The number of electric cars in Russia is growing, as of January 1, 2025, 59,6 thousand electric vehicles (EVs) were registered. At the same time, over 60 percent of the Russians are ready to consider them as their main means of transport. During a test drive of a Lipetsk-assembled Evolute i-SKY electric car EcoTourism EXPERT found out whether electric cars can really be considered environmentally friendly vehicles, given that in Russia, Europe and the USA, every fifth or sixth kilowatt-hour used in traction batteries is made from coal, how far can tourists travel by these cars and whether electric cars are suitable for ecotourism.
Sky at your feet
On the outside, an Evolute i-SKY car looks like its prototype - a Dongfeng Thunder SX5GEV car from the Forthing line. Moreover, it still has a tightly closed fuel filler flap for refueling gasoline turbocharged engines installed on the base model.
A distinctive external feature of an Evolute i-SKY car is its front part with daytime running lights in the form of a curved line. The rear bodywork has a design of running lights looking similar to those of a Porsche Cayenne III car and restyled III generation ones that have been produced since 2017. However, this is where the similarities end. Moreover, an Evolute i-SKY car costs at least twice as cheap as these Porsche cars, its price is from 2,990,000 rubles, taking into account the special offer and government support.
As for its exterior, perhaps, it is worth paying attention to the branded plugs in the inter-spoke space of the wheel disks, ventilation holes for the electric motor with liquid cooling in the front bumper next to the hatch for the charging port. it is also worth paying attention at the bright orange design elements, looking at which someone might get the idea that this car looks like a sport one.
Also, let’s have a look at the car interior. By the way, keyless access is standard, and to disarm the alarm, a driver needs just to pull the driver’s door handle. And to arm the alarm, a driver needs to press the finger on the three lines stamped out on the driver’s door handle.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s convenient to open a trunk. When a person approaches this car with bags full of groceries from the supermarket, it’s not necessary to put them on the ground. The person needs to wave the foot under the rear bumper somewhere in the area under the license plate and the trunk will open. By the way, the word ‘somewhere’ is not used by chance because during the test drive, it was not possible to completely localize the zone where one need to wave the toe of the boot.
The ground clearance of an Evolute i-SKY car is 19 centimeters. And although there is no 4-wheel drive, the flat bottom (where the traction battery is located) allows a driver to overcome small off-road conditions with relative confidence. So, an Evolute i-SKY car is quite suitable for ecotourism. Moreover, if a driver doesn’t mind to use the charge of the car battery, then external power consuming devices and appliances (up to three kilowatts), for example, a portable coffee maker, can be connected to the electric car using special adapters.
Traveling in comfort
The interior decoration of the cabin for front passengers can be called somewhat ascetic. The quality of plastic material of the front panel is not high, and if the insert is to imitate ‘carbon’ option, it would be worth making it looking really ‘carbon’. In front of the driver, there is a steering wheel with buttons located on it for accessing the on-board menu, buttons for cruise control, and the ones to control radio, telephone, turn on the 3D view from the cameras and volume. By the way, a steering wheel is adjustable in two planes, but its position still remains vertical. So, an Evolute i-SKY car is not suitable for those who like to practically ‘lie’ when driving.
Perhaps, this car is not comfortable for people who are taller than average. And the matter is not the size of a cabin, by the way, it is very comfortable, with a wheelbase of 2.71 meters. The fact is that the backrest is short, and this can cause some discomfort to a driver and front passenger during long trips.
Despite the fact that lately, car manufacturers often place almost all functions to the on-board menu, they decided to put the buttons in an Evolute i-SKY car used for switching driving modes (there are three of them - Normal, Eco and Sport), hill descent control system, handbrake and climate control. The latter, by the way, is still quite ‘blind’ (not clearly seen) on a sunny day, especially with an open panoramic roof.
The driver and front passenger are provided with cup holders and fairly roomy glove compartments with a USB port in one of them.
As for convenience, a small hatch is very useful where a driver can attach a holder for a smartphone. And a designer’s whim is the design of an automatic gearbox in the form of transparent faceted plastic looking like a ‘crystal’ one.
Let’s also pay attention to the fact that a wheelbase of 2.71 meters allows a passenger to sit very comfortably in the back row, and even with the legs crossed, which is, of course, good during long trips.
There is really a lot of space for passengers in an Evolute i-SKY car. Thanks to front-wheel drive, there is no ‘tunnel’ in the middle, and an armrest with cup holders and an USB charging port allows passengers to feel comfortable during the trip. There is even a room to hang a bag from a supermarket weighing up to three kilograms or something else and put small things in a pocket on the backrest of the front seat.
In search of a charging station
And now let’s talk about the main thing - how long a trip by an Evolute i-SKY car can be.
The manufacturer’s declared mileage of 511 kilometers according to the specification. However, the electric car’s computer can calculate the remaining distance in kilometers not only by the WLTP or CLTC cycles, but also adapts to the driving style, the modes used and other factors.
In reality, a driver can drive physical 55 kilometers in the summer, the charge can decrease from 99 to 91 percent during this time, and the virtual mileage can increase by 2 kilometers (!)- from 571 to 573.
How can this happen? This is explained by recuperation. Braking gives energy back to the battery.
Therefore, traffic jams are the ideal situation for an Evolute i-SKY car. By the way, a driver needs to know that the higher the battery charge is, the worse the recuperation works. The fact is that driving on a free highway at a steady speed doesn’t give any recuperation, and the battery shows pure consumption.
On average, it turns out that one percent of battery consumption is about 3-4 km in winter and 4-5 km in summer. The capacity of a lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt battery is 85.9 kWh, so, a driver can make calculations.
As for money, the average cost of a kilowatt-hour during the first charge - the power of which fluctuated around ten kilowatts - was about 18 rubles. After 20 minutes of charging (for 133 rubles), about 7.4 kilowatt-hours were ‘filled’ into the battery, and the virtual mileage counter increased by 50 kilometers.
It turns out that 100 kilometers can cost about 250 rubles. This is approximately equivalent to 5 liters of gasoline. And on average, it turns out that refueling an electric car is 1.5 to 2 times cheaper than refueling a car with an internal combustion engine.
Your own clear SKY
An Evolute i-SKY car is exactly what a regular ‘standard’ (if one can say so) electric car should be. It is easy to drive it, it has a good power reserve, it’s roomy, quiet, cozy, and comfortable.
An Evolute i-SKY car has a single but good car configuration. Parking sensors are located around the car, 360-degree cameras are provided, as well as a servo drive for the trunk lid, climate and cruise control, electric drives for front seat adjustments, ventilation and massage of the driver’s seat, six airbags, tire pressure monitoring, blind spot and rear traffic monitoring.
With an electric car, a car owner doesn’t pay transport tax, parking fees, as well as no payments for traveling on toll roads, for an oil change in the engine, and a car owner saves quite a lot on recharging. May be, this car is not the best option for very long trips, but it is very good for going to your office, back home, to shops and to your summer house (dacha) without the need to constantly check the charge level.
The main disadvantage of an Evolute i-SKY car lies in the infrastructure. When there are only 4 charging stations in a city of about 120 thousand people, using an electric car can turn into a constant search for a charging station, unless you live in your own house, of course. I think, when this disadvantage disappears, all other disadvantages of an Evolute i-SKY car will seem special features rather than disadvantages.
