Simply Abu Dhabi XXXIV

“We have finished the first stage and it will not only be the first fully autonomous Level 5 car in the region, but it will also be made here in Dubai.” Much of the technology comes from W Motors’ sister brand, Iconiq Motors which is based in Shanghai. Their mandate is to develop a full range of affordable, electric passenger sedans and MPVs. “In China we launched the first generation of the Iconiq 7 MPV last year. It’s fully electric and we just launched the Generation Two alongside Muse at the Shanghai Auto Show as well.” Like Muse, AED150,000 Iconic 7 has also received input fromMicrosoft for the installation of mobility features and facial recognition making this the first Microsoft-connected vehicle on the market. “Iconiq 7 will compete with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz Viano and Cadillac Escalade as VIP transport but being fully electric will be targeted as a B2B proposition rather than private buyers. We plan to produce one million fully electric cars over the next four years. “It shows that we are capable of producing not only the $3.4 million and $1.5 million hypercars, but also mass produce fully electric, affordable cars from around $45,000.” While W Motors in Dubai will focus on the production of the Fenyr Supersport, Muse and an upcoming $250,000 roadster, Iconiq Motors will concentrate on manufacturing the EVs at its factory based in Tianjin, China. “We currently have around 380 people split between Tianjin and Shanghai but that’s growing as we speak to 700 and by the end of this year we will have 1,000 people there at the same time as we should be opening our WMotors factory here,” he said.