[Car Review] Dongfeng 007: No time to ICE

SUVs have been going electric at a steady clip in Singapore, but the sedan segment is one corner of the market where buyers have largely held on to ICE. Will the Dongfeng 007, one of the few EV sedans available here, finally give sedan loyalists a reason to make the switch? Let’s find out.

At $216,888, the Dongfeng 007 Premium 200kW is either a steal or a gamble, depending on how much you trust a brand that many Singaporeans may not be familiar with, given how competitive the EV landscape is here where it seems like there’s a new brand launching every other month.

Here’s the thing though: Dongfeng is not some scrappy startup that appeared overnight. Founded in 1969, it is one of China’s largest and oldest state-owned automotive groups, with joint ventures spanning Nissan, Honda, and Peugeot. Decades of building cars for some of the world’s most demanding manufacturers has a way of rubbing off.

And they have been steadily building a presence here. Volt Auto brought Dongfeng into Singapore in 2024, expanded to three showroom locations including a partnership with Carro at Midview City, served as the Official Car Sponsor for Singapore International Energy Week 2025, and picked up the OneShift Car of the Year 2025 award in the Premium EV category along the way. Not exactly a brand that sneaked in under the radar.

And when the 007 was launched here on 18 October 2025, it was a huge event fronted by international superstar Jessica Jung of SNSD fame.

The 007 itself rolls out of a highly automated facility in Wuhan where robots handle everything from windshield installation to checking for air bubbles in the adhesive layers. Battery modules get tested twice: once before assembly, once after. There are 1,832 individual inspection points on every car. And every single unit does a full dynamic road test before leaving the factory, including a flood resistance check up to 40cm of water. Which, given Singapore’s recent propensity for flash floods, is not the worst spec to have.

So is it a steal or a gamble? Well, read on.

Exterior

This has got to be one of the better looking EV sedans (or more specifically, a sportback/liftback/fastback) that you can find on our shores.

The sporty front end is my favourite part of its look. There are faint echoes of the Lotus Emeya and Aston Martin Vantage in the way the eyebrow-like daytime running lights sit high on the bonnet, separated from the main headlamps that sit lower and deeper in the bumper. The two-tier lighting arrangement gives the car an aggressive and confident stance that makes it unmistakeable on the road. Carrying that through is the side profile, which is clean and restrained, with no unnecessary fuss and no fake vents or plastic cladding trying to make a family sedan look like a track car.

Speaking of which: those cutouts at the front bumper corners are not just for show. They channel air directly into the front wheel wells, reducing turbulence and drag around the rotating tyres. In an era where manufacturers have resorted to adding plenty of non-functional aero trim purely for aesthetics, this is a detail I truly appreciate.

Adding to the sporty character, the 19-inch wheels with their sharp multi-spoke design look the part, and the red four-piston brake calipers peeking through are a nice touch. More on those later.

Round the back, the full-width tail lamp with its jewelled inner structure is one of the best-looking rear ends I’ve seen at this price point. There is a subtle spoiler lip on the bootlid, and the lower bumper has a clean diffuser-style treatment that keeps the whole rear from looking heavy.

Interior

And if you think the 007 only looks good on the outside, simply open the door, and any doubt about its interior dissolves fairly quickly.

Follow this link to see the 007 interior in full 360 glory.

Much of the interior trim is clad in soft-touch material: visually it reads like suede, but when you run your hand across it, it feels more like leather. Either way, it does not feel cheap. The dashboard has a layered, sculpted look with RGB ambient lighting tracing its edges, and there is literally not a piece of hard, hollow-sounding plastic in sight unless you reach far below the waistline.

I found myself pressing on door trims and panels just to confirm nothing would flex or creak, because the interior simply looks too good to be true at this price. And what did I find? Zero creaks. Zero wobble.

The 15.6-inch infotainment screen is the centrepiece of the cabin. Large, bright, and the UI is snappy. No lag, no hesitation when switching between screens. There is no head-up display on this variant, but with a display this size on the instrument cluster, it is not really necessary.

A digital rearview mirror is standard, and a welcome one at that, because the tallish headrests of the rear seats do block a fair chunk of the view through the rear glass.

The surround-view camera system is also well implemented, with the neat ability to show what is directly beneath the car when manoeuvring. Very handy for kerbs.

Front seat comfort is good. The seats are well-bolstered and the leather upholstery feels premium. The one complaint: no lumbar support adjustment. For longer drives, say, a road trip up to KL or even just a long day on the expressways, those with aging backs like me will feel it. It is a miss on a car at this price, especially since lumbar support has started to become standard in this segment in recent years.

In the rear, legroom is generous for adults. Headroom is fine if you are around 176cm; go significantly taller and the fastback roofline will start to feel cosy.

The boot opens wide as a proper liftback should, giving you easy access to 452 litres of load space, which grows to 1,026 litres with the rear seats folded. That is a proper amount of room. Strollers, golf bag, a week’s worth of groceries… it swallows most things you throw at it without drama. And pssst… just like a bond car, well hidden under this boot cover is another 70 litres of space for you to store your secrets.

And then there is the frunk. At 40 litres, it is just right for your charging cable and a few odds and ends.

Oh, and the car key. It is shaped like a fidget spinner. A white, four-pointed star with buttons distributed across its arms. I showed it to three different people during the test. Nobody could resist giving it a spin, literally.

Drive & Comfort

The 007 200kW makes 268hp and 310Nm of torque from a rear-wheel drive permanent magnet synchronous motor, and it hits 100km/h in 5.8 seconds. On paper, that is properly quick. In practice, the power delivery is smooth and progressive rather than neck-snap aggressive. Floor it from a standstill and it ramps up promptly but in a measured manner, without any discomfort.

The suspension is tuned on the softer side, which means there is a small amount of fore-aft rocking motion when you brake or accelerate hard. It is noticeable if you are looking for it, not annoying if you are not. I would not say this car is set up for a more exhilarating drive. It is still very much a bread-and-butter family sedan that happens to have power when you ask for it nicely.

Braking is handled by four-piston big brake calipers, which gives the 007 more stopping hardware than most cars in this segment (which typically run two-pot setups). These are not Brembo or AP Racing units though, and in my tests they do not have that immediate, bitey feel of those street performance brakes that I am familiar with. But that also means they are easy to modulate in daily driving for most drivers, and that is a good thing.

The range claim of 650km sounds ambitious for a 73.48kWh battery, but in my tests I can confirm you can realistically get over 500km on a charge in mixed city and expressway driving. Kudos to that.

Worth Buying?

If you have been wanting to hop on the EV bandwagon but held back because there were not enough inspiring sedan options around, the Dongfeng 007 Premium at $216,888 deserves your close attention.

And for this car, a “walk around the showroom” visit is not enough. Book a proper test drive, bring passengers, check the interior quality for yourself, and put it through its paces on some winding piece of road.

Then, you will understand what the 007 is about. And you will understand why, for this car at least, it really is No Time To ICE.

The Dongfeng 007 used for this review was provided by Volt Auto. All opinions expressed are the author’s own and have not been influenced by the brand.