The Chery group has brought an armada of cars to the ongoing Bangkok International Motor Show (BIMS) and probably the most intriguing is this – the Jaecoo J5 EV. The entry-level SUV was revealed back in October but this electric version is hot off the press, having been revealed to the world at the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) just last month.
The zero-emissions model looks very different to its combustion-engined sibling, at least from the front. Jaecoo’s trademark waterfall grille is gone, replaced by a transparent strip – with the Jaecoo script, of course – joining the slim rectangular headlights, leaving quite a large expanse of bumper.
Lower down, there’s a large rectangular opening with perforated body-coloured panels and a simple air intake with square pins, giving the J5 EV a friendly minimalist look that is a refreshing change from today’s ever more aggressive car designs.
The rest of the slightly Range Rover Evoque-aping design continues unchanged, so you still get a clamshell bonnet, a simple horizontal shoulder crease, a full-width taillight strip, a rather large tailgate spoiler and a black plastic diffuser. Unlike other Jaecoo models, you get conventional door pulls rather than flush pop-out ones, and there also aren’t any blacked-out A-pillars, so it doesn’t look too much like a Land Rover.
Ignore the prototype’s raw plastic trim (which also blights the small but fairly deep front boot area) and you’ll find a pleasantly minimalist interior, with a waterfall-style centre console housing the 13.2-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen. There’s very few physical controls to speak off, with a row of just three buttons for the drive mode selection, hazard lights and door locks.
This frees up space for dual smartphone holders (including a Qi wireless charger on the left side), twin cupholders and some open storage underneath. The car you see here is dressed in a nice black-and-white two-tone colour scheme, which also envelops the Omoda C9-derived steering wheel, although it is spoilt somewhat by some rather bizarre blue seat piping.
Jaecoo calls the J5 a “pet-friendly” SUV and to that end it features “extended” seats for extra comfort for your furry friends, plus a powerful cabin filter that sucks out pet hair from the air. The car also gets an “intelligent” temperature control system and an antibacterial “health device” that inhibits bacteria growth, and the company says it will produce pet accessories such as a feeding device and boarding steps for smaller pets.
The J5’s outdoorsy nature is bolstered by a claimed towing capacity of 1,250 kg (it’s unclear whether Jaecoo was talking about the plug-in hybrid model or this EV), a 75 kg roof rack, charging ports, boot cargo hooks and “multi-purpose camping lights.” The panoramic sunroof, measuring 1.45 square metres, is said to be the largest in the class.
Surprisingly, the J5 EV has a completely different mechanical makeup to the J6. Unlike its either rear- or all-wheel-drive sibling, the car is front-wheel drive, and it makes more power than the single-motor J6 at 211 PS (155 kW) and 288 Nm of torque. This gets it from zero to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds.
And despite being nominally a lesser model with a smaller battery, the J5 EV’s 60.9 kWh pack – likely a BYD-sourced Blade lithium iron phosphate unit – delivers far more range than the J6 at 470 km on the NEDC cycle; the best the larger car can muster is 426 km. Expect a more realistic WLTP figure of around 400 km, versus a piffling 371 km for the RWD J6.
Jaecoo Malaysia has previously announced that the J5 will be launched in the fourth quarter of the year, but given that delays have hampered the company’s past launches we won’t be surprised if the debut stretches to 2026. One good thing is that the EV version will likely be CKD locally assembled in Shah Alam as with other Jaecoo models; as such, it will continue to benefit from tax breaks for a few more years.
