Chery Malaysia today previewed the Omoda E5 EV in a press event, ahead of its scheduled launch next year. While its global specifications have already been revealed globally earlier this year, the preview event revealed several additional information for the Malaysia-bound model.
The styling of the Chery Omoda E5 largely follows that of its petrol-powered counterpart, but with several mild tweaks to highlights its electric powertrain. The most obvious changes are up front, with a new front fascia sans the central intake grille, redesigned character lines, plus a new charging port up front, which Chery says simplifies the charging process as customers won’t need to worry about which way to park the vehicle.
Other design changes on the outside include the new elegant-looking bumpers with automatic cooling shutters up front, and new 18-inch aerodynamic-focused wheels.
Inside, the cabin of the Chery Omoda E5 has also been given an electric makeover, highlighted by the redesigned dashboard that jettisons the touch-panel climate control panel in favour of touch-screen control. A small bank of buttons now sit on the centre console, which has also been redesigned with a flatter silhouette thanks to the removal of the traditional gear lever.
The twin 10.25-inch screens now sit within a curved panel located on the scalloped area, underscored by high-gloss lacquered wood-like trims. Chery says the car is now powered by a new Qualcomm 8155 chip, promising smoother operation, particularly on the screens. Based on our brief interaction of the car at the media preview event, it appears the software has also been updated with a more elaborate, and more sophisticated-looking package.
In terms of drivetrain, the Chery Omoda E5 will be powered by a single motor on the front axle, with a rated output of 150 kW (204 hp). Chery says the use of a “flat wire motor” with oil cooling has resulted in a significantly quieter driving experience, and should also ensure a longer service life.
Electric juice is provided by a 61 kWh blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, capable of providing up to 430 km of range based on the WLTP test cycle (14.5 kWh/100 km average power consumption). The Chery Omoda 5E will also support Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality, with the external ports providing up to 3.3 kW of output.
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In terms of performance, the Chery Omoda E5 is capable of reaching 100 km/h from a standstill in under 7.6 seconds. There’s also a single-pedal drive mode for a more convenient driving experience. To charge, the upcoming Chery Omoda 5E will support 9.9 kW of AC power, or up to 80 kW using DC fast charging – the latter enabling a 30-80% charge in under 30 minutes.
The Chery Omoda 5E will also feature the “ADAS 2.5” advanced driver assistance kit, going one step above the regular Omoda 5 model with the addition of a driver monitoring system, as seen via the new sensor mounted on top of the steering column.
Pricing information has yet to be announced, although we do know that it’ll only be offered in a single variant for now, with its official launch scheduled for sometime around March 2024. Before that, order taking should begin around January 2024 after the final production model arrives in Malaysia – the car previewed today is still a pre-production model.
At the sidelines of the media preview event, a Chery representative revealed that the Omoda E5 will be price-competitive with its rivals within the segment – it probably won’t take too much guessing to figure out which EV they are referring to!
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