Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia (Pekema) subsidiary Central Auto Distributors has launched the little Dongfeng Box EV (called the Nammi 01 in China) in Malaysia. OTR prices before insurance are RM100,700 for the E2 variant and RM113,700 for the E3 variant.
Buyers who can get their cars registered this year receive a free portable charging unit worth RM1,088, a free front cabin storage worth RM1,250 and any one of these three: one year’s charging credit worth RM3,000 (subject to fair usage policy), a home wall charger worth RM3,288 or service maintenance worth RM3,000.
A front-mounted 95 PS/160 Nm electric motor (same power as the BYD Dolphin but 20 Nm less torque) gives the CBU-China-for-now (CKD expected next year) Box a 140 km/h top speed. The E2’s 31.45 kWh battery can take 3.3 kW AC charging for a 330 km CLTC range; for the E3 it’s 42.3 kWh, 6.6 kW AC and 430 km. Both LFP batteries can be charged from 30-80% in around 30 minutes (max DC rate undisclosed).
You’ll spot some smart #1-like design elements, including the wraparound windscreen design and distinctive C-pillar cutout – both giving it the fashionable ‘floating roof’. Flush pop-out door handles and frameless windows, too – you won’t find these anywhere else in the segment, at least for now.
Also quite ‘premium’-looking are the LED head and tail lamps as well as the full-width front light bar. Both variants have 17-inch wheels – steelies with aero covers on the E2 and two-tone five-spoke alloys on the E3.
Step inside and – wow, that’s a lot of quilted faux leather – a tiny five-inch digital meter panel peeks through a slightly-oblong two-spoke steering wheel that’s rake- but not reach-adjustable.
You’ll see decorative straps on the passenger-side dashboard (making it look like a luxury bag) and a floating centre console that houses a 50W Qi wireless charger, an armrest box and additional open storage underneath. No glovebox; you get a small drawer instead.
What’s not small is the 12.8-inch centre touchscreen with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, which has a cute home screen that shows a cat curled up on a chair (tap on it to make it stretch!) in a very colourful living room. Customisable inspirational quotes, too.
Other features include auto air-con, a frameless rear-view mirror, a 360 camera with a transparency function, 32-colour ambient lighting, six speakers and proximity locking and unlocking. No power seats, but both front seats are height-adjustable, which isn’t common.
Safety-wise, only the E3 gets ADAS (AEB, ACC, lane centring assist, traffic sign recognition, park assist). Unfortunately, the entire range only has two airbags.
The Dongfeng Box can be had in white, purple, green or blue. E3 buyers can get a white roof (‘floating cloud’ is the marketing name) for RM2,000, unless of course their car is white to begin with.
Warranties are five years/150,000 km for the vehicle and eight years/150,000 km for the high-voltage battery. A total of 16 authorised dealers and two Klang Valley experience centres are ready to serve customers.
Dongfeng Box E3 in Malaysia
Dongfeng Box E2 in Malaysia
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