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Jun 19, 2023

Neta S 2023 Review

Our landscape is changing with the influx of new Chinese cars in Australia, most of them combining head-turning looks with a battery-electric powertrain. The sleek Neta S mid-size sedan isn’t yet

Our landscape is changing with the influx of new Chinese cars in Australia, most of them combining head-turning looks with a battery-electric powertrain. The sleek Neta S mid-size sedan isn’t yet available in Australia, but its parent Hozon Auto is among those with an export strategy underway targeting high-growth markets such as ours with EVs to rival popular models – in this case, the Tesla Model 3. The Neta S is certainly stylish, and while it doesn’t live up to expectations in terms of cabin quality, it could find favour Down Under if the price is right.

Neta (or Nezha) is yet another new Chinese EV brand with big ambitions and it looks like it might just be able to deliver.

In China, Neta’s sales in June, for example, surpassed better-known Chinese EV start-ups Nio and XPeng.

What’s more, parent company Hozon Auto, which comes under the umbrella of the Zhejiang Hezhong New Energy Automobile Company, is already producing cars for right-hand drive markets while building a new production facility in Bangkok, Thailand, which is due to open in January 2024 to service ASEAN countries.

Australia is on Hozon’s radar, with the 2023 Neta S you see here a key model aiming at the popular Tesla Model 3 and incoming BYD Seal with its combination of stylish looks and budget pricing.

There’s also a related GT coupe that sells alongside the Neta S, while other EVs in the range include the Neta U small SUV (launched in 2019) and the one-size-smaller Neta V, or Aya, compact crossover (launched 2020).

The Neta S marks a shift in focus from budget to value for money, adding specification and sophistication to the equation.

In China, the Neta S is priced from RMB159,800 ($A33,900) to RMB341,800 ($72,400) for the dual-motor, scissor-doored 650 Yaoshi Edition tested here.

Front scissor doors are only available at this stage on the sporty Yaoshi Edition of the 2023 Neta S – all other versions get conventional doors – while the range-topping EV also comes with a body kit.

All Neta S models are fitted with a fixed panoramic glass roof, and by the time you get to top-spec variants you have the ability to adjust the transparency of the glass via the central touch-screen display.

Higher-spec Neta S cars also get leather seats and suede trim.

Surprisingly, there is electric adjustment of both front and rear seats across the range – the only addition is higher-spec cars get a leg rest on the front passenger seat – while seat heating is also standard and ventilation appears in all but entry-level models.

Our test car also included a massage function for the front seats.

The interior environment benefits from a PM2.5 filtration system and negative ion generator.

In China, the Neta S comes with a four-year/120,000km warranty.

Safety specification of the 2023 Neta S in China is basic at the entry level (Lite), but becomes far more comprehensive as you move through the model range.

Our test car is fitted with driver assist features such as front and rear collision warnings, plus alerts for when the doors open.

There’s also autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assistance and warning, driver fatigue monitoring and road sign recognition.

The one Lidar-equipped version which sits just below our test car has Neta Pilot 4.0 and is capable of traffic light recognition.

On the passive side, six airbags are fitted standard across the range and there are ISOFIX attachment points for child seats.

The Neta S has received a maximum five-star safety rating under the Chinese NCAP testing regime, which is a partner organisation to ANCAP, but that does not guarantee it will receive an equivalent rating in Australia.

If bigger equals better, then the 2023 Neta S must surely be a winner – the dashboard is dominated by a huge 17.6-inch infotainment screen.

In addition, all but entry-level models get an additional 12.3-inch entertainment screen for the front passenger.

Of course, the driver isn’t neglected with a 13.3-inch digital instrument panel, while higher-spec versions gain an augmented reality head-up display.

Many of the car’s functions can be controlled by voice command, which seems to work reasonably well in Mandarin.

In China, more and more cars are coming equipped with Lidar and the Neta S is no exception. However, strangely only one version gets Lidar and that is the one directly below our test car.

Every car in the range bar the Lite version gets some level of Neta Pilot. The nomenclature seems to be directly copied from fellow Chinese EV start-up XPeng, with Neta Pilot 2.5 found at the entry level being not much more than adaptive cruise control.

Then there is Neta Pilot 3.0, which is on all other Neta S models bar the Lidar-equipped version. The 3.0 is a more sophisticated system that should deliver a greater degree of semi-autonomous driving, though strangely it was not activated on our test car.

Finally, Neta Pilot 4.0 comes with the sole Lidar-equipped model.

The sensor suite for 3.0 and 4.0 consists of 12 ultrasonic sensors, 10 exterior cameras plus one internal, and 5mm wavelength radars. Neta Pilot 4.0 features two Lidar units and allows some degree of inner-city self-driving.

