Introduction to the 2026 Aion V
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (GAC) has been around since 1997 and is one of China's biggest carmakers, while it has also founded a couple of joint ventures with major Japanese firms such as Toyota and Honda.
However, up until now, it was a totally unknown quantity in Europe - but that's all about to change, as the firm launches its Aion range of vehicles in the region.
First up the ramp is the Aion V, an all-electric, midsized SUV designed to do battle with every C-segment competitor (electric or otherwise) you can think of in this lucrative section of the market.
Pros & cons of the 2026 Aion V
Pros:
• Well equipped
• Interesting 'CoolHot Box' option
• Reasonable interior quality
Cons:
• Forgettable driving experience
• Torque-light powertrain
• Lost in a sea of its compatriots
Exterior & design of the 2026 Aion V
• Smooth front end is distinctive
• Aerodynamically efficient
• 19-inch wheels across the board
While we're going to stop short of saying the Aion V SUV is handsome, its design does at least stand out in the current vast sea of aesthetically anonymous rivals.
This is because, even in an age of smoothed-off front ends, the Aion's appearance is remarkably snub-nosed - there are hardly any apertures at all on the V, while the twin vertical running-light signatures in either headlamp further give it some identity.
This slippery appearance does lead to a coefficient of drag of 0.28, which promises both decent refinement and the maximisation of battery range, but the Aion V's look has other points of interest too - like the chamfered sills and chequered-flag-like details here and there.
Other things to note are that the charging port is on the nearside-front wing, just above the wheel arch, while there are roof rails up top and 19-inch alloy wheels at the bottom.
Dimensions of the 2026 Aion V
Length: 4,605mm
Width: 1,854mm (excluding mirrors)
Height: 1,686mm
Wheelbase: 2,775mm
Paint colours for the 2026 Aion V
Both Arctic White pearlescent and Wilderness Sand metallic are the no-cost options on the UK market. Above these, Night Shadow Black metallic, Galaxy Blue metallic and Sea Fluorescent Grey metallic command an upgrade free. So too will the sixth shade, Holographic Silver metallic, but that finish is only available in conjunction with the Premium Pack.
Interior, practicality, tech & comfort of the 2026 Aion V
• Visually pretty swish
• Touchscreen-centric
• Optional CoolHot Box is a USP
With its two-tiered dashboard, premium-looking door cards and 'butterfly' seats, Aion likes to play up that the V's multi-textured interior feels more upmarket than other budget SUVs emerging from China.
It's certainly an eye-catching place to spend some time and while the regular upholstery is synthetic leather, it doesn't feel of an appreciably lower-quality material than the actual leather that's part of the Premium Pack.
However, like most Chinese cars, the Aion V has an almost complete dearth of physical switchgear and requires using the touchscreen interface to do most in-car tasks, which is irksome.
It also gives a minimalist feel to the architecture, although some people love this decluttered, high-tech look.
Getting comfortable in the driver's seat
A six-way electrically powered driver's seat is standard on the Aion V, and there's a good range of adjustment for both this and the manually tweaked rake-and-reach steering column to ensure a wide array of physiques should be catered for behind the EV's wheel.
Visibility out is excellent in all directions, and you don't end up feeling too 'perched' when sitting in the Aion V, so this is a strong start.
Infotainment and technology
There's a 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen in the Aion V which dominates the show, both visually and from an ergonomic point-of-view. It runs GAC's proprietary ADiGO software, all powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SA8155P processor.
As with most systems like this, it'll wirelessly support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto if you prefer, while a wireless, cooled and 50-watt charging pad (the left-hand one of two angled upwards on the centre tunnel) ensures your device's battery won't get rinsed if you're using your own mapping on the move.
However, the base Aion system will take some familiarisation to get used to and is not free of the strange quirks that afflict a lot of cars from China - so that operating some onboard functions turns out to be less intuitive a process than it really ought to be.
Other standard tech highlights include a nine-speaker, 360-watt sound system, 32-colour ambient interior lighting, four-zone voice control and a more than two-metre-long panoramic sunroof up top, complete with an electrically retracting blind.
Practicality around the cabin
Up front, there are handy-sized door pockets, a large and lidded central six-litre cubby under the armrest, two cupholders up top, and an under-dash area with USB-A and USB-C ports, plus 12-volt sockets therein.
Aion also uses the presence of this under-dash zone in the V to mitigate the fact it has no glovebox. Instead, on the passenger-side dash, there are two pop-out 'curry hooks' - and that's it.
The best feature, though, is the 'CoolHot Box'. Daft name aside, this - along with massaging front seats and genuine leather trim - is part of the Premium Pack. It replaces the central-armrest stowage zone with a 6.6-litre compartment which can be cooled down to -15 degrees C or even heated up to 50 degrees.
