2024 Chery Omoda E5 Malaysian review – cheaper than BYD Atto 3 at RM146,800 but is it the better EV?

The Chery Omoda E5 was launched in Malaysia yesterday and is offered in a sole variant priced at RM146,800 on-the-road without insurance. For the money, you’re getting an electric vehicle that is capable of providing 430 km of range following the WLTP standard.

This is made possible by the Omoda E5’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that is sourced from BYD and has an energy capacity of 61 kWh. The battery powers a front-mounted electric motor rated at 204 PS (201 hp or 150 kW) and 340 Nm of torque, enabling the SUV to get from 0-100 km/h in 7.6 seconds.

The E5 comes with a three-phase onboard AC charger (Type 2) that can handle a peak of 9.9 kW as well as DC fast charging at up to 80 kW, the latter capable of getting the battery from a 30-80% state of charge in just 28 minutes. There’s also a vehicle-to-load (V2L) system that can output up to 3.3 kW if you want to power electrical appliances and devices.

In terms of equipment, the E5 comes standard with LED projector headlamps, 18-inch alloy wheels, a powered sunroof, powered tailgate, puddle lamps, selectable drive modes, leather upholstery (blue and grey two-tone or all-black), ventilated front seats, dual-zone climate control (with PM 2.5 filter and rear vents) and dynamic ambient lighting.

The infotainment system is powered by a Qualcomm 8155 system on chip (SoC) and includes support for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The system is linked to a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch touchscreen and an eight-speaker Sony system. There’s also a 50W wireless charger with a cooling function to keep your phone cool as it charges.

As for driver assistance systems, there’s a 360-degree camera, automatic high beam, lead vehicle departure alert, adaptive cruise control, front collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and prevention, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic alert as well as a tyre pressure monitoring system.

At its asking price, the E5 is either RM38,800 or RM28,000 more than its ICE-powered equivalent – the Omoda 5 – depending on the variant compared against. More headline-grabbing is the E5 is a little over RM20k cheaper than the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range which offers similar specifications. The gap reduces to just over RM3k when compared to the entry-level Atto 3 Standard Range.

Moving forward, the E5 is expected to cost even less to buy when local assembly (CKD) kicks off in Q2 this year – the first batch of cars are fully imported (CBU) from China. For now, is the E5 a better electric SUV compared to the Atto 3? Is it truly a really good value for money proposition? Well, that’s what Hafriz Shah attempts to find out in his review of the E5. So, give it a watch and let us know which of the two you would go with and why in the comments below.

One last thing to point out is colours. While the car Hafriz tests here is in red, it isn’t an option that is available to customers. Instead, the available hues are Khaki White, Phantom Grey, Dark Black and Aqua Green, the last of which we’ve included a gallery of below.