2024 Mullen Five

2024 Mullen Five - Design Review

Overall Grade = C+
​AVERAGE​

Front End: C-
    Good: Gills for breathing
    Bad: Hard and Soft lines
Rear End: C+
    Good: Upper wing
    Bad: All too clean
Side: B
    Good: Sweeping roofline
    Bad: Not enough breaks
Overall Appeal: C
    Good: Clean and fast
    Bad: Simple layout​

​​​​Score: 56.35%
Grade: C+
Rating: AVERAGE
AutoLooks Rating: 5.6 out of 10

Front End: 46.15%
Rear End: 57.70%
Side: 69.38%
Overall Appeal: 52.17%

AutoLooks Buy List: WATCH
Recommended Tuner: POSSIBLE
Trent Setter: NO
Future Classic: POSSIBLE
Stock Value: INCREASE

​      Mullen Automotive may be new to most people out there, but their product lineup and history date back quite a ways.  With the release of their commercial division and the purchase of Bollinger Motors, Mullen Automotive is moving into the EV world in a big way.  As of now, they have only released their commercial van and hatchback in Europe under the Mullen name. 
 
       Bollinger has released their chassis cab cargo truck, but like their parent owner, have yet to produce a volume vehicle.  This is all about to change as Mullen is set to release the Five ALV onto the market.  Along with its GT

counterpart, ​the Five is set to take Mullen into the volume sales world and quite possibly in a big way.

         With the growth of the ALV marketplace it was just a matter of time before Mullen would finally pull the pin on the Five.  It is hard to believe that all of this started out when Mullen wanted to produce the Qiantu K50 stateside.  A model which will join the Five when Mullen is released onto the EV marketplace.

​            Up front the Five is nothing more than your average product.  A protruding snout is reminiscent of Acura’s past, but with a bit more curvature surrounding it.  A lack of a proper grille does take away from what could have been a well to do front.  This has been replaced by a body-colored panel inclusive of side gills.  These of which could have been a big larger, since they really do not bring the front out into the sport world.
 
         Clean lines and an accented sill plate are all that make this front distinguishable from the competition.  The integration of a band or body line head lights, could have given the front a bit more than a bland average rating.  Let us hope that Mullen works over these areas before the Five is released.  If not, the Model X will eat it alive.

        Cruising along the side you will find one of the best features from this design.  A floating roofline is great, but the size, style and colour of the rims are set to match the feel and flow of this vehicle.  With a color which blends in with the roofline and lower cladding, the rims are laid out perfectly for this vehicle.
 
      Mullen’s use of character features and lines make the flow from front to rear seamless.  Each line moves with the design and gives us that overall sporting feeling.  Add in roofline which seems to float on air and you have one amazing looking side profile.

​         Out back Mullen has followed along with their side design language, flowing each line in from the side all the way to rear.  The only difference back here, is the fact that these lines seem to separate themselves from each other.  This is apparent when you look up at the two (2) separate spoilers.
 
         The lip spoiler seems to be trying to remove itself from the rear, as it does not flow with the clean lines from the side.  Up top the roof spoiler has set itself as the focal point, as it juts out from the rear window.  It does have a clean flow which makes it blend into the color code of the rear window.
 
       Mullen did a good job with the addition of the rear cladding for the bumper / diffuser.  It may seem to be from another dimension, but it works well with the overall appeal of this design.  Adding some sport appeal to the rear, the fake gills incorporated on the cladding are sized to near perfection.  Maybe next time a few more diffuser fins and larger gills will adorn the rear of the Five, giving it more sport than the competition.

​        Overall, the appeal of the Five is fairly standard for what we have come to expect from the ALV marketplace.  Utilizing properly planned materials help keep this product within the higher margin portion of this segment.  This could help Mullen pull in the profit it requires to keep this EV train rolling.
 
          Sleek lines with a bit of sport appeal help this model push itself into this market, but is it enough to make a difference for customer.  Time will let us know if this is enough or if the market will require this product to give us some more character.

Everett J.
#autolooks

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