Omoda E5 review

The phrase “covering all bases” originated with baseball, but it’s now used to describe any detailed plan that addresses anything and everything it might need to. With this Omoda E5 and a closely related petrol model (the 5), Chinese brand Omoda certainly seems to have its SUV bases covered.

To give you some background, Omoda is a subsidiary of Chery – one of the biggest Chinese automotive brands. It has officially launched in the UK with a network of 60 dealers, with the aim of having 100 showrooms up and running by the end of 2024.

It also has a very ambitious target of selling 40,000 cars here by the end of 2026, which it hopes will be achieved with the Omoda 5 and E5, as well as the Jaecoo J7 – a plug-in hybrid luxury car from Omoda’s more premium-focused sister brand.

Achieving that growth won’t be easy, so is the Omoda E5 good enough to give it a strong footing in the market? What’s more, can it take on established – and impressive – electric SUV rivals, such as the Kia EV3, the Smart #1 and the Volvo EX30? Read on to find out…

The E5 is based on the same underpinnings as the Omoda 5 but the car has been re-engineered for electric rather than petrol power, particularly in terms of comfort and handling, because of the extra weight of the battery.

Before we go into more detail on that though, let's focus on what powers the E5: a 201bhp electric motor that drives the front wheels. It delivers a 0-62mph time of 7.6 seconds, which is quicker than the Jeep Avenger Electric (9.0 seconds), but much slower than the Volvo EX30 (5.7 seconds). 

It provides plenty of power for everyday driving but doesn’t feel particularly quick. The delivery of power could be gentler, and the front wheels sometimes struggle for grip when pulling out of junctions, even when you’re not accelerating hard.

What about range? Well, the E5 is powered by a reasonably large 61kWh (usable capacity) battery that delivers an official range of 257 miles. That’s less than a Kia EV3 (267 miles) and similar to the Avenger (249 miles), but more than the entry-level versions of the MG ZS EV (198 miles), the Smart #1 (193 miles) and the EX30 (209 miles).

To help the E5 handle twisty roads, Omoda has tweaked the E5 for European tastes at its research centre in Germany. It shows, because the car handles corners reasonably well, with body lean being kept well in check.

The trade-off is the firm ride. You can feel most lumps and bumps on the road, and heavily undulated roads can cause passengers to be jostled around noticeably. It doesn’t crash too much over harsh imperfections, but the Hyundai Kona Electric and the EX30 are more supple.

Like a lot of other electric SUVs, including the Kona Electric, the E5’s steering is quick and light, which is good at low speeds because it helps when manoeuvring. However, as you build speed it doesn’t add much weight – even when you select Sport mode – so it can be difficult to place accurately when cornering.

More positively, the brake pedal feel is smooth and progressive, which can’t be said for some electric SUVs, where the transition from regenerative braking to mechanical brakes can result in a grabby feel as you come to a stop. 

The benefit of driving an electric car is that the motor allows for quiet and smooth driving, especially around town. That's true of the Omoda E5, but at high speeds wind and road noise are more noticeable, especially around the windscreen pillars and door mirrors. The #1 and EX30 are quieter in similar situations.

Interestingly, Omoda has confirmed that a plug-in hybrid version of the E5 will be available further down the line. That suggests it could have a range-extender-style set-up like the Mazda MX-30 R-EV, where a petrol engine acts as a generator for the electric motor and battery.

“The Omoda E5’s range is competitive, but I do think it’s a shame there’s no long-range battery option. Nearly all its rivals offer this, even though it can push up the price.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

One thing you notice about the driving position in the Omoda E5 is how high you sit, because you have a great view forwards and to the side.

You certainly sit up higher up than in a Hyundai Kona Electric or Volvo EX30 but the view backwards is limited by the wide rear pillars and small rear window. Thankfully, all E5s come with blind-spot monitoring, a reversing camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

While the seating position in the E5 is fundamentally good, with plenty of adjustment for the driver’s seat, some drivers might prefer more reach and rake adjustment for the steering wheel. Annoyingly, there’s also no height adjustment for the front passenger seat.

Despite being based on the same underpinnings as the Omoda 5, the E5 gets a newer infotainment system. That’s evident by the fact you get two 12.3in screens for the digital driver’s display and infotainment (up from the 10.25in twin screens in the 5).

The infotainment system is better than the Omoda 5's. The screen is bright, the graphics are sharp and the response is reasonably quick.

However, the Kia EV3 system beats it because it has a volume knob, physical climate controls and touch-sensitive shortcut buttons, whereas the E5 has just six buttons on the centre console for the starter button, driving modes, hazard lights, front and rear window defrost and air conditioning.

