Cut-price electric SUV gets power boost: 2026 Chery E5 family SUV gets minor power boost to battle Hyundai Kona EV, BYD Atto 3 and MG S5 EV

Chinese carmaker Chery has sharpened its E5 electric SUV.

It has made some subtle changes to its solo electric vehicle (EV) in Australia with some tweaks under the skin to battle fresh rivals such as the MG S5 EV and segment standout the Hyundai Kona Electric.

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Chery has fiddled with the front-mounted electric motor outputs, with the new unit making 155kW and 288Nm. This compares to the 150kW and 340Nm of the previous version.

Charging remains the same with a DC fast charging capped at 80kW and AC at about 10kW.

Chery claims the E5 can replenish its battery from 30 to 80 per cent in half an hour via an appropriate DC fast charger.

Chery has also changed the variant names ditching the BX and EX grades for a more familiar Urban and Ultimate designation, which matches Chery’s other models.

Prices remain the same with the Urban costing $36,990 (before on-road costs) and the Ultimate $40,990.

Standard equipment remains pretty much the same.

Some of the notable items included are a full-size spare wheel, which is far superior to the tyre repair kit nearly every electric car is fitted with.

The Urban has synthetic leather trimmed seats, a 12.3-inch central display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a six-speaker stereo.

The Ultimate grade boosts this with fully synthetic leather upholstery, heated front and rear seats, heather synthetic leather wrapped steering wheel, eight-speaker Sony stereo, sunroof, ambient lighting and a power tailgate.