Aion V

[steveting99]

A picture says a thousand words.

CALB's "banana battery" which shows how the swollen battery modules curve upwards. Picture taken from an affected GAC ride  

[steveting99]

Interesting that VinCar has stopped selling the Aion ES sedan here in Singapore.  Same model and referred to as the Aion S in mainland China.

Anything to do with CALB's banana battery issue in mainland China?

There is a replacement model available in mainland China called the Aion RT sedan, which became available in September 2025. With the larger 68.1kWh LFP battery pack from CATL (should be safer than CALB), the long range RT can do 650km based on the CLTC testing cycle. 

Edited August 16 by steveting99
additional text

[13177]

On 8/16/2026 at 3:06 PM, steveting99 said:

Interesting that VinCar has stopped selling the Aion ES sedan here in Singapore.  Same model and referred to as the Aion S in mainland China.

Anything to do with CALB's banana battery issue in mainland China?

There is a replacement model available in mainland China called the Aion RT sedan, which became available in September 2025. With the larger 68.1kWh LFP battery pack from CATL (should be safer than CALB), the long range RT can do 650km based on the CLTC testing cycle. 

Aion ES sedan is not popular at all here. They should have stop selling this car long ago. Even PHV companies also don't want to buy.

Edited August 16 by 13177

[steveting99]

@13177 Would say that sedans in general are not selling well compared to SUVs, which is a global trend. 

The other issue is that the Aion ES features and interior looks quite dated. Not much has changed since 2018. Competition has moved on and offering a lot more for the money in 2026. As a result, sales in mainland China is down significantly in 2025 by 50% over the previous year (2024). 

With CALB's banana battery issue, suspect that 2026 GAC Aion S sales will be much worse than in 2025. 

[Ake109]

I have not seen a single Aion ES on the road.

[inlinesix]

On 8/17/2026 at 2:03 PM, Ake109 said:

I have not seen a single Aion ES on the road.

I saw ES undercut BMW 5 series 👍🏻

[steveting99]

On 8/16/2026 at 3:44 PM, 13177 said:

Aion ES sedan is not popular at all here. They should have stop selling this car long ago. Even PHV companies also don't want to buy.

The Aion ES being not popular is an understatement. 

Last time I checked, Tesla has no problems selling their Model 3 BEV sedan here in Singapore. The same can be said for BYD with their Seal and Seal 06 BEV sedans as well.

In terms of selling BEV sedans, Tesla and BYD are selling several orders of magnitude more than what GAC/VinCar can sell with the Aion ES. I.e. what takes GAC/VinCar a year in selling the Aion ES, Tesla can do more in five days with the Model 3 sedan.

The Aion ES is simply not competitive. The sales numbers reflect this sad reality.

[inlinesix]

On 8/18/2026 at 2:04 PM, steveting99 said:

The Aion ES being not popular is an understatement. 

Last time I checked, Tesla has no problems selling their Model 3 BEV sedan here in Singapore. The same can be said for BYD with their Seal and Seal 06 BEV sedans as well.

In terms of selling BEV sedans, Tesla and BYD are selling several orders of magnitude more than what GAC/VinCar can sell with the Aion ES. I.e. what takes GAC/VinCar a year in selling the Aion ES, Tesla can do more in five days with the Model 3 sedan.

The Aion ES is simply not competitive. The sales numbers reflect this sad reality.

Aion ES is like Vios of yesteryears.

For ppl who just want a car

[Tkseah]

On 8/18/2026 at 2:06 PM, inlinesix said:

Aion ES is like Vios of yesteryears.

For ppl who just want a car

I see more jmev elight than aion es on the road...

[steveting99]

On 8/18/2026 at 2:21 PM, Tkseah said:

I see more jmev elight than aion es on the road...

Are they still around? Looks like JMEV and the ELight sedan is no longer available in Singapore. 😰

When searching in SG Car Mart get the following error message on JMEV:

Edited August 19 by steveting99
additional text and pic

[Tkseah]

On 8/19/2026 at 3:56 PM, steveting99 said:

Are they still around? Looks like JMEV and the ELight sedan is no longer available in Singapore. 😰

When searching in SG Car Mart get the following error message on JMEV:

Jmev website still up leh...

https://jmev.sg/

[Nisse]

On 8/18/2026 at 2:04 PM, steveting99 said:

The Aion ES being not popular is an understatement. 

Last time I checked, Tesla has no problems selling their Model 3 BEV sedan here in Singapore. The same can be said for BYD with their Seal and Seal 06 BEV sedans as well.

