Geely Panda Mini facelift in China – tiny EV finally gets 2 airbags, ESP, still only 200 km CLTC range, fr RM18k

Launched in China back in 2022, the Geely Panda Mini has received a facelift ahead of the Auto Shanghai motor show later this month. The tiny four-seater electric city car, which competes against the likes of the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV and Air EV, gets an even cuter design and some much-needed safety upgrades.

Revisions include a new front end, still with large round headlights but with a black strip joining them, running across the charging port with the “Geome” badge (short for Geometry, now folded into the main Geely lineup). The front bumper design is also cleaner with pill-shaped corners, something that’s repeated in the rear. Meanwhile, the 13-inch wheels get new covers rather reminiscent of a fidget spinner.

The redesign continues on the inside with a far more modern design for the dashboard, door cards and two-spoke steering wheel, along with air vents in the aforementioned pill shape. You still get a 9.2-inch slimline LCD instrument display, an eight-inch infotainment touchscreen, an optional reverse camera and an octagonal rotary gear selector sitting atop a narrow centre console.

Safety has been bolstered considerably with the addition of a front passenger airbag, taking the space on the dashboard once occupied by a storage cubby. Mind you, that still means the Panda Mini only has two airbags in total. Stability control and hill start assist have also been added, although the car still misses out on driver assists such as autonomous emergency braking (of course).

Also unchanged are the mechanicals, with the single front motor continuing to push out just 27 PS (20 kW) and 85 Nm of torque. Even more shocking is the minuscule 9.61 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that delivers a range of just 120 km – and that’s on China’s ridiculously lenient CLTC cycle.

The “Endurance” models are more powerful, producing 41 PS (30 kW) and 110 Nm of torque and getting a larger 17.03 kWh LFP battery for extra range. Extra is relative, however, as even these variants are only capable of travelling up to 200 km on a single charge. Despite the extra oomph, all Panda Minis are limited to a top speed of just 100 km/h.

You do at least get support for 22 kW of DC charging with the larger battery, taking half an hour to top up the pack from 30 to 80% charge. You also get quicker 3.3 kW of AC charging, shaving half an hour off the charging time from 20 to 100% – five hours for the base models, 4.5 hours for versions with the 17.02 kWh battery.

The main benefit of these underwhelming specs is that the Panda Mini is seriously cheap, starting from only 29,900 yuan (RM18,000). You’ll have to pay more for models with the bigger battery of course – at least 49,900 yuan (RM30,000), rising up to 53,900 yuan (RM32,500) for all the bells and whistles. The new interior and safety features, by the way, have also been fitted to the Panda Knight and Panda Kart.

With the Panda Mini now getting dual airbags and stability control, there’s less of a barrier for it entering Malaysia with a Proton badge (aside from, you know, the whole right-hand-drive conversion thing). It will, however, be a little bit more expensive over here, and its poor range means it will struggle to find buyers. Would you get one? Sound off in the comments after the jump.

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