Geometry A 2019 prototype first drive

This is the first model from Geely's brand new electric vehicle (EV)-only brand, and a car that the Chinese giant says has been benchmarked against the Tesla Model 3.

The Geometry A was officially unveiled at the recent Shanghai motor show, and we've already had a brief spin on a test track at Geely's research and development centre in the Hangzhou Bay area.

Two statistics stand out, not least for their apparent contradiction with each other. The first is a range of up to 311 miles (500km) for the model fitted with the larger (61.9kWh) battery pack. The second is pricing in China that ranges from 210,000 RMB (£24,000 at current exchange rates) for the lesser (51.9kWh) version with a 255-mile range up to 250,000 RMB (£28,600) for the plushest long-range model. Factor in the current Chinese market EV subsidies and those fall to RMB 150,000 (£17,200) and RMB 190,000 (£21,700) respectively.

But the A is far from being the sort of cheap and cheerless appliance those prices might suggest, having a very generous standard specification and an impressively upmarket finish. It sits on an electrified version of Geely's existing saloon platform - future EVs will use an architecture shared with Volvo - and uses a 161bhp motor to turn its front wheels. Geely claims a 0-62mph time of 8.8sec.

Our drive took place on the short test track with smooth surfaces, sharp corners and limited opportunities for speed. As the official 0-62 figure suggests, the A is no Model 3 when it comes to performance, but it's more enthusiastic than the Nissan Leaf or Volkswagen e-Golf off the line, chirping tyres in response to a stamped throttle despite the control system's attempt to feed in power slowly.

The track's biggest straight was just long enough for us to see 130kmh (81mph) on the speed display, by which point acceleration had tailed off. Refinement is good: there's almost no sound from the motor and little wind or tyre noise, despite the lack of internal combustion distraction.

The controls are light, with little sensation in the steering and little feedback through the brake pedal. But responses are accurate, the regenerative effect is powerful and the A feels very easy to operate at the gentle pace at which it will normally be driven in China's traffic-clogged cities.

The track's collection of slow corners and hairpins did nothing to flatter the A's modest athleticism, leading to lots of body roll, limited front-end bite and some torque steer under hard use as the peak 184lb ft struggled to find traction. Not that hard use is likely to feature much in the duty cycle of a typical A.