First look: Omoda E5 lands in South Africa ahead of market debut

With sister brand Jaecoo set to formerly launch in South Africa next month, Omoda’s first electric vehicle bound for local soil, the E5, has officially been spotted on local soil ahead of its market debut this year.

EV first

A first not only for Omoda, but also parent company, Chery, the E5, which debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show last year before being confirmed for South Africa months later, will complete the local C5 line-up currently comprising the standard model and the C5 GT.

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Omoda, and by extension Chery’s indirect answer to the Great Wall Motors (GWM) Ora 03, the E5, although similar in profile and based on the same platform as its siblings, differs incrementally inside and out with its dimensions of 4 424 mm long, 1 830 mm wide and 1 588 mm tall.

Riding on a 2 630 mm long wheelbase, the provided images show the E5 being offloaded from a car carrier in what appears to be a storage yard, mostly likely a holding area for vehicles set for distribution.

Expected spec

Aesthetically, the E5’s differences comprises model spec 18-inch alloy wheels, the complete absence of a grille, the Omoda badge relocated from the bonnet to a logo bar between upper LED headlights, and at the rear, no exhaust outlets.

Inside, the centre console sports a flush design as a result of the gear lever moving to the steering column.

Also unique is a bigger dual 12.3-inch infotainment system and instrument cluster in place of the normal C5’s pair of 10.25-inch displays, a different steering wheel, 50-watt wireless smartphone charger colour and veneer options not available on the combustion version.

Electric hardware

As for power, the South African-spec E5 is expected to mirror the Chinese variant by swapping out the turbocharged 1.5-litre and 1.6-litre petrol engines for a 61-kWh lithium-ion phosphorate battery pack driving a front axled mounted electric motor.

The result is an output of 150kW/340Nm, a claimed 0-100 km/h sprint time of 7.2 seconds and a range of 450 km on a single charge.

Its electric hardware able to feed up to three kilowatts back into certain electrical items, the E5 will have up to nine driving modes and require a waiting time of 30 minutes from 30-80% when plugged in to a DC fast charger

Pricing later

While pricing remains unknown, speculation points to the E5 possibly retailing around the R650 000 to R700 000 mark based on the GT’s R589 990 sticker. As indicated though, this is speculative and unconfirmed.

Omoda, whose products will be sold alongside those of Jaecoo as part of what Chery calls the standalone O&J division, has confirmed to The Citizen that the E5 will go on-sale in the third quarter of the year.

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