As Proton continues road testing eMas 5 prototypes, readers continue to send spyshots in, including Aryan Azrin from the paultan.org Automotive/Car Discussion Group on Facebook. His image of the entry-level electric hatchback, sighted in front of Menara Worldwide in Bukit Bintang, just about shows that the car is right-hand drive, meaning that the national carmaker isn’t just testing the Geely Star Wish/Xingyuan here but the actual Malaysian-spec unit.
Due to the copious amounts of camouflage wrapping, there’s not much that can be gleaned outside of the general shape. It is worth noting, however, that the test mule looks practically identical to the Star Wish (and the rebadged unit shown at the Malaysia Autoshow in May), so the AI-enhanced ad Proton itself put out last month was a red herring.
This extends to the rear end, which we’ve gotten a good look at thanks to an image contributed by our own Bahasa Malaysia colleague Izwaashura Sadali. The triangular taillights with their wraparound “tails” remain, as do the cutout for the tailgate release and the reverse camera located within the bumper (meaning that despite the trade plate’s position, that’s where the number plate recess will be, too).
One quirk of the Star Wish that the eMas 5 carries over is the lack of a rear wiper. The positioning of the third brake light low down on the rear windscreen means that it’s pretty much impossible to place it there, and there doesn’t seem to be any space for it at the top edge (Range Rover style), either.
The eMas 5 is expected to share its mechanicals with the Star Wish, including 79 PS/130 Nm and 116 PS/150 Nm rear motors mated to 30.12 kWh (for a range of just 310 km even on China’s lenient CLTC cycle) and 40.16 kWh (for a range of 410 km) lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs respectively. Proton would do well to install larger battery packs – perhaps from the eMas 7 – to increase the range and make the car better suited to Malaysian use cases.
Proton has already confirmed that the eMas 5 will be launched this year, meaning that we can expect a full reveal sooner rather than later. It and the larger eMas 7 SUV will be just the start of a full-scale assault, with three new models set to debut over the coming years.
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eMas5 and QV-E are 2 Malaysian next Big thing.