The new Arcfox Kaola compact electric crossover from Chinese giant BAIC’s premium brand is claimed to be the first car developed with a specific focus on parents with young children.
The new machine is a significant departure from the brand, which has previously released the Arcfox-7 supercar and currently offers the performance-honed Alpha S saloon and Alpha T SUV. But the new Kaola is described as a ‘smart parent-child car’ for middle class Chinese families.
As a result, the machine has been designed with a host of features to add child comfort and safety. The most notable is that there are only two seats in the back, one of which has a custom-designed removable baby seat. In place of the middle seat is a centre console that can move forward and backwards, and folds up into a table that can be used for changing nappies.
Speaking of nappy-based emergencies, the machine is also claimed to feature a ‘excretion mode’, which measures temperature changes in the baby seat to work out when a child is producing some waste – and can then automatically suck out the air to remove any resulting smells.
The interior also gets a heating and cooling box to store feeding bottles, while the door trim on the child’s side has extra airbags. The infotainment also includes some bespoke features, including a monitor that can adjust the environment to the child’s actions, such as playing soothing music if they are crying.
There are also ultraviolet lamps fitted in the cabin that are designed to kill germs. At the same time, the interior uses materials that are claimed to emit no harmful gases and are certified to be soft and soothing on a child’s skin.
Arcfox has yet to reveal powertrain details of the Kaola, although a spokesperson for the brand claimed it would offer a range of around 500 miles.
The machine will go on sale in China later this year, and while Arcfox has no firm plans at present, it is actively looking at opportunities for expansion into other markets in the future.