What's the difference?
There has never been a better time to be shopping for an electric SUV in Australia, with the avalanche of Chinese brands constantly smashing through the price floor as they bid for the title of Australia’s cheapest.
MG led the charge with its S5, which is $40,490, drive-away. Then Leapmotor upped (or downed?) the ante with its B10 with a $38,990, drive-away, price tag. And now BYD has knocked them both out with its Atto 2, officially Australia’s cheapest electric SUV (at least for now), with a MSRP of $31,990, which, in NSW, translates to a drive-away cost of less than $35K.
Cheap is one thing. But cheerful? Let’s find out, shall we?
Okay, this is getting crazy. It feels like barely a week of 2024 is going by without another value-focused, pure-electric SUV hitting the Australian new-car market.
And this is the latest, the Chery Omoda E5, a compact, five-seater with the performance and range to challenge some other relatively recent arrivals.
It joins the internal combustion Omoda 5, variations of which have proliferated in the roughly 18 months it’s been on sale here.
This is CarsGuide’s first look and we’ve assessed everything from value and practicality to safety and driving performance. So, stay with us to see if this EV could be your entree into the world of battery-electric SUVs.
The BYD Atto 2 isn't just the cheapest electric SUV in Australia, it's also one that doesn't feel all that cheap, which is a hell of a magic trick. If it's easy, comfortable city motoring you're after, the Atto 2 delivers in spades. But if your blood type is high octane, there are better driving EVs out there.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.
Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
The Chery Omoda E5 gets solid ticks for value, practicality, performance, efficiency and a great ownership promise.
But its suspension compliance isn’t in line with class standards and some of its safety assist features aren’t as refined as they should be. Both of which matter in a car likely to be used by families day-to-day. Its price and specification are strong drawcards and that will get it over the line for many. But we think this Omoda E5 would still benefit from some judicious fine-tuning.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.