A rugged SUV with a secret pops up at NAVEE’s booth at CES

The CES show in Las Vegas always has a few surprises, but this year, a scooter company stole the spotlight with a giant SUV. Visitors walking past the NAVEE booth might have rubbed their eyes in confusion. NAVEE is famous for making electric scooters. So, why was there a beefy, boxy off-roader sitting where the scooters should be? It turns out the answer is all about how we get from place to place.

The vehicle is called Star Motor T06 and it might look like a brand-new invention from NAVEE, but it is actually just a disguised version of the Jetour Traveller, known as the Jetour T2 in other parts of the world. Jetour is a brand owned by Chery, one of the biggest car makers in China. Even though NAVEE creates a number of products for the Xiaomi ecosystem, it decided to partner up with another automaker to show people a new way to travel that uses both big EVs and small ones.

The idea behind this partnership is simple. Imagine you want to go camping or visit a crowded city center. A big SUV is great for the long highway drive, but it can be a pain to park or drive on narrow trails. NAVEE calls this the "Last Mile" problem. Their solution is to put a high-end electric scooter right in the trunk of the Jetour Traveller. You drive the SUV as far as you can, park it, and then hop on the scooter to finish your journey.

This specific Jetour Traveller seems to be the C-DM version - a plug-in hybrid. For people who worry about electric cars running out of power, this setup is a dream. It can drive on just electricity for short trips and use gas for the long haul.

Under the hood, the Traveller has a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine paired with a clever hybrid system. Together with electric motors, the system pumps out about 375 horsepower (280 kW) and a massive 450 lb-ft of torque. That is plenty of muscle to climb steep hills or pass slower traffic on the road. It also uses an "XWD" system - a smart four-wheel-drive setup that handles all the hard work for you.

The battery has a capacity of 40.3 kWh, and on a full charge, the car can travel about 78 miles without using a single drop of gas. If you fill up the gas tank and charge the battery, the total range jumps to over 746 miles. According to NAVEE's reps at CES, the battery can charge to 80% in just 15 minutes.

The Jetour Traveller is a big machine. It measures 188.4 inches in length and 79 inches in width. It stands 74 inches tall, making it look very similar to a Land Rover Defender. The design is very "boxy," which gives it a tough look. It has a rugged front bumper and bright LED headlights that look like a cross or a dash.

Inside, the car follows a theme called "Fortress and Sanctuary." The "Fortress" part is the strong steel cage that keeps passengers safe. The "Sanctuary" part is the cabin, which feels like a quiet, high-tech office. There is a huge floating screen in the middle and chunky handles on the center console to hold onto when the road gets bumpy.

The coolest part of this NAVEE edition is how the car and the scooter talk to each other. Rumors at the show suggest that the car's big screen can actually show you how much battery life is left in the scooter sitting in the back. There is even a built-in charging dock in the trunk, so your scooter is always ready to go.

As for the price, the standard Jetour Traveller C-DM starts at around $21,500 (RMB 152,900) in its home market. We do not know the exact price for this "scooter-bundled" version, but it targets people who love the outdoors and want the latest tech. Curiously, the T06 is apparently heading to the Middle East and North American markets in the second quarter of this year, with ambitious plans to expand to Australia and South-East Asian markets in 2027.