Chery Omoda E5 BX 2024 Review

As the cheaper of the two Chery Omoda E5 versions – BX and EX – our test BX turned out to be a surprise with the overall depth and quality of its standard equipment. At $42,900 before on-road costs, it undercuts Korean EV rivals such as the $54,000 pre-ORCs Hyundai Kona Electric, the also pre-ORCs $56,770 Kia EV5 Air and the $47,499 extended-range BYD Atto 3. It competes more or less directly with the MG ZS EV, which is priced, driveaway, at $47,990.

In BX form, the Chery Omoda E5 brings all the basics, along with some value-added niceties. Standard equipment includes integrated GPS, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, wireless phone charging, interactive voice commands, a large, dual 12.3-inch screen display and a six-speaker SONY sound system. Higher priced by $3000, the EX model upgrades to eight speakers. The BX also rides on 18-inch alloy wheels with a full-size spare in the boot.

To this list, the EX version adds a power sunroof, 360-degree bird’s eye view parking cameras, heated front and rear seats (outboard at the back), a heated steering wheel and a power tailgate.

The Chery Omoda E5 is covered by a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with seven years of roadside assistance and fixed-price servicing, at 12-month/20,000km intervals. That adds up to total servicing costs of $1,615 over seven years or 140,000km. The Omoda E5’s high-voltage battery is covered by an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

As with internal-combustion Omoda variants, the E5 offers an optional $500 premium paint job. For further titillation, a black roof can be had for an extra $600.

Given its early safety history, Chery has gone to some pains to ensure that the Omoda E5 passes muster. The list of safety tech is pretty complete, adding things like a front centre airbag to the total of seven bags that contributed to its five-star rating in 2022.

Adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking (low speed only), lane-departure warning and prevention, blind-spot scanning, rear cross-traffic alert and a driver-monitoring system that uses the almost-obligatory steering column-mounted eye-movement sensor are all standard safety features. The Omoda also reads speed signs and proactively monitors tyre pressures.

Like so many new-generation cars with complex electronics, the Omoda E5’s control systems do take some acclimatisation.

The base-model Chery Omoda E5 BX gets just about all the important stuff: Dual, hi-res 12.5-inch displays with GPS and an array of large touch-control icons in the centre fascia and, on the right-hand side, an expansive multi-information digital display ahead of the driver to inform of things like road speed, touring range and posted speed limits. The right-side screen also features a supplementary circular mini-screen for the GPS. Five USB charging ports (three USB-A, two USB-C) are provided, with the rear A and C ports located conveniently below the rear passengers’ centre air vent.

Both the Omoda E5 BX and EX are powered by a single-motor driveline located at the front, supplying a strong output of 150kW and 340Nm to accelerate the 1776kg EV from zero to 100km/h in a handily fast 7.6 seconds.

Chery says the electric Omada’s 61.1kWh lithium-ion battery pack can be charged from 30 per cent to 80 per cent in 28 minutes on an 80kW DC fast charger, with the NEDC and WLTP ranges claimed respectively to be 460km and 430km. The quoted power consumption is 15.5kWh/100km; although our review E5 came relatively close to that at times, we found it to be a little optimistic after some extended, mainly freeway driving. Our review Omoda E5 indicated a range more realistically hovering in the mid-300kms – confirming one thing most people already know: EVs don’t particularly like long hauls at freeway speeds.

Sporting behaviour is not the Omoda E5’s thing, but that’s hardly likely to be an issue for most shoppers who are just happy to own an affordable, emissions-free small SUV that also happens to accelerate quickly, is commodious and sufficiently comfortable for both passengers and luggage – and visually presentable inside and out.

There’s no problem with the ride quality or even, for most, its general, middle-of-the-road handling and the grip provided by its 215/55R18 tyres. The ultra-light steering is good for manoeuvring into tight parking spots, but not necessarily good at everything else.

The steering is in fact the Chery Omoda E5’s most prominent dynamic downfall. At times it’s downright awful.

Hampered by what appears to be poorly-calibrated lane-keeping electronics, the Omoda E5 at times in such a defiantly overassertive manner that it feels unsteady and disconcerting, exhibiting an unsettling tendency to wander between the line markings. The aberrant behaviour is especially noticeable when the adaptive cruise control is active.

The Omoda E5 is a charmer inside, with decent space in front and rear for passengers, comfortably padded leather-look seating and plenty of soft-touch surfacing carefully calculated to be in the places they are most appreciated. As already mentioned, the BX version of the E5 Omoda makes do with manually adjusted, non-heated seating.

There’s an appealing minimalist look to the Omoda E5 BX too, and even a deep inspection won’t readily find flaws in build quality. The all-round vision, though the tapering side windows around the C-pillar inevitably intrude, brings no real complaints.

The Omoda E5’s boot is pretty reasonable, measuring 300 litres in its five-passenger configuration, expanding to 1079 litres with the back seats fully folded. It is a bit smaller overall than competitors such as the MG ZS EV, Hyundai Kona Electric and the (notionally mid-size) BYD Atto 3. The Omoda E5’s full-size spare wheel is a big win. It's almost enough in itself to seal the deal in the showroom, given we live in times of increasingly prevalent space-savers and inflator kits.

If the success of the Chery Omoda 5 in such a short time on the Australian market is any indication, the all-electric E5 should prove a ready match for existing Korean and Chinese competitors.

The pricing that excludes on-road costs might seem to be an about-turn in the face of the driveaway bargain pricing that has become almost a standard expectation of Chinese vehicles. But a look at the Chery Omoda’s overall pricing structure shows no evident shortfalls in value for money.

Unfortunately, the Chery Omoda’s steering issues – which also affect the otherwise impressive and just-landed Omoda Tiggo 4 – should concern a company working to re-write its questionable early-safety history.

Surely there’s a case here for some design revisions.

2024 Chery Omoda E5 BX at a glance:

Price: $42,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 150kW/340Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 61.1kWh lithium-ion
Range: 430km WLTP
Energy consumption: 15.5kWh/100km
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP Year 2022)

Related: Chery Omoda now priced from under $30K

Related: Chery Omoda 5 GT AWD 2024 Review

Related: 2025 Chery Omoda E5: Full Australian details

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