That's a shame because it makes simple temperature adjustments more complicated than they should be. What’s more, the climate controls aren’t visible on the screen when you're using the standard-fit Android Auto or Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

On the plus side, the buttons on the steering wheel are physical – even though they don’t look like it. The digital driver’s display isn’t very configurable, and shows your speed on the left hand side of the screen rather than in the more usual centre position. Mind you, at least the E5 has a driver’s display – unlike the EX30, which shows your speed on the infotainment screen. 

One area where the E5 does well is with material quality, and the interior is filled with plenty of soft-touch plastics, metal-effect finishes and faux-leather surfaces.

Mind you, it’s not perfect: the indicator stalks and door handles feel a bit flimsy, and there are some cheaper plastics low on the dashboard, centre console and doors. Overall, though, it feels plusher than the Hyundai Kona Electric and similar to the MG ZS EV. 

“I like the design of the E5’s interior, but it isn’t very easy to use while driving. Almost all of the controls are buried within the touchscreen, which can be frustrating.” – Claire Evans, Consumer Editor

The driver of the Omoda E5 will find they have the most amount of space, with plenty of head and leg room available. However, it does go downhill from here, because front seat passengers more than 6ft tall will struggle for head room, partly because there’s no height adjustment for the seat.

Space in the back isn’t much better. In fact, it’s not good at all – head and leg room is tight, and if you’re a six-footer you’ll find your knees pushed up against the front seat (if you’re sat behind a similarly tall driver) and your head against the sloping roof. Matters aren’t helped by the sunroof on upper trims because the storage for the roller blind eats into the space even further. 

While there’s a good amount of foot space under the front seats, there's a small hump in the floor for middle-seat passengers. The middle seat is small and raised, so space is even tighter.

More positively, storage space is very good. The door bins are big, while the centre console has three cupholders and a large central cubby, as well as a large shelf underneath with USB and USB-C charging ports. All E5s come with cooled wireless phone-charging, so your phone doesn’t overheat while charging.

The Omoda E5 has 380 litres of boot space. That’s less than what you get in a Hyundai Kona Electric (466 litres) and Kia EV3 (460 litres), but more than the Volvo EX30 (318 litres) and Smart #1 (273 litres). There’s also a small front boot under the bonnet for storing your charging cables, which is great because underfloor boot storage is taken up by a full-size spare wheel, which is rare on any modern car, let alone an electric SUV. 

If you need more room, you can fold down the rear seats to create up to 1075 litres of space. The seats split in a 60/40 configuration (as opposed to 40/20/40), which is pretty normal for rivals at this price point.

“I find it refreshing that the Omoda E5 comes with a full-size spare wheel as standard, rather than a tyre repair kit. This gives you some peace of mind, but it does mean there’s no storage area under the boot floor. It could also impact efficiency.” – Chris Haining, Sub-editor

The Omoda E5 is cheaper than a Jeep Avenger Electric but costs more than many other rivals, including entry-level versions of the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia EV3, MG ZS EV, Smart #1 and Volvo EX30.

Unlike some of those electric SUVs, the E5 is very well equipped. The entry-level Comfort trim comes with 18in alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, electrically adjustable and folding door mirrors, part faux-leather seats, wireless phone-charing (with cooling), and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s our recommended trim.

The other trim option is Noble, which adds a 360-degree reversing camera, an opening sunroof, ambient interior lighting, faux-leather seats, a heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats, a six-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat and a four-way electrically adjustable passenger seat. It also gets a battery heat pump for more efficient warming of the interior.

The E5 has a maximum charging rate of 80kW, which results in a 30-80% top-up in around 28 minutes with a suitably powerful charger. While that might sound competitive, it’s slower than nearly all the rivals, including the EV3, which quotes a 10-80% charge in 29 minutes with a maximum rate of 102kW. The #1 Pro and EX30 Single Motor are quicker still with a maximum rating of 130kW and 132kW respectively, with a 10-80% charge taking around 27 minutes.

If you’re charging at home with a 7kW charger, a 0-100% charge will take less than 10 hours. If you have a more powerful 11kW home charger that time is reduced to around eight hours.

While the Omoda E5 is too new to have featured in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, it has been safety tested by the experts at Euro NCAP and achieved a full five-star rating in 2022. All versions come with plenty of safety kit as standard, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, a driver monitoring system, lane-departure warning and road-sign recognition.

For extra peace of mind, all Omoda E5s are offered with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty. That’s more than MG, Smart and Volvo offer, and the same as Kia. 

“I always advise looking closely at the quoted charging speed of an electric car. While most manufacturers quote 10-80% charging times, some quote 20-80% or 30-80%, which can lead you to think they’re quicker to charge than they actually are.” – George Hill, Staff Writer

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