It apparently only consumes 0.5kWh per day if running constantly, although it will automatically shut off if the car's battery is in danger of dropping below 10 per cent charge. It can be left running even when the Aion V is turned off and locked.
Rear-seat passenger space
A flat floor and the V's wheelbase, approaching 2.8 metres long, result in a decent amount of room in the back. One luxury feature is that the 60:40 split-folding seatbacks also can be reclined through a range of movement using separate, silver handles mounted down to the sides of the seats, which means occupants in the back of the car can lounge back or sit more upright as they so wish.
Storage solutions include a fold-down centre-rear armrest, complete with two cupholders and a stowage tray for smart devices, plus another couple of capacious door bins and elasticated pockets on the backs of the front seats.
However, it's only dual-zone climate control in the Aion V and so while there are vents pumping air into the second-row seating area, the controls visible on the back of the centre-tunnel construct are not for the temperature in the rear of the cabin - instead, they're to adjust the coldness/heat of the CoolHot Box, if it's fitted. There is also a solitary USB-A socket beneath this panel.
One notable addition as part of the Premium Pack is a substantial fold-out table in the rear-left passenger seat. This, reputedly, was fashioned on the same mechanism as found in the Bentley Mulsanne (no, really; that's the marque that Aion's reps bravely namechecked), and it does have solid, satisfying metal brackets and a luxury feel in operation.
Fitting child seats to the Aion V
There are two ISOFIX positions in the outer two chairs of the second row in the Aion V, with their anchor points neatly covered with Velcro-fastened fabric flaps when they're not in use.
The rear doors open to 89 degrees, so nice and wide, and with all that legroom back there the loading-in of larger seats for children should be no issue. In its Euro NCAP assessment, the Aion V picked up a highly respectable 85 per cent score for child occupant safety.
Boot space in the Aion V
An adjustable boot floor and the tilting seatbacks mean you can configure the cargo bay of the Aion V a few ways, but the minimum rating of 427 litres is not sensational by the standards of this class.
The 1,638 litres on offer with the rear bench folded down is a little better, but there is no front boot in the Aion V... as yet. It was intimated on the launch that such a thing might be added in before too long.
Versatility features in the boot, beyond the floor, include two 3kg-rated hooks moulded into the side trims, along with a 12-volt socket and another two hooks on the tailgate's inner face.
Oh, and also, for reasons best known to GAC, a little smiley-faced sun emblem in the boot's trim above the rear windscreen. Presumably, it's just there to brighten your day.
Safety in the Aion V
Although Aion is a brand-new marque, the V has already been tested by Euro NCAP and bagged a full five-star rating at the end of 2025, along with impressive subdiscipline scores of 88, 85, 79 and 78 per cent for protection of adult occupants, child occupants, vulnerable road users and safety assist, respectively. Read the full report from Euro NCAP here.
Performance of the 2026 Aion V
• Just the one drivetrain offered
• Power's OK, torque's a bit thin
• Utterly safe chassis tune
The Aion V has a 150kW electric motor mounted on the front axle, giving it 204hp, a somewhat reedy 240Nm of torque and an unremarkable 0-100km/h time of 7.9 seconds.
Driving the Aion V Premium Pack on UK roads
Words by Matt Robinson on 22 April 2026
'Unremarkable' is a good adjective to describe everything the Aion V does on the move. If you want to take this as a positive, and you can, it means the electric SUV doesn't do anything particularly wrong from a kinematic perspective and should be easy to live with long-term.
However you want to look at it, the fact remains that the Aion V is fine. The steering is OK, with reasonable weighting and responses which don't feel inconsistent, but there's little meaningful feel to it so that you could hope to discern what the front tyres are ever up to.
The brakes are calibrated nicely enough, yet there's not a huge amount of bite to them. The body control is acceptable, with just a bit of lean and squidge to the way the weight transfers.
In essence, handling is not this car's forte. There's no real sense of any dynamism lurking here. Now, for cheap SUVs like this, roadholding that'd put a Lotus to shame is in no way a prerequisite. Instead, it should major on ride comfort and refinement.
Well, as with any EV, you of course have an inherent level of refinement anyway, courtesy of the lack of an internal-combustion engine. More kudos to Aion, then, that it has fitted double-glazed glass in the front of the V, in order to minimise wind and road noise filtering inside the car.
To a large extent, this move has worked and the Aion V is reasonably comfortable and sedate, even at higher speeds. True, there are times the primary ride is a little too easily upset by only moderate imperfections in the road's surface, while the Chinese car is nowhere near silent when it's running at pace, but it's... well, it's fine. It's OK. It's perfectly satisfactory. In truth, nothing about it stands out in any way at all, either good or bad.