All versions of the 2023 Neta S have an electric motor on the rear axle, producing 170kW of power and 310Nm of torque.

At the higher end, such as with our test car, an e-motor with the same output is positioned at the front-end, allowing for four-wheel drive and twice as much output (340kW/620Nm).

With the dual-motor set-up, acceleration from 0-100km/h is a phenomenal 3.9 seconds (claimed).

The rear-wheel drive version isn’t too shabby either, completing the dash in 6.9sec.

Neta also offers range-extender plug-in hybrid powertrain options in China, positioned at the lower end of the model range and drawing from a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that acts as a generator.

Even by Chinese standards, the battery capacities of the 2023 Neta S range are complex, with no less than six different sizes available.

The easiest to sort out are the 650 versions, as found on our test car, which use a 91kWh lithium-ion battery pack and, as the name suggests, has a claimed driving range of 650km (based on China’s generous CLTC test method).

There are also 715 models that, depending on the variant, use either an 84.5kWh or 85.1kWh battery pack. Range-extender versions naturally use a smaller battery and offer less EV range in lieu of the longer distances the petrol engine enables.

In all but one model, the lithium-ion batteries are the nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) type. A 520 model was introduced recently with a 64.5kWh pack using lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry.

Luckily, charging times seem a lot more standardised than all that! No matter which battery is fitted, Neta says charging from 30-80 per cent takes about 35 minutes on a DC fast-charger, or 10 hours using slower AC charging.

If you expect great things from the 2023 Neta S, be prepared for disappointment – those looks and the power in the dual-motor version simply don’t deliver the promised drive.

On the plus side, the steering is reasonably well weighted and seems to be adaptive, feeling lighter at low speeds.

However, equally at low speeds there seemed to be a scraping noise produced when turning the wheel.

We couldn’t work out how to change the drive mode but we did manage to put the car into what was claimed to be one-pedal mode. I say claimed because it does not offer true one-pedal driving; instead, speed drops off fairly quickly at higher speeds but below around 30km/h it comes off slowly and eventually seems to drop down to a 6km/h creep.

The Neta S tested here rides on 19-inch wheels and sophisticated double-wishbone front and five-link rear suspension, but from our first drive it’s not in the same class dynamically as the BYD Seal or XPeng P7i. It’s not too bad, but just doesn’t handle as keenly and is more geared up for comfort.

It’s also on the noise side when it comes to NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) properties.

A definite positive is the augmented reality head-up display, which has animated blue chevrons to show where you need to turn.

It’s a similar story on the inside of the 2023 Neta S. Yes, it looks good but poke around and the shine soon comes off, quite literally in the case of the shiny piano black plastic used in places.

Generally, the materials look good but don’t feel anywhere near as great to the touch bar the suede and leather. The seats are also quite hard.

Then there’s the lack of attention to detail. For example, the glovebox bangs against the front passenger’s knees when opened.

Also, the capacitive switches for the windows may look good but are hard to operate, especially without looking at them (although you could, of course, tell the system to open them for you).

In the back there is a capacitive-touch panel on the fold-down arm rest to adjust the angle of the backrest.

Headroom for me (1.75m tall) left about 70mm to the roof lining, while legroom was far more spacious.

There’s also a screen on the back of the centre console box, showing only the time and temperature.

Fully electric versions of the Neta S have a 60-litre frunk. The boot, on the other hand, is not particularly large and there is a quite narrow opening with a lip.

The tailgate is electric, though, and there is a ski port in the back seat to pass through longer items.

There’s no doubt that the 2023 Neta S is a good-looking thing. The sleek design and scissor doors are immediate drawcards, while Chinese customers have several eye-catching colours to choose from, both outside and in.

The Neta S represents a huge improvement over the emerging brand’s other models, but there are definite shortcomings and cabin quality is at a point where other Chinese EV start-ups were, say, three years ago.

The drive also doesn’t quite deliver, but at least the platform is able to cope with the level of power on tap with the dual-motor powertrain. That’s not always the case with Chinese EVs.

We’d expect more engineering work to be done on the Neta S before entering a demanding market such as Australia.

And, ultimately, looks will triumph for most buyers, who we suspect won’t be disappointed with the purchase decision.

2023 Neta S 650 Yaoshi Edition at a glance:Price: $65,000 est (plus on-road costs)Available: To be confirmedPowertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motorsOutput: 340kW/620NmTransmission: Single-speed reduction gearBattery: 91kWh ternary lithiumRange: 650km (CLTC)Energy consumption: 14kWh/100km (CLTC)Safety rating: Five-star (C-NCAP 2021)

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