In terms of selling BEV sedans, Tesla and BYD are selling several orders of magnitude more than what GAC/VinCar can sell with the Aion ES. I.e. what takes GAC/VinCar a year in selling the Aion ES, Tesla can do more in five days with the Model 3 sedan.

The Aion ES is simply not competitive. The sales numbers reflect this sad reality.

How is it not competitive when it was the cheapest EV Sedan for a quite sometime in 2024/25 with decent specs on paper? The poor sales had to do with the unknown GAC brand when Vincar first took distributorship here in late 2023. Most buyers will go for more 'established' EV brands like BYD or Tesla over GAC and it is still the very case nowadays. However, as the brand established itself here, and with more information available, buyers can do own their research and many will consider GAC as one of their choices.    

[steveting99]

On 8/19/2026 at 7:04 PM, Nisse said:

How is it not competitive when it was the cheapest EV Sedan for a quite sometime in 2024/25 with decent specs on paper? The poor sales had to do with the unknown GAC brand when Vincar first took distributorship here in late 2023. Most buyers will go for more 'established' EV brands like BYD or Tesla over GAC and it is still the very case nowadays. However, as the brand established itself here, and with more information available, buyers can do own their research and many will consider GAC as one of their choices.    

For the past 2+ years, VinCar has managed to sell only 28 units of the Aion ES. Competition in the new ride business is pretty fierce. Trying to sell an old model that feels outdated with okay specs and being cheap doesn't mean it's going to move the metal. As not many seem to be willing to sign on the dotted line for it and there's lots of better BEV sedan alternatives. I.e. Dongfeng 007, which is newer and doing much better in terms of sales than the Aion ES. 

The Aion V has done much better than the Aion ES, even though the GAC brand was relatively unknown and new to Singapore. From nothing in April 2024, GAC / VinCar has managed to move 1.6k units on an annual basis as at July 2026. This is an outstanding achievement. Overall, GAC is in the top 10 for sales for 2026 and still growing with another five more months left in the year. Believe the bulk of those sales being carried by the Aion V.

GAC is doing much better than most of the established legacy auto makers such as Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Mazda, Volkswagen, etc. So, cannot say that GAC is still an unknown as it's now got a significant foothold in the new ride market. Singaporeans seem to be willing to give new BEV entrants a chance for success - provided it has the right features and is value for money. Unfortunately for GAC/VinCar, the Aion ES isn't one of them - so lesson learned here. Can't win new BEV sales based on a 2018 model.

If one is still interested in the old Aion ES, it's still available for sale over the causeway. 

[DOBIEMKZ]

On 8/12/2026 at 8:37 AM, steveting99 said:

A picture says a thousand words.

CALB's "banana battery" which shows how the swollen battery modules curve upwards. Picture taken from an affected GAC ride  

Hmmm... I think the Aion S is quite old model and that CALB battery quite dated tech.

Anyway regarding the Aion V (and probably other new models), we not getting the CALB battery anyway.
GAC's international AION V documentation explicitly says their LFP batteries were developed in conjunction with CATL.

"...The car is built around GAC’s third-generation AEP 3.0 electric vehicle platform – a long-wheelbase skateboard architecture – which integrates the battery and drivetrain to free up interior cabin space.

The AION V’s 400V electrical architecture and 180kW DC charging capacity means a 10 – 80 percent recharge can take as little as 24 minutes, and 30 – 80 percent in just 18 minutes. The 11 kW onboard charger enables fast and convenient AC home charging from 0 – 100 percent in around 8.5 hours, ideal when plugged in overnight. Via the AION app, owners can start, stop and schedule charging without even leaving the sofa.

Developed in conjunction with global battery technology leader, CATL, the AION V’s Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery has a capacity of 75.3 kWh. This battery chemistry does not need to limit the upper and lower states of charge in the same way NMC batteries do, because LFP benefits from greater chemical stability, more robust tolerance to high states of charge, and exceptional cycle life. This means all 75.3 kWh of capacity is available to be used.

The AION V’s battery design, configuration and packaging employs GAC’s proprietary Magazine Battery 2.0 technology. It employs a "magazine-style" design with battery packs housed in independent ultra-high heat-resistant compartments and multi-layer insulation for effective passive thermal management. A fifth-generation all-climate 24/7 high frequency battery monitoring system can activate industry-first active rapid cooling technology that boosts heat dissipation by 30%. This enables more efficient active thermal management to eliminate cell overheating and consequent degradation and damage.

