Review: Chery Omoda E5 EV – A New Entry-Level EV King?

Same Same, But Different

Yes, we’d reckon it’s pretty easy to mistake the new Chery Omoda E5 with its fossil-fuelled twin, as both models are practically identical in terms of the overall style. Funnily though, it’s the EV-driven styling decision that actually made the Omoda E5 stand out as the better of the two, at least in our eyes.

The EV-driven styling changes like the grill-less front face really makes the Omoda E5 looks neater and nicer compared to its petrol-powered twin.

Thanks to its all-electric nature, the Omoda E5 ditches its petrol twin’s massive front grille design in favour of a grill-less front face, with the only visible opening here being its lower shutter air intake. Aside from that and the front-mounted charging port, the E5 gets the same dual-stack LED headlights as the Omoda 5.

Besides the wheels and absence of tailpipes, the rest of the Omoda E5 is exactly the same as the regular Omoda 5 SUV.

Other key styling differences include the absence of striking red accents around the exterior, which have been replaced by simpler gloss black finishes on its mirror caps and C-pillars. Notably, the E5 also rides on 18-inch enclosed alloy wheels for better aerodynamics, each of them shod in proper Kumho Ecsta PS71 EV tyres.

All in all, the new Chery Omoda E5 stood out as a pretty stylish car to look at, featuring the sporty coupe SUV crossover body style that has made its petrol-gouging twin famous. However, the styling change goes beyond its exterior…

Bold & Posh Cabin With Tonnes of Amenities

At first glance, you can immediately see that the Omoda E5’s cabin looks much posher than its petrol twin, and this is especially true in this default blue and beige interior colourway option.

The blue-and-beige default interior colourway is pretty striking and posh to look at.

The front dash is mainly dominated by the striking blue colour, contrasted by the beige-hued soft-touch trims and faux wood accents along the front climate vents and driver’s side. This striking colour combo continues to the door cards and the seats of the Omoda E5, with the front two ones coming with both ventilated and power-adjustment functions.

More faux wooden trims can be found at the floating central console, which houses several cubbies and cup holders, as well as its ventilated 50-watt wireless charger. The two main USB ports and a 12-volt socket are hidden on the lower part of the central stack, which also houses an extra storage space.

The E5's central infotainment unit is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8155 chipset, granting it with wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay support.

As for screens, the Omoda E5 comes with a curved 24.6-inch dual display in the dash, with the infotainment half supporting wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as a built-in navigation system. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8155 chipset, the E5’s infotainment system is also noticeably snappier compared to the Omoda 5’s unit.

Both the climate control (left) and key functions (right) shortcuts can be easily accessed by swiping up or down the infotainment screen.

Said infotainment display also houses all of the main settings for the vehicle, as well as both the climate control and the ventilated front seats. While accessing some of these settings while driving can be quite daunting, fortunately some of the essential functions, like the 540-degree camera view and the climate control, can be accessed via shortcuts instead of diving deep into the menu.

To clear up the central console, the E5's gear shifter has been moved to the right part of its steering wheel.

Apart from ADAS and media display, the digital instrument cluster also comes with a full-screen navigation display mode.

Meanwhile, the digital instrument cluster is quite intuitive and bright, so
much so that you’re not missing the absence of a head-up display. By default, it comes with an ADAS-centric display interface showing vehicles and motorcycles nearby. Unfortunately, the full-screen navigation display mode only works with the car’s on-board navigation system instead of the navigation application connected to your mobile device.

Elsewhere, other cabin amenities that can be found here include the 64-colour ambient lighting system, a sunroof, chilled storage space under the front armrest, as well as the 8-speaker Sony audio system with stunning chromed speaker grilles that we’d reckon were inspired by a certain German brand.

