Chery Omoda 5 vs Zeekr 009

What's the difference?

There’s little argument that Chery is focusing on value-for-money when it comes to its model range, and that’s absolutely the case with its new range opener - the Omoda 5 FX.

The spacious, flexible and neat cabin also get a tick. 

Purely looking at this car on paper, it is hard to beat for $27,000 drive-away. And if you stick exclusively to urban areas without hitting the open road, you might be happy with your purchase.

However, the overall drive experience, including the behaviour of the advanced driver assistance tech, is well off the pace of mainstream rivals from Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, VW and more. 

If that price is too good to look past, then be sure to do back-to-back test drives with other similarly priced rivals to compare.

The Zeekr 009 is difficult to fault. It's a luxurious, practical vehicle that's easy and enjoyable to drive. There's no SUV on the planet that can compete with its practicality, whether it's room for people and their cargo, or just getting in and out of the vehicle. The only thing I would change about the 009 in terms of family use are the captain's chairs in the second row; a bench seat here for three people would be more practical for a family. If, however, you are using the 009 as a chauffeur car then the captain's chairs would provide the comfort and luxury jet-setting executives would welcome.

The Omoda 5’s design is bold, certainly more so than its larger Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 stablemates.

At the front the narrow daytime running lights integrate into the busy-looking grille that is surrounded by vertical headlights.

Tall wheel arches, narrowing rear three-quarter windows, creases, a boot lip spoiler and a perky rear help it stand out, but when you look at it front on or rear on, it seems oddly proportioned. Like it’s on stilts or something. 

The cabin design is smart and restrained with a high-set centre console, piano black inserts, attractive three-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel with clear dials and minimal use of buttons.

Soft-touch materials adorn the top of the dash but the doors make do with hard plastics, which I have no issue with. The passenger side dash is upright but that doesn’t impact functionality. 

You might think that there's only so much you can do to make a people mover good looking but Zeekr’s futuristic and alien-like take is inspired.

I love to sheer bluntness of the face. I love the chiseled looking bonnet, the LED running lights and the little show they put on every time you walk to or from the car. Even the side profile of the car sitting low and planted on its air suspension looks sleek and stylish. And I love the roulette-wheel-style alloys wheels.

I was impressed by the interior of the Lexus LM500h but the interior of the 009 exceeds even that with modern and youthful styling wrapped in beautiful soft leather upholstery. The second-row seats are just absolutely sumptuous and every single touch point throughout the cabin feels luxurious.

The 009 doesn't match the size of the gigantic entertainment screen in the second row of the LM500h but I found the drop down 17-inch 3K entertainment to have an even more modern look and feel.

The cabin offers enough space for a small SUV. It feels wide across the front seat and there’s plenty of headroom, too.

The driver’s seat is power adjustable and while the fabric and stitching look cool, there’s almost too much padding under your bottom.

There are clear controls on the comfy door armrest and on the lovely looking three-spoke synthetic leather, flat bottom steering wheel.

The console sits up high, presumably to give the cabin a sports car look, and the dash is neat and clean, largely due to a lack of physical buttons. There are two phone holders that dominate the lower part of the dash and they double as device chargers in higher grades, but not in the FX.

There is space under the console to fit a bag or other items but the USB-A and USB-C ports are on the passenger side so you have to reach over to connect a cord if required. Thankfully, the Apple CarPlay is wireless. It connected easily and did not require reconnection while I had the car.

Two smallish cupholders are found near the gear shifter, and a sizeable central bin will store a number or items. The doors can stow a tall and wide bottle as well as other flat items. 

Chery’s dual-screen set-up looks nice and not a world away from Kia’s integrated screens. The driver instrument display is not customisable in this grade and many of the items on the display are quite small. It would help if these were a little larger.

The multimedia side is simple to use with iPhone-like icons for functions like vehicle settings and more. There’s even a cute little bubble face on the side that you press to dictate commands. I asked the system to perform a few basic tasks like turning the air con off and on and it did it immediately without fault.

Air con controls are housed in the screen as well but it’s not as fiddly as some systems from other manufacturers. The only complaint is that it doesn’t appear to show the exact temperature, and the air flow could be stronger for a hot climate like Australia.

Taller passengers will probably need to duck their heads getting in and out of the Omoda 5’s rear seats, because of the low roofline. Once in the rear, there is a decent amount of knee and legroom, and headroom is good too despite the roofline.

