Maxus seeks mostest with less powerful Mifa 7

The Mifa 7 has a real-world range of just over 400km, which makes it a long-haul electric multi-seater. ST PHOTOS: ARIFFIN JAMAR

- Christopher Tan

The Category A certificate of entitlement (COE) used to be around $30,000 lower than Category B COE – a price gap which suitably separated mass-market car buyers from premium or luxury consumers.

But today, the gap is nearly half of that, thanks to a flurry of car models which have been tuned to meet Category A’s power cap. Nearly all electric cars in Singapore have a Category A variant.

China’s Maxus Mifa 7 is the latest. The watered-down Mifa 7 variant follows its full-cream twin, which was reviewed by The Straits Times eight months ago.

Priced at $264,999 before applicable discounts, it is $14,000 less costly than its Category B equivalent. Including the lower road tax that the lower-powered car attracts, the savings add up to $18,220 over 10 years for potential owners.

Now, $18,200 may not be a huge amount, considering the price of the car. But precisely because cars – or more precisely, COEs – are so exorbitant, every little reduction is welcome. After all, $18,200 will buy you quite a few omakase meals at fancy Japanese restaurants.

As with most previous electric cars which were specially tweaked to qualify for Cat A COE, the detuned Mifa 7 looks like a no-brainer on paper.