Save for the performance. Again, affordable electric SUVs like this don't need to go tearing down the road like low-flying missiles, but 240Nm is a low torque output for an EV in this era, especially when it's being asked to shunt 1,880kg of bodywork about the place.
The Aion V is sort of all right up to 80km/h, but when you wish to perform an overtake on a two-lane road at anything above that speed, you'd better start planning it well in advance. If it had 300Nm, the V might just feel a little more likeable in this regard.
Range, battery, charging and running costs of the 2026 Aion V
• One LFP battery offered
• Reasonable 180kW DC-charge rate
• Goes beyond the 500km marker
Aion is going to keep it simple and offer the V with just the solitary electrical specification for now, while its charging speeds are above average in the EV landscape.
Battery options and official range
The Aion V is fitted with a 75.3kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, which is its usable capacity.
Officially, Aion says this will allow the V to travel up to 510km on a single charge, with a WLTP consumption rating of 16.7kWh/100km cited accordingly.
Real-world range and efficiency of the Aion V
We drove the Aion V Premium Pack on a coolish day, 11.5 degrees C being the ambient temperature, and we had both its climate control running and its CoolHot Box at -15 to try and elicit ice crystals in a couple of bottles of water stored within it.
However, the road route wasn't particularly challenging in terms of ascents or protracted high-speed running. Therefore, an indicated consumption of 19.7kWh/100km in such circumstances is adequate, but not exceptional.
Charging up the Aion V
The Aion V has a maximum DC charging speed of 180kW, which is pretty competitive. As such, a 10-80 per cent charge at such speeds would require 24 minutes, while 30-80 per cent can be done in just 18 minutes.
An 11kW peak AC rate would see a 0-100 per cent charge needing 8.5 hours, although on a more typical 7.4kW domestic wallbox, you'd be looking at something in excess of 11 hours for the same job.
Aion V warranty
Over in the UK, Aion is promising to offer the V with the 'Aion Great 8' package of aftercare incentives. This includes an eight-year, 160,000km warranty on the vehicle, an eight-year, 200,000km warranty on the high-voltage battery, eight years' worth of free servicing, eight years' worth of roadside assistance and even all MOT (the UK's version of the NCT) testing fees up to the eighth year of registration. Quite some bundle, we're sure you'll agree.
Irish pricing & rivals to the 2026 Aion V
• Not confirmed for Ireland
• May not be as affordable as hoped
• So many competitors already out there
We'd expect the Aion V to be sub-€40,000 if it went on sale in Ireland, as a rough estimate, and that should make it an appealing proposition, given almost everything fitted to it is standard kit - and there's a lot of that, too.
Only the leather trim, different interior finishes, massaging front seats, the Bentley-like table in the back and the signature CoolHot Box are added with the Premium Pack; everything else on the car comes from the factory.
The Aion's biggest problem, though, is that it is trailing in the wake of other Chinese like-for-likes, including well-established brands like MG (with its S5 EV) and BYD.
And even if you factor out the wealth of affordable compatriot cars the Aion must see off, European rivals such as the Renault Scenic and Peugeot E-3008 are already in place, not to mention some talented Koreans like the Kia EV3 and Hyundai Kona Electric.
Verdict - should you buy the 2026 Aion V?
Well, at the moment, you can't buy the Aion V as its appearance in Ireland isn't confirmed as yet. But even if it does come here, we're not sure we can recommend it without reservation.
While perfectly pleasant to deal with and offering a lot of car for what should not be a lot of money, the V feels like a very safe, low-risk execution of an electric SUV.
So unless you want to be really leftfield and out there, owning a car from a brand practically nobody has heard of, we can't help but think that you'll end up with something else in this field, long before you arrive at the Aion V as a possible purchase decision.
FAQs about the 2026 Aion V
Is the Aion V all-wheel drive?
No, it comes with just one motor mounted on the leading axle, so the Aion V is front-wheel drive only.
How many child seats can I fit in the Aion V?
In terms of ISOFIX positions, there are two on the outer pair of chairs in the second row of the Aion V. However, it has a full complement of five three-point belts, so any belt-restrained child seats can be fitted in other passenger positions in the cabin - if there's room of course.
Does Aion mean anything?
No, unlike other Chinese manufacturers - which often come up with their brand names from bizarre portmanteaus of English words - Aion's representatives said it was just a word they chose; probably because it sounds like 'ion' and looks a bit like 'aeon'. Maybe.
Is the Aion V rated for towing?
No. There is no braked trailer figure provided for the Aion V, although you can mount 75kg of load onto its roof rails as some small form of recompense.
Want to know more about the 2026 Aion V?
If there's anything about the new Aion V we've not covered, or you'd like help in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
