NEVS Phoenix 1.1 and Phoenix E

When automakers open their doors to customers, it's something special. At NEVS this should be the rule in the future - a transparent and friendly corporate culture, in harmony with sustainable mobility solutions from Sweden. For participants in the pre-tour to IntSaab 2017, the rooms of the Experience Center opened a few days ago, a part of the building that fans should know as the design center of the earlier Saab Automobile AB.

NEVS electric car prototype in the Experience Center
NEVS electric car prototype in the Experience Center

CEO Mattias Bergman and Hans Martin Duringhof, Director Powertrain and Chassis, gave presentations and provided answers to open questions. Mattias Bergman kicked it off - I'll keep the content compact at this point. Not only because Bergman left the far more exciting part to Hans Martin Duringhof, but also because many statements, such as the composition of the shareholder structure, are already known and have already been a topic on the blog.

A NEVS plant on every continent

Nevertheless, there were new insights. In the future sales strategy, which will primarily be based on the Internet. Because, as Bergman said, the merchant's income comes primarily from services, not sales. And because NEVS can imagine rewarding sales partners for services such as the provision of vehicles for test drives in the future.

From Trollhättan, the factory in Tianjin will be supplied with already painted bodies for the new EV, until its own bodyshop and paint shop go into operation in China. The delivery of the 150.000 electric cars to commercial customers takes place from 2017, in addition, the New Long Ma plant in southern China delivers more already ordered electric minivans and MPV `s.

The NEVS product range will cover many segments in the future (Details reveals later Hans-Martin Durighof), and NEVS will later have a plant in North America and therefore on every continent. The group currently has 850 employees at the headquarters in Trollhättan, 90 in Beijing, and 1.200 at New Long Ma. NEVS develops for other manufacturers, and the test facilities in Trollhättan are used by a large number of brands, including Volvo.

NEVS sees itself as a provider of sustainable mobility solutions and integrates the best of the Saab DNA - design, the Saab culture and the durability of the products into its products. A brand, according to Bergman, is more than just letters. The employees behind it and their experience are important. And here you rely on the tradition of the location and combine the tried and tested with the revolutionary new.

Hans-Martin Afthof

A personality with Saab background is Hans-Martin Afthof. When he came back to Trollhättan last summer, I found that more than remarkable. He has a certain good name in the industry and I would not have expected a return. He comes, which I did not know, from a family with a long Saab tradition. His grandfather was one of the first Saab dealers in the Netherlands, his parents continued the business. The yard is, if you may say so, of old Saab nobility.

The topic of his lecture: Phoenix. More than interesting, and in the beginning, thoughhof put some order into the definition of architecture, platform and product. Under an architecture the industry understands a virtual definition, the platform is a physical arrangement of components and also of software, the product a finished vehicle. The more precisely the architecture is defined, the greater the scale effects for the platform and the finished product.

Phoenix 2011 was a concept car from Saab, the Phoenix platform a 80% completed successor to the Saab 9-3, designed for conventional drive and the option of an electric rear axle with hybrid drive. The new architectures and platforms at NEVS have hardly anything to do with this, because NEVS has changed its definitions in recent years.

Phoenix 1.1

The 2017 electric car, which is offered in China and also in Sweden, has nothing in common with the 2014 Saab 9-3. Under the metal sheet was radically redesigned in the direction of electric car, the limitations of an originally conventionally designed vehicle have disappeared in favor of a large battery pack. Phoenix 1.1 is fully developed and will not be further modified. Tests for acceptance and approval in China are ongoing, the product is complete.

The prototype of a NEVS electric car, not completely in line with the series, was released for visitors to examine. Another sports suit and a convertible with conventional drive were also on display in the Experience Center. NEVS vehicles with electric drive will offer driving performance at Saab Aero level and even higher, Duringhof showed in a graphic. And the products of the Phoenix 4 or Phoenix E architecture will be even more exciting.

Phoenix E

NEVS could bring to Phoenix E many new products in various market segments with various body shapes over the next few years. From the B segment (small car) to the E segment (upper middle class) it would be possible to cover the market with a flood of variants. City cars, coupes, limousines, station wagons, SUVs and MPVs are feasible. Confirmed are 4 new models in the C and D segment, designed for front, rear and four-wheel drive, but clearly and without compromise as pure electric cars.

