Zotye E200 Is A Cool Electric Mini Car In China

A Zotye E200, seen at a Zotye dealer in Beijing in 2018. The Zotye E200 is a cool electric mini car with a hip design. It was launched on the Chinese car market in 2016 and sold very well. Sadly, Zotye’s 2021 bankruptcy also meant the end for the E200.

Zotye is best known abroad for its infamous clone of the Porsche Macan, they also cloned the Range Rover but they sold that one to another company which sold it as the Hunkt Canticie. However, in China, Zotye was also known for its series of electric mini cars, and the E200 was their best-seller.

The Zotye E200 is a three-door two-seat mini car, with the wheels far out on the corners. There are plenty of cool design details, like the faux air inlet on the rear fender, the three-tone paint, the tiny spoiler above the rear window, the sporty wheels with gray brake calipers, and the…

… EV badging on the door handles. It was really small car: 2745/1600/1630, with an 1810 wheelbase and a 1080 kg wheelbase.

Zotye advertised the E200 as the new Model T and as “Another Smart”, referring to Daimler’s Smart brand which is now Chinese anyway.

There was a complete body at the dealer, likely used for training the mechanics. I have seen this at plenty of dealers in China, for all sorts of brands. When they don’t use the bodies anymore, they just park ‘m outside.

Another advertisement showing an E200 with different wheels, which I have never seen on a real car.

The dealer had dozens of E200 on their lot. These small EVs are often sold in bulk to ride-sharing companies.

The large rear lights are the weakest point of the design. They are just too big for the car, especially compared to the relatively small rear window.

The E200 was powered by a single electric motor mounted over the front axle. Output was 82 hp and 160 Nm, good for a 120 km/h top speed. The motor was mated to a 24.5 kWh battery for 165 kilometers of NEDC range. Price in 2018 started at 61.800 yuan. A fast charge to 80% took 45 minutes and a full charge on 220v took 12 hours.

In late 2018, Zotye added a E200 Pro to the lineup, with the same motor but with a bigger 32 kWh battery and a claimed 300 km NEDC range.

The interior was basic but nice. It had a 10 inch touch screen and a digital instrument panel. The pedals looked sporty and there was a single pop-out cup holder attached to the center tunnel. On the right side, in front of the passenger, was another EV badge similar to the one on the door handle.

The air vents were nicely integrated into the dashboard. The center tunnel was very clean with the electronic parking brake, a rotary dial, the start-button and a 220v socket.

The green license plates are issued by the Beijing government to new-energy vehicles (NEVs), a category that includes EVs, PHEVs, and FCEVs. In Beijing, like in many Chinese cities, the issuing of license plates is tightly regulated and limited. However, to support clean energy, plates for NEVs are easier to get than plates for petrol cars.

Note the intriguing shape of the top of the windshield. Must be an expensive piece of glass! The Zotye E200 was a cool and innovative car, and one wonders where Zotye would have ended up had they fully focused on electric cars. We will never know as Zotye is dead and gone. Hopefully the owners still can get maintenance and parts, but probably not.