Geely has added a Guinness World Record to the Monjaro EM-i's resume. The company says the plug-in hybrid SUV achieved the fastest crossing of Egypt's Black and White Desert by a production PHEV, running a continuous 188.6 km route through the Sahara. The record attempt doubled as a showcase event on the model's global launch tour — Egypt is the first market where the SUV, rated at more than 1,000 km of range, has gone on sale.
The route ran from the dark volcanic terrain of the Black Desert to the chalky formations of the White Desert, with dust and constantly shifting grip along the way. Five challenges were built into the run: stability in extreme conditions, a sequence of steep climbs, recovery in a cross-axle test, ride comfort over broken ground, and acceleration on a low battery.
The SUV sits on Geely's dedicated new-energy architecture, with a centralized electronic setup coordinating the powertrain and electric all-wheel drive and reacting to surface changes within milliseconds. Torque can be split anywhere from fully front-biased (100:0) to 50:50, traction control is claimed to cut wheel slip by up to 50 percent, and the adaptive dampers adjust up to 50 times per second with a 20-millisecond response. The EM-i hybrid system pairs a 1.5-liter engine with electric drive for a combined 250 kW and 667 Nm, reaching 100 km/h in 5.83 seconds.
Geely says the model's next international appearance will be at October's Paris Motor Show. The company also reported overseas sales above 110,094 units in August — up 205 percent year on year and its eighth straight month of growth.