u/SjalabaisWoWS

I have been driving a lot of cars over the last few years, trying to figure out how many of my demands I must scratch in order to move on to a new family vehicle. We want a wagon, not a SUV, with small wheels - for better interior space and lower maintenance cost - with buttons and knobs for good ergonomics, good space - I'm >1,90m/6.3 feet, with my teenage kids and wife not far behind - good visibility for our long and steep driveway and poor, winding, Norwegian roads, and, finally, there are a two features that we will not live without: Heated seats x4 and heated steering wheel. Ideally, we want a light coloured or tan interior and a panoramic roof, too, for dark Nordic winters. The car must be a BEV and it needs to be reliable, so all German manufacturers are basically off the table.

A car that has all that does not exist.

So I've been looking and looking at cars and they all have problems I don't want to live with. Two years ago, the KGM Korando e-Motion came to Norway and I briefly test drove it with my kids. They want something flashy and didn't like it, while I remembered it fondly. New price was 499k NOK/50k USD, though, which was way, way, way overpriced for what you got. Yesterday, I got to test drive a two year old car, Black Line top spec, with 18k kms and offered at a whopping 259k NOK/26k USD. That's more reasonable, so here's my takeaway:

"Korando" is short for Korean Can Do and, yeah, Ssangyong/KGM, I agree with you so wholeheartedly. Having driven so many fancy cars full of amazing features, but that fail at basic car stuff, the Korando is such a fresh breeze to drive. It all feels so solid, and rational. The buttonry exists, which is no small feat to begin with, and they all are laid out perfectly so you can drive this car blindly after ten minutes. Better than any screen car. For example, the heated steering wheel button is next to your left thumb on the steering wheel (and it doesn't auto-turn off after 30 minutes, which many Japanese and Korean cars do). All the switches are real and work as expected. Material quality is good and solid, zero creaks in the car, there's a proper grab handle on the tailgate, the doors open wide and well, there are pedals for the regen and even the windscreen wiper is so effective, it takes the entire windscreen. Haven't seen that in ages, see .gif above. That is so, so refreshing, you have no idea!

The two-level boot has good space, and I can sit behind myself in the backseat with excellent head space. Getting in and out is easy and requires zero acrobatics - looking at you, Renault. Big mirrors and the ability to actually see out of the rear window are greatly appreciated, even though a downward facing rear camera helps with parking on the screen if you're so inclined. The screen settings are pretty diverse, I only wish the nannies were easier to turn off. The intro and, especially, outro are neat and have a very Korean-futuristic vibe: https://youtu.be/3F2HiMiEoZM

What is truly exceptional and something that most reviewers have pointed out, too, is how incredibly smooth acceleration and brake pedal are set up. It's just...intuitive. Maybe I have driven too many Chinese cars recently, but this Korando drives fantastically well. Together with the ergonomics reminiscent of 1990's Volvos, I felt at home in this car quicker than anything I have driven for the longest time. 190 hp is enough, certainly not excessive, but it is easy to make the FWD chirp - especially in sport mode. It's obvious this is a SUV and not a wagon, but the center of gravity is low enough and the chassis set up firm enough to make this one ride well. 1.8 tons isn't too heavy today, and it tows 1.5 tons, too. I'm honestly surprised how well this obscure manufacturer's niche model was set up, virtually indistinguishable from, say, a Sportage.

So why didn't it sell, like, at all? Yeah, there are some issues. Reviewers are annoyed with a slow screen, only one USB (A!) port in the car and no frunk. All of that matters little to me, as I navigate with the phone/Android Auto - that comes standard - and for everything else I dearly appreciate said knobs and buttons. Bigger issues are the mileage, terrible in the gas and diesel versions and not any better as a BEV: With a 62 kWh Blade battery, the range is merely 346 km. That's even worse than a LEAF with a same size battery. There were also a lot of issues with the 12V battery and, sure enough, on my way back to the dealer, the car went into turtle mode for a split second and told me, over the speakers: "Turtle mode - the supplied power will be limited". Oops. Otherwise, KGM has a great reputation for reliable cars, there's been little wrong with these. A 7 year warranty is very good, too.

My wife is sceptical of getting another super rare car. She has good arguments against it. But...I am in love. With the most rational EV I have driven for a long time.

Submission rules do not allow users to submit a review with images here anymore, so for the photos, check out the corresponding submission at r/Ssangyong. This was clarified again by the mods today.

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