iCaur V23 (100kW) Review: More Than Just A Pretty Box

This is actually my third encounter with the iCaur V23.

The first came during a special sneak preview just before the Singapore Motorshow 2026. Then, several months later, I drove one off-road in Wuhu, China, where there was mud, loose surfaces and rather more opportunity for silliness than Singapore generally permits; this was the AWD variant, though.

Now comes arguably the most important encounter: Living with one here.

This time, I had the V23 for half a week as part of a Range Challenge organised by Vertex Automobile, iCaur's local dealer. The idea, naturally, was to see how much distance we could extract from a single charge.

I decided to approach it rather differently. Instead of switching off the air-conditioning, crawling along expressways and adopting every hypermiling trick known to mankind, I simply drove the V23 as I would any other car.

That meant travelling from one end of Singapore to the other, through the heartlands and into the CBD during peak hour. The air-conditioning stayed on, there was stop-start congestion, realistic periods of idling and expressway speeds varied according to traffic; because while squeezing every last kilometre from a battery might win a Range Challenge, it doesn't necessarily tell you what an EV will be like to live with.

And that was what I really wanted to find out. After half a week of doing exactly that, I'm convinced the V23 could potentially become one of Singapore's next best-selling compact SUVs.

Come on, just look at it.

On The Outside

There is no point pretending styling isn't one of the V23's biggest weapons.

It is unapologetically boxy, upright and retro, with round headlights, chunky proportions, short overhangs and enough off-roader visual cues to suggest it would rather be somewhere in Mongolia than an HDB multi-storey carpark.

Yet at 4,220 mm long, it isn't actually enormous. That compact footprint matters in Singapore, because the V23 gives you the visual presence of something much larger without becoming cumbersome around tighter carparks.

More importantly, it has character.

Park it among the current crop of compact electric SUVs and there's very little chance you'll walk towards the wrong car. The V23's styling may borrow heavily from the traditional off-roader playbook, but the result is distinctive enough to give it an identity of its own.

Its generous ground clearance also means the occasional rough track isn't out of the question. Just remember that the Singapore-specification car is rear-wheel drive rather than all-wheel drive, so adventurous styling shouldn't be confused with unstoppable off-road ability.

The Inside Story

The same square-edged philosophy continues inside, and it works.

That upright windscreen and commanding seating position give you excellent visibility ahead, while the cabin itself feels far more spacious than the V23's exterior dimensions suggest.

Up front, there is plenty of room, and the dashboard doesn't overwhelm occupants despite the large 15.4-inch central display.

Better still, iCaur hasn't thrown every physical control into the touchscreen. There are proper buttons and switches where they matter, logically positioned and clearly labelled; they also have a pleasingly positive action. That sounds trivial until you've driven a car requiring three screen taps just to perform something that once required moving one finger…

Storage is another strong point. There are numerous trays, compartments and useful spaces around the cabin, a deep centre compartment and flexible door storage. There isn't a conventional glovebox, strangely, but the V23 largely compensates by finding other places for your everyday clutter.

Material quality is similarly convincing. There are plenty of hard surfaces, as you'd expect from something deliberately styled to look rugged, but they don't feel cheap. More importantly, the cabin feels properly screwed together; over rougher roads there was little to suggest the V23's tough appearance is merely cosmetic.

My test car didn't have a dedicated driver's instrument display, which means your attention occasionally wanders towards the central screen for information you'd normally expect directly ahead; thankfully, a driver display can be specified locally for just S$300. I'd tick that box without thinking twice.

Rear accommodation requires slightly more explanation. There is excellent headroom and good legroom, so two adults will be very comfortable. But the rear bench feels designed primarily around those two outer passengers; a young child can occupy the centre position, but I wouldn't volunteer an average-sized adult for an extended journey there.

Then there is the boot. At 234-litres, it looks small by SUV standards; but there is a useful trick underneath. Remove the boot-floor partition and another hidden storage compartment is revealed below, immediately giving you somewhere to stash smaller bags, charging accessories or items you'd rather keep out of sight.

So no, you're probably not helping anyone move house with the V23 – well, unless their worldly possessions consist of a laptop and three T-shirts…

For normal daily use, however, the available space is more useful than the headline boot space initially suggests. And unless you habitually use your car as mobile storage, it shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

Technically Speaking

For Singapore, the important numbers are 100 kW (134 bhp) and 180 Nm, sent exclusively to the rear wheels. That modest output puts the V23 neatly into Category A COE territory, and on paper, it doesn't sound particularly exciting.

On the road, however, it makes considerably more sense.

The electric motor's immediate response means the V23 gets away cleanly from traffic lights and has enough urge for merging onto expressways or filling gaps in traffic - I never found myself wishing for another hundred horsepower while crossing Singapore. Because, realistically, where would I use it?

The bigger compromise is range. Its 59.93 kWh battery provides a WLTP-rated 312 km, which is modest by today's EV standards. You could reasonably argue that some similarly priced EVs will travel considerably further between charges.

But this is also where my approach to Vertex Automobile's Range Challenge became useful. I wasn't particularly interested in discovering the absolute maximum distance the V23 could travel under artificially ideal conditions; I wanted to know how far it could go while being treated like an actual car.

