Why was the Lavida Pure Electric discontinued?
3 Answers
Lavida Pure Electric has not been discontinued, and the currently available model is the 2019 Premium Edition. Exterior and interior of the Lavida Pure Electric: The Lavida Pure Electric adopts the same design style as the fuel-powered Lavida, with distinctions made in areas such as the front grille, wheel rims, and body badges. The instrument panel features more blue accents, and the tachometer has been replaced with information related to the motor and battery. Power and range of the Lavida Pure Electric: It is equipped with an electric motor that delivers a maximum power of 100kW (136Ps) and a maximum torque of 290Nm. The NEDC range reaches 356km. It features a five-level adjustable coasting energy recovery system, offering options to switch between 'Off, D1, D2, D3, B'.
As a former owner of the Lavida Pure Electric, I can totally understand why it was discontinued. The main reason is poor sales—the current electric vehicle market is fiercely competitive, and the Lavida Pure Electric's range of only 278 km falls far short of newer models that easily offer 400-500 km. On top of that, it wasn't cheap, costing around 150,000 to 160,000 yuan after subsidies, while at the same price, you could get domestic models with much better range. Additionally, being built on an oil-to-electric platform, the large hump in the rear floor took up a lot of space, compromising practicality. Volkswagen itself is also pushing its ID series of new energy vehicles, and with limited production line resources, they simply decided to cut the older product line. In fact, sales were already very low last year, with monthly figures dropping to just a few dozen in the final six months—discontinuation was inevitable.
My research on the car market shows that the discontinuation of the Lavida EV is not surprising. Its positioning was problematic when it launched in 2019, with a mere 278 km range that now seems too short, and slow charging efficiency—taking 40 minutes to reach 80% with fast charging. The core issue was pricing missteps, being 40,000 to 50,000 yuan more expensive than the gasoline version without significant configuration differences. The Volkswagen Group is now fully transitioning to the MEB pure electric platform, making such oil-to-electric models naturally obsolete. Look at last year's sales: from Q3, monthly sales dropped below triple digits, and by December, they completely zeroed out. Additionally, the lithium iron phosphate battery version failed to keep up with policy subsidy changes, leaving it with no cost advantage at all.
