Gullwing doors are quite frankly awesome, they should certainly be on more production cars, of which the Geely IG. If you though the IG was simply a concept car you are wrong. A quick chat with Geely’s PR director at the Beijing Auto Show revealed that the vast majority of Geely cars on show at this years Beijing Auto Show were production cars, and would be seeing production lines and dealership interiors in the short future, of course the IG is no exception here.
Of course come production time, the IG is likely to loose its gullwing doors as in tight inner city centers where the IG will be marketed the most, its not entirely practical to open your car door and have it hit the neighboring cars door, or the roof of the car park.
The IG is actually a hybrid vehicle, with it running a regular run of the mill 1.0L engine, but interestingly paired to a low cost hybrid system that Geely have called the GSG system, which is in fact a rather large alternator that stops and starts the IG at traffic lights and junctions, then starts it again when the driver press the accelerator. Essentially it is a mild hybrid.
If you’re wondering what IG stands for, it is of course for Intelligent Geely, which is probably why the hood has a solar panel built into it so it can also help the battery trickle charge whilst it is being worked hard by the GSG system. Interestingly, Geely have got the price for the IG’s powertrain system down to a mere 10,000rmb, or just over $1400USD.
Production of IG is currently unknown, but it is supposed to be set for production in Geely’s Lin Hai facility, which is located in Zhejiang province, not far from Geely’s hometown of Hangzhou.
AutoWeek executive editor Roger Hart gave the IG his “most fun” award for the Beijing Show. This was just for the design itself as nothing about the mechanicals was discussed. I had no idea that it was a mild hybrid or that it had solar panels on the hood.
Thanks for the info. The production version should be interesting.
Ash, the IG is slated for production in 2012……this is public info on the Geely website. In fact, check it out – go to geely.com, then click on the picture of all the cars at the top of the website – it will take you to a special page for the Beijing show. Once this page opens, you have two choices in the middle of the picture, click on the left link – it will take you to a virtual display of all the cars at the Beijing show. You can click on every car to find out details about that particular car, and if you look at the bottom right of the pic of the car that you choose, you’ll have 4 link options…….choose the far right one and it will give you specs about the car – including SOP (start of production) time. For the IG, it is 2012.
Oh, one more thing…..about those gull wing doors and tight parking spaces? This is from wikipedia……
“Despite the common misconception that the gull-wing doors are mere stylistic affectations, the design is a very practical one in tight urban parking space. When properly designed and counterbalanced, they require little side-clearance to open and allow much better entrance/egress than conventional doors.”
So………..if Geely is smart and wants to market this as a city car, the gull wing doors might be one of it’s biggest advantages. KEEP THE GULL WING DOORS GEELY – they set this car apart from ANYTHING else on the streets, they will be a advertising sensation AND they are practical as well!!
Finally, just to repeat what I’ve said many times before – I want the IG, I want the IG, I want the IG, I want the IG, I want the IG……..ok, I feel better now.
Nice job, Geely. I’m surprised they were able to keep the cost down, it should be a very competitive small hybrid vehicle when launched.
Everything on the Geely stand is slated for production…. you think they are seriously going to produce 3/4 different MPV’s and 2/3 coupes?!
Everything is apparently ready for production, they are just waiting for market demands.
Geely really do have an interesting take on the car industry, nothing is impossible at Geely.
Very interesting idea……..have all these new cars READY for production, but wait and see which ones will be most effective in the market. You’re right of course – no way they put into production ALL of these cars. In the case of the IG, I think there is a real need for this car, and it can be sold right along with the Panda – the Panda is actually a little LARGER than the IG is! Something else interesting about the IG…..rarely do I ever see the western media speak POSITIVE about a chinese car – but with the IG I have read nothing BUT positive reviews/impressions. Bottom line – this car is already getting popular with the media AND the consumer around the world……..I think there is no way Geely CAN’T produce this car…..and KEEPING the gull wing doors too. It’s obvious the doors are a prime attraction for the car, and Geely is too smart not to realize that.
Interesting but the gullwing doors are silly, the additional weight will make the car heavy and slow.
I don’t think gullwing doors add significant weight to the car.
The heavy lifting mechanism in the roof, the additional strengtening required in the roof will all add up to increased weight over and above normal opening doors.
It really depends on what system/design you are looking at, there are gull-wing doors that do not add any significant weight.
If Gull wing doors are such practical and brilliant system why don’t we see them on the majority or production vehicles? Simple, because they are add to the weight of the vehicle and are impractical (try opening those doors in a multistory car park).
Yes they look cool on a concept car and on the few production vehicles that have them, but they are few and far between for a reason.
The production version of this car will look no less interesting for having standard opening doors.
The IG looks cool, but I hope they don’t give it one of their ridiculous new brand names. I always though Lexus was bad enough…
Funky little concept the IG
If the gullwing doors don’t open any higher than say a regular van door then there is no reason why they wouldn’t be practical. How far they swing out would be more of an issue. Maybe scissor doors would be more practical… and still look pretty cool.
saw it a magazine at dentist ,hubby says i can have one when they come out. Tried to e.mail but no reply ,how do i get to order one xxxxxx love the gullwings
me too
I like this requisite much, this is the correct where i can swindler smth from me, a sidewalk of clarify this is what i like.