Here we have a Dongfeng eπ 007 litback sedan, seen in southwest Beijing in the summer. It was a brand-new car with a temporary license plate behind the windscreen. The color is called Sunny Gold (向阳金), but it looks more like silver to me.
About the naming: Dongfeng is the company name, short for Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM). “eπ” is the brand name. ‘e’ is for electric, and ‘π’ is for the Greek letter Pi. The Chinese name is 奕派 (Yipai). eπ cars are manufactured by Dongfeng’s Aeolus division. eπ has a separate dealer network. The logo is a modernized variant of the classic Dongfeng logo.
The eπ 007 is the first eπ car, launched in 2023, followed in 2024 by the eπ 008 SUV. It looks great, probably the best-looking Dongfeng sedan ever. The 007 has a slippery body with a drag coefficient of only 0.209 Cd. It has hidden door handles, frameless doors, and aero wheels.
The interior is spacious and airy, thanks to the large windows, the panoramic sunroof, and the Moon Shadow color scheme. The eπ 007 is equipped with an 8.8-inch driver’s display and a 15.6-inch touch screen. The center tunnel has two cup holders and a double 50W wireless charger for smartphones. It also has L2 ADAS with 28 sensors, including 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, and five millimeter-wave radars.
Chinese car makers are so good with interiors these days, and the eπ 007 is no exception. Large-diameter steering wheels are a new automotive design trend in China. The wheel of the oo7 has two spokes and a flat bottom. Strangely, the owner of this particular car used the wireless charging area to store a plastic box of tisues. Perhaps he or she likes the tissues HOT.
The owner probably doesn’t have kids or any other regular passengers. The seat belts are fastened to avoid annoying beeps and alarm lights.
The Dongfeng eπ 008 is available with two power trains: EREV and EV. This is very common in China nowadays. EV-only car makers are the exception. The car in the photos is the EREV. It is powered by a 1.5 liter ICE + one electric motor. The combined output is 237 kW and 447 Nm, good for a 171 km/h top speed and a 0-100 in 7.2 seconds.
The EREV has a 45-liter fuel tank and a 28.4 kWh LFP battery. Dongfeng claims a combined range of 1200 kilometers and an EV range of 200 kilometers. EREV cars are super popular in China right now, winning market share from EVs and PHEVs.
The price of the eπ 008 PHEV ranges from 129.600 to 136.600 yuan ($18.2-19.2K), which seems a good deal for such a large and advanced machine.
Characters: 东风, Dongfeng.
The eπ brand is off to a promising start. With only two cars, eπ reached the 49th place in the passenger sales chart in August with 5344 cars sold, an impressive feat for such a young brand. We can’t wait to see what’s next!