Driving the Omoda E5, next Chinese EV to hit Belgian roads

Chery Automobile, China’s fifth-biggest automaker with over 1.88 million vehicles sold worldwide last year, says it will take on Belgium from January 2025 with two models: the Omoda E5 EV and the Jaecoo 7 PHEV. While the brand awaits the Brussels Motor Show for an official launch, we could already take the Omoda E5, a fully electric compact SUV, on the road for a first test.

This one is aimed at families and plays in the league of the Hyundai Kona EV, BYD Atto 3, or the MG ZS, the first affordable Chinese EV to hit Belgian roads and introduced in Europe back in 2019. Like that one, the Omoda E5 won’t knock your socks off but should offer value for money if Chery can keep the price as low as it is nowadays in Spain, some 37,900 euros.

Fashion and brand new

Chery’s subbrand name, ‘Omoda,’ might be unfamiliar in Europe but is already known in Asian, Australian and South American markets. Chery chose the name Omoda for its new SUV series from 10,000 suggestions, starting with the letter ‘O,’ which represents ‘brand new,’ while ‘Moda’ means a fashion trend.

Compact crossover SUVs are a fashion trend worldwide, but the Omoda E5 doesn’t look ‘brand new’ at first sight. It won’t stand out in the masses of compact SUVs today. Actually, it could as well be a Lexus or an MG if it weren’t for the big ‘OMODA’ lettering on its nose to identify it. Still, it’s modern and stylish, and there is nothing to be ashamed to be seen in.

Blending into traffic discretely

The one we drove is one of the few pre-series available in Europe, the only one in Belgium for testing purposes, and it has a Dutch number plate. In this dark Phantom Grey color, it looks distinctive but blends into the traffic almost discretely, without being noticed, despite it being the only car of this kind on the road today.

According to Nikolas Capidis, Product Manager Omoda & Jaecoo Benelux, it’s a version tuned for the Middle East, missing localized Dutch-French software and yet to be finetuned for West-European driving style. And that is something we will notice right away when setting off.

Built-in navigation, for instance, lacks the right West-European maps. Luckily, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, so navigation software options—be it Waze or TomTom from your smartphone—are available, and the connection is made flawlessly by Bluetooth or USB.

Premium looks

Upon entry, the interior’s finishing quality surprises positively, with its (synthetic) eco-leather look and delicate stitching, sporty seats, the 24.6-inch double screen spanning half of the dashboard, and the large (opening) panoramic roof. It’s a compact SUV, so legroom in the back seats isn’t endless, but it is sufficient.

There is no start button; just hit the brake pedal to wake it up and select drive mode with the Mercedes-like lever on the right of the steering wheel. There are few physical buttons, except for defrost, AC, or hazard lights on the middle console and the classic ones on the steering wheel for audio, voice control, or cruise control.

For most functions, you’ll have to navigate the menus on the central touch screen, including the drive mode settings Eco, Normal, or Sport. Regenerative braking is an option in three settings, but unlike Koreans, it does not offer shifting paddles on the wheel.

No real one-pedal-driving

Even in its most extensive braking setting, deceleration is relatively modest. You can’t call this ‘one-pedal driving’, where you only have to lift your foot off the throttle to have the car stop gradually until a standstill. It’s something you must get used to and appreciate, as most people who step into an EV with one-pedal driving activated find it awkward initially.

Like in many (Chinese) EVs today, prepare for some studying to get used to diving into the software to find all the proper settings. There are ways to customize some physical buttons, but it will take time to find your way. This Omoda is no exception.

However, it has to be said that – driving a lot of Chinese EVs lately – all of them. have their software mastered quite well, making it reasonably intuitive and internationally understandable. You seldom hear about software problems delaying EV launches like some European carmakers were plagued with.

Derived from the ICE version

One thing Chery did better than some competitors, where you feel every little ripple in the road in their EVs, is having the chassis tuned reasonably comfortably despite the EV’s heavy weight. But in this case, 1,785 kg unladen is relatively low, thanks to a modest battery. After all, this E5 is derived from the ICE version, not built on an EV-specific platform.

This EV has a 150kW electric motor driving the front wheels, fed by a 61.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack. That’s theoretically good for a range of 430 km (WLTP) and a reasonable consumption of around 16 – 17 kWh/100 km, as we could determine experimentally in daily driving.

Moderate ranges

On paper, Chery claims 15.5 kWh /100 km. A ‘real average range’ of 345 km is a safer assumption. This is actually the Omoda E5 EV with an ‘extended range’, while a basic version with a 40 kWh battery and 300 km range would also be offered.

The Omoda E5 is no champion in fast charging, needing 28 minutes on a DC charger to charge from 30 to 80% (only half thus). What’s convenient, though, is the charge port in front of the nose, like a Renault Zoe, so it’s always easy to connect.

It’s no sprinter either, compared to most EVs, needing 7.2 seconds from standstill to 100 km/h, but maybe that’s rather positive for the average family father or mother who’s going to drive it. The instantly available torque of 340 Nm can make the front wheels spin on wet surfaces. Generally, road holding is okay when not pushing it to the limits that come sooner than expected.

ADAS needing tuning

Advanced driver aid systems (ADAS) are a must nowadays, and the Omoda 5 has thirteen of them. It comes with features like lane keeping and changing, adaptive cruise control, 360° view cameras, and automated parking as standard. However, a good horse never stumbles, and here Chery has some fine-tuning to do, which is often the case with Chinese EVs.

In many ways, the Chinese are forerunners in their own country when it comes to semi-autonomous driving, and often, Western versions of their cars have some of those features deactivated for legal purposes.

Still lacking proper fine-tuning for a Western European driving style, features like automatic lane-keeping tend to ‘over-act,’ making the Omoda surge between white lines against the driver’s will and threatening to evoke a sea-sick feeling in the passengers. According to marketing manager Nikolas Capidis, engineers in a purposely set-up new Chery center for Western Europe will address this, for instance.

Looking for dealerships

So, this Omoda E5 offers quite a lot of comfort for a—probably—affordable price, but when will it finally be available in Belgium? Chery eventually planned the launch in Belgium after Poland and Italy in the summer of 2024. However, that was delayed by several months as negotiations with Belgian car dealerships took more time than initially presumed.

So far, four dealer groups have been officially announced for Belgium: Pagnotta in Limburg, L’Universelle in Liège, Garage Serneels in Heist-op-den-Berg, and the D&O Mobility Group with 15 dealerships in Flanders, including Roeselare, Ypres, Veurne, Oudenaarde, and Alsemberg or Waterloo around Brussels.

According to Taylor Zhang, Country Director Belgium & Luxemburg, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and Mons are next, with up to 20 dealerships covering the whole of Belux. Official prices have not been communicated yet. This will be done at the Brussels Motor Show, which runs from January 10th to 19th, 2025.

Keeping a price tag of €37,000?

The Omoda 5 EV currently sells in Spain for €37,900, a price Chery is confident will not be taxed by 21.3% in the best case, up to 36.3% European tariff on Chinese EVs in the long run.

It bought the former Nissan factory in Spain to produce the car locally with a Spanish partner for the EU market. So far, around 1,400 of them have been built in Barcelona in one work shift, but that could be 150,000 by 2029.

However, Spanish specialized media like Tribuna de la Automoción reported that Chery delayed those plans to await the outcome of ongoing talks on tariffs for Chinese EVs with the EU. Chery officials in Spain and China declined to comment on the Omoda 5 delay, and no official comments were given in the BeLux organization.