I went to Brisbane for a sneak peek at the new 2026 GAC Aion UT and took some child seats along with me. This is GAC’s new fully electric five-seat small hatchback so let’s have a look if it promises to be a good BabyDrive…
Not every family has the parking space, can afford or enjoys driving large SUVs as their family car. Lots of us enjoy driving a small car that is practically designed for family life. Electric cars can be a great option for families and the 2026 GAC Aion UT is one of the most affordable EVs to hit the Australian market.
How much does the 2026 GAC Aion UT cost?
The 2026 GAC Aion UT is available in two specifications — the top spec Luxury is priced at $35,990 and the lower spec Premium model is priced at $31,990, both plus on-road costs. For a short time until 9 April the pre-order price for the first 600 vehicles sold are at a reduced drive away price of $35,990 for Luxury and $30,990 for Premium. The drive away deal also includes a free portable charger and a home wall charger.
That puts the GAC Aion UT right in the mix with other affordable EVs I have tested. The BYD Dolphin starts from $29,990 for the Essential, while the MG4 starts from $37,990
All GAC electric and hybrid vehicles come with an 8-year unlimited kilometre warranty and 8-year or 200,000km battery warranty, plus 5 years roadside assistance subject to servicing at a GAC dealership and 2 free years of in-car data at 2GB per month.
Battery range and colour options
The GAC Aion UT is fully electric with a battery range of 430km, which is ample for our everyday school drop-off and pick-up without needing to charge too frequently. It has a neat, modern and minimal interior that is available in white, black or pink.
The exterior comes in nine colour options with some nice refreshing choices. What GAC says are Milan and European inspired colours include Emerald Green from the Verde Antico marble from Florence, and Twilight Lavender inspired by Monet’s water lilies painting.
How spacious is the interior?
When you first open the door of the new GAC Aion UT you can see the interior is surprisingly spacious, with some individual design features like the storage box in the front dash.
In the back there is lots of legroom. The rear footwell is flat so rear passengers get great kickroom and there’s easy access for little ones to get to and from their child seats. If you are travelling without child seats then a 186cm passenger can sit comfortably in the back with the same height passenger in the front.
How many child seats fit in the GAC Aion UT?
There are ISOFix anchorages in the two outer rear seats of the 2026 GAC Aion UT.
They are underneath flaps of the seat fabric and are nice and easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages in the back of all three rear seat backs. They are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to and access through the boot.
I could fit three child seats across forward facing in the back! That is really practical for an electric car and great news for families with three young siblings or for smaller families who need the flexibility of being able to transport friends’ or relatives’ children occasionally too. The BYD Dolphin and MG4 also fit three child seats across, so this is becoming a welcome trend in affordable EVs.
Two forward facing and one rear facing child seat also fit nicely, for families with different age children.
There are handles above both rear doors so a child’s toy can hang there to keep little rear-facing passengers entertained on long journeys, and there are lights above both rear doors so you can see putting kids in and out at night.
Legroom was surprisingly good and I found with a rear-facing child seat installed a 180cm driver could fit in front, or a 186cm driver in front of a forward-facing child seat. You can see which EVs have the best legroom for tall families here.
Boot space in the 2026 GAC Aion UT
Boot space is practical for family life in the GAC Aion UT too.
The boot floor can drop down about 10cm to give extra storage depth and hold the charging cables. I will try the full range of prams in the boot of the GAC Aion UT when I test it with my family in the coming weeks.
Interior storage and media screen
Storage inside the GAC Aion UT is minimal but practical with two cup holders in the front and a wireless phone charging pad beside it and central console box behind it.
There is storage underneath this and the storage box and glove box as well as door bins.
The well sized media screen has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and all your controls for the car are in the media screen, including opening and closing the boot. It’s a little too minimal for my liking — I prefer actual buttons for a lot of these functions.
There are two air vents underneath the media screen and one at each end of the dashboard.
Rear passenger comfort
In the back, air vents in the back of the central console box allow you to keep your rear passengers comfortable. There’s a charging socket and phone holder in the back of the central console box for charging devices and there are map pockets on the back of both front seats.
How safe is the 2026 GAC Aion UT?
The 2026 GAC Aion UT does not yet have an ANCAP safety rating. This is something families should keep in mind — you can read more about ANCAP’s advice for parents buying a new family car here.
The Aion UT comes with seven airbags as standard including front driver and passenger airbags, front-side airbags, side curtain airbags and a front-centre airbag.
2026 GAC Aion UT first impressions
The 2026 GAC Aion UT is a compact little car with a lot of interior space and practicality for family life. At this price point it’s a strong alternative to the BYD Dolphin and MG4, and families wanting to spend a little more could also look at the BYD Atto 3 or Kia EV3 for extra space. I look forward to driving it with my family onboard in the coming weeks and putting it through our full BabyDrive testing.
