Meet the Arcfox 1 and Arcfox 7, wonderfully Chinese oddballs

Amongst the lawyer-defeating Euro-clones and strange extended-wheelbase versions of regular cars like the Jaguar XF L, China has also come up with some genuinely interesting new stuff at this year’s Beijing motor show.

Some is straight Tesla-baiting - we’re talking about the LeEco LeSEE - but there are other, slightly odder things knocking about in Beijing’s show halls. Comfortingly, they’ve still got weird names. Say hello to Arcfox.

Beiqi New Energy showcased the all-electric Arcfox 7 supercar, a scissor-doored two-seater capable of 0-62mph in around three seconds. And it looks good, a bit like the environmentally friendly baby of an Aston Martin Vulcan and a LaFerrari.

Designed at Beiqi’s R&D centre in Barcelona, it features a carbon fibre body dropped over a chassis based on the sort of tub they use in Formula E racing cars.

No word yet on the type of motivation  - though the company specialises in pure electric vehicles, so the claims of a 160mph top speed and 180+ mile range (if you drive it carefully) seem credible.

Inside, the cabin is snug, and formed from ‘recyclable, biodegradable, environmentally-friendly materials’, and features full-on next-gen tech including fingerprint recognition and swanky infotainment. Which is all very nice, if a bit of the usual concept-car fudgery.

At the other end of the scale is the cute, slightly bonkers Arcfox 1; a slabby, tiny urban SUV convertible-type thing that is both slightly appalling and utterly brilliant. Again fully EV, the 1 features a roll-hoop that is described in the press material as ‘creative’ and wheels that look ‘very personal’. Though this highlights our lack of technical Mandarin rather than any fault of the designers.

But it just goes to show that there’s some really cool stuff coming from China - it’s not all about the chauffeur-driven long things. More please, China.