The comfort and roominess of this new electric people-mover impact powerfully.

THIS might be first time I’ve preferred being driven.

The second row of seats in the LDV MIFA 9 people-mover in its top-of-the-line Premium format that, at $119,990 is respectively $40,000 and $20,000 above the entry Elite and mid-spec Luxury, comprises a pair of captain’s chairs.

They’re marvellous. Roomy, very luxurious, wholly electronically adjustable with multiple comfort settings … and eight personal massage options. So comfortable. Easy to lay back and allow a fellow journalist undertake the driving during yesterday’s media introduction to this electric seven-seater, when we wafted through the Auckland regional countryside in typical electric vehicle silence.

A representative of LDV’s national rights-holder, Great Lake Motor Distributors, reckoned these seats to be more comfortable than those in the first-class section of an Airbus A380.

I’m not sure I agree, but I know what he meant. I was happy to accept his opinion about it re-inventing how to transport up to seven people in ultimate comfort and style with zero carbon emissions.

The MIFA 9 enters a market segment that has long been modest – just 1700 NZ-new models per annum 20 years ago - and has reduced more in recent years. Just 728 registrations to date in 2022, with the Kia Carnival easily dominant with 403. Next are the Volkswagen T7 on 83 registrations and Honda Odyssey with 62.

Carnival avails with a 2.2-litre turbo diesel for $74,990. When a buyer of the Elite achieves the $8625 Clean Car rebate, that person effectively pays $71,365. That’s gotta be attractive. It’s a big, comfortable, electric vehicle.

As yesterday’s pricing and specification story relates, even though it doesn’t carry the enormous load of kit on the Premium, the Elite is no bare-bones model.

However you go, you’re buying big. At 5.27 metres long, two metres wide and 1.84m high, MIFA 9 is an imposing sight. It has a pair of big sliding doors on each flanks – manually operated with the Elite, electric with the Luxury and Premium. It’s huge inside. There’s 3072mm of fore-aft space for those aboard, and seat base to roof height of between 1570mm and 1582mm depending on where everyone is sitting.

This is a vehicle so spacious the three rearmost seats are accessed by walking between the second-row chairs. In the Premium model this access gap is widened by electrical adjustment, which shuffles them sideways.

Luxury and Premium models also achieve a full-length panoramic glass sunroof which pour lights into the interior.

The model places on a modular ‘skateboard’ platform developed in partnership with CATL, China’s largest battery maker. CATL’s cells are packed into modules which in turn slot into a battery pack along the centre. Drive is through the front wheels.

As a result there’s a low centre of gravity, obvious from behind the wheel of all versions, which start on 18 inch rims then shift to 19s. It felt smooth and secure, the only noticeable downside being ‘touchiness’ from of the driver assists.

MIFA 9 has 17 radar sets to monitor its driving. My impression is that some have obviously been calibrated for roads a lot wider than the secondary routes we were often on. I chose to deactivate the Assist Mode – an easily accomplished process using the touch screen - the constant beeping and buzzing became a real annoyance.

In addition to that assist, one of the suite of 10 high-definition cameras, sited at the base of the driver’s side A-pillar, monitors driver fatigue. Maybe it’s a bit too over-zealous. I wasn’t tired, yet it constantly urged me to keep my eyes on the road and concentrate on my driving. Maybe my eyes wander a bit too much.

MIFA 9’s 90 kWh ternary lithium battery feds a single motor developing 180kW and 350Nm, and consumes charge at a rate of between 21.3 kWh and 21.8kWh per 100km according to assessment to the WLTP scale, the difference relating to the increasing weight as the spec builds up. The Premium weighs in at a hefty 2535kg.

What impact from the number of passengers being carried? WLTP tests with two adults aboard. GLVD hasn’t driven it with a full load; the distributor’s biggest local run to consider this side was over 40km and involved having three adults. Consumption increased by around one percent. The WLTP scale puts range at 440km, but there’s contention it can lend as much as 595km if the driving is wholly city-bound.

Replenishing the 90kWh battery pack takes around 8.5 hours with an 11kW charger, while using a high-energy DC fast charger will lift it to 80 percent from 30 percent in 36 minutes.

The drive programme asked for each vehicle to have just two aboard. In that configuration, it had plenty of power and torque. Operation is easy. In typical electric vehicle fashion you simply belt yourself in, press the brake pedal, put the steering column-mounted selector wand into Drive and you are away, thereafter picking which of the driving modes – the usual Eco, Normal and Sport – suits best. It impressed for the quality and silence of its drive, and I thought it proved surprisingly agile for such a large vehicle.

The styling? For want of a better word, I’d settle on ‘impressive’. It’s a bit of an understatement to describe the vehicle as imposing. The split-style headlights and big daytime running lights present strong visual impact. Taillights running vertically down each side of the tailgate are another design trigger.

The driver environment inside is impressively smooth, featuring a flowing dash design with very few buttons. Build quality looks to be very good.

Any motoring media conference is always fun when brands search for superlatives. This event offered distributor thought that it’s “a smorgasbord of technology,” delivers “next-level premium motoring” and takes “motoring from the ICE age to the electric age”.

On strength of this first taste, it does seem a very good people-mover; being fully electric adds to that appeal. The entry price proves the gap between comparable fossil-fuelled and electric product is indeed closing. It will be interesting to see how it is accepted.