So the air-conditioning remained on throughout. I dealt with CBD congestion, sat in traffic, idled when necessary and travelled at normal expressway speeds. There was no obsessively feathering the accelerator or deliberately holding up traffic just to make the efficiency figure look heroic. In other words, I sacrificed my chances of Range Challenge glory in favour of something considerably more useful: A realistic idea of what living with the V23 in Singapore is actually like.

Viewed in that context, its 312 km WLTP range becomes less alarming than the number initially suggests.

It isn't the EV for someone regularly covering enormous distances between charges, but given Singapore's relatively short daily journeys, its usable range should be sufficient for many households. You simply need to understand what you're buying.

Driving Experience

This is where the V23 surprised me most.

It feels solid - the structure has a reassuring sense of rigidity and the cabin remains reasonably well isolated from road and wind noise. Considering the V23's upright proportions, refinement at expressway speeds is commendable.

The suspension is generally comfortable, although I found the rear noticeably softer than the front. Over larger undulations, you occasionally sense the back of the car taking an extra moment to settle; it isn't uncomfortable, but slightly firmer rear damping would make the V23 feel more consistent from front to rear.

Otherwise, its chassis is nicely suited to Singapore. The steering is light enough for parking and urban manoeuvring without feeling completely disconnected once speeds rise. Rear-wheel drive also gives the V23 tidy, predictable behaviour through bends, although nobody should mistake this for an electric sports car wearing hiking boots…

The brakes deserve praise too. Pedal response feels natural and stopping power is more than adequate, which makes smooth progress through heavy traffic easy.

Most importantly, the V23 isn't tiring. The elevated seating position gives you a commanding view of surrounding traffic, the major controls fall naturally to hand and its compact length makes it easier to place than its chunky appearance initially suggests.

After repeatedly crossing Singapore, dealing with peak-hour CBD traffic and simply getting on with daily life, that ease of use became one of the car's strongest qualities.

And should its appearance tempt you towards something more adventurous, that generous ground clearance gives you some scope to venture off the beaten path - just remember that it’s driving the rear wheels.

This particular Singapore-spec V23 is rear-wheel drive, so once surfaces become loose, muddy or particularly slippery, available traction will ultimately determine how far your adventure goes.

In A Nutshell

The V23 isn't perfect.

Its 312 km WLTP range is modest, the 234-litre boot could be larger, the middle rear seat isn't somewhere I'd place an adult for a drive to Kuala Lumpur, and the softer rear suspension could benefit from slightly tighter control.

But none of those shortcomings fundamentally spoils this car.

What the V23 does particularly well is combine something increasingly valuable in today's EV market: Character with everyday usability. It looks interesting without being difficult to live with, feels spacious without occupying an enormous footprint, and the 100 kW output sounds modest yet proves perfectly adequate for Singapore.

Whereas the interior demonstrates that physical buttons, useful storage and straightforward ergonomics haven't suddenly become obsolete.

And this third encounter with the V23 has probably been the most revealing. The preview showed me the design, Wuhu demonstrated what the platform could do away from tarmac, but half a week of expressways, CBD congestion, carparks and everyday Singapore driving showed me the V23 that owners will actually experience: Not a hardcore off-roader, and definitely not a long-distance EV champion.

Instead, it's a distinctive, comfortable and surprisingly well-rounded compact electric SUV that makes plenty of sense in the environment where most examples will spend their lives.

Sometimes you don't need 500 horsepower, 600 km of range or a dashboard resembling Mission Control to make a convincing EV.

Sometimes being useful, likeable and looking this good is enough.

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Jegan’s Take - Style Over Substance?

There’s no denying the iCaur V23 looks the part.

During an efficiency challenge that saw me drive the V23 for just 100 km, I found myself noticing just how often people looked at it. There are familiar cues from some of the category’s better-known stalwarts, but the V23 undeniably turns heads whether it’s moving or parked.

That sense of ruggedness continues inside. The highly raked windscreen, high-mounted door sills and upright dashboard give the cabin a convincing 4x4 feel. Build quality also makes a decent first impression, with taut buttons and panels that don’t have that cheap, squeaky feel.

It is somewhat spartan, though. More surprisingly, getting into and out of the rear seats can be awkward thanks to the narrow door openings. Boot space is another reality check - there simply isn’t much of it.

The ride is on the firmer side of things for what is essentially a rear-wheel driven soft-roader. It gives the V23 a more rugged character, but in Singapore’s urban environment, a little more compliance wouldn’t go amiss.

But perhaps that misses the point.

If you’re buying the V23 for the lifestyle, the looks and the sense of adventure rather than hauling the family and their luggage off-road, there’s little reason why it can’t work perfectly well as a city car.

Just don’t expect the lifestyle to come with a particularly large boot…

Technical Specification - iCAUR V23 (100 kW)

Power/Torque: 134 bhp/180 Nm
Battery type/Capacity: Lithium Iron Phosphate/59.93 kWh
Charging time: 10 hours (AC), 30 minutes (DC) - 30 to 80%
Range: 312 km (WLTP)
0-100 km/h: 11 seconds
Top speed: 140 km/h
Efficiency: 16.6 kWh/100 km
Agent: Vertex Automobile Pte Ltd

Photos by Azfar Hashim (@azfar.talks)

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