Aion Ray 7 starts at 128,800 CNY, limits Huawei brake-by-wire to top trim

GAC Aion, the electric vehicle brand of GAC Group (HKEX: 2238), opened pre-sales for its Ray 7 sedan on the evening of October 17, 2026, with five variants priced from 128,800 to 158,800 CNY (c. $19,161 to $23,624). The Ray 7 is the first model in Aion's new Ray series, announced on July 28, and the first car to carry Aion's redesigned logo.

Aion reported 6,817 orders in the first two hours. Those are pre-sale orders backed by a 599 CNY deposit (c. $89) that stays refundable until the buyer converts it into a locked order, and that counts as 2,000 CNY (c. $298) off the price. Aion values its pre-sale benefits at up to 27,000 CNY (c. $4,017), available to buyers who lock their order by November 30, 2026, take an invoice by December 31 and submit plate paperwork by January 31, 2027.

The two 530 km versions, Driving Fun and LiDAR, are priced at 128,800 and 138,800 CNY (c. $19,161 and $20,649). The three 702 km versions, all named for their CATL (HKEX: 3750) batteries, run from 138,800 CNY for the Driving Fun CATL through 148,800 CNY for the LiDAR CATL (c. $22,136) to 158,800 CNY for the EMB LiDAR CATL top trim.

Only that top trim gets Huawei's DriveONE chip-level drive-and-brake fusion architecture and EMB fully electric brake-by-wire system, while the other four versions use a Onebox integrated braking unit. GAC bills the Ray 7 as the debut of Huawei's DriveONE EMB and quotes a 78-millisecond response time and a 33 m (108 ft) stop from 100 km/h (62 mph). It also says the car can still stop safely if all four wheel brakes fail, a company claim.

Pre-sale buyers of the 702 EMB LiDAR CATL trim get high-performance rims and yellow calipers, a 3,999 CNY (c. $595) package, free (GAC Aion)

Electro-mechanical braking has already reached Chinese showrooms this year. Chery's Exeed brand launched the EX7 SUV on April 19, 2026 with EMB on one of its six versions, the extended-range four-wheel-drive EMB Ultra, and quoted a 90-millisecond response time. As on the Ray 7, the technology is limited to a single version rather than offered across the range.

Every Ray 7 uses a single rear motor rated at 180 kW (241 hp) and 235 Nm, part of a Huawei DriveONE multi-in-one drive unit that Aion says runs at 92.5% efficiency. Aion pairs it with a 28-in-1 thermal management module and says the car weighs more than 150 kg (331 lb) less than comparable models.

The 530 km (329 miles) versions carry a 45.58 kWh pack and the 702 km (436 miles) versions a 62.98 kWh pack, both lithium iron phosphate with Aion's magazine battery 2.0 safety design and both rated on the CLTC cycle. Aion quotes energy use of 9.7 kWh per 100 km (62 miles) for the 530 km car and 9.8 kWh for the standard 702 km car, and 0 to 100 km/h in 7.4 and 6.9 seconds. With the optional high-performance package, the 702 km versions are rated at 600 km (373 miles). Aion's configurator lists a high-performance sport kit as a free pre-sale extra on the EMB top trim, so that trim will likely be rated at 600 km as delivered, though the configurator still shows it at 702 km and Aion has not confirmed the figure for it.

The fastback is 4,960 mm long on a 2,920 mm wheelbase, 1,900 mm wide and 1,455 mm tall, with a drag coefficient of 0.22 from 14 aerodynamic changes. It uses aluminum-hybrid double-wishbone front and five-link rear suspension with FSD adaptive dampers and a 5.3 m turning radius. Inside, a 15.6-inch 2.5K screen runs on a Snapdragon 8295P chip with 24 GB of memory, and the optional integrated sport seats offer ventilation, heating and massage.

Aion is including its 3,999 CNY (c. $595) integrated sport seats free in pre-sale orders, shown in the grey Speed Track interior (GAC Aion rendering)

The three LiDAR versions carry 27 sensors, including a 192-channel LiDAR and three 4D millimeter-wave radars, and add navigation-assisted driving on urban roads and highways. Aion says its driver-assistance model shares its technical roots with the Level 4 robotaxi software of WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD). The two Driving Fun trims use a camera-only setup with more basic assistance functions.

The Ray 7 joins a lineup whose shipments are rising faster than its sales at home. Aion's September wholesale volume rose 17.7% to 39,667 from 33,694 in August, but its new energy vehicle retail sales were 24,539, almost unchanged from 24,510, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). September wholesale was up 45.3% from a year earlier, Aion's seventh straight month of year-on-year growth.

Exports account for part of that gap. The UT hatchback sent 5,012 of its 6,391 wholesale units abroad in September, and the V SUV 2,752 of 3,498. At home, the i60 SUV led Aion's retail with 10,478 sales, down from 11,027, while the RT sedan rose to 5,122 from 3,877 and the older S sedan fell to 930 from 1,574.

Aion is aiming the Ray 7 at younger buyers. Zhang Xiong, president of GAC's Hyptec and Aion business unit, said the team spoke with more than 1,000 people born in the 1990s and 2000s "to figure out what kind of car they really love." Aion's buyers have mostly been born in the 1970s and 1980s, and Zhang said the brand will launch a new service brand at this year's Guangzhou auto show.

Aion has not announced a launch date, and the pre-sale runs until the official market launch. Two of the seven paint colors, Tropical Blue and Storm Red, will not deliver until January 2027. The open question is how many of the 6,817 refundable orders become locked ones before the November 30 cutoff, and how many of those buyers pay 10,000 CNY (c. $1,488) more than the LiDAR CATL price for the brake-by-wire trim.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.7220 CNY as of October 16, 2026.