This $42,000 hardcore 4x4 wants to be Chinese Range Rover

Trying to track down what company owns what brand in China is a tricky endeavor - we have recently reported that Roborock, a Chinese vacuum cleaner manufacturer is ready to launch its first SUV. A day later, we found out that it wasn’t Roborock on its own, and that there was a far bigger story behind this vehicle.

So, what is it then? Thanks to the Chinese MIIT regulator we now have a bit clearer picture. The vehicle you see here is Stone 01. Stone is yet another new brand from China looking at luxury SUVs, and it is owned by Rox Motor (owned by Roborock vacuum cleaner manufacturer) and Beijing Automobile Works Co., which is a subsidiary of BAIC. If that wasn’t enough of big names, CATL supplies the battery pack, Xiaomi was an early investor, and Tencent has its share of the pie as well.

Originally, the Stone 01 was the sole project of Rox Motor and it was called Luo Ke, unfortunately, as is the case with many EV startups, the company needed bailing out, and that’s when BAIC stepped in.

The Stone 01 is quite a beast - it weighs nearly 3.2 metric tons, and with a wheelbase of 118.5 inches it matches the dimension of a standard Range Rover, which is not a coincidence. The overall shape, dimensions, and design are more of an “interpretation” of the current Range Rover with a little bit of Defender design features thrown in for a good mix. There’s no arguing the Stone 01 looks good, but original? Nope, the company didn’t have enough time to be original.

The power comes from two electric motors - 250 kW at the front and 200 kW pushing the rear wheels. 350 kW (470 hp) is plenty even for a heavy SUV like this one, top speed is listed as 118 mph. Since this is an EREV, there's a 1.5-liter gasoline generator used to keep the battery charged up, and while the battery manufacturer is listed as CATL, there is no information about its capacity.

There are more similarities between the Stone 01 and the Range Rover - the Chinese SUV has dimensions of 198.8 inches x 78 inches x 73.6 inches while the Range Rover is 198.9 inches x 78.3 inches x 73.6 inches (L x W x H) - coincidence again? For now, not much else is known about the Stone 01, but the MIIT approval signals an approaching debut. At an expected starting price of RMB 300,000 ($42,00) it is going to be quite an attractive offer, even in the crowded Chinese luxury SUV market.

Via