KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — Teased a couple of weeks ago, the Neta V has been officially launched in Malaysia at the Malaysia Autoshow 2023. The compact electric vehicle, made by Chinese carmaker Hozon Auto, is the cheapest EV on sale in the country, sliding just under the RM100,000 mark.

Neta V Malaysia price and availability

The Neta V is available in a single variant, priced at RM99,800 on-the-road without insurance. This undercuts the next cheapest EV, the Ora Good Cat 400 Pro, by RM40,000. In fact, its closest competition is top-of-the-range versions of mainstream petrol-powered cars such as the Honda City and Toyota Vios. However, it’s quite a bit more expensive than in Thailand, where the car retails at 549,000 baht (around RM70,819) after incentives.

Offsetting this difference is a RM10,000, which is being offered to the first 100 people who book the car at the show, effectively dropping the price to RM89,800. The car also comes with a five-year/150,000km warranty and an eight-year/180,000km battery warranty. Sales will officially start in the third quarter of the year.

Neta V power, range and charging

There are several reasons why the Neta V is so affordable, not least of which being the powertrain. Its sole motor at the front produces just 94hp (70kW) and 150Nm of torque, and while Neta is claiming an acceleration time of 3.9 seconds, it’s only from zero to 50km/h. That’s not a surprise, given that its top speed is just 120km/h.

Still, the 38.5kWh battery is enough to deliver an impressive 380km of range, albeit on the far more lenient NEDC cycle. The Neta V also supports an impressive 100kW of DC fast charging power, bringing the battery from 30 to 80 per cent (weird metric, I know) in 30 minutes. It also accepts up to 6.6kW of AC charging, fully topping up the car in around eight hours. Additionally, the barebones construction and small battery means it weighs just 1,151kg.

Bargain basement looks and specs

Billed as "the affordable EV you’re waiting for,” the Neta V is a hatchback smaller than even the Ora Good Cat. Measuring 4,070mm long, 1,690mm wide and 1,540mm tall, it’s longer and taller but narrower than a Perodua Myvi, and it has a shorter 2,420mm wheelbase. The Neta V comes with a 335-litre boot which is larger than the Myvi’s 277-litre capacity.

Inside the gawky body sits a cabin with minimal buttons, dominated by a huge 14.6-inch portrait touchscreen. Neta says it supports screen mirroring for iOS and Android devices, but there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto here.

A slim 12-inch monochrome LCD instrument display is positioned ahead of the driver, and amazingly there’s a 3.3kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) function for powering appliances and charging devices. Given this car’s positioning, you can forget about any driver assistance systems; instead, there are just two airbags and stability control, although a reverse camera is fitted. — SoyaCincau