The Alpha S5, which starts at RMB 176,800, is a product with a good balance of quality and price, but its brand is its biggest shortcoming.

During this period, BYD was the most active manufacturer in the B-class car market. The Qin L and Haibao 06 were launched at super low prices, which shocked the competitors.

However, the market for new energy B-class cars is quite vast, and as long as the product performance is strong, it can gain a living space. On June 15, the Alpha S5 was officially launched, with a total of 3 new models launched, priced at 176,800-216,800 yuan. So what is this pure electric B-class car like?

The Polar Fox brand is a time-honored brand among the new forces in China. It debuted very early, but its performance was just so-so. In May 2024, the sales volume of the entire Polar Fox series was less than 5,000. Just like the peak of Deyun Club, he has a high seniority, but there are almost no jokes passed down by word of mouth.

The Alpha S5, which was launched this time, is ready to explore the pure electric B-class car market. This is a market that has become a purple ocean, with more than 20 pure electric B-class cars on sale.

What are the outstanding features of the Alpha S5?

First of all, it is definitely not the appearance. Today's new energy manufacturers are all masters of design, and their appearance is quite good. The Alpha S5 adopts a family-style design, and the gap cannot be made just by appearance.

Then, the Alpha S5 has certain advantages in size, with a wheelbase of 2900mm, which almost reaches the standard of a C-class car. However, it seems unrealistic to rely on this to defeat the opponent.

In terms of internal configuration, the Alpha S5 has some highlights, including a 68-inch AR-HUD head-up display, external game controllers, switch projection and other functions, which can indeed attract some young people.

In terms of intelligent driving, the Alpha S5 comes standard with L2-level driving assistance functions, and all commonly used functions are present, but no advanced configurations are provided either.

The rest is the power system. The maximum power of the single-motor version of the Alpha S5 is 200kW, and the maximum power of the dual-motor version is 390kW, with a maximum range of 708km. In addition, the two high-end models also support 800V high-voltage fast charging function, and the fast charging time is less than 30 minutes.

It should be said that this is the biggest highlight of the Alpha S5. It alleviates the user's range anxiety to a great extent, while also bringing a relatively low cost of use.

It can be seen that the product concept of Arcfox Alpha S5 is very simple.

First of all, the price is low. The starting price is 176,800 yuan. If you place a deposit before July 31, you can get a cash discount of 25,000 yuan, and the starting price is reduced to 151,800 yuan. The top-end model is priced at less than 200,000 yuan.

The fact that you can buy a pure electric B-class car with a maximum range of 708km, an electric four-wheel drive system and L2-level driving assistance functions for just over 100,000 yuan is shocking to joint venture new energy vehicle manufacturers.

Secondly, the Alpha S5 focuses on "balance". It has no obvious shortcomings, but also no special advantages. It doesn't even want to touch functions such as city and highway NOA.

In the mobile phone circle, this kind of product is called a "bucket phone". In fact, the idea of ​​the Alpha S5 is to make a bucket car. It is hard to say what it relies on to conquer the world. Its three-electric system cannot compare with BYD, and its smart driving cannot compare with Huawei, but it has everything that ordinary consumers want.

It can be said that this is a relatively rational product idea that Jifu can come up with when the brand influence is not very strong. It wants to attract those users who actually use the car.

However, this is actually a gamble, because the "bucket car" is not easy to make. It has no shortcomings and no strengths. It is difficult for users to remember such a product.

Let’s take a look at what the major new energy brands on the market currently rely on to gain a foothold.

Needless to say, BYD relies on the three-electric system built over more than 20 years. Huawei's models rely on Huawei's appeal in the high-end market and its outstanding performance in intelligence. Tesla has the halo of a foreign brand and first-mover advantage. NIO has a unique battery swap model, and Ideal has made great use of extended-range electric vehicles.

This is an era where specialists defeat all-rounders. Consumers will ignore your shortcomings in certain aspects because of your special and irreplaceable advantages. For example, people in the purchasing world all go for Huawei, and as for what a well-off society is, they all choose to ignore it.

Therefore, it is hard to say whether the product concept of Alpha S5 will be recognized by the market. More importantly, pure electric B-class cars are already a very crowded track, and models such as Zeekr 007, BYD Haibao Pure Electric, Zhiji L6, and Tesla Model 3 are all very competitive.

In terms of brand influence, the Alpha S5 is significantly behind these big players; in terms of product performance, it does not seem to be strong enough to make users forget about its competitors. Let’s put it this way, it can do a little bit of everything, but nothing is outstanding, and its main feature is a balance between quality and price.

This is actually the dilemma faced by many second-tier brands. They are relatively weak in themselves and it is difficult for them to create an attractive selling point. The few means of competition are to pile up configurations within a relatively affordable price range. However, facts have proved that this purely cost-effective route is not necessarily popular.

Therefore, after the launch of the Alpha S5, it should be able to bring a certain amount of growth to the brand in a short period of time, because its performance is indeed good, but it is unlikely to help the brand achieve a breakthrough. In terms of sales prospects, this car can be called a success if it sells 3,000 units per month.

However, compared with new forces such as Xiaopeng and Leapmotor, the Polar Fox brand has a more obvious advantage, that is, its "owner" is relatively strong. Although the sales volume of the Polar Fox brand has not met expectations, it is the biggest "brand" of BAIC in the new energy field, so it will definitely not have survival problems for a while. In other words, Polar Fox still has a certain space for "trial and error", which is crucial for second-tier brands. As time goes by, Polar Fox will have more and more experience in the new energy field and may find a path that suits itself.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.