Maxus aims to hit it big in Singapore with the luxury Mifa 9, its large all-electric seven-seater MPV

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SINGAPORE

Whatever you think about seven-seat, large MPVs (multipurpose vehicles) that look like minibuses, there’s no denying the fact that they are really comfortable cars for passengers to ride around in. The archival reviews of the Toyota Previa and Kia Carnival continue to draw in readers on the CarBuyer Singapore website, and despite the staid image they often convey, a drive around town with the whole family onboard will often make you understand why they are so successful as a consumer product. With the Maxus E-Deliver 3 having showed how you can make a humble delivery van comfortable and fun to drive, the Chinese brand is taking another leap here with the launch of the Mifa 9.

First up, despite the ‘9’ in the name, the Maxus Mifa 9 is a seven-seater and there’s no way to legally fill the car up with nine occupants because there’s a three-seat rear bench, two individual second row seats, and two front row seats.

The big deal about the Mifa 9 is that it is Singapore’s first all-electric, mainstream, premium MPV that is on sale from an official dealership. If you want a nicer, not-a-big-SUV, all-electric seven-seater, you’ll have to spring for the much pricier Mercedes-EQ EQV 300.

Design and Interior

MPVs are mostly big boxes that aim to maximise interior space, and they do their best with details on the outside to at least avoid looking like a utilitarian school bus. The Mifa 9 is similar to most other MPVs rolling about but has some new design elements that are just coming into mainstream use. These include the full-width light bar at the tail, and a big, totally flat, featureless front bumper flanked by the headlight clusters.

It does the contemporary big MPV design thing well but the flat nosed bumper, with the cooling air intakes tucked underneath in shadow and above in the bonnet shutline, give the front of the car an impression of a face without a nose. It’s not bad, but somewhat alien compared to other MPVs on the road.

The rear hatch is big, and needs plenty of room behind the car to open up. There’s a setting system on the car that limits the hatch’s opening angle if you expect to park in cramped spaces, but of course the best effect for loading requires you to open it to its full height. 

It’s a very long car, measuring at 5,270mm in length, 2,000mm in width, and 1,849mm in height. It’s longer than many other MPVs like the Nissan Serena e-Power, which measures only 4,770mm long.

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The effect is one of a roomy interior, even though the step-up through the sliding doors into the passenger compartment is higher than expected, because of the batteries underneath the car. 

The lounge-like passenger cabin features two fully motorised captain’s chairs with ventilation and heating, reclining and sliding functions, but they cannot be rotated to face backwards for a conversation with the third row.

The third row, typically the economy class in any three-row MPV, is actually very spacious, featuring full shoulder width for three adults, legroom equivalent to a medium sedan, and one USB port on each side for phone charging use. To get into it, you simply walk between the second row seats. The roofline is high enough that a kindergartener can simply stand up in the car.

You can of course fold the third row’s seats flat for extra luggage space.

Overhead, a large panoramic sunroof can be opened separate from the smaller one over the driver’s seat. Passengers control the air conditioning and sunroof through a control panel at the rear section so they can set it any way they want without assistance from the driver far up in front. The windows are expansive, and when combined with the glass roof, give the Mifa 9 a very airy feel.

Don’t worry about getting too hot either, as the air conditioning on our test car was fully up to the task, as was the JBL sound system. 

Up front, the driver’s seat features the usual MPV-like, upright driving position that’s not quite like a car but not fully a bus either. A 12.3-inch infotainment screen forms the centrepiece of the car’s control systems, and there’s some techno-flex going on here. You can open the windows with the usual switches on the doors, or use the infotainment touch panel to operate them. Headlights and sunroof operation can also be controlled here, as well as the 64-colour LED ambient light that is visible through the whole car after dark.

As you would expect from a car of this size and calibre, the second row sliding doors are motorised for easy opening and closing. 

On to Page 2: The Driving Experience

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