Voyah's Maserati Levante Wannabe SUV Is a 684-HP EV Called Free

A Maserati-inspired grille, Kia Sorento-like headlamps, Volvo wheels, Porsche Cayenne-looking taillights, Range Rover-esque door handles, Volkswagen-inspired front light strip, and interior buttons from Mercedes-Benz should be just enough for a new car company to develop a vehicle that will be liked by Europeans. Voyah’s done it all.

Everywhere you look at the new Free EV SUV, you’ll find design cues that mimic what other well-known carmakers are already doing. Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily. This is a somewhat expected result of the collaboration with ItalDesign – the same company that provided us with the Nissan GT-R 50. The Italians didn't involve themselves in the appearance of this particular car, but the partnership has clearly left a mark.

If you like what the Chinese are doing, then the free market should be able to offer you the possibility to buy those products. Politics aside, the greater the competition is between automakers, the better it is for the customer. This means there’s a real chance for companies to fight for every customer.

Just look at what’s happening right now. Cars are almost nowhere to be found. New ones are being sold from the factory floor or, worse, are paid in full before they even get to the production facility. Carmakers are also changing their selling strategies. Mercedes-Benz and BMW announced at the same time publicly that they don’t intend to lower their prices even after we’ll pass the current world crisis. It’s pure insanity, but it works.

The results proved it.

Voyah has every right to succeed

At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that BMW, a European brand, was US’s largest car exporter not only in 2021 – but for eight years in a row! Only the 2021 production effort by the automaker amounts to over $10 billion. And that happened while customers had to wait months for their cars. The market is constantly changing, and that doesn’t guarantee only European or American success. Asian manufacturers will have their word to say in the matter soon enough. Voyah, like the others, is just trying to become more profitable. And it might enjoy some unexpected popularity.

The Free is the EV SUV that’ll help Wuhan-based Voyah establish a European presence by entering Norway first. The cars are expected to arrive in June this year, while the store will be opened in July. Deliveries are expected to start until November.

Oslo will be the first city to host the Chinese brand. The move seems natural since the northern country is already accustomed to electric cars. That’s mainly because there are incentives like no VAT, no purchasing tax, and no road tolls enabled for EV customers. That’s also why Tesla’s so popular.

Voyah Free wants to be identified as a luxury vehicle. With a wheelbase of almost three meters (ten feet), seven seats, air suspension, high-quality interior, two electric motors, more than enough power to reach the 200 kph (124 mph) top speed, four-wheel drive, an impressive weight (for such an EV) of just 2.3 tons (4600 lb), a lot of on-board technology and connectivity, an NEDC range of 500 km (310 mi), many cameras and sensors to assist the driver... It surely is impressive. What’s even more staggering is the price: $57,700 (~€51.000) for an SUV that promises comfort, new technology, and unexpected performance. All the details for the available trims can be found here.

The choice is yours to make

There is not that much official information about Voyah's European pls available at the moment, but we’re expecting the Chinese automaker to soon start its operations. For now, we know that the Free SUV will also be available in cheaper trims that provide standard suspension and only rear-wheel drive.

Clients will even have the possibility to choose a range-extender (REEV) version that’s equipped with a 1.5L turbo engine and a 33-kWh battery. Here the internal combustion engine works as a generator after the battery has been nearly emptied. The 671-HP system can help the SUV run for almost 860 km (534 mi).

Voyah also makes a luxurious MPV called the Dreamer that looks like a Mercedes-Benz V Class (known as Metris in the U.S.) but sports a ginormous BMW 7 Series-like grille. Find it confusing?

Well, so do we. But that’s not stopping them - and it shouldn’t - from pushing for success. Voyah’s not alone in the endeavor to conquer European drivers’ hearts and wallets. Nio, Xpeng, BYD, Aiways, SAIC-owned MG and Maxus, Great Wall Motor (GWM), and Geely’s Zeekr and Lynk & Co. are all starting to become increasingly involved in car markets that are and aren’t inside the European Union.

While known European carmakers are trying their best to keep a strong presence in China and face numerous challenges for selling there, the Asian country’s manufacturers are slowly but surely establishing a strong presence on the other side of the Ural Mountains. In the end, they might just win.