Aion V review

New GAC-owned Chinese brand arrives in the UK, going big on value with a £36k electric family SUV

Chapter 1: Introduction
Find Aion V deals
Other Services
Sell your car
84% get more money with

I know what you're thinking: oh goody, yet another Chinese brand arriving in the UK.

Surprise, surprise, it's got a strange name – Aion – and its first fruit here is a family-sized electric crossover.

But, so the folks behind the brand's UK arm claim, this isn't the kind of venture we've come to expect from China's entrants to the UK and European markets.

Rather than simply being an importer, Aion UK is a partnership between car-making giant GAC, which builds cars in China for Toyota and Honda, and Jameel Motors, an international distributor.

It doesn't want huge sales right out of the gate – there will only be 25 or so Aion dealers across the UK by the year's end – and it won't be flooding the market with a huge variety of models.

For now, the V is the only car you will be able to get from an Aion dealer. It will soon be joined by the UT, an electric hatchback pitched as a rival to the Volkswagen ID 3, but that's your lot until next year.

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

AION V review 2026 002

The V is an electric family SUV priced from £36,450, positioning it as a value alternative to the likes of the Skoda Enyaq.

It faces stiff competition from a number of crossovers, but Aion hopes its design – purposefully chunky, rather than looking like another raised hatchback – will help it to stand out from the crowd.

Vs sold in China don't come with a parcel shelf, because theft from cars isn't a problem there. One had to be developed for the car's European debut.
Charlie Martin
Staff Writer

Design is a matter of taste, but I find it to be largely successful in this respect. It errs on the side of the generic and the front end looks a little bit gawky, but I think there's more visual interest on offer here than you get from the blob-like BYD Atto 3 Evo, Vauxhall Grandland Electric or Volkswagen ID 4.

A single front-mounted motor puts out 201bhp and 177lb ft of torque and a 75.3kWh battery officially lets it cover 317 miles between charges.

Once you've run it close to empty, rapid-charging from 30-80% takes 18 minutes, with rates peaking at 180kW.

Colour aside, there's only one option on offer: a £1450 Premium Package that adds niceties including a cool/hot box (whose temperature can range from -15deg C to 50deg C) and flip-out tables for the rear passengers, supposedly benchmarked against those in Bentleys.

INTERIOR

AION V review 2026 004

As sales pitches go, comparing a cheap family SUV with a six-figure limousine is on the ambitious side. Yet the Aion does stand out against its European competitors for its sense of quality.

Almost everything inside is lined with pleather that feels like a fairly good imitation of the real thing, and you won't find scratchy plastics anywhere that you might touch in regular use.

I was deeply impressed with V's materials. They feel more like what you'd expect in an old executive car, rather than something priced to compete on value terms.
Charlie Martin
Staff Writer

The windowsills' lining is a particular highlight: in rivals, this is usually a harsh, hard-wearing plastic but here it's more of that very nicely padded fake leather. It's great if you like to rest your arm along it when cruising.

The coating on the vents – which are adjustable by hand, rather than through a screen – is a decent imitation of actual metal and the few stalks and buttons around the steering wheel have a pleasantly tactile clickiness to them.

The front seats are rather comfortable, with a good amount of back support, plenty of adjustability and a nice squishiness in the bottom squab. Opting for the Premium Package adds an eight-way massaging function, too.

Room in the back is palatial. The second row can recline at angles up to 137deg, so you could quite comfortably use it as a bed if you so desired. Or you could simply let your rear passengers relax. It would make a tremendous taxi.

Set off, however, and things can get a bit confusing. There are no physical mirror controls, forcing you instead to delve several levels deep into the many menus of the 14.6in infotainment touchscreen, before using the physical dials on the face of the steering wheel to adjust the mirrors' angles.

If, like me, you tend to make finer adjustments once you've left your parking space and found a couple of reference points, this might take somewhat longer than you deem agreeable.

So much of this car's configuration is buried in menus, and although the screen is responsive, it can become a big distraction if you want to make tweaks on the move. You can even choose how loud to make the indicators. Is that something I really need control of? If I do, should it be nestled in a menu alongside other functions that are much more useful? It feels needlessly complicated.

