Stelato opens pre-order books for the S9 sedan EV, starts from $63.4k

Chinese automaker Stelato has started taking orders for its large all-electric sedan, the S9, which debuted at the Beijing Auto Expo a month ago. It turned out pricier than expected, Car News China reports.

Specifically, rumors had said it would cost from 300,000 to 500,000 Yuan. The actual prices lie within the range of 450,000–550,000 Yuan, which corresponds to U.S. $63,400–77,500.

Stelato is an international vehicle brand co-created between Huawei and BAIC. The S9 is its first production car, and it is scheduled to reach the showrooms in China in August this year. It is a large car at 5,160 mm (201.6 inches) long, 1,987 mm (77.7 in) wide and 1,486 mm (58 in) tall with 3,050 mm (119.1 in) of wheelbase. It runs on a brand-new platform called Turing and offers at least as much usable cabin space as the luxury vehicles of Germany’s Big Three, or so the Chinese company claims.
Stelato also boasts that the S9 has the lowest drag ratio in its market segment, but says the final number remains to be confirmed in August. To minimize the drag, the car trades its side mirrors for video cameras and opts for flush door handles.

The buyers can choose between two main powertrains – RWD and AWD. Both have a 309-PS (305-hp / 277-kW) electric motor at the rear axle made by the Digital Power Technology division of Huawei. The AWD version adds another Huawei motor to the front axle with 215 PS (212 hp / 158 kW). The battery comes from CATL and is said to be enough for roughly 800 km (500 miles) on a charge, but the volume hasn’t been revealed.

From the technological perspective, the car utilizes an advanced driving assist package called Qiankun ADS 3.0, which contains a LiDAR and a large number of other sensors. The infotainment system runs on HarmonyOS. Everything mentioned here has been developed in-house by the Huawei Corporation.