To sum it up, the Chery Omoda E5 comes with a relatively posh-looking cabin that delivers a very premium feel to the car. But unfortunately, the cabin is not the only premium thing on this EV SUV… 

Space Is A Tad Scarce, But It’s Still Practical & Usable

A very common plague that has affected many ICE-based EVs is poor space utilisation, and that is unfortunately also the case for the Chery Omoda E5. Unlike many other EVs that underpin a dedicated EV platform, the E5 uses the same T1X chassis as the Omoda 5.

Despite its tight spaces, the rear passengers still get a dedicated climate vent, plus two USB charging ports.

As a result, the E5’s cabin floor has been slightly raised in order to accommodate the batteries mounted underneath. This, plus the E5’s sporty coupe roofline, resulted in slight discomfort for the rear passengers, especially the tall and lanky.

The Omoda E5 boasts a pretty decent 483 litres of boot space, which can be further expanded by folding down the backrest of the rear seats.

Cargo space, on the other hand, is surprisingly decent, with the rear boot space measuring at 483 litres, which can be further expanded by folding down the rear seats. As expected, there was no spare wheel provided to the E5, instead you’ll be getting a tyre repair kit, stowed in the ‘secret’ compartment beneath the main boot space.

Due to its front-mounted electric motor setup, the E5 make do with a small yet still usable 'frunk' space.

Should you need some extra space, the E5 also comes with a small, 19-litre ‘frunk’ under the front hood, which is big enough to store your cable. In the Malaysian context, this is certainly a nifty place to store a durian or two without stinking the whole cabin.

Regardless of these minor shortcomings, the Omoda E5 is still a relatively practical EV SUV that boasts enough cabin and cargo space to cater to your daily needs. But more importantly, how does it drive?

Smooth, Electrifying Drive with Decent Comfort

Slightly cramped cabin space aside, this is where the Chery Omoda E5 shines the most, not only against its petrol twin, but also against some of its local adversaries.

The 201 HP and 340 NM-rated electric motor setup is more than enough to make the E5 a delightful EV SUV to drive, despite its capped V-Max of 172 KM/H.

Powered by a single, front-mounted (FWD) electric motor setup rated at 201 HP and 340 NM, the E5 provides a smooth and confident drive. Despite its rather healthy power output figures, the E5 accelerates pretty smoothly with minimal jerking, even when engaged in the ‘Sport’ driving mode.

While this may be a turn-off to some, we’d reckon this allows the uninitiated to have a better grasp at the sheer power most EVs possess from the get-go.

As far as handling is concerned, the Omoda E5 gets a thumbs-up from us, as it provides a decent balance of performance and comfort. However, we also found that the E5 is still susceptible to some minor torque steer – a typical symptom in most high-torque FWD cars.

Then again, despite its decent power output, the Omoda E5 is still a tall-riding SUV, meaning you will still experience minor body roll through fast corners — a fact that is contributed by both its softer damping and heavier kerb weight. So long as you don’t treat or think of it like a sportscar, you won’t have many complaints about the E5’s driving dynamics.

The Omoda E5 gets a noticeable softer damper setup compared to the petrol Omoda 5, granting it with a much better ride comfort.

One area that the E5 completely improves over its petrol twin is ride comfort, as this EV benefits from slightly softer suspension tuning, while the absence of an ICE under its hood also plays a role. This is further supplemented by its decent noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) levels, with no wind noises and only minimal tyre roars detected when driving beyond highway speeds.

To wrap things up, the Chery Omoda E5 is simply a better car to drive and ride in compared to the standard Omoda 5. Coupled with its added driving dynamics, which are also better than some of its innate local rivals, the E5 is simply leading its segment on this particular part.

How About Its Battery & Charging Capabilities?

Surprisingly, the Chery Omoda E5 also commands a lead over its rival in this part. Ironically, the Omoda E5 gets its battery pack from a rival brand, specifically the 61-kWh LFP ‘Blade’ unit by BYD. This compact battery pack grants the E5 a decent claimed WLTP range of up to 430 KM — 10 KM more than the Atto 3 Extended Range, in fact.

