The Chinese auto industry is really puzzling to the European visitor to the Shanghai motor show. So many unknown brands and models, so many concepts, and when it comes to EVs, it’s difficult to tell which ones will get into production, but I’m quite confident this one is more than a showcar.

Great Wall sold more than half a million cars last year. This Great Wall Voleex C20R-EV is officially a concept but the company already has several prototypes on the road, and a production model is expected within the next 12 months. It’s Yaris-sized with a 24-kW motor (56-kW peak) giving 111-lbs/ft of torque, which doesn’t sound like much. A lithium-ion battery provides 19.2-kWh and that allows a 100-mile range in city driving, not at the 81-mph top speed.

That’s all I know, besides the fact that the Chinese government is pushing hard to jump start EV production, and that the Chinese should manage to get cheap batteries. But there isn’t any indication of price yet… I’ll keep watching closely what’s going on in China, but there’s no arguing that with the BYD E6, this Great Wall Voleex C20R-EV was one of the promising EV concept in Shanghai. I mean close to production form…