As the first battery safety technology to pass both nail penetration tests and bullet impact tests without any resultant ignition, open flame or thermal runaway. GAC’s Magazine Battery 2.0 is believed to be the safest EV battery in any car currently on sale globally.

The electronic drive unit (EDU) makes use of low-voltage silicon carbide (SiC) technology, and shares the same molecular and mechanical structure as high performance vehicles 900V high-voltage materials. This means the AION V’s motor benefits from low energy losses and high peak power control efficiency of up to 99.85 percent. Only a handful of vehicle manufacturers use this high-end technology in series production cars.

AION is the first car maker to mass produce X-pin hairpin winding electromagnetic technology, incorporating multi-path parallel design that enhances cooling performance. The motor achieves a maximum operating speed of up to 18,000 rpm, with peak speeds exceeding 18,000 rpm. Overall motor efficiency is 96 percent, and with a power density of 10.5 kW/kg, it achieves full power and torque output while occupying only 60 percent of the volume of a typical motor.
In the AION V, this technological leadership results in a smaller, lighter motor that’s more efficient, delivers greater range, reduced NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness), and an enhanced comfort and refinement in the passenger cabin.

The AION V comes as standard with a super-efficient four-stage 10 kW heat pump that helps keep the battery at the optimal operating temperature, in turn helping to maximise operational efficiency and therefore driving range and charging speeds, even on the coldest winter days. It can operate in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees C. It also has the added benefit of heating the cabin with far greater energy efficiency than a traditional resistive interior heater. The heat pump is one of the lightest and most efficient in the industry, with around 50% of the parts count of a conventional unit, resulting in it being 48% lighter.

With a further nod to optimal versatility, vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology makes it easy to use the AION V as a personal power bank on days out, camping trips or simply to power the mower when the house socket is just too far for the cord to reach. With the aid of an adapter through the dealer accessory list, the charging port becomes a domestic three-pin socket providing up to 3.3 kW at 220v AC. A failsafe halts the V2L function if required to ensure the battery state of charge doesn’t fall below 10 percent."

[steveting99]

@DOBIEMKZ Thought a small time Chinese battery supplier called Farasis Energy provides the LFP cells to GAC on the Aion V and UT models? In Europe the Aion V and UT are locally manufactured by contract manufacturer called Magna in Austria to avoid tariffs and Farasis supplies the LFP cells for these models. Farasis has been supplying LFP cells to GAC for years in mainland China.

Data source: https://www.electrive.com/2025/12/08/gac-orders-lfp-batteries-from-farasis-for-european-vehicle-models/ 

GAC has a number of battery cell suppliers and have asked VinCar to clarify on who supplies the LFP battery cells on the Aion V. Would have been good to confirm the LFP battery cells do indeed come from CATL. The QA/QC by CATL is much better than the small time Chinese battery suppliers. So far, VinCar is acting blur and refuses to say who provides the LFP battery cells on the Aion V.

Even though VinCar claims the Aion V complies with GB38031-2025 (electric vehicle traction battery safety requirement) that came into effect on 1st July 2026; they wont provide a 3rd party test certificate to validate their claim. ☹️

Edit: According to this article here: https://www.bitauto.com/wiki/100120221217/, CALB supplies 70% of the battery cells to GAC.😶

Edited August 20 by steveting99
additional text

[Nisse]

On 8/20/2026 at 12:05 PM, DOBIEMKZ said:

Hmmm... I think the Aion S is quite old model and that CALB battery quite dated tech.

Anyway regarding the Aion V (and probably other new models), we not getting the CALB battery anyway.
GAC's international AION V documentation explicitly says their LFP batteries were developed in conjunction with CATL.

"...The car is built around GAC’s third-generation AEP 3.0 electric vehicle platform – a long-wheelbase skateboard architecture – which integrates the battery and drivetrain to free up interior cabin space.

The AION V’s 400V electrical architecture and 180kW DC charging capacity means a 10 – 80 percent recharge can take as little as 24 minutes, and 30 – 80 percent in just 18 minutes. The 11 kW onboard charger enables fast and convenient AC home charging from 0 – 100 percent in around 8.5 hours, ideal when plugged in overnight. Via the AION app, owners can start, stop and schedule charging without even leaving the sofa.

Developed in conjunction with global battery technology leader, CATL, the AION V’s Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery has a capacity of 75.3 kWh. This battery chemistry does not need to limit the upper and lower states of charge in the same way NMC batteries do, because LFP benefits from greater chemical stability, more robust tolerance to high states of charge, and exceptional cycle life. This means all 75.3 kWh of capacity is available to be used.

