- The Monjaro EM-i covered 188.6 km across Egypt’s Black and White Desert.
- Its five challenges included quicksand, salt marsh, gravel, high-speed running and steep dunes.
- The plug-in hybrid system produces 250 kW and 667 Nm, with all-wheel drive.
Geely’s Monjaro EM-i has traded the usual proving-ground routine for a particularly hostile stretch of Egypt, completing a record-setting run through the Black and White Desert.
The production plug-in hybrid SUV covered 188.6 km on 15 September, earning a Guinness World Records title for the fastest crossing of the route by a production plug-in hybrid SUV.
It was not simply a flat-out dash across open sand. Geely divided the crossing into five challenges intended to test speed, traction and control across sharply different surfaces.
The course included a 60 km high-speed gravel section, quicksand, a salt marsh and a gravel riverbed. Steep dune climbs and descents added another test of the Monjaro’s ability to keep its momentum without losing composure.
Hardware put to work
Underpinning the Monjaro EM-i are Geely’s GEA Evo architecture and GEEA3 electronic and electrical architecture. Its electronic all-wheel-drive system can vary the torque split from 100:0 to 50:50 as conditions change.
Geely says that system can reduce traction slip by 50%, a useful claim in terrain where available grip can change in a few metres. The SUV’s CDC system also scans and adjusts 50 times each second, with a claimed response time of 20 milliseconds.
The plug-in hybrid powertrain delivers a combined peak output of 250 kW and 667 Nm. Geely quotes a 0–100 km/h time of 5.83 seconds, although the desert crossing was designed to demonstrate more than straight-line performance.
The result gives Geely a neat capability story for the Monjaro EM-i: a production SUV completing a demanding route that combined speed, loose surfaces and steep elevation changes during a sustained run.
Geely has not disclosed New Zealand availability for the Monjaro EM-i.
