The Hiphi X Is One Of The Coolest Chinese EVs Ever Made

This is the HiPhi X, probably one of the coolest Chinese electric cars ever produced. I saw it in the rain in Beijing in the summer of 2024, and I couldn’t stop looking at it. What a machine! The bright orange color is called ‘Carnelian Orange’.

HiPhi is one of China’s many new NEV brands, launched in 2019. The brand is owned by Human Horizons, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Shanghai. Besides cars, Human Horizons is also involved in autonomous driving technology and the development of smart cities. The company has its own factory, unlike NIO for example, located in the city of Yancheng in Jiangsu Province.

The X was HiPhi’s first car, it arrived on the Chinese car market in 2019. It made an immediate impression with its wild design, even wilder colors, and the wildest rear doors ever. The rear doors are suicide doors and gull-wing doors, at the same time.

The interior is luxurious, spacious, and airy. Many Chinese NEV brands favor light interior colors, looking clean and modern. I recently visited an Audi dealer in Beijing. They had a dozen cars on display and dark gray interiors, which suddenly looked so old-fashioned.

The dashboard is dominated by a gigantic 16.9 (!!!) inch touchscreen, angled slightly toward the driver. The instrument panel is 14.6 inches, and it has yet another 15-inch screen for the front passenger. To top it off, it also has a 22.9-inch HUD head-up display. The operating system is called HiPhi OS 2.0, it was developed in-house at Human Horizons.

The LED pods under the headlights and rear lights can display graphics and text, controlled from the main screen.

The Hiphi Y is a big car: 5200/2062/1618, with a 3150 wheelbase. The base version has six seats, but buyers can also get an ultra-luxurious four-seat version. Our orange car is the six-seater, but I have also seen the four-seat car at a HiPhi experience store. More on that in a later story.

The HiPhi Y is available with RWD or AWD. The RWD version has a single electric motor at the rear with 299 hp and 410 Nm. It has a limited top speed of 200 km/h and does 0-100 in 7.1 seconds. Energy is stored in a 94 kWh ternary lithium battery sourced from CATL. The CLTC range is 650 kilometers. The AWD version has a dual-motor setup, with a combined output of 598 hp and 820 Nm. The top speed is 200 again but 0-100 takes only 4 seconds. It uses the same 94 kWh battery but it is heavier, so the range is down to 560 kilometers CLTC.

The HiPhi X is a popular car and I have seen many on the road. Chinese car buyers are not afraid to try new brands, even when their cars are expensive. The base version of the X sells for ￥570.000 yuan, or $78.500 at the time of writing. That is a lot of cash for a car made by a company founded in 2017. But I think the X is definitely worth it. Much more on HiPhi soon!