Chery Malaysia prepares for the launch of its first all-electric vehicle, the Omoda E5.
Chery may have taken its own sweet time in launching their Omoda 5 and Tiggo 8 Pro in Malaysia, but now the company is accelerating at breakneck speed. The Wuhu-based automaker has officially announced the arrival of their first all-electric product, the Omoda E5.
The Omoda E5 is in fact already on Malaysian soil, having arrived at Port Klang and it’s being prepped for launch as we speak.
The Chery Omoda E5 features a front-mounted electric motor with an output of 224PS and 400Nm of torque. Power comes from a 61kWh lithium-ion battery pack which Chery claims can return 450km of range on the CLTC cycle. Its efficiency is rated at less than 15kWh per 100km. The battery can be charged via AC from 20% to 80% in five hours or via DC in 30 minutes. 0-100km/h takes just 7.8 seconds and it has a braking distance from 100km/h of under 36m.
In terms of equipment, the Omoda E5 comes with a new generation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems that include 16 functions such as:
- blind spot monitoring
- reverse warning
- automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection
And of course, the Omoda E5 will feature the radical styling of the Omoda 5, just taken forward a little bit with a blanked off front grille with “OMODA” branding on the front and new two-tone aero optimised wheels. The cabin deletes the gear lever and adds “OMODA” branding on the steering wheel. It remains to be seen if the interior colour hue will be changes versus the petrol model. What’s very likely is that it will be a fully-imported from China.
Pricing is not clear at this time. This will be the first Chinese vehicle to be sold as a petrol AND an electric model. Other brands that have attempted this strategy before include Volvo with the XC40, Mercedes-Benz with the GLB/EQB, GLA/EQA, and MINI with the Cooper S/SE and BMW with the X3/iX3 and X1/iX1. Some brands price their electric equivalents above the petrols ones but there are exceptions. The Omoda 5 starts at RM108,800 with the higher tier variant priced at RM118,800. Our guess is that the Omoda E5 will be at least 10% more expensive but we’ll have to wait and see.
