GAC Aion just opened a new chapter in its lineup. On August 19, 2026, ahead of the Chengdu Auto Show, the brand pulled the wraps off the Ray 7, the first model in a brand-new "Ray" sub-line that sits apart from the existing Aion S, Y, and V family. It arrives with its own logo, its own lighting signature, and a clear mission: pull younger buyers away from cars like the Xiaomi SU7 with a sporty, low-slung electric sedan built around Huawei-sourced hardware. GAC Aion has leaned hard into the "super electric sedan loved by young people" pitch, and on paper the Ray 7 backs that up with a fastback silhouette, a 0.22 drag coefficient, and driver-assistance hardware borrowed from the brand's higher-end offerings. Pricing has not been announced, so for now the Ray 7 is best read as a technology and design statement rather than a finished sales pitch.
Performance & Specs
The Ray 7 runs a single rear-mounted permanent-magnet motor sourced from Huawei, rated at 180 kW (241 hp). Neither torque nor a 0-100 km/h time has been published yet. Braking comes from a Huawei electro-mechanical brake (EMB) system, a full brake-by-wire setup that GAC says stops the car from 100 km/h in 33 meters, a genuinely strong figure if it holds up in independent testing. Underpinning all of it is what GAC calls a "Super Chassis," a chip-level architecture that fuses drive and chassis control into one integrated system rather than the usual patchwork of separate ECUs, paired with an aluminum front double-wishbone and rear five-link suspension plus FSD adaptive damping. One Chinese outlet reported the suspension tuning draws on engineering expertise with Alfa Romeo roots, a detail worth noting but not yet corroborated elsewhere.
| Powertrain | Single-motor RWD BEV |
|---|---|
| Power | 180 kW (241 hp) |
| Torque | TBA |
| 0–100 km/h | TBA |
| Battery | LFP (capacity TBA) |
| Range | 700 km CLTC |
| POWERTRAIN TYPE | Single-motor RWD BEV |
|---|---|
| HORSEPOWER | 180 kW (241 hp) |
| ACCELERATION (0-100 km/h) | TBA |
| TOP SPEED | TBA |
| DRIVETRAIN | RWD |
| BATTERY | LFP (CATL + Yinpai cells; capacity TBA) |
| ELECTRIC RANGE | 700 km (CLTC) |
Dimensions & Practicality
| Length | 4,960 mm |
|---|---|
| Width | 1,900 mm |
| Height | 1,455 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,920 mm |
| Weight | TBA |
| Seats | 5 |
At 4,960 mm long, 1,900 mm wide, and just 1,455 mm tall, the Ray 7 sits firmly in the mid-to-large sedan class, with a 2,920 mm wheelbase that should translate into a roomy back seat despite the low, fastback roofline. The five-seat layout is standard for the segment, and the width in particular, at 1,900 mm, gives it a genuinely wide, planted stance next to rivals like the Xiaomi SU7. GAC has not released a curb weight yet, which is one of the bigger practical unknowns still hanging over the car, since weight feeds directly into real-world range and how the EMB brakes and adaptive suspension actually feel on the road. The fastback shape also means a sloped rear window rather than a true trunk lid, so cargo capacity numbers, which GAC hasn't published either, will matter more than usual for buyers cross-shopping this against more conventional three-box sedans.
| LENGTH | 4,960 mm |
|---|---|
| WIDTH | 1,900 mm |
| HEIGHT | 1,455 mm |
| WHEELBASE | 2,920 mm |
| WEIGHT | TBA |
| SEATS | 5 |
| CARGO VOLUME | TBA |
Charging & Battery
GAC Aion has not disclosed the Ray 7's battery capacity in kWh, nor published AC or DC charging speeds or a 10-80% fast-charge time. What is confirmed is the chemistry: an LFP pack fed by cells from both CATL and Yinpai Battery, Aion's in-house battery arm, built under a safety program the brand calls Magazine Battery 2.0. CLTC range lands at 700 km, with Chinese outlets citing a claimed 9.7 kWh/100 km consumption figure on that cycle, though GAC has not confirmed a matching kWh number for the pack itself, so that consumption figure can't yet be cross-checked against a stated capacity. Until GAC publishes charging specifics, treat this as one of the bigger open questions on an otherwise detail-rich launch.
| BATTERY | LFP (CATL + Yinpai cells; capacity TBA) |
|---|---|
| CONSUMPTION (CLTC, claimed) | 9.7 kWh/100 km (unconfirmed vs. pack size) |
| AC CHARGING | TBA |
| DC FAST CHARGING | TBA |
| DC 10-80% TIME | TBA |
| ELECTRIC RANGE (CLTC) | 700 km |
Design & Interior
The Ray 7 is the debut vehicle for a genuinely new visual identity at Aion, not just a fresh coat of paint on an existing model. It carries a refreshed English "AION" wordmark and a full-width, star-ring light strip up front that houses an illuminated logo, a signature GAC says is exclusive to the Ray family and won't appear on the existing S, Y, or V models. The side profile leans hard into the sporty brief: a low, wide-body stance, a fastback roofline, semi-hidden door handles, a blacked-out C-pillar, and double five-spoke wheels available in 17-inch and 19-inch sizes. At the Chengdu stand, GAC showed the car in its signature Lightning Yellow with a contrasting black roof and yellow brake calipers peeking through dark multi-spoke wheels, a color combination clearly aimed at a younger, more expressive buyer than the typical Aion customer. Interior details have not been detailed in depth yet.
