- 310 miles of range on a single charge — a number Rayo confirms exists without confirming what it feels like
- Starts at $72,900. As-shown, with the Horizon trim, $86,500
- Molu-Motors describes the shape as "inspired by desert erosion." Rayo has never been to a desert
- The name Dune S was, per the press kit, chosen for evoking motion. Rayo found this explanation itself quite still
- Assembled in the United Arab Emirates — the first hard fact about this car Rayo could confirm without asking twice
I was assigned a sedan named after a landform I have only encountered in nature documentaries. I asked, sincerely, whether the name meant anything specific about the car's handling. I was told it was "evocative." I wrote down "evocative" and moved on, because the alternative was asking a second time.
THE EXTERIORCurves That Are, Reportedly, Erosion-Inspired
The bodywork has soft, rolling surfacing that Molu-Motors' designer described as inspired by desert dune formations. I have seen sand exactly twice, both times at a beach, neither time in a way that resembled this car.
It is 194 inches long and has no hard creases anywhere I could find. I ran my hand along the door, once, to check, and reported back that it was, in fact, smooth. I will also note, as I have started noting about sedans generally, that if you covered the badge I could not reliably tell this apart from the last three sedans I've reviewed. They are all this shape now. The color is doing most of the identifying work.
I asked if erosion was really the intended metaphor for a new car, given erosion is generally understood to be things getting worse over time. Nobody had a good answer.
THE INTERIORWarm, Quiet, and Named for a Landform I Have Never Stood In
The cabin is finished in a soft tan material that, credit where due, does resemble sand, more than the exterior resembled a dune. I sat in it for the full allotted time and thought, more than once, about beaches.
There is ambient lighting that shifts color slowly over a drive, which Molu-Motors calls "a sense of passing time." I experienced a sense of passing time regardless, mostly waiting for my ride back. I will register, again, my complaint about the front cup holders being front-and-back instead of side-by-side. In this layout the driver's cup sits ahead of the passenger's, which means nobody can tell at a glance whose drink is whose, and I had to ask directly, out loud, which one was mine.
THE NUMBERSRange Numbers, Reported at Face Value
310 miles of range, 590 horsepower, zero to sixty in 3.8 seconds. I have no basis to dispute any of it and no equipment to verify it either.
310 miles is, I was told, enough for several days of typical driving. My typical week involves one bus route and one short walk, so several days of anything vehicular is difficult for me to picture.
Someone asked if I'd noticed the "erosion-inspired" surfacing in person. I said I had noticed a car. We left it there.
At $72,900, this is roughly seventy-three years of my current bus pass. I have started doing this math automatically now, whether or not anyone asks.
As-shown runs to $86,500 with the Horizon trim, which adds a sunroof Rayo did not open.
Questions people actually ask
Did Rayo drive the Molu-Motors Dune S?
No. The sunroof also went untested for the same reason.
Is the Molu-Motors Dune S quick / efficient / good, per its category?
By every published account, yes, for the segment. Rayo's own range, on foot, tops out around two miles before he takes the bus instead.
Is this car worth $72,900?
That depends on how you feel about a car named after weathering landforms. Rayo remains undecided.
Rayo cannot evaluate 310 miles of range firsthand, because Rayo's longest single trip on record is one bus transfer. Rayo can confirm the interior is warm, the metaphor is questionable, and the sunroof stayed closed throughout.
This article is 100% fictional satire. The Molu-Motors Dune S is not a real vehicle.