The AION V’s battery design, configuration and packaging employs GAC’s proprietary Magazine Battery 2.0 technology. It employs a "magazine-style" design with battery packs housed in independent ultra-high heat-resistant compartments and multi-layer insulation for effective passive thermal management. A fifth-generation all-climate 24/7 high frequency battery monitoring system can activate industry-first active rapid cooling technology that boosts heat dissipation by 30%. This enables more efficient active thermal management to eliminate cell overheating and consequent degradation and damage.

As the first battery safety technology to pass both nail penetration tests and bullet impact tests without any resultant ignition, open flame or thermal runaway. GAC’s Magazine Battery 2.0 is believed to be the safest EV battery in any car currently on sale globally.

The electronic drive unit (EDU) makes use of low-voltage silicon carbide (SiC) technology, and shares the same molecular and mechanical structure as high performance vehicles 900V high-voltage materials. This means the AION V’s motor benefits from low energy losses and high peak power control efficiency of up to 99.85 percent. Only a handful of vehicle manufacturers use this high-end technology in series production cars.

AION is the first car maker to mass produce X-pin hairpin winding electromagnetic technology, incorporating multi-path parallel design that enhances cooling performance. The motor achieves a maximum operating speed of up to 18,000 rpm, with peak speeds exceeding 18,000 rpm. Overall motor efficiency is 96 percent, and with a power density of 10.5 kW/kg, it achieves full power and torque output while occupying only 60 percent of the volume of a typical motor.
In the AION V, this technological leadership results in a smaller, lighter motor that’s more efficient, delivers greater range, reduced NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness), and an enhanced comfort and refinement in the passenger cabin.

The AION V comes as standard with a super-efficient four-stage 10 kW heat pump that helps keep the battery at the optimal operating temperature, in turn helping to maximise operational efficiency and therefore driving range and charging speeds, even on the coldest winter days. It can operate in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees C. It also has the added benefit of heating the cabin with far greater energy efficiency than a traditional resistive interior heater. The heat pump is one of the lightest and most efficient in the industry, with around 50% of the parts count of a conventional unit, resulting in it being 48% lighter.

With a further nod to optimal versatility, vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology makes it easy to use the AION V as a personal power bank on days out, camping trips or simply to power the mower when the house socket is just too far for the cord to reach. With the aid of an adapter through the dealer accessory list, the charging port becomes a domestic three-pin socket providing up to 3.3 kW at 220v AC. A failsafe halts the V2L function if required to ensure the battery state of charge doesn’t fall below 10 percent."

AION V here is using 214Ah CAL B battery, you can check from the battery label underneath the rear of your vehicle. It is not the 177Ah version though that is having quality issue in China. The 214Ah variant is a later generation product and also fundamentally different from the older 177Ah ones according to public information available. 

And TBH, I don't think regular AION V drivers need to be too worried as the affected 177Ah batteries were subjected to extreme usage, i.e. over 150-300k km within 2-3 years span using mostly daily DC charging. Most of us do not DC charge daily and/or can reach that kind of mileage in our 10 years of ownership. The ones who need to be concerned are those using the cars for commercial purposes such as PHVs. 

[Victor68]

After 3 months driving the Aion V, I am very satisfied with the ride. Like all new toys, there are many new features you need to learn and get use to. I would be arranging for the 5k service soon. I few points I would need them to check.

1) the driver seat position setting doesn't always seem to stay. 

2) The walk away auto lock doesn't work at times. Sometimes it lock fairly quickly as you walk a distance. At times it stays unlocked for a long time even you are at least 10m away. To be saved, either you ensure it is locked before you walk off or better manually lock it. 

 

[Nisse]

On 8/20/2026 at 10:12 PM, Victor68 said:

After 3 months driving the Aion V, I am very satisfied with the ride. Like all new toys, there are many new features you need to learn and get use to. I would be arranging for the 5k service soon. I few points I would need them to check.

1) the driver seat position setting doesn't always seem to stay. 

2) The walk away auto lock doesn't work at times. Sometimes it lock fairly quickly as you walk a distance. At times it stays unlocked for a long time even you are at least 10m away. To be saved, either you ensure it is locked before you walk off or better manually lock it. 

 

On the walk away auto lock, noticeably mine doesn't activate when both my car sensor and handphone are put in the same pocket. I think the handphone may have blocked the car sensor's RF signal.