- Price: NIS 430,000
- Competitors: Direct: Mercedes EQV, Indirect: Lexus LM, Volkswagen Multivan
- Likes: Spacious, Equipment, Second and Third Rows, Performance, Range
- Dislikes: Ergonomics, Connectivity, Uniformity of Finishes and Materials
- Rating: 8/10
Despite the popularity of 7-seater crossovers - and there aren't many - when you need to move 7 people or a mix of people and children from one place to another, there is no substitute for minivans. This box, whose modern roots trace back to 1984 with the Renault Espace and Chrysler Voyager/Dodge Caravan, and its older roots to any van with seats, has lost its luster with the rise of 7-seater crossovers. To be honest, despite their undeniable practicality, in the image battle, the Chrysler Pacifica will always lose to the Jeep Wagoneer, Toyota Sienna to the Highlander, Ford Galaxy to the Explorer, Kia Carnival to the Sorento/Telluride, and there are more examples, but the point is clear. That’s one event.
The second event happens in the electric drive arena. Given its high cost to both manufacturers and consumers, the electric revolution has thus far concentrated in two main areas - crossovers and luxury cars - with the former seemingly in high demand from India to Hollywood, and the latter being easy to price high and recoup the investment. This mainly leaves a fairly wide margin of car categories where there is no real electric presence, from cheap mini cars to large minivans.
The vehicle in question is, to a large extent, the crossroads where these two events meet. It is the "Dream," Voya’s second vehicle in the showroom alongside the Voya Free, which launched in early 2023. A full-sized electric minivan entering a market segment with no competitors.
Design: Taste is subjective, as they say. There will be no debate here; the look changes instantly from a generic boxy appearance to something that may not sit well with everyone at the front. It spares no gimmick, from the light show welcoming the owner, a deep front skirt, and a somewhat baffling grille with a "real" grille design painted on it. But one thing is clear - with its 5.32 meters, it draws a lot of attention, everywhere, from everyone. And not everyone will like it.
Interior: The overall look of the interior is impressive at first glance, and even the second. After all, the size, the plastic panel spanning from side to side, three multimedia screens, color and material combinations. Like its sibling, it's less impressive in detail, perhaps not exactly "less impressive" but rather a feeling of lack of uniformity in execution. For instance, while it has impressive leather seats, the driver's seat creaked throughout the test (according to the importer, the test car is a pre-production model and is not representative), soft-touch upper dashboard trim, and very hard plastic from the middle of the doors downward.
It has a huge storage compartment between the seats, but access to it is difficult to impossible (positively, there is a huge storage compartment between the seats). The designers wisely left some climate control operations outside the multimedia system and some inside, but even those outside are operated by touch buttons and placed very low, so using them requires a look similar to that needed for a multimedia system, but much lower and further from the road. We could go on, but I think the idea is clear.
The driving position itself is excellent, offering a great view of the surroundings. The large windows around the driver and the triangular windows at the bottom of the front pillar greatly facilitate maneuvering. The general operational flow is quite good, with buttons and controls exactly where you'd expect them, without trying to reinvent the wheel, which is convenient. However, they couldn't resist returning to oddities in ergonomics like somewhat strange priority orders - changing the ambient light color? Swipe sideways on the screen and press. Dimming the general display? 4 menu presses, scrolling, and then selection.
The second-row seating, consisting of two "captain's" seats, is probably the highlight of the interior. Let's start with their environment: folding trays, electric adjustment, massage, heating, ventilation, and footrest that opens to a reclining position, air conditioning vents above each seat, two charging ports and a 12V socket in the central console, and another one for each seat at its base, next to a dedicated slot for a mobile phone. The seats themselves are full-size, with handles, and the only real downside here is that all this size reduces the space remaining for the third row. Since they move on a track, you can "play" with the living space here, but even with them in the most forward position - an adult will sit comfortably thanks to a 3.20-meter wheelbase.
Unlike what happens in 7-seat crossovers or some other minivans, the passage to the third row is not a journey to a desolate land. Even here, the leather upholstery provides a decent size for two adults who will actually sit here even on a long trip (as long as we moved the second-row seats), and they will have an air conditioning vent and a charging port for the mobile phone.
Cargo Space: Apart from ease of entry and exit and space for the rear seats, the third bonus of such minivans is that they provide all this while still leaving ample cargo space. No more kids with bags on their laps. 560 liters with a wide opening and a rectangular shape. But no exemption comes without something, and this one arrives without any anchoring, hanging, or storage solutions and no spare wheel.
Equipment: The Dream comes in one trim level, but it is equipped up to its double panoramic roof. We talked about the multimedia screens, leather upholstery, and comfort features for the front seats, second row, and third row, so even after what we add here, I'm pretty sure we won’t cover everything; split climate control with an air freshener, air shocks, heated steering wheel, LED lighting, wireless charging pad, acoustic windows, electric side and cargo doors, 5 USB ports, automatically adjusting side mirrors when reversing, DYNAUDIO sound system, and more.