Technology & Features
Chinese media reporting, not an official GAC spec sheet, points to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295-class chip powering the Ray 7's infotainment and driver-assistance compute, though GAC itself hasn't detailed screen sizes, voice-assistant branding, or sound-system partners yet. The "Super Chassis" chip-level architecture described above extends into the cockpit software layer too, per GAC, tying chassis, drive, and infotainment systems together rather than running them as isolated modules, which the brand argues improves both response time and coordination between systems, particularly relevant given how much the EMB brakes and adaptive damping depend on tight coordination. Beyond that, specific infotainment details remain unannounced as of this writing.
Safety & ADAS
Driver-assistance hardware is one of the Ray 7's headline features. The top trim gets an optional Huawei-made 192-channel LiDAR unit mounted on the roof, part of a 27-sensor suite that also includes three 4D millimeter-wave radars alongside cameras and ultrasonic sensors. GAC says the driving-assistance software shares algorithmic roots with the brand's Level 4 autonomous-driving research, and the feature list floated so far includes parking-space-to-parking-space navigation, nearby parking-space search, and automated toll-gate and parking-gate passage. None of this has been independently tested yet, so treat the marketing claims, including the 33-meter stopping distance from the Huawei EMB brake-by-wire system, as GAC's own numbers until reviewers get seat time.
| ADAS LEVEL | Not disclosed by GAC (software described as sharing algorithmic roots with Huawei's L4 autonomous-driving research) |
|---|---|
| ADAS FEATURES | 192-channel LiDAR (optional, top trim), 27-sensor suite incl. 3x 4D radar, Huawei EMB brake-by-wire (33 m stop from 100 km/h), park-to-park navigation, automated toll-gate/parking-gate passage |
Pricing & Availability
GAC Aion has not announced an official price or an on-sale date for the Ray 7. Chinese outlets have floated informal estimates ranging anywhere from roughly ¥150,000 to ¥250,000 (about $21,000 to $36,800), but these are media speculation rather than confirmed pricing, and the two most-cited estimates don't even agree with each other, which tells you how little is locked in publicly. The car was shown to the public at the 2026 Chengdu Auto Show, running August 21-30, but GAC has given no delivery timeline beyond describing the launch as imminent; some reports suggest deliveries could begin in late 2026 or slip into early 2027. As of this writing, there's no confirmation the Ray 7 is bound for any market outside China, and GAC has made no statements about Europe, the US, or other export markets for this specific model.
How It Compares
The Toyota bZ7 ($29,513, 278 hp) is the closest horsepower match on this list, offering a more conservative, mainstream take on the EV sedan formula against the Ray 7's sportier, youth-focused pitch. The XIAOMI SU7 ($31,859, 295 hp) is the car GAC Aion is explicitly gunning for: it out-powers the Ray 7 on paper, but the Ray 7 counters with Huawei EMB brakes and a claimed 700 km CLTC range. The ZEEKR 007 ($30,974, 416 hp) matches the Ray 7's 700 km CLTC figure almost exactly but delivers nearly double the horsepower, making it the sportier option if outright pace matters more than the Ray 7's new-brand novelty and tech story.
- Genuinely new sub-brand identity with its own logo and lighting signature, not a badge-engineered variant
- Huawei EMB brakes and a claimed 33-meter stopping distance from 100 km/h
- Strong 700 km CLTC range paired with an optional 192-channel LiDAR for advanced driver assistance
- No confirmed price, torque figure, 0-100 time, or battery capacity as of this writing
- No confirmed on-sale date or export-market plans beyond China
The Ray 7 is a genuinely interesting opening move for a new Aion sub-line: a real design break from the existing lineup, backed by Huawei's motor, brake-by-wire, and LiDAR hardware, and aimed squarely at the buyers currently flocking to the Xiaomi SU7. The 700 km CLTC range and 33-meter stopping-distance claim are strong headline numbers, but with price, torque, 0-100 time, and battery capacity all still unannounced, this reads more like a confident tech preview than a finished product. Worth watching closely once GAC fills in the blanks, particularly on price, since that single number will decide whether the Ray 7 can actually compete with the SU7 rather than just visually reference it.
