The first impression counts, once lectured the head of the rhetoric course, anyone who screwed up the entry would have trouble gaining sympathy.

If that is true, the Aiways and the author will no longer be friends: In order to fully charge the electric car that has just been fetched for consumption measurement, it was hung on the neighbour's wallbox.

And then, in spite of all the persuasion, it never went off.

The operating instructions, which have apparently been translated from Chinese without human help, say that after successful pairing, you should disconnect the charging stack from the EV charger, and if that fails, you should contact Aiways immediately.

Meanwhile, the neighbor would have liked to hang up his Mercedes.

Fortunately, the employees at the Munich headquarters know the trick: press two buttons on the remote control at the same time for five seconds.

Lukas Weber

Editor in the “Technology and Engine” section.

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    It is as smooth as a worn bar of soap and has no eyelet to attach it to a keychain. That's almost it with the criticism, what counts is the second impression, and it is largely positive. Aiways is a young brand, the name is an artificial word made up of Ai (love) and ways (ways). The U 5 is the only model in this country and has a cult following with many customers, they cavort in forums, the provider reads along and tries to take up the suggestions. There are no long price lists; those who want it can only choose between the well-equipped Standard version for just under 39,000 euros and the very well-equipped version called Premium. Because of the leather seats - in the test car in sensitive cream white - it is not for vegans, but offers a huge glass sunroof for an extra charge of 3000 euros,a heater for the multiple electrically adjustable front seats and a parking assistant. Otherwise, the standard has almost everything you could want, but neither for money nor for good words there is a steering wheel heating, a head-up display, a trailer hitch or even a navigation system, the phone has to be connected via cable.

    Funny: when the driver approaches, the aiways politely folds out the door handles. That is noticeable and a good thing, because we did not find a setting so that it locks again when it is removed. You can choose whether the sunroof closes when the car is locked. The U 5 officially runs as an SUV, although it has to do without all-wheel drive, and it is huge for the price of a mediocre electric car. Anyone who thinks that processing has been saved will be surprised. The doors fall shut with a full pop, nothing rattles, rattles or looks pinned together, even the padded plastic looks high-quality. For once inside we start at the back. If you take a seat there, you can enjoy the princely legroom of a stretch limousine. The feeling of space at the front is even more enormous,The large window areas also contribute to this. There are shelves in every corner, but you will look in vain for a glove compartment. Instead, there are two thick buttons on which accessories will probably hang in the future, because they are too low for the jacket.