I’m sure you will look back at it admiringly; and those eyes will
almost be saying “…and how was that?”
Living with the Lumin
So I think it’s a
great package. You can do the school run in the morning and afternoon with the
kids safe in the back seat with no doors that they could accidentally open. And
when you go to work, or go on a client call, you could park it virtually in the
space that a Tuk Tuk can be parked in.
If you and your partner are going on that romantic week-end trip, you could fold the rear seats down, put your baggage in, turn up the good quality sound system and do a quick dash of up to 300 kms. Then it’s a matter of plugging in your car at the hotel while you party the night away… and the Lumin will be ready and rearing to go another 300 kms in the morning. And I guarantee you that you will have a permanent smile on your face all the while you’re in your Lumin, even if you have a disagreement with your partner. To cap it all, it could be cheaper than going by bus!
