Singulato unveils the iC3, essentially a remodeled Toyota iQ EV

Chinese carmaker Singulato has come to the 2019 Auto Shanghai with a subcompact all-electric vehicle it called the iC3. The car is largely identical to the discontinued Toyota iQ EV series, and some sources claim that Singulato simply acquired the production rights from the Japanese company.

With the above in mind, one cannot say that the new iC3 is a complete copy of the Toyota iQ EV. The Shanghai show car sports a modified exterior, a completely made-over cabin, and quite a bit of new tech. For instance, the original Toyota vehicle packed a relatively small 12 kWh traction battery NEDC-rated for 85 km / 53 miles of driving range. The Singulato concept claims at least 300 km / 186 miles of range, which is an impressive improvement over its predecessor. The company does not reveal where it is going to accommodate the larger 42 kWh battery, nor does it go into any other kind of detail.

Back when Toyota introduced the iQ EV, the car had 64 hp (48 kW) and 163 Nm (120 lbft) of torque at its disposal. It needed 14 seconds to get to 100 km/h from standstill and topped out at a mere 125 km/h (78 mph).

The “iC3” of the Chinese EV stands for “intellectual”, “Chaser” and “third largest car in the Singulato lineup”. There is a badge on the car that says “Dream Chaser”, elaborating on the meaning of the second word.

The first production car by Singulato – the all-electric iS6 SUV with 400 km / 250 mi of NEDC range – will hit the market before the end of 2019. The iC3 will arrive in 2021 priced around 100,000 Chinese Yuan (ca. 14,950 USD).

Photos: autohome.com.cn