In terms of equipment, there was one central component that bothered me. At present, and in the test car, there was an external dongle for connectivity with Android and iPhone devices. As usual, it didn’t always work, and when it did, it didn’t work smoothly, and the integration with the car’s systems (mainly audio) was lacking. In another model where such a system is installed, it was faster, but this is a solvable issue, and the importer is in the process of defining the system. There was also the issue of the absence of a start/stop button; how lazy does humanity need to be for pressing a button upon entering and exiting the car to be a dreadful task that we must be freed from?!
Also, the safety system is full and then some. Full because it has lane departure correction, adaptive cruise control, automatic braking even in reverse, vehicle detection in the "blind spot," speed sign recognition, and surround cameras. The "more" relates to its night vision system, which really works wonderfully. I see less of it being effective in 90% of driving situations, but as someone who crosses rural roads in the Jordan Valley, I can attest that it is indeed a product with capabilities I can only dream of with our military night vision tools.
Performance: The all-wheel drive, its 434 horsepower, and 63.2 kg-m of torque mean that despite having 2.7 tons before passengers and cargo, one thing it doesn’t lack is power. In fact, so much of it that I spent most of the test days in ECO mode, except for a general sampling of comfort and performance modes. The latter mainly to show off to two friends with a Cupra Leon VZ who are probably still trying to figure out how this black monolith managed to keep up with them to a respectable triple-digit speed. And although it seems so in the photos, we didn’t test the "off-road" mode, and we had to skip the "ice" mode this time.
Electric Consumption and Range: We didn’t come close to the declared electric consumption of 20.2 kWh per 100 km, nor the declared range of 480 km that the 108.7 kWh battery is supposed to provide. Still, by the end of the test days, which included moderate driving as per its purpose, we recorded an average of 22.9 kWh per 100 km, and the range achieved was around 430 km, which is still very good for a vehicle of its size and quite close to the declared figure. And another thing, you can squeeze about 20 more km if you drive without the air conditioning, though they might not be worth the creaks and groans from the rear end.
Comfort and Handling: The overall ride comfort is very good, even excellent. The air shocks in their soft mode cradle the large vehicle gently and comfortably. It really is a vehicle that allows covering many kilometers in a row with exceptional comfort. The only area where it’s less outstanding is over bumps and disruptions, where the shock noises are not well damped, and the tires add quite a bit of noise on poorly paved roads. If you drive over 120 km/h, wind noise from the mirrors will also join in.
In terms of handling, such a vehicle is typically on the clumsy side of things, but the Dream makes a very good effort here. It turns, as expected, with a bit of roll and clearly, its front, which is quite large, leads to some understeering. Still, the lack of roll and the effort to make a vehicle like this lean less is indeed notable.
The Bottom Line
An old story tells of a shoe salesman sent to Africa to explore business opportunities. After a few days, he reports back, "Don’t send anything; there’s nothing to do here. Everyone is walking around barefoot." Shortly afterward, the company sends another salesman who quickly wires back, "Send everything you have! Everyone here is barefoot!"
If you need a spacious, equipped, and luxurious electric vehicle, the Mercedes EQV is cheaper in almost every aspect and costs NIS 643,000. For internal combustion alternatives, you could equip a Volkswagen Caravelle Multivan for not much less. The Lexus LM is even more expensive, starting at NIS 890,000, offering comparable luxury but not the same comfort or performance. And that concludes our broadcast for tonight.
Currently, the Voya Dream offers a unique proposition in the local market and is rare globally, priced at NIS 430,000. While it raises eyebrows, objectively, it’s a full-sized minivan with electric propulsion and luxurious features that does a quite good job. The importer understands it’s not a high-volume product but rather a limited one.
When I approached it, I expected it to get praise simply for being a unique offering, but it also provides good value and performance compared to current competition, even if it’s not direct.
Technical Details: Voya Dream
- Engine, Drive: Electric, all-wheel drive
- Battery: 108.7 kWh
- Power (hp): 434
- Torque (Nm): 63.2
- Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Dimensions:
- Length (m): 5.32
- Width (m): 1.8
- Height (m): 1.82
- Wheelbase (cm): 320
- Cargo Space (liters): 560 (with all seats in use)
Performance:
- 0-100 km/h (seconds): 5.9
- Top Speed (km/h): 200
- Range (test): 430 km
- Range (manufacturer): 480 km
Safety:
- Euro NCAP Crash Test Rating: Not performed
- Active Safety: Lane departure correction, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking including reverse, blind-spot detection, speed sign recognition, surround cameras, night vision system
Warranty: 5 years or 120,000 km