This year’s Manila International Auto Show was filled with more than 20 brands, mostly Chinese. While we’re familiar with a good number of them, Seres is a completely new player in the market.

To give a brief history, Seres started out as SF Motors, a China-backed and US-based company that was poised to challenge Tesla. The brand made headlines when it collaborated with Huawei for the Aito M5.

The newly founded Seres Motor Philippines is under QSJ Motors Philippines, a distributor of heavy machinery. Head to its booth and you’ll find its display of premium electrified vehicles.

To understand the lineup of Seres, you need to know the differences between a battery-electric vehicle (BEV), a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV), and an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV). What distinguishes the three is the mode of propulsion. Unlike the other two, BEVs do not have an engine so the vehicle moves because of its electric motor, which is powered by the battery.

With a PHEV, both the motor and the ICE can turn the wheels of the car. But with an EREV, the engine only acts as a generator to supply energy to the motor. This series-hybrid technology is similar to Nissan’s e-Power, but with a much larger battery capacity.

The Seres 5 is a compact crossover, and it is available as a BEV or an EREV. There is also a high-performance model, the Seres 5 SF, which boasts 430kW (577hp) and 940Nm for a 0-100km/h time of 3.7s.

The Seres 7 is the 5’s bigger brother being a full-size crossover. However, it is only available as an EREV. For both the 5 and the 7 EREVs, power is generated by a 1.5-liter turbo-gasoline engine with 114hp and 190Nm.

Meanwhile, the E5 PHEV is a midsize crossover. It is propelled either by a 1.5-liter gasoline engine with 109hp and 135Nm, or a 130kW (174hp) electric motor. With a battery capacity of 17.52kWh, the hybrid can travel as far as 87km on purely electric power.

Performance figures don’t tell the whole story, though, since the maximum range varies significantly as shown by these figures:

• Seres 5 EV – 602km
• Seres 5 EREV – 184km (pure EV), 1,250km (total)
• Seres 7 EREV – 166km (pure EV), 1,200km (total)
• E5 PHEV – 87km (pure EV)

The exhibit of Seres is at SMX Convention Center. Should things go smoothly, the brand will formally launch within the coming months. If you’d like to stay updated, you can follow its Facebook page.