Forthing Taikon 5 Exclusive 2026 Review

With a 64.4kWh battery, the fully electric version costs $38,990 before on-road costs, while the PHEV has a battery half the size at 31.5kWh but pairs it with a 1.5-litre petrol engine for a starting price of $36,990.

Both are available in entry Luxury trim but can be upgraded to an Exclusive level of specification for an additional $3500. That adds things like a panoramic roof, electric tailgate, leather steering wheel, wireless device charging, and 360-degree camera to an already decent set of standard kit.

Owners of the Luxury have a 15.6-inch central touchscreen, 8.8-inch fully digital instrument cluster, all-LED lighting inside and out, synthetic leather upholstery, wireless smartphone connectivity and mirroring, electric adjustment for front seats and ventilation and massage for the driver.

Power and torque figures vary significantly for each variant with 150kW/340Nm produced by the BEV’s front-mounted electric motor, whereas the plug-in has just 120kW and 240Nm available from the motor on the rear axle. Unlike some PHEVs, the Taikon 5’s petrol engine is incapable of sending direct drive to the wheels and is exclusively responsible for producing electricity to either charge the battery or power the electric motor.

Forthing is not pursuing a safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) saying it will instead refer to the forthcoming European equivalent – Euro NCAP. Under the spotlight will be all the usual ADR requirements such as autonomous emergency braking, along with other inclusions such as traffic sign recognition, lane-keeping assist, rear cross traffic alert, and door exit warning.

Omissions that might attract the red pen include a driver monitoring camera, head-up display and a 360-degree camera for only the top spec Exclusive, although the former gets a gold star from us if other challenger-brand monitoring systems are to provide a comparison.

Regardless of the variant chosen, the Taikon 5 is offered with a respectable quantity of kit for the price including large digital displays that measure 14.6 inches for the central unit and are supplemented by a second 8.8-inch screen for the instrument cluster.

The driver’s seat adjusts electrically, along with a surprisingly aggressive (in a nice way) massage function and ventilation. There’s wireless connectivity for smartphones and good details such as pleasant materials almost everywhere including a ‘crystal’ gear selector.

We weren’t given access to the entry Luxury spec vehicle so we can’t yet comment on whether the extra $3500 is essential spending to avoid feeling like you’ve bought a cheapie but the extra kit that it brings certainly helps lift the whole quality proposition.

A real leather steering wheel, electric tailgate, wireless phone charging and panoramic sunroof are highlight inclusions when stepping up to the Exclusive grade. We also applaud the decision to include a physical HVAC control panel that’s separate to the digital screen - although the controls are duplicated if you prefer to change fan speed and cabin temperature with the touchscreen.

It’s also pretty spacious with a big 480-litre boot and enough room to comfortably accommodate four adults plus one in a pinch and, if you opt for the EV with Exclusive pack there’s a space-saver spare wheel - an increasingly uncommon feature.

Unfortunately, there are a few too many examples of half-baked calibration that’s all too typical of challenger brands in an emerging market, which we’ll touch on below, but there are a few great things to talk about when it comes to the driving experience offered by the PHEV.

Firstly, its ride is well resolved especially when dealing with larger bumps in the road and while the secondary ride (for smaller, fussier vibrations) is not as good, it’s still impressively tuned.

Weight distribution is also a high point of the PHEV thanks to the drive motor positioning on the rear axle while the engine and generator are up-front. In faster corners, tyre squeal is hard to provoke (compared with the EV version which is more readily vocal), and the body control and willingness to turn are equally good.

Of the two versions, the range-extender has the tauter chassis without compromising on ride comfort, while the small petrol engine is well insulated from the cabin making little perceptible noise and vibration when running.

The real highlight of the PHEV Taikon 5 though, is its range. With both battery and engine working in unison, Forthing claims a total range of nearly 1000km despite only having a 43-litre fuel tank and, with a flat battery, the plug-in still returns a claimed 5.6-litres per 100km.

Running on electricity only, Forthing claims its 31.9kWh battery is enough to travel up to 170km WLTP or as much as 200km when assessed under the NEDC standard. And that makes this affordable plug-in really stand out above pretty much everything else in its class … and many others.

As a little icing on that cake, a seven-year warranty limited to 200,000km is standard from new, as is an eight-year warranty for the battery over the same distance.

