Skywell BE11 review

What do you get if you cross a bus manufacturer with an electronics firm? It's the Skywell BE11 we're reviewing here.

The BE11 is more than just a punchline, of course. It's an electric SUV that's the result of Skyworth (a consumer electronics company) and the Nanjing Golden Dragon Bus Company (a commercial vehicle manufacturer) coming together to develop a car for the first time.

Much like Jaecoo and Omoda (two other Chinese automotive brands) Skywell has ambitious plans. While it has only 10 fully operational dealers in the UK at the time of writing, it aims to have 50 by the end of 2025.

In terms of sales, meanwhile, it hopes to find homes for up to 800 cars in its first full year, and intends to expand its range to include a small hatchback, an executive saloon and an electric van.

Anyway, that’s enough background info. What’s the Skywell BE11 like, and is it good enough to challenge established electric SUV rivals, such as the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Niro EV and Renault Scenic? Let's find out…

There are two versions of the Skywell BE11 to choose from: the 72kWh Standard Range, which can officially cover 248 miles on a charge, and the 86kWh Long Range, with a 304-mile maximum. In other words, both can take you farther than a 48kWh Hyundai Kona Electric but not as far as a Renault Scenic.

Whichever model you go for, the BE11 is powered by a 201bhp electric motor that drives the front wheels and delivers 0-62mph in 9.6 seconds (there's no four-wheel-drive version). That’s not as quick as a Kona Electric or Scenic but – in theory – should be fine for most situations.

Unfortunately, the BE11's accelerator pedal is very sensitive, so the car is difficult to drive smoothly. Plus, this is combined with a distinct lack of traction from the front tyres; when pulling out of junctions, it's all too easy to spin the front wheels, and we ended up feeling like a sitting duck.

The brake pedal isn’t much better. There’s a significant sponginess to it, which makes it difficult to stop with precision, plus there’s a lot of travel before anything happens. True, you can improve this by switching the brakes from Comfort to Sport mode, but then they jump to the other end of the spectrum and become overly grabby.

Even pumping the regenerative braking up to maximum strength (so you rarely have to touch the brake pedal at all) doesn't help much, because the braking effect is then sudden and jerky.

The steering is another area that disappoints, no matter which mode you have it in. It’s very light around town, which helps with manoeuvring, but as you increase speed beyond 30mph, it's so vague that you can't accurately point the wheels where you want them. Meanwhile, on the motorway the BE11's steering becomes overly heavy.

There’s quite a lot of wind and road noise, but the suspension does a good job of soaking up bumps and expansion joints on the motorway while keeping the car settled

Sadly, on undulating back roads the BE11 loses its composure, leading to occupants being tossed about in their seats. There's lots of body lean in corners, too, and when you slow down, potholes thump through the interior.

In short, other electric SUVs are much better to drive than the BE11; the Renault Scenic and Skoda Enyaq are far comfier, while the Smart #3 feels a lot more precise and controlled in the corners.

“I like the fact that you can adjust the BE11's regenerative braking very specifically between 0% and 100%. Or at least, I like the idea of this; in reality, none of the settings allow you to brake particularly smoothly.” – George Hill, Used Car Writer

You sit high up in the Skywell BE11, with good all-round visibility. What's more, the front seats are supportive and offer six-way electrical adjustment as standard.

Add in a decent amount of reach and height adjustment for the steering wheel, and you'd think people of various sizes would be able to get comfortable, but in reality, the driver’s seat doesn’t slide back very far, so tall drivers can struggle.

All BE11’s come with a 12.8in infotainment touchscreen that looks swish. Unfortunately, the software that it runs – called Caacoo OS – is clunky to use, which is particularly annoying because you have to use it for most things. For example, there's no separate knob to adjust the sound-system volume, and there are five layers of sub-menus to wade through.

If you want Skywell's TurboDog9 sat-nav app (which is, indeed, tempting – just for the name) you’re out of luck for now. Early UK BE11s won’t be offered with the system, and the car isn't set up for over-the-air updates, so it won't be possible to add it later. 

At least you get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard so you can run your own apps through the Skywell system. However, getting them running can be frustrating: it took us three attempts and two phones to connect to the system wirelessly.

To make matters worse, you have to exit Android Auto or Apple CarPlay to access most of the climate settings, which are also on the touchscreen.

