SINGAPORE – Under the certificate of entitlement (COE) system, which categorises vehicles by their power output, car brands often put their electric vehicles (EVs) through a “power diet” to slip them into the cheaper Category A COE. After all, who would not want to save a few dollars?

Jaecoo is a brand owned by Chinese carmaker Chery. To get its J6 electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) into Category A, the front motor was ditched and the one in the rear dialled down to 99kW, dropping its output from 205kW and slashing its price by a hefty $32,000.