Those rear seats are flat and not the most comfortable but fine for urban drives, and they feature ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats and three top tether points for child car seats.

In terms of amenities, there’s one USB-C port in the second row, lower air vents - something too many small SUVs go without - a centre fold-down armrest with two (shallow) cupholders and enough space for big bottles in the doors.

All petrol Omoda 5s have a cargo capacity of 360 litres, which increases to 1075L when you fold the 60/40 split rear seats down. This is more than the GWM Haval Jolion petrol’s capacity (337L).

It has a manual tailgate, a high loading area and some under-floor storage, but there is more than enough space for some luggage or a large amount of groceries in the boot. 

It has a temporary spare wheel which is essential in Australia if you’re driving beyond urban areas.

The only negative is the flimsy parcel shelf. It struggles to stay in the groves that are designed to hold it. I had to re-fit it every time I opened the boot.

When it comes to practicality, no SUV on the planet can beat a people mover for space, storage and utility. The Zeekr 009 is beautifully luxurious with outstanding practicality.

Air suspension can lower the vehicle to an entry height that is just a small step into a cabin through the power sliding doors and while space in the second row is outstanding, entry to the third row is easy with the second-row seats folding forward at the touch of the button.

This third row by the way is the most spacious I have encountered with excellent leg and headroom.

Gigantic door pockets, a folding table between second-row seats, great storage under the floating centre console and in the centre console bin, cupholders in all three rows along with wireless charging pads and USB ports everywhere make this a practical and versatile cabin for families or executives.

Boot capacity with all seven seats in place is 574 litres and with the third row folded flat there's 2979 litres of volume.

A front boot can be found under the bonnet but will probably just fit the charging cable.

The list price of the Zeekr 009 seven-seater is $135,900 before on-roads. There is also a six-seat version for $139,900 which swaps out the third-row bench seating for two separate, more luxurious seats.

We’ve tested the seven-seater version here but the standard features on both are almost identical.

Coming standard on the seven-seat 009 are LED headlights and LED tail-lights, power sliding side doors, a power tailgate and 20-inch alloy wheels clad in Michelin Pilots for EV tyres.

Inside, seven seats come standard with two captain’s chairs in the second row with heating, ventilation and massaging functions, and of course these are also fully power adjustable.

Standard, too, is a 30-speaker 3000W Yamaha sound system with speakers in the head rests. While I’m no audiophile, I have experienced the best sound systems offered by carmakers and this is up there with the most exceptional - Mark Levinsons included.

Folding out of the ceiling is a 17-inch 3K OLED screen for second and third-row passenger entertainment.

There’s four-zone climate control, sun shades for all side windows, a glass roof, and an 8.6-litre fridge large enough for six cans of drink.

Up front the seats are power adjustable, heated and ventilated too, there’s a 15.05-inch media screen, a 10.25-inch instrument cluster, a 35.95-inch augmented reality head-up display, sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

If you're wondering how all this adds up to $136,000 you can't forget that the Zeekr 009 has one of the largest batteries available in a production car. The 116kWh battery is only matched by Mercedes-Benz's EQS and BMW's i7 and these cars cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Batteries account for a large portion of the cost of an electric car and so at under $140K, and with all of the features it has as well, the Zeekr 009 is a relative bargain.

There are two petrol engine choices for the Omoda 5. The FX, BX and EX use a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit delivering power and torque outputs of 108kW and 210Nm, respectively. 

These grades are front-wheel drive and the powertrain features a continuously variable transmission (CVT). 

Those outputs are inline with the GWM Haval Jolion petrol but offer more punch than the MG ZST.

The Omoda 5 GT grades use a more powerful 137kW/275Nm 1.6-litre turbo, but they also come with a higher price tag.

The Zeekr 009 has two electric motors - one at the front and one at the rear - with a combined output of 450kW and 693Nm. That's Lamborghini Huracan stuff! Almost identical power, but this has more torque.

Not only does this provide all-wheel drive and fantastically controlled traction, but the way the power and torque is delivered is simply superb. This is a seven-seater rocket that will never leave the ground - hopefully.

The nature of electric motors - especially these ones - are the perfect fit for this vehicle, providing a serenely quiet, luxurious and effortlessly powerful experience.

Chery says the official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel use figure for the Omoda 5 1.5L is 6.9 litres per 100km and the CO2 emissions are rated at 164g/km from the Euro 6-compliant engine.

After a week of urban, freeway and outer suburban driving we recorded a figure of 10.3L/100km which is well off the official figure.