While there are many other EVs with higher DCFC rate, we found the E5's 80 kW DC charging rate is sufficient enough for its 61-kWh battery pack.

Unlike BYD’s rival offering, the Omoda E5 comes with a faster AC charging rate of 9.9 kW, whilst its DCFC figure is capped at 80 kW, the latter allowing a 30-80% charge to complete in less than 30 minutes. Conveniently, the E5’s charging port is located in front, granting it easier access to most charging stations.

Besides both the AC and DC charging capabilities, the E5 also supports vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality. Capped at 3.3 kW, the E5 can power up some small electrical appliances, making it a perfect choice for some light off-grid adventures and in emergency situations.

With ample battery life and decent charging capabilities,the Omoda E5 also leads in this segment when pitted against its local rivals, which is impressive for an EV that doesn’t ride on a dedicated EV platform.

What About Its Safety Features?

Similar to other modern EVs nowadays, the Chery Omoda E5 is equipped with a full host of active and safety features.

All these ADAS functions have garnered the E5 with a Level 2.5 semi-autonomous driving capability.

With up to 17 ADAS functions like Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Blind-spot Detection (BSD), Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Front Collision Warning (FCW), and more, the E5 is bestowed with a Level 2.5 semi-autonomous driving capability.

While most of its ADAS functions are working fine, we’d like to note that the steering assist on the ACC function is not as intuitive as in other cars, prompting you to take over the steering wheel at times.

More importantly, some of these ADAS functions also help to mitigate some of the E5’s weaknesses, notably the poor blind spots and rear view this EV SUV boasts. Thanks to its decent blind spot detection system and the 540-degree panoramic camera view, drivers can overcome these design ‘flaws’ with relative ease.

The presence of the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System on the Omoda E5 is a very big welcome, especially in a car at this price point.

Besides the ADAS functions, the E5 is also not lacking on the passive safety front. On top of the standard functions like six airbags and ISOFIX child seat anchors, this EV SUV also comes with a built-in Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), a function that is absent in many cars in this price range.

All in all, the Chery Omoda E5 comes with a full range of active and safety features to make it one of the safest cars available on the market today.

What’s The Cost For All This?

Boldly styled, excellent driving performance with relative comfort, decent range and charging performance, the Chery Omoda E5 simply ticks all the right boxes to make it one of the best entry-level EVs you can buy in Malaysia today. This further boosted the competitive pricing and comprehensive warranty packages offered by Chery Malaysia for its first EV model here.

Not only the Chery Omoda E5 wins on the spec sheets, this EV SUV also wins in terms of pricing.

Tagged at only RM146,800 for the fully-imported (CBU) unit, the Omoda E5 is substantially cheaper than the BYD Atto 3, so much so that it has prompted Sime Darby Motors and BYD Malaysia to further slash down its EV fighter’s price just to make it remain competitive. While some may argue that the upcoming MG ZS makes better sense due to its cheaper price, we’d reckon the Omoda E5 boasts a more complete overall package, crucially on both the performance and range fronts.

On top of its comprehensive vehicle and EV component warranties, Chery Malaysia also offers a first-in-industry 1-on-1 battery replacement service for the E5.

More importantly, the Omoda E5 also comes with decent warranty packages granted by Chery Malaysia. On top of the standard 7-year or 150,000 KM vehicle warranty, the E5 also comes with a separate 8-year or 160,000 KM warranty for all its EV components. To make things more impressive, Chery Malaysia even offers a 1-to-1 battery replacement with no extra charge if the car’s battery health has gone below the 70% mark within the warranty period—a first in our local market.

To wrap things up, the new Chery Omoda E5 is simply the best-valued entry-level EV you can buy in the market today, and that is before its CKD plan comes into full swing. Should Chery Malaysia manage to get its CKD production going by the end of this year, it will make the Omoda E5 a much, much better proposition than it already is.

SPECIFICATIONS

CHERY OMODA E5 EV