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March 23, 2022

The Geely Emgrand May Have The Smartest AC System In The Sub-Compact Sedan Class


Geely may have outdone themselves when it comes to the Emgrand. While it’s no secret that their sub-compact sedan scores high in the value quotient, little did anyone know its attention to detail goes to the little things like its air conditioning system (read our full review of the Emgrand Premium here).

The Emgrand is fitted with what Geely calls an Intelligent Air Conditioning system. By glancing at their brochure or press release, it may be simple to dismiss this as a simple marketing spiel to talk about the digital fan speed/temperature control setup. In actually, it’s much more than that.

Now, mind you, the Emgrand doesn’t have a full climate control system. There’s no way for you to set the temperature to target a certain Celsius or whatever. Instead, the blower speed and temperature are set via a menu on the 8-inch infotainment screen.

Despite the lack of an automatic climate control, Geely actually made the air conditioning system interact with the car’s various other electronics. This enables the Emgrand to switch between fresh and recirculate modes, adjust its fan speed, and turn the air conditioning on and off automatically in certain circumstances.


For example, the Emgrand automatically switches its air conditioning system to recirculate mode when the driver activates the windshield sprayer, or to fresh air mode when the sunroof is opened (and vice-versa). It even reduces the fan speed automatically when the driver accepts a phone call via Bluetooth.

Perfect for the Philippines’ tropical weather, the Emgrand automatically activates the blower and switches to fresh mode when it’s left parked for an extended period of time to cool down the cabin. Heck, the steering wheel has a “constant temperature” coating for its leather too, so it’s never hot to the touch. And when its rainy and damp, the air conditioner switches to a self-drying mode when turned off to prevent the growth of molds in the AC system.

It's great to see that Geely’s not just concentrating their time and effort on technologies and convenience features that grab attention. By coming up with features such as the Emgrand’s Intelligent Air Conditioning system, they prove that they’re taking the passengers’ needs front and center.

Now, if you could only give us better smartphone mirroring options like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto…

8 comments:

  1. Agree re Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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  2. In China they have their own proprietary infotainment operating systems in a number of Geely's cars, some had OTA updating and, I guess (since I can't understand Chinese) a Netflix-like movie catalogue (?)

    They have Baidu CarLife on some of their competitors (both private and state-owned/controlled) and even Apple Carplay (but no Android Auto, but I guess that's down to licensing issues.)


    Still, there's absolutely zero excuse for Geely to not put Android Auto/Carplay on their cars, given that some China-manufactured competitor cars have Carplay and Android Auto (Kia Soluto, Stonic, even some Chery and GAC models.) And some of us are definitely willing to pay extra to have that convenience. (I'm not personally a fan of using third-party mirroring apps—it's an exercise in frustration setting it up. Case in point: Toyota T-Link and some Suzuki models.)

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    Replies
    1. Maybe the licencing of android auto to volvo/polestar can be used in geely models since they're sister companies? Polestar 2 infotaiment system and some volvo models now have the official android os for automotive(not android auto but a whole system made by google and approved by) that has volvo skin on it, and that polestar 2 is also made in anhui where most geely's are also made.

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    2. I think they can leverage that association since Geely owns Volvo and Polestar. But I guess on the part of the Android Automotive (a different beast than Auto) it's still down on licensing issues.

      I wish future Geely vehicles get Auto or Carplay. There's no reason to refuse putting it since their other Chinese manufacturers have it for their cars overseas (at least, if it ever happens, on TOTL models that would pass.)


      Or otherwise, some people will just keep on hacking/modifying their infotainment systems (and probably, void the warranty.)

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  3. Naku, magagalit si Anonymous China car hater (nasisante na dating sales agent ng Geely kaya galit n galit s China brands)
    at si Asimo China car hater (siya ung nagpalit ng characters ng name niya, weird talaga tulad niya).
    Kapag may papuri sa China brands, naghihimutok mga tambutso nila LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh boy. this site is infected with overly sensitive, onion-skinned crybabies chinese garbage fanboys who think they won just because they read some PR marketing materials

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    2. Aba, react agad si former (terminated bec of INCOMPETENCE) sales agent. Guilty talaga. LOL.

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  4. Too many unnecessary tech that its so become confusing if not outright annoying for the driver

    ReplyDelete

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