Skywell BE11 review

It’s what you get when you cross a bus manufacturer with an electronics firm. No, it really is. Back in 2017, China’s Golden Dragon Bus Company and Skyworth –  makers of TVs and set-top boxes – decided for reasons unknown to pool resources and have a crack at making cars. As you do. And lo, Skywell was born.

Supposedly, a hatchback, van and saloon will land in the UK at some point, but of course the first interloper is the BE11: a mid-size electric SUV whose dimensions plonk it in the same arena contested by the Skoda Enyaq, Renault Scenic, Nissan Ariya, Peugeot e-3008 and Toyota bZ4X.

Not the most exciting crowd. What’s its USP?

Er, it hasn’t really got one. No ludicrous quad-motor power, no touchscreen that spins like a clown’s dickie bow, it’s all rather… normal.

The BE11 is front-wheel drive and powered by a 201bhp electric motor that peaks at 236lb ft at 4,200rpm. 0-62mph is seen off in just under 10 seconds and eventually you’ll top out at 92mph.

Two versions are offered: one with a 72kWh battery that claims 248 miles of e-range, or a meatier 86kWh unit that breaches 300 miles WLTP. Those weigh 1,880 and 1,930kg apiece. In total, we mean. Not just the batteries.

Gosh, painting by numbers. It’s like you’re stuck for things to say about it.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. We’ve gotten so used to gimmicks (see the Leapmotor C10’s ‘picnic area’ mode) from that part of the world that a Chinese car without one feels incomplete, somehow. Wot, no gullwing doors programmed to do the YMCA?

Even the design is notably unnoteworthy, going for generic and inoffensive instead of the fussy, overwrought look of the Lotus Eletre and so many others that call China home. Fail to look twice and you might think a Volvo EX40 has just swept by.

Speaking of Sweden’s finest, it’s almost like Skywell’s designers Googled ‘Volvo interior’ in search of inspiration for the BE11’s cabin. Everything from the wood-effect panelling to the sculpted seats to the literal Scandi background on the touchscreen would look right at home in a V90.

If this sounds like criticism, it’s not meant to: who better to copy when it comes to interior execution?

Well, quite. Is it any good to drive?

Hey look over there! A kestrel!

Don’t try to change the subject.

Okay fine. The Skywell BE11 isn’t good to drive. In fact, it’s so not good to drive we’d actively encourage you away from it and into any other mode of transport, including a space hopper filled with rusty nails or a pedalo dragging a heavy anchor. Yes, even for road use.

The powertrain is feeble and sluggish, and yet the tyres are easily overwhelmed. The ride is firm, but you’ll still be tossed back and forth and side to side on anything but perfect surfaces. There’s no feel in the steering whatsoever, apart from just off centre where you can sense the dead travel not doing anything. It’ll hold a steady line through a corner, but only if you get the entry right. If not, understeer o’clock.

Other than that though… you’ll find the full version of this mini rant over on the Driving tab.

Oh dear. So it’s a cheap knock-off?

Who said anything about cheap? The small batteried BE11 is £33k and the big one’s £36k. That’s less than any of the cars mentioned above, but not loads less. This is on a different planet to Dacia or MG levels of value; a smaller, vastly more desolate planet. At least those two understand that being priced low isn’t an excuse for not having any redeeming features.

It follows a pattern among Chinese imports lately, in that they’ll undercut the opposition by a few grand, but not by enough to actually make you think seriously about buying one. The sacrifice in quality and ability just isn’t worth it.

Add in the anonymous brand identity, and you’ve got a really tough sell.

If the Skywell BE11 isn’t the worst electric car we’ve ever driven (and that’s a hotly contested title) it’s almost certainly the worst you can pay legitimate human currency for at this moment in time. It’s that bad.

Not only is it dynamically hopeless and devoid of any sense of pleasure, there’s virtually nothing to it that’d actually make you want to own one. You can point to individual bits that aren’t bad – the interior finish, perhaps – but it falls so far short in so many departments that it’s hard to see why anyone bothered to bring it here. It simply isn’t good enough.

If it were priced as a pocket-change runabout that cost peanuts to run you might see a case for an EV this spacious if it had the sole job of getting from A to B. If A and B weren’t very far apart. But it isn’t, so you won’t. Avoid, avoid, avoid.