Recently, many car enthusiasts have been asking Xiao Ba about rugged SUVs. After all, everyone wants to drive out into the wild and experience poetry and distant places. But rugged SUVs can't be judged by specs alone—we also need to look at their real-world combat capability.
Speaking of real-world testing, we have to mention Dongchedi's 2024 winter test, which screened a batch of popular rugged SUVs for us. The test locations are quite interesting—from Heihe in China to Alaska in the US, and then to Umeå in Sweden. These places are all freezing cold.
The test items are quite comprehensive: extreme range, energy consumption, traversal capability, and ice-and-snow rally racing, among others. Isn't this saving us car enthusiasts a lot of trouble?
The models put to the test this year—Deepal G318, Tank 400 Hi4-T, Haval Raptor, Fangchengbao Bao 5, and Yangwang U8—are all hot contenders in the market.
Among them, the Deepal G318 and Yangwang U8 are rather special: one is a rare extended-range rugged SUV, and the other costs over a million yuan, so naturally people pay more attention to how they perform.
Let's start with extreme range. The Dalton Highway in Alaska, USA, is famously known as the "Highway of Death." It's 666 kilometers long, with no supply stations along the way and low temperatures—a truly significant challenge for new energy vehicles.
In the end, the Deepal G318, Haval Raptor, and Fangchengbao Bao 5 all successfully reached the finish line, proving they withstood the test.
But the Yangwang U8 unfortunately couldn't complete the test due to an engine failure. The Tank 400 Hi4-T had an accident and didn't receive a score. From this, it seems most rugged SUVs do have real skills when facing extreme environments.
Let's now look at the regular range and energy consumption test conducted in Heihe. The Haval Raptor performed decently, running 213.4 kilometers on 20 liters of fuel, with a fuel consumption of 9.37 liters per 100 kilometers in depleted-charge mode—a result thanks to its relatively compact size.
The Deepal G318 also performed well, running 184.2 kilometers on 20 liters of fuel, with a depleted-charge fuel consumption of 10.86 liters. As a mid-to-large SUV, this kind of fuel economy is truly impressive.
Looking at the Tank 400 Hi4-T, with the same 20 liters of fuel, it only ran 170.2 kilometers, with a depleted-charge fuel consumption of 11.75 liters per 100 kilometers. Despite being in the same segment as the Deepal G318, its performance is slightly inferior.
It seems that Deepal's long-promoted Super Range Extender 2.0, which can generate 3.63 kWh of electricity per liter of fuel, really is effective at reducing energy consumption.
Next, let's talk about the ice-and-snow rally in Umeå, Sweden. The Haval Raptor performed just passably in this segment, with a fastest lap of 8 minutes 10.8 seconds, ranking at the bottom among the rugged SUVs.
The other models all had lap times under 8 minutes. Among them, the Deepal G318 finished in 7 minutes 32.5 seconds, second only to the IM L6, beating the Bao 5's 7 minutes 34.5 seconds and the Tank 400 Hi4-T's 7 minutes 38.4 seconds.
It seems that to drive fast on ice and snow, chassis tuning is crucial. The reason the Deepal G318 stood out in this segment is mainly that its chassis has really been well engineered—the front double-wishbone and rear multi-link suspension structure effectively suppresses body roll and maintains stability.
Moreover, the Deepal G318 is equipped with air suspension and CDC, which can automatically adjust ride height and suspension damping according to road conditions, ensuring handling regardless of the terrain.
A large-scale ice-and-snow rally like this doesn't just test the vehicle's performance—it also tests the comfort of the driver and passengers. After all, at such high speeds while dealing with all kinds of road surfaces, if the driver and passengers feel uncomfortable, the results will definitely suffer.
The Deepal G318 does well in this regard too. Besides the excellent suspension, it also has air suspension and CDC, ensuring comfort.
To summarize this winter test: among these rugged SUVs, the Deepal G318, as the only extended-range powertrain contender, performed remarkably well in extreme range, energy consumption, off-road capability, and track handling.
So, if you're not a veteran off-road enthusiast or someone who thinks about charging up slopes every day, but rather want an SUV that's comfortable for daily driving and can occasionally go wild, then the Deepal G318 is indeed worth considering.
And recently I heard that Changan Automobile Chairman Zhu Huarong drove the Deepal G318 in a livestream to experience various complex road conditions in Chongqing—from city to countryside, covering it all. It seems he has great confidence in his company's product.
