For the moment, the Riddara will only be offered as an EV, with a choice of three variants.
Long awaited Riddara electric bakkie has finally been priced in South Africa. Picture: Charl Bosch
Announced for South Africa in April last year, Geely officially confirmed pricing for the long overdue Riddara electric bakkie at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring on Thursday (27 August).
A while in the making
Known in its home market as the Radar Horizon, but badged Riddara outside the People’s Republic due to copyright concerns, the Riddara was a non-starter at last year’s Nampo Agricultural Expo in Bothaville in the Free State where its original market launch was supposed to take place.
A project, at the time, handled by Enviro Automotive, Geely’s South African re-launch towards the end of last year has now seemingly resulted in it handling importation of the Riddara.
As such, the Riddara will officially be called Geely Riddara and not Riddara RD6 as the latter suffix now refers to a trim level.
Dimensions
Based on the M.A.P platform, a version of the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) developed by sibling brand Zeekr, and first introduced to South Africa by the Volvo EX30, the unibody Riddara has the following dimensions:
- Length: 5 260 mm:
- Wheelbase: 3 120 mm;
- Width: 1 900 mm;
- Height: 1 830 mm
Sporting a ground clearance of 225 mm, Geely claims a payload of 1 030 kg, a towing capacity up to 3 000 kg, and a wading depth of 815 mm. In addition, 70 litres can be stored underneath the bonnet.
Three models
For South Africa, three variants have been approved, powered by two different sizes and with either single or dual electric motors.
For the time being, the plug-in hybrid EM-P, which debuted in China last year, remains the off the table.
Starting the range off, the rear-wheel-drive Aspire Econ uses a 63-kWh battery producing 180kW/309 Nm. The claimed range is 369 km.
Moving up to the dual-motor four-wheel drive Aspire Econ brings a 73-kWh battery capable of 280kW/485Nm. Geely reports a range of 390 km.
Finally, the flagship Apex RD6 retains the four-wheel-drive Aspire Econ’s battery, but with power and torque lifted to 315kW/595Nm. The claimed range is 424 km, with 0-100 km/h said to take 4.5 seconds.
Standard on the Apex RD6 is a drive mode selector with five settings: Eco, Comfort, Sport, Sand, Mud and Off-road.
Supporting DC charging up to 110 kW, for the Apex and RD6, will require a waiting time of 30 minutes waiting from 30-80%. All variants also support vehicle-to-load up six kilowatts.
Colours
In total, the Aspire variants have three colour options:
- white;
- silver;
- black
For the Apex RD6, five hues have been allocated:
- white;
- silver;
- grey;
- blue;
- green
Black leather upholstery is standard on the Aspire variants, with the Apex having the option of either tan, green or black leather.
Price
Included with each Riddara’s price tag is a six-year/100 000 km warranty, a six-year/120 000 km service plan and an eight-year/200 000 km battery warranty.
As part of a special launch offer, the first 200 buyers get an additional 50 000 km on the warranty, taking it up to six-years/150 000 km, and 20 000 km more on the service plan for a six-year/140 000 km scheme.
- Aspire Econ – R611 900
- Aspire Econ 4WD – R681 900
- Apex RD6 4WD – R781 900