The Google-based set-up in the Renault Scenic is far easier to use and backed up by separate, physical climate controls. In fact, most rivals offer more intuitive and responsive infotainment systems.

All BE11s have a 12.3in digital driver’s display behind the steering wheel. It's configurable and can show functions such as your trip and media information, but otherwise it’s quite simple in terms of its functionality. It can’t show your sat-nav directions, for example, which the Scenic's can, but the graphics are at least reasonably clear and crisp.

Interior quality is mixed. While there are plenty of soft-touch plastics and suede-like materials on the dashboard and doors, the actual build quality doesn't seem very good. The door handles are flimsy when you pull them, plus the few physical buttons on the dashboard feel cheap. The Smart #3 and Skoda Enyaq are just two rivals that are far more solidly put together.

“I was quite impressed by the interior of the Skywell BE11 when I first climbed aboard, but that quickly changed when I start touching things and trying to operate the infotainment system.” – George Hill, Used Car Writer

The Skywell BE11 wins back some points when it comes to space and practicality. Up front you get plenty of storage areas dotted around, including a split-level centre console (featuring a storage tray and central cubby), two cupholders and large door bins.

In the back, meanwhile, there’s more than enough leg room to allow taller passengers to stretch out, plus the floor is completely flat and you'll find plenty of room for your feet under the front seats. You can even tilt the rear seats forwards or backwards if you want to, while head room is generous, despite the standard-fit sunroof.

Less impressive is the BE11’s boot size of 467 litres. True, it's more luggage space than a Smart #3 offers, but the Renault Scenic provides 545 litres, while Tesla Model Y is even more practical.

The BE11's back seats split and fold down in a 60/40 configuration to give you up to 1141 litres of storage space. However, to make the extended load bay's floor flat you have to flip up the bases of the back seats first.

The boot is a usefully square shape and all BE11s come with a powered tailgate. There’s no front boot for storing your charging cables – as there is with a Model Y – but there is space for the cables under the boot floor.

“I’m 6ft 2in and I was impressed by the amount of space in the back of the Skywell BE11; I had no shortage of leg or head room. Plus, I like the fact the seat backs are adjustable, so you can trade rear seat space for boot space, or vice versa.” – George Hill, Used Car Writer

The Skywell BE11 is more expensive to buy than the Hyundai Kona Electric and costs about the same as a Kia Niro EV, Renault Scenic or Skoda Enyaq. That said, it is expected to lose more of its value over three years than the Scenic or Enyaq.

Skywell says the BE11 is a value-focused electric SUV, and the equipment list is designed to reflect that, with loads of luxuries included as standard. You get 19in alloy wheels, LED headlights, wireless phone charging, ambient interior lighting, front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree parking camera and part-leather seats.

Sadly, the BE11’s maximum charging speed of 80kW is poor by modern standards. To try to disguise this, Skywell quotes a 20-70% charge time (instead of the usual 10-80%), with this sort of top-up taking 36 minutes in the Standard Range and 45 minutes in the Long Range.

If you’re charging via a 7kW home EV charger, a 20-70% charge should take four hours and 30 minutes for the Standard Range BE11 and an hour longer for the Long Range.

The BE11 has not been submitted for Euro NCAP safety testing, which is a concern, and it comes with minimal safety kit other than front, side and curtain airbags. Skywell admits it wouldn’t expect it to get a five-star safety rating.

The BE11 underwent European-type approval before July 2024, so it's not legally required to offer the active safety features many rivals do. For example, it doesn’t come with automatic emergency braking (AEB), intelligent speed assist or traffic-sign recognition, and you can't add them (or blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control or lane-keep assist) as options.

The Nissan Ariya, Renault Scenic, Skoda Enyaq and many other new electric SUVs do have a full five-star Euro NCAP rating.

The Skywell BE11 is too new to have featured in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, so we can't tell you if it's likely to be dependable. It does come with an impressive seven years or 100,000 miles warranty, which is a match for Kia’s cover. For the battery, all cars get eight years or 155,000 miles of cover.

“I always advise looking closely at the quoted charging speed of an electric car. Most manufacturers quote 10-80% charging times, but some quote 20-70% or 30-80%, which can lead you to think they’re quicker to charge than they actually are.” – George Hill, Used Car Writer

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here