Farizon SV L1H1
Given the opportunity to spend a bit more time in the newcomer’s first offering, John Kendall finds out how the Farizon fares on UK roads
Farizon SV L1H1
Given the opportunity to spend a bit more time in the newcomer’s first offering, John Kendall finds out how the Farizon fares on UK roads
It is some months since we first drove the Farizon SV, produced by Chinese manufacturer Geely – which owns Volvo Cars, Polestar and Lotus – so the chance to drive the model again on the road was one we were keen to take up. Farizon invited us to take part in the EV Rally, which started at Newquay on the North Cornwall coast before following a circuitous route, finishing at Knutsford after five days and around 1,000 miles.
We took part on day one. From Newquay, the route took in Dunkeswell Aerodrome near Honiton in Devon, Clevedon and the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, before heading for Hampshire via Winchester to an overnight stop in Southampton – 276 miles in all. We departed near Bristol, making way for another team of drivers.
As we reported before, the van is well equipped with a pillarless side door opening providing a wide aperture, suitable for a pallet to be loaded through the nearside side loading door. Then there are LED headlights with automatic intelligent high beam control, front and rear fog lamps, electric door mirrors, a heated front screen, automatic rain-sensing wipers, automatic door locking, electric parking brake, front and rear parking sensors, keyless start, dual passenger seat, heated and ventilated driver and nearside passenger seat and heated steering wheel. On the digital instrumentation side, drivers get a 12.3-inch touchscreen with DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity, 360° surround view display and wireless Apple CarPlay integration – while automatic air conditioning and electric windows are also standard. In terms of warranty, there’s four-year/120,000-mile cover for the vehicle with an eight-year/120,000-mile warranty for the batteries.
When we previously drove the van, Apple CarPlay was still the only connectivity option for smartphones, but we are assured that Android Auto will be available soon. With more Android than iPhone users, that’s a much-needed revision.
Team Farizon arrives at Dunkeswell Aerodrome, our test van is in front
The SV is the only van currently available in the UK with a drive-by-wire system. When we drove the van at the Millbrook test track in February, we praised the system because it was undetectable when driving on the test track. It was a different story on the road, though. We drove the van from Bath to Newquay for the start of the EV Rally and it was a tiring experience. There was a cross wind, which didn’t help, but we found that the steering provided constant corrections which needed to be countered. It seemed that the drive-by-wire system was oversensitive, trying to respond to the frequent sensor inputs and we judged that the system needed re-calibration. Switching off the lane-keeping assistant transformed the driving the next day. The arm ache disappeared and the SV became as pleasant to drive as we had experienced at Millbrook. As is often the case, finding the lane-keeping assistant involved working through menus, but it was worth doing.
In other respects, the SV bore out our initial observations at Millbrook. It’s a pleasant vehicle to drive. It doesn’t have years of development behind it as with the Ford Transit but sets a good standard for a new market entrant unfamiliar with the European van market.
As we reported at the CV Show, Jameel Motors – the Farizon importer – will take a low-profile approach to the UK market, aiming for five to 10 dealers by the end of this year. The L1H1 model is relatively compact. With a load space of 6.95m3, the van is slightly larger than the L2 Stellantis medium vans such as the Peugeot Expert as well as the Ford Transit Custom or VW Transporter, but smaller than 3,500kg GVW L1 models.
There are larger SV models too, including L1H2, L2H2, L2H3 and L3H3, with body sizes up to 13m3, so the Farizon range crosses over with European medium and heavy vans.
EV Rally - Newquay to Southampton
Team Farizon gathers at Newquay ready to start the EV Rally
EV Rally competitors gather at the Newquay start
Farizon fielded several SV variants for the EV Rally
SV arrives at the Clevedon checkpoint
Haynes Motor Museum stop
