{"id":812050,"date":"2026-07-20T10:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812050\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:50:12","slug":"new-chinese-marque-completes-testing-on-tough-australian-roads-ahead-of-launch-of-its-first-ev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812050\/","title":{"rendered":"New Chinese marque completes testing on “tough” Australian roads ahead of launch of its first EV"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Chinese automotive marque Lepas announced this week that it has completed an \u201cextensive\u201d local testing and adaptation program for its first model in Australia, the L6 battery electric vehicle (BEV) which is due to launch in November.<\/p>\n

Lepas, another \u201cnew energy vehicle\u201d (NEV) marque from Chinese automaker Chery, was announced early last year as an export-only brand targeting annual sales of 500,000 across 45 countries by 2027.<\/p>\n

Chery confirmed in April<\/a> of this year that two Lepas BEVs would head Down Under, starting with<\/a> the L6 electric SUV.<\/p>\n

Full local specifications for the Lepas L6 will be announced closer to launch, but so far, we understand the car will be powered by a front-mounted electric drivetrain producing up to 160 kW of power and 275 Nm of torque, with an estimated driving range of 450 kilometres.<\/p>\n

Lepas announced on Monday that it had completed an \u201cextensive\u201d local testing and adaptation program which it said was \u201cdesigned to ensure its vehicles meet the unique demands of Australian drivers and conditions.\u201d This included coarse-chip bitumen, country highways, winding mountain roads, and urban environments. <\/p>\n

This allowed engineers to fine-tune advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) performance to ensure consistent performance across Australian road markings, signage, and traffic environments, as well as software integration and overall vehicle refinement specifically for local Australian conditions.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Image Credit: Lepas Australia<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Image Credit: Lepas Australia<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Image Credit: Lepas Australia<\/p>\n

The prototype vehicles have also been exposed to the varying climate conditions across Australia, including both cold-weather testing and high-temperature durability and air conditioning performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia presents some of the toughest vehicle conditions anywhere in the world,\u201d said Lucas Harris, chief operating officer for Lepas Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoad surfaces vary enormously, distances are long, temperatures can be extreme and customers have very high expectations for ride, handling and refinement.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than simply bringing a global vehicle to market, we\u2019ve invested significant time validating and tuning Lepas for Australian conditions and will provide confidence for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lepas L6 BEV will be the first of the marque\u2019s models to launch in Australia in November, with further details on the model range, specifications, and launch timing to be announced closer to the date.<\/p>\n

For a full rundown of all available EV models in Australia, please go to our Compare EVs page here.<\/a><\/p>\n

And you can sign up for The Driven\u2019s free daily newsletter and get the latest EV news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy<\/a> and The Driven<\/a> since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Chinese automotive marque Lepas announced this week that it has completed an \u201cextensive\u201d local testing and adaptation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-812050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}