Chery Omoda E5 EV launched in Malaysia – 430 km range, 7.6s, 8yr batt warranty, CKD Q2 2024, RM147k

After a long gestation period, the Chery Omoda E5 is finally launched. The electric-powered sister to the Omoda 5 SUV is priced at RM146,800 on-the-road without insurance, which is significantly under the estimated price of RM160,000 that was announced last month, when order books opened. The first batch is CBU imported from China but local assembly will start in Q2 2024, making the Omoda E5 the first Chinese CKD EV in Malaysia.

There’s only one variant and one powertrain, which has a front-mounted electric motor with 204 PS (150 kW) and 340 Nm of torque, which pushes the SUV from 0-100 km/h in a claimed 7.2 seconds. Top speed is 172 km/h. The battery is a 61 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) unit sourced from BYD, good for 430 km of range in the WLTP cycle. Claimed power consumption is 15.5 kWh per 100 km.

For charging, the ‘e-Future Ranger’ has a three-phase onboard AC charger with a max rate of 9.9 kW, as well as DC fast charging of up to 80 kW; the latter capable of getting the battery from 30% to 80% state of charge in 28 minutes. There’s also a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function that allows the car to deliver up to 3.3 kW to power electrical appliances and devices. The latter is useful for outdoor activities or blackouts.

The EV looks similar to the ICE-powered Omoda 5 from all angles except for the front end, where the E5 gets an active grille shutter that opens and closes depending on the motor temperature and aerodynamic requirements. That also means that the ICE car’s divisive studded grille is no more – is this better for you?

Like the ICE Omoda 5, the E5 is a B-segment SUV that’s 4,420 mm long and 1,830 mm wide, with a 2,630 mm wheelbase. Those figures are 35 mm, 45 mm and 90 mm less than the BYD Atto 3, respectively. Ground clearance is 145 mm and boot volume is 483 litres.

The electric Omoda also comes with one-pedal driving support, a creep function and something called pocket brake, which activates emergency braking when the ‘Park’ button is pressed while driving. Chery says that its EV has safely passed a ‘water wading test’ and ‘bottom scrapping test’.

In the kit department, the Omoda E5 comes with LED projector headlamps, 18-inch alloy wheels, a powered sunroof, powered tailgate, puddle lamps, selectable drive modes, leather upholstery (in a very nice blue and grey two-tone, or all-black), ventilated front seats, dual-zone climate control (with PM 2.5 filter and rear vents), dynamic ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen. Sound comes out from an eight-speaker Sony system.

Chery markets the latter as a ‘24.6-inch curved 2K HD dual-screen’. The infotainment system is powered by a Qualcomm 8155 system on chip (SoC) and includes support for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (wireless). There’s also a 50W wireless charger with cooling function.

As for driver assistance systems, there’s a 360-degree camera, automatic high beam, lead vehicle departure alert, adaptive cruise control, front collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and prevention, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic alert and a tyre pressure monitoring system. Chery calls the bundle ADAS 2.5.

If you’re wondering why is there no app support, Chery says that it’s currently developing a completely new app for Malaysia, as the existing app from China has a UI that’s deemed not suitable for Malaysian use.

On to warranty, which is notable. The standard vehicle warranty is seven years or 150,000 km, and you’ll get a separate eight-year or 160,000 km battery and drive unit warranty. The latter includes the power motor control unit, power battery management system and vehicle control unit. By the way, if the EV battery’s state of health falls below 70% while the car is under warranty, Chery will offer a ‘1-to-1’ replacement with no questions asked.

By the way, the first 2,000 bookings will get a complimentary 7 kW wallbox (worth RM3.5k), V2L adapter (worth RM500) and RM1,000 worth of EVC roaming partners credit (including Gentari and ChargEV). There’s an exclusive interest rate of 2.08% from Maybank. Chery says that the early bird package savings are worth RM11k, including interest rate savings. Also notable is complimentary charging at all Chery dealerships.

Lastly, colours. Choose from Aqua Green, Khaki White, Phantom Grey and Dark Black. Unfortunately, the rather lovely red colour you see in the gallery below is not available. For the interior, it’s either blue-grey or all-black.

What do you think of the package you get for RM146,800? For context, the E5’s price is significantly higher than the RM108,800 to RM118,800 Chery is charging for the ICE O5, but it massively undercuts the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range‘s sticker price of RM167,800. The MG ZS EV, which is now open for booking, has an estimated price of RM129k but the range is lower (320 km) and it looks less fancy/modern.

GALLERY: Chery Omoda E5 in Malaysia, Aqua Green

GALLERY: Chery Omoda E5 in red

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