It has a 51-litre fuel tank and runs on 91 RON petrol. Based on our calculations you can expect a theoretical range of about 765km.

The Zeekr 009 has a 116kWh battery which is enormous - almost the biggest you can get in Australia currently. This lithium-ion battery has a range of 582km (WLTP). There are petrol cars that can’t go that far on a tank.

The battery has an AC charging capacity of 11kW and DC charging capacity of 205kW, allowing you to charge from 10-80 per cent in 39 minutes.

Energy consumption is officially 19.5kWh/100km and we’ve been getting an average of 23.5kWh/100km.

That’s because this thing is so heavy at 2.9 tonnes.

The Omoda 5 has two personalities depending how and where you’re driving. If you only drive in urban areas and rarely exceed 60km/h, it’s more than fine as a daily driver.

It’s when you’re on the open road or a freeway that its flaws are revealed.

The 1.5-litre engine is responsive enough, although there is some hesitation when accelerating under full throttle, and it’s slower to pick up pace when you’re already on the move at 60 or 80km/h. 

The throttle is quite sensitive, however, and can be a little jolty when taking off. And light tyre chirp is also possible when accelerating hard.

Chery’s CVT is fine and doesn’t have the drone of other CVTs, but the manual mode toggles on the side of the shifter are in a confusing spot. When I first got in the car, I mistook this for the button that allows the shift between drive and reverse that many other cars have. I only made that mistake once, though.

The engine is rowdy when accelerating hard but not unpleasant, and Chery could do more to keep noise out of the cabin. Wind noise is particularly noticeable. 

The Omoda 5’s ride can be jittery, particularly on uneven or pockmarked roads. The tyres seem to soak up road reflectors and smaller bumps but the suspension tune is on the firmer side which means it’s crashy over bigger bumps.

It also leans a lot when cornering, feeling top heavy in bends. This is not the sort of dynamically capable crossover you can have fun with on a twisty road, like the sadly departed Ford Puma, or the Mazda CX-30 or VW T-Roc.

Some general impressions - the brakes are a little slow to respond but you learn to adjust. The steering feels artificial and twitchy and you’re constantly fighting with the lane keeping aid. More on that in the ‘Safety’ section below. 

On sunny days a distracting reflection of the top of the dash appears on the inside of the windscreen. It’s not great. But another general impression is that the proximity key works a treat. Which is not often the case. 

The Zeekr 009 is one of the largest vehicles on the Australian market at almost three tonnes and 5.2 meters long but it's also one of the most comfortable, and one of the easiest and most enjoyable cars I've driven.

This is for three main reasons. The first is the air suspension which provides a beautifully comfortable and composed ride.

The next is those electric motors which provide so much grunt but in a very predictable way that's smooth, silent and instant, allowing you to move through traffic or drive confidently on a motorway.

Finally the visibility, steering and pedal feel all combined to provide an effortless piloting experience through narrow laneways, carparks or while parking.

Adding to the enjoyment of driving this people mover is a comfortable, plush interior that's so well insulated that you'll coast serenely through traffic.

As for handling, I have also driven the 009 on a race track at Sydney Motorsport Park. I pushed it through a couple of corners where even some sports have cars struggled to maintain their composure and this massive people move performed surprisingly well, staying planted through the corners.

I've also taken the 009 onto a skid pan and intentionally tried to slide the vehicle and even under these controlled conditions it showed no sign of roll or loss of control.

Having taken the 009 through probably the widest range of testing I've ever put a car through I'd say that it feels safe and secure in pretty much any real-world condition you will experience.

The Zeekr 009 hasn’t been tested by ANCAP yet, but it comes with auto emergency braking (AEB), front and rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping assistance, auto parking, and blind spot warning. You’ve got airbags covering all three rows and a centre airbag up front.

For child seats there are four ISOFIX points in the second and third rows and four top tether points.

Chery has a solid aftersales offer that includes a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, seven years of roadside assist as long as you service with a Chery dealer, and seven years of capped-price servicing.

The service schedule is every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. That’s off the pace of some rivals that don’t make you return to the dealership until 15,000km.

But the cost of the first five services is $280 a pop before increasing to $391 and then $295. That is well priced for the segment.

The 009 is covered by Zeekr’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. The battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty.

Servicing is recommended every 40,000km or every two years, whichever comes first. There’s also five years/unlimited kilometres of roadside assistance and five years of connected services as standard.