Aion UT review

It’s pretty tidy in here. You’ve seen this recipe a thousand times before: oodles of faux leather, hardly any buttons and a giant touchscreen in the middle of the dash. But just because the layout isn’t original doesn’t mean you should knock it: the detailing along the doors gives the UT an almost oceanic vibe, and the (optional) cream interior is more inspiring than black on grey. And small cars ought to be a bit happy-go-lucky.

There are very few physical controls; a couple of buttons and scrollers on the steering wheel, stalks for the drive selector and indicators, and… not much else. The rest – including the climate settings and ADAS controls – is lumped into the 14.6in touchscreen.

I sense a rant brewing.

Aion isn’t the first and won’t be the last, but the UT’s screen interface is a joke. All that real estate and most of the icons are too small to press accurately while driving. The layout – which is similar to those used by Tesla, MG, Jaecoo and others – stuffs most of the functionality into a series of sub-menus. You can set up shortcuts for some of them, but our view is this: if you have to make up for the shortcomings of the car, something’s gone wrong.

There’s a bar along the bottom of the screen where you’ll find various climate controls and an icon for the cameras, but the map is curiously hidden. You awaken it by double-tapping the home button in the bottom right corner. But of course.

The sat nav actually works quite well (if you don’t immediately set up Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), although the voice is an American lady who, depending on how detailed the instructions you ask for (yes, that’s a setting), will tell you when she thinks you’re speeding. Even when the speed limit warning is switched off. Welcome to the Land of the Do As You’re Told.

At least the 8.88in driver’s display doesn’t hound you with info, save for the traffic radar sensor thing that gives you a 3D projection of objects nearby. You’ll almost certainly ignore it.

What about practicality? Is there lots of room for stuff?

There is. You get a big storage bin in the centre console, plus a couple of cupholders and a (cooled) wireless phone charging pad on the top-spec version. There’s a lidded cubby built into the dashboard with a net inside to stop stuff rattling about, although it’s a bit peculiar and we’re not sure how useful it is in practice.

Space in the back is okay for adults: plenty of knee room if not loads of foot room, and the bench itself is almost as cushy as the front seats. The panoramic glass roof doesn’t make it all the way to the rear, so taller folks might struggle for headroom. But at least it's bright back there.

The boot opening is fairly narrow – those D-pillars are quite chunky – but outright space is very generous for a car this size, with 440 litres available with the seats up and a cool 1,600 when folded down. Lift up the flat floor and you’ll find a deep well beneath – best use that for stuff that doesn’t need to see the light of day very often.

There’s no additional storage under the bonnet like you get in some electric cars.