First impressions: does the new Geely EX5 do enough to stand out in a sea of Chinese electric cars?

New Chinese brands are popping up all the time, and most of them follow a similar recipe. Build an SUV, usually an electric one, pack it full of kit and sell it at a price which undercuts legacy brands to draw new customers in.

On paper, the new Geely EX5 looks like more of the same, but after taking a look around the car I reckon this one could stand out for a few reasons.

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What is Geely?

You might be looking at Geely as an all-new brand selling cars in the UK for the first time, and you’re half right. It’s never sold a model under its own badge before, but this Chinese car giant is behind a few of the brands you might be familiar with.

It owns Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and the London Electric Vehicle Company – makers of the iconic black cab. Chances are, at one point or another you’ve interacted with one of Geely’s cars.

So what is the Geely EX5?

It is, shock horror, an electric SUV. The Geely EX5 is around the same size as a Skoda Elroq or a Hyundai Ioniq 5, so it’s competing in the very crowded electric family SUV market.

Is it any good?

On first impressions, yes it is. I went to the UK reveal of the Geely EX5 in London, where I got a chance to have a good look around the car.

The interior is lovely. Everything feels really solid, and there’s loads of soft synthetic leather on all the surfaces you see and touch on a regular basis. If you reach down to the lower door cards then you can find some scratchy plastic, but this is the case on almost every SUV short of a Bentley so I’ll look past it.

I was also impressed by the interior space. I found it easy to find my ideal driving position, and I even had enough legroom behind my driver’s seat. A Tesla Model Y is slightly roomier, but the EX5 is still more than spacious enough.

You get plenty of interior storage, including a drawer under the rear seats for road trip snacks and an enormous cubby under the boot floor. The boot itself isn’t quite as big as a Skoda Elroq’s, but it’s still a usable size.

What are the bad points?

There are a couple of things about the Geely EX5 which I’m not so keen on – the lack of interior buttons being one of them. To be fair, this is extremely common in modern electric cars, and the Geely’s touchscreen is super responsive and easy to use. I’d just prefer some knobs for the climate controls.

The range is also a bit so-so. It’ll do 267 miles on a charge according to official tests, which is 88 miles less than the longest-range Skoda Elroq and it’s almost 170 miles down on the Peugeot E-3008. The 160kW DC charging will top you up from 30-80% in just 20 minutes, which is also pretty average these days. A Kia EV6 can charge at 258kW, which gets you from 10-80% in 18 minutes.

Finally there’s the exterior styling, because it’s not exactly exciting to look at. It’s handsome enough, with neat lines and balanced proportions, I just think a Peugeot E-3008 is more stylish.

What makes the Geely EX5 stand out?

To put it simply, it’s the price. The Geely EX5 starts from £31,990, rising to £36,990 for the range-topping version. Geely is also offering a £3,750 discount on the top-spec Max version to match the government’s new electric car grant, and you can get a £1,000 part exchange allowance when you trade in a petrol or diesel car.

That brings the Max model down to £32,240, which is almost £7,000 less than a Kia EV6 and nearly £14,000 less than a Peugeot E-3008. It is a few hundred pounds more than a Skoda Elroq, but the Elroq doesn’t have this much kit.

The EX5’s list of standard equipment is insane for the money. All cars get adaptive cruise control, wireless phone charging, a 15.4-inch infotainment screen, a heated steering wheel and a 360-degree camera system.

Then you step up to the Max, which gets you luxury features like heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, an opening panoramic sunroof, a head-up display and a 1,000-watt premium sound system with speakers in the headrests.

I can’t think of any other electric SUV of this size which offers this many premium features for £32,240. You’d have to spend almost £40,000 to get close on a Skoda Elroq, and a Peugeot E-3008 with similar spec will be touching £50,000. Even at the full £36,990 before discounts, the EX5 Max is a bit of a bargain.

My final thoughts

It’s too early to draw a final conclusion on the Geely EX5 because I haven’t driven it yet, but Lotus has had some input into the suspension on this car so the signs are promising.

On first impressions though, I think the Geely EX5 will be a tempting proposition thanks mostly to its insane list of standard equipment. The anonymous styling and sub-par range are the main sticking points so far, but the EX5 makes up for this with a lovely interior and good practicality.

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