The lack of physical climate controls is also a shame, but they are at least permanently displayed on a toolbar at the bottom of the screen. This remains in place even when you're using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

AION V review 2026 017

The 201bhp and 177lb ft produced by the V's lone motor may not sound much compared with some rivals, but it proves to be plenty in the real world.

The throttle is tuned to provide a more relaxed step-off than you get in the 308bhp Atto 3 Evo, and the brakes exhibit a similar smoothness. A stronger regen setting for the latter would be welcome around town, though. 

You can't adjust the regen without delving into the frustrating touchscreen. Some paddles mounted behind the steering wheel would be very welcome.
Charlie Martin
Staff Writer

The V feels well-balanced on the whole, offering enough punch to make quick overtakes without overwhelming the front tyres or the chassis. 

Noise from the motor is well contained, too, only a faint whine under particularly harsh demands being audible.

Refinement is more broadly on a par for the class. Tyre roar is agreeable at motorway speeds, although the wind whistles its way past the side mirrors north of about 60mph.

RIDE & HANDLING

AION V review 2026 018

The main letdown in the V is the ride. Although Aion has modified the supsension to suit British roads, fitting stiffer springs and dampers, it feels like there's more work to be done here. 

It isolates more mild bumps well but you can notice the wheels deflecting over harsher potholes. There's a constant fidgeting over particularly battled-scarred road surfaces and there's a floatiness about its body that made me feel carsick riding in the passenger seat.

GAC executives apparently view the tweaks made to UK-bound Vs as such an improvement on the Chinese-market car that they have now been rolled out Europe-wide.
Charlie Martin
Staff Writer

Those sensations undo the sense of calm provided by the trusty steering and plush upholstery.

Moreover, the ADAS constantly chirp away at you. The driver attention monitor was the biggest culprit, moaning at me for checking my mirrors, a blindspot or even when staring straight at the road. It was seemingly confused by my polarised sunglasses, as removing them reduced the rate of errant activations – but they were still plentiful enough to become enraging.

In fairness, rivals such as the Kia EV5 are equally annoying in this regard. But, owing to the cluttered interface of the V's touchscreen, it's more difficult to turn the systems off here.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

AION V review 2026 001

The killer stat for the V is its price: at £36,450, it's more than £3000 cheaper than the entry-level Skoda Enyaq, while offering a plusher interior, a greater amount of standard kit and a better range. 

Aion is also offering some compelling incentives to convince buyers to opt for a new brand, aimed at building trust. Chief among these is its 'Great Eight': an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty that also includes free servicing and breakdown cover for that period. It's transferable between owners, too. It's modelled on Kia's seven-year warranty, which played a significant role in that brand's dramatic rise in the UK over the past two decades.

According to industry forecaster Cap HPI, an Aion V should be worth around £17,500 after three years.
Charlie Martin
Staff Writer

Aion's UK arm also claims it has worked to secure a significant reserve of spare parts so that any crash-damaged or faulty cars can be put back on the road in short order, but we will have to wait to see what truth there is in this suggestion.

Servicing, meanwhile, can be done either at an Aion dealer – of which there will be 25 by the end of this year – or by one of the AA's mobile technicians. 

As for day-to-day running costs, the V is officially capable of yielding an efficiency figure of 3.6mpkWh. In the real world, I would expect a figure of around 200-220 miles of range at A-road and motorway speeds or nearer 270-280 miles around town.

VERDICT

AION V review 2026 022

The V is the most polished of the Chinese newcomers I've yet sampled. It responds to inputs exactly as you would hope, which isn't always a given, and impresses with an overall sense of solidity.

In short, it feels like a good left-field challenger to the European establishment on value terms.

It's not all the way there – the flawed ride, lack of proper buttons and overcomplicated touchscreen preclude it from that – but is an impressive first showing from Aion.

Charlie Martin

Charlie Martin Autocar
Title: Staff Writer

As part of Autocar’s news desk, Charlie plays a key role in the title’s coverage of new car launches and industry events. He’s also a regular contributor to its social media channels, creating content for Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

Charlie joined Autocar in July 2022 after a nine-month stint as an apprentice with sister publication What Car?, during which he acquired his gold-standard NCTJ diploma with the Press Association.

He is the proud owner of a Mk4 Mazda MX-5 but still feels pangs of guilt over selling his first car, a Fiat Panda 100HP.