2nd Voyah Free facelift costs almost the same despite major upgrades

Dongfeng sub-brand Voyah is already taking preorders for a new SUV called Free+. It starts from 229,900 Yuan – just 1,000 Yuan above the pre-facelift Voyah Free. Furthermore, those who order their SUV before the offline sales launch are looking forward to a 21,000-Yuan discount.

The updated car debuted at the Auto Shanghai show this spring. It is sized 4,915 x 1,960 x 1,660 mm with 2,930 mm between the axles. Voyah has completely redone its front end and redesigned the dashboard, ditching the pop-up panel with three displays grouped on it in favor of a more conventional setup. There’s a standalone instrument cluster now and a 15.6-inch infotainment display, like in most modern cars.

As a part of Voyah’s joint effort with Huawei, the car is packed full of the IT giant’s services and hardware. This includes a 29-inch heads-up display (projected), a multimedia system running on Harmony OS 5, and a LiDAR-powered semi-autonomous driving suite called the Qiankun ADS 4. Further options include a large (1.78 square meters) panoramic sunroof, a three-zone climate control system, a 22-speaker Voyah Sound system and not one, but two wireless phone chargers. Rounding off the list is a thermal box hidden in the middle armrest that you can use alternatively as a cooler and a warmer.

In its most basic spec, the Voyah Free+ hybrid utilizes a single 292-PS (288-hp / 215-kW) motor to drive the rear wheels. A 1.5-liter petrol engine on board produces 129 PS (127 hp / 95 kW), but is solely used to charge up a 43.2-kWh battery back.

Opting for AWD adds a second e-motor with 184 PS (181 hp / 136 kW) at the front axle, for a total of 476 PS (469 hp / 350 kW). This hybrid can run between 196 and 235 km (122 and 146 miles) in all-electric mode, depending on circumstances.

You may remember that there was a Voyah Free EV, but it was discontinued after the first facelift a couple of years ago and is still not available as of this writing. Having said that, Voyah may bring the pure-electric SUV back if there is enough demand.