Avatr is yet another electric car brand where electronics giant Huawei is heavily involved. The company has an interesting history - it was set up by Nio and Changan in 2018, but Nio’s stake was reduced and eventually the company pulled out. It was replaced by CATL who owns just over 17% with Changan holding on to nearly 41% of the company.

Design patent filing of Avatr 12

The interesting part is that Huawei officially has no shares in the Avatr and yet it provides a complete platform for the vehicles built by the company and is officially part of the Avatr brand. Until now it had a single model, an electric SUV called Avatr 11 which Huawei sells through a network of its own showrooms.

The recent design patent filing revealed the second vehicle from Avatr - it is an electric sedan with a clear identity - both the front and rear have almost identical design to the Avatr 11 SUV and you could almost call the Avatr 12 a slightly flatter version of its sibling.

Various sources from China confirm that the two vehicles will share powertrains provided by Huawei. That means two electric motors with a total output of 578hp (425kW). There will be two battery options - either 90kWh or 116kWh, both supplied by CATL. As expected, the Avatr 11 will operate on Huawei’s Harmony OS and will take full advantage of the latest EP1 platform.

We can go as far as even speculating about the expected driving range of the Avatr 12. Its SUV counterpart uses the same battery packs and with the smaller one offers 555km of CLTC range, while the larger battery can stretch that to 680km. The Avatr 12 will undoubtedly top that thanks to its more aero-friendly silhouette.

The Avatr 12 is already in highly advanced testing stages, the test cars were spotted in various locations in China and the photographers were even able to snap some shots of the interior. Yet again, the design language from the Avatr 11 is clearly present in the sedan with the same lines, the same steering wheel and of course the giant center screen.

The pre-production version of the Avatr 12 will be officially unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show next month and the company is adamant the deliveries will start some time this year. Let’s hope the sedan version fares better when it comes to sales - since the Avatr 11 went on sale last December, it sold just 3,442 units despite its most expensive version costing only RMB 409,900 or $58,800.

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