The range of products is richer than what Saab has ever offered, and all vehicles are networked and communicate with each other. NEVS sees sustainable mobility as a service and relies on progressive solutions right from the start.

My Opinion

We know the shareholder structure of NEVS, the philosophy of sustainability and the ability to create the appropriate solutions with the 10.000 software engineers of the shareholders in the background. A provider of mobility services is emerging here; the industry revolution is in full swing. With the upheaval, customer expectations will also change. Gone are the days when the audience was happy at the big car shows because there was a few more horsepower, some chrome and different rims.

The customer of the future will be more critical, more enlightened and more demanding. The auto industry will sail in a tough wind, just as IT has always been. The pressure to innovate and competition will be brutal, the customer will no longer buy or lease a car. He will shop for a flat rate for mobility. A city car for the week, a convertible for Sunday. Or an SUV for the mountains, the station wagon for the hardware store, the MPV when you take the children to the in-laws. The future is exciting and it will come quickly. Maybe not in Bielefeld, not in Oldenburg. At least not right away. But in Beijing, London, New York, Berlin, Paris. It will change our everyday life and our mobility.

Duringhof was in charge of designing the Saab 9-5 NG and 9-4x. Great cars that I still love and that could have changed the brand's perception. I think it's exciting that he, like so many other Saab engineers, is working on the future. I'm not alone in this. Editors of a large German car newspaper see it similarly and will test the new NEVS electric car in Trollhättan.

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Kochje
7 years earlier

100% agree with Frank.
Thanks Tom for this great post. Getting really exciting. NEVS seems to be moving in the right direction.

Frank Belin
Frank Belin
7 years earlier

I keep my fingers crossed for NEVS and hope for novelties with saabic DNA. Please bring something that looks, feels and drives like a SAAB!

neil dale
neil dale
7 years earlier

Phoenix is ​​a dream car beautifull

neil dale
neil dale
7 years earlier

as a loyal saab fan - have a beloved saab 2002 9-3 viggen cv i am happy to hear rumors of a new cv i'm about to start buying wrecked saab cars just to have parts - only 322 02 ′ 9-3 viggen cv in usa !!

Franc troll
Franc troll
7 years earlier
Reply to  neil dale

We all love the Viggene! Have fun and take care!

neil dale
neil dale
7 years earlier

well we hope for the future but saab apears cused at times!

9000CD
9000CD
7 years earlier

"Editors of a large German car newspaper see it similarly and will test the new NEVS electric car in Trollhättan." When and where will this review be published?
And the 9-3 CV and the SC are not from the NEVS production or was there something that is not known?

TT
TT
7 years earlier

A few days ago, I had to put 600,00 € on the dealership's table because the trunk lock on my Renault was no longer closed. The cause was the power supply from the central control unit. So new control unit. In a vehicle that would have been built a few years earlier would have cost me the same about 10,00 € for a new relay. What will such a defect in the future cost in such a traveling computer pile, if I may then have to renew the central computer because of it. The best way to get used to the idea of ​​caring for vintage cars is to get used to it. Could be even cheaper in this development in the long term and drive yourself anyway makes more fun than to drive from a computer or to be patronized.

mountain saab
mountain saab
7 years earlier
Reply to  TT

so it makes sense to think about renting mobility and to keep in private a nice analog SAAB! Unfortunately, the problem is still affecting the inhabitants of the rural area, where mobility is to be provided because landlords and public transport are far away.

Franc troll
Franc troll
7 years earlier
Reply to  mountain saab

Renting is definitely the future. Nobody will / can want to buy this new generation of vehicles anymore. An analogue SAAB in the garage should everyone have on the plan urgently, nor can you buy these cars for little money!

Emil 96
Emil 96
7 years earlier

Cool thing that makes me seriously thoughtful. Are we still getting cars from Sweden that we might like? NEVS is exciting, never thought that I would write that one day. Tom & Mark please continue to report!

Detlef Rudolf
Detlef Rudolf
7 years earlier

At KARMA (successor company of FISKER) you can order a conventional turbo motor in addition to the electric drive - for the so-called range extension.

Why does NEVS not offer such a variant in the future? The shelves would have excellent SAAB turbo engines.

Mr. Nordmann
Mr. Nordmann
7 years earlier

Although I see NEVS very critically and I do not consider the electric drive to be the future technology at all, I still keep my fingers crossed for NEVS ...

ivan95aero
7 years earlier

Thank you for the interesting contribution!