This guest article was written by freelance EV and efficiency consultant Kevin Booker. Kevin also holds world records for a number of EV range-related challenges, most recently helping to beat the Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled on a single charge in an electric SUV.
I recently had the opportunity to test the new Skywell BE11 for a week. Who are Skywell, you may ask? Established in 2010 as part of the Skyworth Group, they are new to passenger car production but already export a wide range of vehicles worldwide, from buses and coaches to light commercial vehicles. The BE11 is their first passenger car in the UK, with more to follow including a hatchback, saloon and light commercial vehicle. All will feature a fully electric powertrain, backed up by a 7-year/100,000-mile warranty and an 8-year/155,000-mile battery warranty.
So how would this new entrant fare on the open road? With its large size, high-capacity 86 kWh battery and WLTP range of 304 miles, it should certainly be capable of going the distance. And with a price tag of just over £30,000, it promises to offer strong value too.
Design and driving experience
When you first get into the BE11 you can’t help but be impressed by how big it feels for the price. There’s plenty of rear legroom and it easily seats five adults in comfort. All the controls are logically placed, with a rotary dial for drive mode selection. A central screen sits in the middle, joined by a bright colour instrument cluster—possibly too bright at night, with no obvious way to dim it, though this should be an easy software fix.
Both the driver and passenger seats are fully electric, though not heated or cooled. The doors and dashboard are finished with a synthetic wood trim which, in this case, doesn’t look too cheap or tacky. It also comes with wireless charging and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard.
The touchscreen is sharp and responsive but not perfect. It has a few glitches and the sat nav system, strangely named Turbo Dog 9, takes a while to load but then works well enough—very similar to an old Garmin unit. The DAB+ radio is more of a problem, supplied via an external dongle with a small windscreen antenna that gave very poor reception while driving.
The interior overall feels well put together, with comfortable seating, a vehicle-to-load socket accessible to rear passengers, and a power tailgate as standard. Power output is 204 bhp, which doesn’t sound much in an age of 300+ bhp family EVs, but it’s more than enough here. In fact, the BE11 will happily spin up its front tyres under hard acceleration, something that could probably be solved with better tyres.
Range and charging
The BE11 comes with two battery sizes: a 72 kWh version with 248 miles of WLTP range, and an 86 kWh version with 304 miles. I had the larger one and, always up for a challenge, decided to take it on a 650-mile round trip from Swansea to Teesside to watch some friends compete in a 24-hour Le Mans–style karting grand prix.
A single charge was never going to cut it, and since the trip was spur of the moment, I didn’t plan any charging stops—I decided to just wing it. With 304 miles in the “tank,” I set off confident the UK’s charging network would do the job.
My first stop was Trowell Services. The car was still above 40% but I wanted breakfast, and since a charger was free I plugged in. Following the old adage charge while stopped, not stop to charge, I left with more than enough to reach Teesside. The car easily beat its WLTP range too, even with the air con on.
After watching the race for a couple of hours it was time to leave. On the way in I’d noticed a Starbucks with Instavolt chargers, so I headed there for lunch and a quick top-up. With 60% charge I decided to take a detour to Manchester to visit family. Later, feeling hungry again, I was pointed towards a new Be.EV charging hub in Altrincham. It turned out to be a great stop, with plenty of chargers, food and shops. After eating and stretching my legs I came back to find the car at 76%—enough to get me all the way home.
In total the 650-mile trip only required 97 minutes of charging. No queues, no stress, no drama.
Conclusion
After a week behind the wheel I can say the Skywell BE11 has impressive range and is a comfortable motorway cruiser. It’s not perfect. Some road surfaces can unsettle the suspension, grip is lacking under hard acceleration, and there’s a noticeable but manageable bit of understeer when cornering harder. I’m fairly sure a better set of tyres would make a big difference. The software is also a bit buggy at times, with the trip computer mixing metric and imperial units, making it almost impossible to use.
But these feel like small issues when you consider the value. For just over £30,000 you get a big family EV with more than 300 miles of range and warranties to match the best in the industry. It could even carve out a role in the minicab market, filling the gap left by the discontinued MG5 estate, thanks to its massive rear legroom and large luggage space.
In short, the Skywell BE11 is big, comfortable, and excellent value. Not flawless, but very promising.
