Negative consumption: how the Russian hybrid proved itself on serpentines
The restyled mid-size crossover Evolute i-Space was shown at the Innoprom exhibition in Yekaterinburg in the summer. The car has changed not only externally, but also technically, but remains affordable. The Izvestia correspondent traveled on the first Russian-built crossovers along the roads of Dagestan.
Evolve i-Space: what kind of car is this
The inscription on the trunk lid of the by Evolve crossover leaves the i-Space model "out of the picture." The Russian brand was originally created for the production of clean electric vehicles, but harsh reality has shown that hybrids in Russia have proved more popular than electric trains.
Five body colors are offered for the i-Space, with black and white remaining behind the scenes.
Last year, the seven-seat i-Space crossover was added to the Evolute lineup. It became the first truly affordable Russian-made hybrid. The experiment was considered successful, as evidenced by the "evolution" nameplate on the hoods of the restyled "Spaces". The hybrid is "adopted into the family", although it is still listed as by Evolve. In July 2025, the assembly of the upgraded i-Space started in Lipetsk, and by the end of the year they promise to launch full-fledged production, the bodies have already begun to be boiled, and from November they will begin to paint. Thanks to localization, the hybrid has already appeared on the list of recommended cars for taxi purchases.
The test machines came straight from the factory — they didn't even have time to put numbers on them and do any preparation. Apparently, representatives of the Russian brand are confident in the product. And, probably, that's why Dagestan with its mountain serpentines was chosen as a place for a test drive. Of course, on long mountain descents, it is possible to efficiently replenish energy through recovery. On the other hand, before you go down the mountain, you still have to climb it.
Evolve i-Space: what's new in the restyled car
Instead of a massive radiator grille, there is a blind front with narrow air intakes, and the headlights are connected by a glowing lightbar. The restyled i-Space now looks like a real "New Energy Vehicle" (New Energy Vehicle, NEV). Interestingly, the wheels of the new design have given the appearance of harmony to the car. The previous ones were the same 19-inch size, but visually looked smaller than they actually were.
The interior can be black or brown, and eco-leather trim is already available as standard.
The interior has also been redesigned in a modern style — no more woodwork and allusions to the Mercedes style, which are rather strange for an inexpensive mass-produced car. Now fashionable "touch" minimalism reigns inside — smooth soft panels, a minimum of chrome and aluminum parts. A large tablet in the middle, which controls almost all functions: adjusting mirrors, controlling the sunroof and curtain, opening the trunk and charging ports.
Of the physical keys on the center console, only the "emergency" has survived. The physical buttons have also been preserved on the spokes of the steering wheel, the shape of which now evokes analogies with a Porsche. Apparently, the German sports car manufacturer also looked at the position of the power plant start button on the right.
The dimensions of the crossover have not changed: 4760× 1865× 1710 mm, the wheelbase is 2785 mm.
The motion mode selector has moved to the right steering lever, and everything else has moved to the left. Moreover, the turn signals are not fixed, which will be inconvenient for many. The headlights turn on via the central display menu, which is somewhat unusual. You can adjust their range, and the "far" position somehow shines beyond the "very far" position. It's good that we've kept the traditional switch from low beam to high beam with the left lever.
Evolve i-Space: configuration and options
The multimedia system has a voice assistant that performs simple commands, and the rather rare Russian standard 2GIS navigation, and it works offline, and the map can be displayed in the dashboard window.
For a mass crossover, the i-Space is richly equipped — the only configuration includes six airbags, LED headlights, an all-round viewing system, a set of electronic assistants, side front windows with double glazing, a panoramic roof with a sunroof, and an audio system with 13 speakers. All seats have not only heating, but also ventilation, as well as heated steering wheel and wiper nozzles. It's strange that the climate control is only single-zone, and the cruise control is conventional, not adaptive.
The declared ground clearance is 180 mm.
The updated i-Space can be five- or seven-seater. The third row is cramped and eats up the volume of the trunk, but the central sofa can be moved longitudinally and the tilt of the backrest can be changed. The five—seat version does not have second-row adjustments, but it has a more spacious underground, in which, however, there was no place for a spare tire - regardless of the number of seats, the i-Space is equipped only with a tire repair kit. In any case, both versions offer space in the back row and a large trunk.
The driver's seat with the modified profile has become more comfortable, the length of the cushion has increased, although the fit is still too high.
Evolve i-Space: power plant characteristics
The changes also affected the hybrid power plant, which is still built according to a sequential scheme. The traction motor's power increased from 177 to 218 hp, and the torque increased from 300 to 330 Nm. It affected the dynamics of the car in two ways. The claimed acceleration decreased from 7.8 seconds to 100 km/h against the previous 7.4 seconds, and the maximum speed increased from 165 to 180 km/h.
Acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h takes 7.8 seconds, and the maximum speed is 180 km/h.
The internal combustion engine, which acts as an electric power generator for the battery, on the contrary, lost power — from 102 to 90 hp. At the same time, it had more work — the battery capacity increased from 17.5 kWh to 21.5 kWh. This is also indicated by the slightly increased declared average gasoline consumption — from 5.5 to 5.6 liters per 100 km. The weight of the car has also increased, to 1975 kg.
The battery allowed to increase the range to 1250 km on the WLTP cycle and autonomy on pure electric power: if earlier in this mode they claimed a mileage of 87 km, now it is 165 km. The battery cooling scheme is more advanced than traditional liquid systems, according to representatives of Evolve. The cooling circuit uses freon, which dissipates heat, providing more intensive cooling.
Dry heating mats located above and below the battery are used to heat the battery. They heat up faster than the usual liquid circuit, which should provide fast heating and reduce power consumption. That is, in theory, we can talk about increasing the power reserve on electric power in winter. And how much can a crossover drive at plus temperature?
The stated average consumption is 5.6 liters per 1000 km. The range on electric power is 165 km, the total is 1250 km according to the WLTP cycle.
The i-Space takes off briskly, the regular tires squeal every now and then. It is clearly more dynamic than its gasoline competitors and easily overtakes Priors and Grants. On the move, the crossover has become not only quieter, but also softer. The adaptive shock absorbers previously announced have not been confirmed, but the suspension settings have been revised in favor of comfort. The car "digests" road defects easily, it drives quite fast and without shaking on the dirt road. The reverse side of softness is the longitudinal swing of the stern. The stern of a five-seater car, which is obviously lighter, rocks harder than a five-seater.
Evolve i-Space: how much it spends in reality
The algorithm of the hybrid power plant is still "sharpened" for China with its expensive gasoline. Therefore, i-Space tends to run on battery power in all modes. When its stock drops below 18%, the car becomes less nimble, and the noise of the engine flailing at high speeds becomes annoying. In order for the battery to charge evenly, it is necessary to turn on the charging acceleration function in addition to the fuel mode. And don't be lazy to use different recovery modes. When driving on a flat road, set the level low and start the car rolling, turn on the average level for an incline, and to slow down, turn on the maximum level. It is not superfluous to look in the rearview mirror — the maximum level of recovery slows down the car dramatically, but the brake lights do not light up. Changing the recovery through the central display is not so convenient — you need a separate key on the steering wheel.
I-Space is also demanding about the quality of gasoline. After a "mess" from a non-network gas station, the hybrid issued a check engine icon and stopped charging the battery on the go. It's good that the car can recharge while standing still. As a last resort, you can connect it to the mains, but the electric system does not support fast EHS, and it can take a maximum of 6.6 kW from a slow one. Therefore, the charging process from 0 to 100% will take four hours.
After the car was refueled with better fuel and the error was reset, it drove off as if nothing had happened. This is not surprising, the compression ratio of the internal combustion engine has been slightly reduced compared to the restyled version, but its value is still higher than 15.
It is not so easy to figure out the figures of energy consumption. The central display counts the economy from the beginning of the trip and from the moment of the last reset, separately for electricity and gasoline. Moreover, it sometimes demonstrates negative power consumption when, over a period of time, the return of energy to the battery turned out to be more than the consumption. The decrease in power reserve on the dashboard has its own special rhythm. The ratio of kilometers spent to those traveled doubles, then, on the contrary, it turns out to be noticeably less.
The simplest thing is to focus on the percentage of gasoline remaining in the 60-liter tank. And understand that when driving uphill and driving for a long time with the accelerator pressed down on the highway, the consumption increases significantly with sudden accelerations. In such conditions, the power reserve is reduced by almost half. If you get used to it, you can easily drive 800-900 km on a full tank and some more on electric power. However, you want to drive fast on the i-Space, it accelerates well in sport mode, confidently holds a straight line at speed, does not tilt much in turns, and the heavy steering wheel is quite understandable.
It does not give up on light off-road either, thanks to a 180 mm clearance and impressive traction on the front wheels. Evolute has already promised to bring a twin-engine all-wheel drive version of the crossover to the Russian market, but it will obviously be more expensive and will require a more powerful gasoline unit to replenish the battery.
Evolve i-Space: how much does it cost
In the meantime, the front-wheel drive i—Space attracts a price of 2.49 and 2.59 million rubles, taking into account state support, which applies to electric vehicles and sequential hybrids. The price tag, as well as the equipment and characteristics of the car obviously outweigh some of the disadvantages of the hybrid power plant.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
