Exeed Exlantix ES (2026): a Chinese limousine with a robotaxi brain that almost no one is buying – but they should

Imagine a car that can travel 860 kilometers (534 miles) non-stop, brakes like a race car, and thinks with the algorithms of a robotaxi. Now imagine 31 people buying it in a month. Welcome to the world of the redesigned Exeed Exlantix ES, perhaps the most underrated sedan of the season.

The premium brand you haven't been able to pronounce yet

First, let's clear up the confusion with the names, because there are a lot of them. Exeed is the premium brand of the Chinese giant Chery, at home the model is called Sterra ES, and elsewhere in the world it is called Exlantix ES. Yes, I know. Three names for a single car. The Chinese apparently believe that more names means more prestige.

And reputation is the key word here. In December 2025, Chery announced the so-called EXEED 3.0 era, which is supposed to transform the brand into a serious competitor to the German premium trio. It has almost three decades of engineering experience from the parent company, which means that this is not a garage experiment, but a deliberate attack on the top.

The facelifted 2026 Exlantix ES was revealed just before pre-orders opened on June 10. From the outside, almost nothing has changed, and that's a good thing. The sedan measures 4,945 mm in length, 1,978 mm in width and 3,000 mm between the wheels, which puts it squarely in the large sedan class. Even more impressive is the drag coefficient, which is just 0.205. That's among the lowest values of any production sedan in the world. In other words, this car cuts through the air like a bar of soap.

The exterior updates are subtle but meaningful. The rear bumper has been redesigned, an active rear spoiler has been added, larger air ducts have been added to the doors, and six-piston fixed brake calipers are also available. The electric version retains the adaptive LED lighting system, while the extended version gets its own special front grille.

Brains trained in robotaxis

But here's where it gets interesting. The biggest new feature of the redesigned model is the Falcon 700 driving assistance system. And no, this is not just any cruise control with ambitions.

Exeed says the system is based on algorithms developed for robotaxis. Simply put: the car learned to drive where there is no one behind the wheel. The sensor package includes 27 sensors, including 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic radars, three millimeter wave radars and a LiDAR unit on the roof. LiDAR is what gives the car additional data about its surroundings in poor visibility and in complex traffic, where camera-only systems often fail.

The goal is clear. The system is supposed to more accurately perceive the surroundings in the city, on the highway and when parking. Whether this really works as flawlessly as the catalog promises, we will see on the road. But on paper, this is technology that until recently would only have been seen in much more expensive cars.

The return of physical keys, hallelujah

Now for something I should write in capital letters and circle with fireworks. Exeed has brought back physical keys to the Exlantix ES.

The interior remains minimalist, with a digital gauge cluster and a floating central touchscreen. But real shortcut buttons have reappeared on the center console, and manually adjustable air vents have replaced some of the previous touch controls. After years of manufacturers hiding everything behind screens, someone at Chery apparently tried driving their car in the rain and wondered why the hell I had to fiddle with a menu to turn on the heater. This is perhaps the most daring move of the entire redesign.

The brains of the cabin are now powered by a top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P chip paired with a large Carmind language model, which powers the new Lingxi AI cabin. The result is said to be a faster voice assistant, a more responsive system, and smarter adaptation to different circumstances.

Drive: from economy to 4.9 seconds

Technically, the Exlantix ES remains where it was, and that's not a bad thing. The drive range is astonishingly wide.

The Range Extender version uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine as a generator coupled to an electrical system. It is available with either 195 kW (265 hp) rear-wheel drive or 345 kW (469 hp) dual-motor all-wheel drive. Both versions offer 255 km (158 miles) of all-electric range on the CLTC cycle, with all-wheel drive offering up to 1,645 km (1,022 miles). That’s a range that will make you forget where the gas stations are.

The all-electric versions range from 185 kW (252 hp) to 353 kW (480 hp), with a CLTC range of up to 880 km (547 miles), depending on battery and drivetrain. The Snow Leopard AWD 2.0 performance all-wheel drive system combines intelligent torque distribution between the axles, double wishbones at the front and a five-link suspension at the rear. Exeed claims a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 4.9 seconds and a braking distance from 100 km/h of just 34.8 meters (114 feet). For a sedan that is almost five meters long, these are figures that are not to be underestimated.

Battery and range that put many to shame

The electric version is where the real trump card lies. The latest specification submitted to the regulator lists a 97.7 kWh battery and a range of up to 860 km (534 miles) on the CLTC cycle.

The car is based on an 800-volt architecture, which means it charges very quickly. According to sources, the system can charge at up to 420 kW, and the shorter version of the battery should charge from 30 to 80 percent in about nine minutes. That's barely enough time to order and drink a coffee.

There are occasional discrepancies between sources, especially regarding the electric range of the plug-in hybrid versions, which is not unusual for Chinese debuts. But the basic message remains the same: this sedan goes far, charges quickly, and doesn't pretend to do so.

Verdict: The technology is here, but unfortunately the customers are not

And now we come to the sad part of the story. The Exlantix ES is one of Exeed's worst-selling models in China. In April 2026, 31 units were sold, 147 the month before, and last summer, a record 2,228 units were sold. A car with so much technology that almost no one buys is one of those injustices that probably makes engineers' hearts ache.

And yet, here's something I have to admit. This car is actually good. It has a range that puts many a more expensive European model to shame, the aerodynamics of a bar of soap, the brains of a robotaxi, and, most importantly, it's got physical buttons back. If someone asked me if I'd recommend it, I'd nod silently.

Prices for the 2026 facelift are not yet known at the time of writing, and are expected to be announced when pre-orders open on June 10. To give you an idea, the current generation sells in China for between 189,800 and 269,800 yuan, which is roughly between 26,660 and 37,950 US dollars, or roughly between 24,500 and 35,000 euros at the current exchange rate. That's the price you get for a well-equipped compact SUV in Europe without any charisma.

The Exlantix ES remains a car that does almost everything right, except that no one knows it. And that is perhaps the most Chinese story of modern motoring: while the West argues about whether Chinese cars are good enough, Chery has quietly assembled a sedan that can drive 860 kilometers and think for itself. So the question is not whether it is good enough. The question is when the world will finally notice.