Chery Omoda E5 2024 review

The almost unrelenting arrival of Chinese-market EVs has gained another fresh contender in the form of the just-launched Chery Omoda E5.

Clearly related to the petrol-powered Omoda 5 that launched in Australia in March 2023, followed by an uprated Omoda 5 GT (with the availability of AWD) in March ’24, the Omoda E5 expands the reach of Chery’s quite handsome small SUV into a burgeoning category – cheap EVs.

Starting at $42,990 for the entry-level BX and extending to $45,990 for the up-spec EX, both prices before on-road costs, the Omoda E5 isn’t simply a combustion-engined car with a battery shoved where the engine was.
Instead, the Omoda 5’s T1X platform was designed from the outset to suit both applications, giving the Omoda E5 a welcome boost in packaging efficiency.

Riding on a ‘skateboard’ battery pack (horizontally embedded into its floor) means the Omoda E5 features a fully flat rear floor, a modest 19-litre frunk under its bonnet, and a respectably sized 300-litre boot housing an extremely rare full-sized spare wheel.

Compared to its BYD Atto 3 Extended Range and MG 4 Excite 64 rivals, the 4.4m-long Omoda E5 definitely has size and presence in its favour, while essentially matching their WLTP range claims – Chery quotes 430km compared to BYD’s 420km and MG’s 450km.

Ditto their performance – 0-100km/h in 7.6sec for the Omoda E5 versus 7.3sec for the BYD Atto 3 and 7.2sec for the MG 4 Excite 64 – so clearly there’s method to Chery’s positioning of the Omoda E5 in Australia. And when it comes to relative price and equipment, the Omoda E5 appears to be sitting pretty at the pointy end for value-for-money.

Visually, it’s significantly different to a petrol Omoda 5. Gone is the needlessly oversized grille, replaced by a flush front with sci-fi horizontal lighting and an electric charging-port flap disguised in its snout. The E5 also gets unique 18-inch alloys, the rear pair combining with new multi-link independent rear suspension to properly flesh-out the Omoda 5’s rear styling.

Thanks to its visibly wider rear track, the electric version no longer has a muffin top like the non-GT petrols, where the body hangs over what appears to be the narrow track of another vehicle.

That visual difference continues inside with a completely new dashboard and front door trims, crowned by a pair of curved 12.3-inch screens and a re-configured centre console with a floating upper section and storage beneath, now that the gear selector has migrated to the steering column.

Finish is decent and the screens look impressively slick, though their functionality leaves much to be desired.

Needlessly complex and infuriatingly illogical, the razzy award goes to regenerative braking levels buried in a folder marked ‘other’ inside the energy consumption tab, followed by the active-safety page that displays a wall of impenetrable, near-identical icons desperately lacking in logical visual hierarchy.

In this respect, the Chery is all about superficial glamour and to hell with the ergonomics.

Surprisingly, that somehow doesn’t relate to its seating – especially the base BX with its cloth-seat inserts – or the E5’s driving position, despite a telescopic wheel that won’t go low enough.

But you notice it in the front door armrests, which are so far away from the occupants they’re of no use whatsoever, and the way the Omoda E5’s plethora of electronic systems play out on the road.

Due to a lack of calibration finesse, the Omoda E5 can often be difficult to drive smoothly. The accelerator tuning is light-switch abrupt, meaning only ‘Eco’ is muffled enough to lessen the impact.

And there’s a knock-on effect with the regenerative braking, where the transition between accelerating, coasting and braking has zero progression. You’re either accelerating noticeably or braking noticeably, which again translates to a light-switch-style, on-off surging – like someone pulsing the accelerator pedal in an ICE car.

It’s impossible to drive around, especially at low speeds, and probably explains why Chery buried the ‘medium’ and ‘high’ regenerative braking because they merely exacerbate the effect.

The Omoda E5’s steering also suffers from a lack of calibration, with arguably too-sharp initial response, followed by a sticky and viscous movement, an unnatural feel and little cohesion with the chassis … which, after revisions for this application, is actually quite decent in its handling balance and ride comfort (for the vehicle type and price point).

Flatten the accelerator pedal and you’ll also notice that the Omoda E5 torque steers – tugging at the wheel (almost like lane-assist intervention) as the front tyres scrabble for traction.

And that’s in the dry. The byproduct is that the E5 offers plenty of performance, though it lacks the subtle dynamic blending of, say, a rear-drive MG 4 – meaning the Omoda E5 can get a bit scrappy when hustled quickly through corners.

Speaking of blending, Chery Australia has been working with head office to try and better-integrate the Omoda 5’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist Systems) and it seems to be working.

From a very low base 18 months ago, the Omoda E5 is now comparatively unobtrusive, though its lane assist continued to snatch and grab on our test car at times, even though all systems were disabled, and the Driver Monitoring System threw up a few false negatives, even though I had both hands on the wheel, looking straight ahead.

Viewed as predominantly a city car with the ability to do a few interstate trips, the Omoda E5 is quite likeable. At town speeds, its coarse-chip tyre noise and moderate wind noise won’t be such an issue, and neither should its patchy steering or lumpy regen braking.

You can at least switch the electric steering to Sport mode, which does improve it a bit, and if you’re not so attuned to the intricacies of its accelerator tuning and such, you’ll probably really appreciate the Omoda E5’s Sony audio and terrific forward vision … while you wait longer than usual for it to go from 10-80 percent charge (around 40mins).

So the Chery Omoda 5 is definitely maturing – making the electric E5 version the best variant yet in the seven-strong range.

But if Chery truly wants to shed its bargain-basement reputation, the devil is always in the details. And it’s these details, so clearly lacking in finesse and sophisticated calibration, that ultimately undermine the Chery Omoda E5’s undoubted abilities elsewhere.