Deliveries of the Neta L have been delayed as 95 percent of customers opted for the highest priced variant.

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Neta Auto's new model, the Neta L, seems to have gained good initial acceptance, ahead of the imminent launch of the model's battery electric vehicle (BEV) variant.

In the 35 days since its launch on April 22 to May 26, the Neta L SUV (sport utility vehicle) has already garnered over 30,000 orders, Neta said on Weibo yesterday.

Neta officially launched the Neta L on April 22 and it is currently available only in extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) variants, with deliveries starting earlier this month.

The Neta L BEV is expected to be launched in June and deliveries will begin in July, Neta said yesterday.

The Neta L EREV is offered in four variants with starting prices of RMB 129,900 ($17,930), RMB 136,900, RMB 149,900 and RMB 159,900 respectively.

Notably, the least expensive variant will be officially launched in August.

Of the order holders of the Neta L, 95 percent of the customers opted for the highest priced variant, Neta said yesterday.

More than 60 percent of Neta L customers are below 35 years of age, 30 percent are women and 66 percent are families with children, Neta said.

The Neta L EREV is a five-seat mid-size SUV with length, width and height of 4,770 mm, 1,900 mm and 1,660 mm respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,810 mm.

One of the key selling points of the model is the large battery, which enables owners to rely more on the battery and thus reduce gasoline costs.

The Neta L EREV is powered by a 1.5L four-cylinder engine as a range-extender and a battery pack with a capacity of up to 40.27 kWh, providing a CLTC battery range of up to 310 kilometers.

The 40.27-kWh pack is a large battery for an EREV of this size. The entry-level version of Neta's smaller pure-electric SUV, the Neta X, comes with a battery pack with a capacity of 51.8 kWh.

The Neta L charges from 30 percent to 80 percent in less than 19 minutes and has a maximum charge multiplier of 2.6 C, making it the fastest charging EREV, Neta previously said.

At full fuel and power, the Neta L has a combined CLTC range of up to 1,300 kilometers.

The vast majority of customers opted for the highest-priced variant, which seems to have exceeded Neta's original expectations and led to delays in deliveries.

With more than 95 percent of Neta L orders for the highest-priced version, Neta's production supply system was under extreme pressure and deliveries were delayed, Neta CEO Yong Zhang said in a video yesterday.

Zhang apologized for the delay and promised that customers who don't get delivery within 30 days of ordering will be compensated RMB 50 for every additional day they wait, up to a maximum of RMB 3,000.

Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line variant of the Neta L, which comes with Michelin tires as standard, will temporarily use tires from local suppliers as part of an effort to ease pressure on production capacity.

Neta promises free replacement with Michelin tires within six months and tires from local suppliers will be given away to customers.

The company commenced pre-sales of the Neta L BEV variant on May 26 at a starting pre-sale price of RMB 140,000.

The Neta L BEV is available in three variants, all powered by CATL's long-life L-series Shenxing Battery with a CLTC range of 510 km.

The Shenxing Battery is a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry-based battery released by CATL on August 16, 2023 and supports ultra-fast charging.

Vehicles equipped with this battery can get 400 km range in 10 minutes of charging time and is the world's first LFP battery to support 4C charging, CATL said at the launch of the battery.

Neta saw strong volume growth in 2021-2022, but weak performance since 2023.

The company delivered 127,496 vehicles in 2023, down 16.16 percent year-on-year, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

In the January-April period of this year, Neta delivered 33,451 vehicles, down 10.21 percent year-on-year.

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($1 = RMB 7.2445)