GAC likes to harp about its connections with Toyota and Honda. It even counts a former Toyota chief engineer and platform specialist, Masato Katsumata, as its Chief Technology Officer. In that respect, some of that Japanese influence is rubbing off on the Aion V’s superb solidity. Everything is well put together with not a single rattle emanating from the dashboard even when going over uneven or rough pavement. To cap that off, the actual switchgear itself—the knobs, stalks, and buttons—all have this nice, crisp feel.

The Aion V’s highpoint continues to the cabin space itself. The front seats are far from being the most supportive, but they’re padded and cushioned like a pair of lounge chairs. There’s excellent room all around and plenty of adjustment to go by. The rear seats are just as good, particularly when it comes to hip and head support. Thoughtful details extend to the littlest things like actual levers (as opposed to pull tabs) to operate the 60/40 recline and belt loops to keep the 3-point seatbelts in order even when dropping the seatbacks down.

Mind you, dropping the seatbacks, or at least a portion of it, will become commonplace during Aion V ownership. If anything, this is where the chief compromise was made to free up more legroom. With the rear seats up, it can’t fit a medium-sized luggage (26-inch) lengthwise; crosswise, it can fit just one. Fitting two or more pieces of luggage is only possible if the luggage themselves are placed on their sides, and the seatback, even just a part of it, is folded. When not being used for the airport run, the cargo compartment is livable enough for a weekend grocery run. The floor’s even moveable to either increase the available cargo compartment height, or to reveal an underfloor storage where items like a portable charger and tools can be placed out of sight. And compared to other pure EVs out there, this one actually comes with a spare tire. There’s no frunk here.

Another weakness of the Aion V has to do with its lack of interior storage compartments. It all starts with the lack of a glovebox so there’s no place to put things like the owner’s manual or vehicle registration from the get-go. Then, GAC designers seem more interested in offering “twists” to what could have been more conventional storage spaces to the point that these “twists” become quite useless. Take for example the ring light vanity mirror lighting. Great for putting on makeup, but it robs drivers of a place to clip in their toll card. Then, there’s the center armrest console which houses the built-in ref. Great for keeping a six-pack cool, but terrible at keeping small items like keys and wallets out of view while driving. In the end, small daily items must share either the space beneath the center console (that’s also where the USB ports are), or if they’re light enough, where the wireless charging pad is. Just make sure to turn the wireless charging off first.

At this point, it’s good to discuss the Aion V’s on-board tech which can be best summarized as: technology for technology’s sake. Like plenty of Chinese EVs, it’s taken not just a page, but ripped out an entire chapter from Tesla’s playbook. Most vehicle functions have been crammed (needlessly) into the touchscreen not just for the usual suspects like the climate control and entertainment, but even for more mundane things like turning the headlights on and off (if not set to automatic), adjusting the side mirrors, saving/recalling seat memory, and even operating the tailgate. And with the way the menu system’s structured, the learning curve is steep. GAC’s decision to minimize physical controls even extend needlessly to the two stalks by the steering wheel. The left operates the wipers, turn signals, and high beams which can be confusing enough, but the right operates the gear shifter and cruise control. Switching to Drive requires flicking the right stalk down and switching to Reverse requires flicking the stalk up. Activating cruise control? A double tap down of the same stalk.

Like a Tesla, there’s no need to push buttons to get the Aion V up and running. Either press the door handles (or just walk up to the door handles if set in the infotainment), and the handles pop out electronically. Settle down on the driver’s seat, press the brake pedal, and the car’s ready to go. Switch off is largely the same thing as it stays on until the key’s detected outside the vehicle and the doors are locked.

As far as driving goes, the Aion V is pretty much run of the mill. Again, its biggest strength is its ability to soak away all of the bumps, even the big ones on the C5 truck lane. However, damping could use better tuning as it tends to feel floaty over small, sharp cracks and road joints. Steering also lacks feel and precision near center, but at least it gets more progressive with more turns of the wheel. The regen braking to friction brake hand off could be better too as the initial pedal feel is too soggy and vague.

On straighter pieces of road, progress is smooth with power building up gently. The single electric motor is clearly tuned for everyday driving so performance isn’t front-loaded. It’s easy to modulate all 204 horsepower and 240 Nm of torque. Plus, noise levels are generally low with only a minor level of road noise resonating inside when driven over harsh surfaces.

On paper, GAC claims a 510-kilometer WLTP (602-kilometer NEDC) range for the Aion V thanks to its 75.26-kWh LFP battery. Sadly, it doesn’t even come close to that number in real life. With an energy consumption of around 6 km/kWh (average speed of 16 km/h), around 450 kilometers on a single charge is more realistic. Even when driven in light traffic, say, 40 km/h average, the efficiency goes up to just 8.1 km/kWh. Alright, but not great.

Another thing that can use improvement is the ADAS. Right now, everyone’s already accustomed to Chinese cars throwing warning bongs and beeps pretty much non-stop, but the Aion V takes it to a different level with its poorly-tuned driver attention monitor. Even a quick glance to the side mirrors or speedometer is enough to throw a warning.

Pitching to the heart of the market, the GAC Aion V offers plenty of positives—a spacious interior, everyday performance, and peerless build quality. And it looks decent doing so too. All in all, it does remarkably well as a box-ticking exercise. At the same time, it’s not without its shortcomings with its less-than-advertised range, quirky tech interface, lack of cubby holes, and poor damping being the most notable four. The fact that the Aion V is purely electric already limits its mass market appeal, but for those looking for a better alternative, to say, the BYD Atto 3 or for those who’re already willing to take the BEV plunge, the Aion V might be worth a closer look.