Adding to the statement of confidence, Forthing is growing its current dealer network of 20 dealerships nationwide to 35 by the end of the year, it says.

While safety is, on the whole, very well represented with AEB, lane departure warning and lane-keeping assist, reverse camera, traffic sign recognition and door exit warning as standard, a few exclusions make it feel a little like the top level of safety is optional with the 360-degree monitor and front parking sensors only coming with the Exclusive pack.

Ergonomics suffer in a few places such as no driver’s seat tilt that will irk taller drivers, while the limited steering wheel tilt and telescoping adjustment will annoy drivers of all shapes and sizes. Plastics quality is overall good, but some cheap materials have sneaked in such as on the door trim caps, for example.

Oh, and you only get a spare wheel in one grade of one variant - one of a few strange inconsistencies.

Some might also see the exclusion of a driver monitoring camera falling under the same criticism, but the absence of annoying and unnecessary warnings while driving lead us to conclude the opposite. You decide.

While we’ve established the PHEV version is a decent driving proposition, the EV unfortunately shares few of the PHEV’s positives.

Both versions suffer from excessively heavy steering in the straight-ahead position as well as a ratio that’s a bit slow to be fun or precise, while the brake pedal is excessively soft and has too much travel without offering much power as a consolation.

Even though the EV is the fastest of the two variants, it still isn’t fast, managing to be adequate at best. Forthing doesn’t publish an acceleration claim, but it feels about the 8.0s mark. The PHEV feels about the same to 80km/h but decidedly lacklustre beyond that at freeway speeds thanks to a torque deficit of 100Nm.

The EV weighs 100kg more than the range-extender, which accounts for the less inspiring roadholding and handling, while its front-wheel-drive layout versus the PHEV's rear-wheel-drive layout makes a significant difference. That said, both would benefit from swapping the cheap factory-fitted tyres (ever heard of a Prinx Hirace? No, neither have we) for a better-known product.

A few different driving modes are offered but don’t seem to drastically alter the experience beyond accelerator sensitivity.

There’s also a surprising amount of noise coming from a drivetrain that’s ordinarily associated with silence. Booting the Taikon 5 sounds like pulling the trigger on a DeWalt drill and is so obvious that sounds like it’s being actively piped in. Unfortunately, we don’t think the paltry six-speaker stereo can deliver a convincing augmented noise even if it was deliberate. 

Our only other main qualms regard things that were left out of the inclusions list. Stepping up to the Exclusive specification takes the total number of speakers to six from four. Weirdly, while the EV gets a start/stop button, the PHEV does not. It’s the same for the HVAC system, which is either a more sophisticated climate-control panel or a simple air-conditioning temperature and fan-speed arrangement depending on the powertrain. Oh, and the illumination is dim, which makes it difficult to see which functions are active in daylight. 

There’s no head-up display to complement the digital dash, and those drivers who aren’t familiar with a driving route will have to rely on a paired phone with no native navigation offered in any grade. 

If you’re looking to put a zero-emissions SUV on your driveway then there are a number of affordable options that should be on your list above the Taikon 5. With adequate performance, adequate range, underwhelming dynamics and a level of equipment that’s become expected of challenger brands, but doesn’t exceed them, the Forthing BEV doesn’t advance the game.

Its range-extender cousin, however, does. If you can get over the lackluster performance and a couple of quintessential Chinese car quirks, it offers just about the best range-per-dollar price anywhere in the plug-in market.

While some challenger brands try to make a splash with wild performance and features that verge on conceptual, the Taikon 5 PHEV succeeds through simplicity.

We’ll reserve final judgment until we have an opportunity to sample the entry level Luxury. If its lower level of specification sacrifices little, it’ll be the bargain Forthing claims.

2026 Forthing Taikon 5 BEV at a glance:
Price: $38,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor front-wheel drive
Output: 150kW/340Nm
Transmission: single speed
Battery: 64.4kWh lithium-ion
Range: 427km WLTP
Energy consumption: N/A
Safety rating: Not tested

2026 Forthing Taikon 5 REEV at a glance:
Price: $36,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 120kWkW/240Nm (petrol engine: 75kW/130Nm - not capable of direct drive so irrelevant)
Combined output: 120kW/240Nm
Transmission: No direct drive
Battery: 31.5 kWh lithium-ion
Range: 937km WLTP
Energy consumption: N/A
Fuel: 5.6L/100km WLTP
Safety rating: Not tested

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