Geely EX5 2026 review: Inspire long-term | Part 3

The time has come to farewell our Geely EX5 long-term test car.

I have mixed feelings about it, so rather than walk you through its last few days in our care, I think this final chapter is best summed up with our top three likes and dislikes for anyone considering one.

Read More About Geely EX5

• Geely EX5 2026 review: Inspire long-term | Part 1
• Geely EX5 2026 review: Inspire long-term | Part 2
• The real reason everyone you know is buying a Chinese car | Opinion

How much will you compromise to buy an EV from this new-to-Australia automaker at the same price as a hybrid or combustion car from a more storied brand?

Read on for my final thoughts.

Like 1 - Value

As mentioned in previous chapters, the EX5 really punches above its weight on the price and features front, and it’s not just because it’s an EV either. Even if it were a hybrid or combustion car, it would still represent good value.

Sure, there’s synthetic leather seats, a huge touchscreen, a digital dash, head-up display, electrically adjustable seats with memory, massage, heating, and cooling functions, a panoramic sunroof and a comprehensive audio system.

But its the less tangible things that made the EX5 stand out from other Chinese cars in this segment.

The build quality feels solid in this thing, the synthetic leather trim is genuinely comfortable and convincing (rather than feeling overtly plastic like some rivals), and it has a very strong sense of being quiet and composed on the road.

There are fewer weird spec mistakes compared to a lot of its rivals, and it doesn't feel like quality corners have been cut.

I much prefer this EX5 to the Deepal S05, which has a mish-mash of materials and design themes, and poorer build quality. I like it compared to the Leapmotor C10, which feels comparatively basic inside, and I like it compared to the Chery Tiggo 7 or 8, which features some odd design choices and less convincing finishes inside.

And sure, there are plenty of gimmicky features in here. The sound system has weird stage modes which try to simulate a spatial audio effect. All of them got a bit weird and I turned them off. The massage seats are hardly a headline feature, nice to have, perhaps, but not a dealmaker for me.

Then there’s the odd lie-flat passenger seat. I recently learned this is a whole trend in China for people who spend a lot of time idly in their cars. Even when charging I struggled to find it comfortable or useful for spending lots of time in. Perhaps you’ll disagree.

However, hidden among these things there are also genuinely useful additions. It has vehicle to load (V2L) capability (you need an optional adapter, but it supports up to a whopping 2500W, letting you power stovetops, kettles, and other high-power devices). And while the sound modes are a bit odd, the speaker system is great!

It has a power tailgate, and there’s even a massive space under the two-tiered floor for storing your charging cables, repair kit, and V2L adapter. I would have preferred a frunk and scored a spare wheel, but seemingly because the EX5’s platform is set up to allow space for an engine in a range-extender set-up, there’s just charging hardware under the bonnet.

Dislike 1 - The software feels unfinished

A common theme for many new brands from China, the software in the EX5 sure is flashy, but it has a propensity to be annoying.

The reason I’ve ranked this as my main dislike is because it’s the main dealbreaker for the car. As mentioned in previous chapters, it feels almost as though whoever designed the operating system has never driven a car before.

The home screen is a big background like a laptop, when it should be full of useful icons for shortcutting your way around the system, and when you do delve into the menus things get confusing fast.

Functions you want quick access to like massage seats and the weird sound modes are buried several menus deep, while functions you’ll almost never need, like changing the background, are easy to find.

It’s a harsh lesson in UX design. You’d hardly level the same complaint at a Tesla, which is still the leader for this type of technology. While the US brand has a very Silicon Valley appeal with slick, intuitive menus, Chinese brands are yet to replicate the magic usability of them which the boffins at Tesla have mastered. This makes a Model Y or Model 3 feel as effortless as an iPad to learn.

I hope someone at Geely is listening, because while there’s a somewhat annoying layout for this system, I will give it credit for being fast and having high-quality hardware. It’s seemingly one software update away from being good.

Like 2 - It’s right-sized

The Geely EX5 couldn’t be better shaped or sized for an EV in this class. It’s not too long, not too wide, and not too tall, and it's spacious inside in every dimension.

It’s at the lower end in terms of sheer size for a mid-size SUV, making it easy to park and fit in garages of multiple sizes.

I fit in every seating position with ease at 182cm tall, and there’s a healthy amount of adjustability for the driver.

One thing many Chinese contemporaries get wrong is the seating position. For many of them the seat base is extremely high compared to the belt line, which conveys the sense you’re sitting on the car rather than in it, but the EX5 feels right. It’s not a low and sporty seating position, but it’s also not wrong for the aspect of the car.

Visibility is great thanks to big windows and mirrors, and I appreciate it has both a digital instrument cluster and dash, unlike the Model Y, for example.

The back seat is enormous. I fit back there with leagues of kneeroom and headroom despite a panoramic sunroof. There’s a flat floor so adults will have somewhere to put their feet when in the middle position, and the doors open wide enough so it should be easy to fit a child seat.

However, this gratuitous rear seat space comes at a cost. The boot is only just big enough for my travels. It fits the whole CarsGuide luggage set only when the floor is set to the lower of two positions, and only because there’s a big space below to hide your charging paraphernalia. The second row isn’t on rails and doesn’t have a tilt-forward position so you can’t expand on it much either.

Dislike 2 - Range and charging

The EX5 has a sticker range of 410km and you may recall in my previous chapter I did an informal range test, charging it up to near maximum charge then measuring what I could from the trip computer. The useful range came out as a disappointing 365km in that test, and I replicated it in my final month of the car to validate it further.

This time, I charged the car to a full 100 per cent, and then drove it straight down the freeway until I became uncomfortable with the range remaining.

I pulled up to a charger 339km later, with six per cent battery left, and 22km of range showing on the dash. This leaves us with a theoretical range of 361km, which is interesting for two reasons.

Firstly, it validates the 365km range I estimated from my previous range test (again, disappointing), and secondly it remains relatively consistent despite pure freeway use, where some EVs have significantly less range.

So it may have less range than advertised, but at least it’s consistent.

Then there’s the charging story. How much this impacts you will be heavily dependent on how you use the car. For me, having just 80kW of DC charging speed turned out fine. I would just run the car down to a low battery percentage over a week or two, and use my local 75kW charger to bring it back up to 80+ per cent in around 40 minutes. The car would max out the charger for a decent period, in which time I’d simply do a grocery shop or go to the gym.

If you’re frequently doing intercity drives though, it could become an issue. Many rivals can now charge at least 100kW, most at 150kW, which means charging on road trips is much faster, often 30 minutes or less.

This, plus the somewhat limited range, makes the EX5 far better suited to being a city-slicker rather than a distance tourer. Worth considering if this could be your only household vehicle.

Finally, it has cost me a total of $222.74 to charge this car in my entire three months with it. Definitely less than a combustion car, and only charging using DC public stations is an expensive way to top-up an EV.

Despite the significant freeway mileage, the energy consumption dropped from 14.7kWh/100km to 13.9kWh/100km.

Like 3 - The drive experience is underrated

When the EX5 hit the market there was a lot of criticism about its soft and spongey ride. Many of my esteemed colleagues wrote about their dismay with this car’s cornering performance, as well as its dulled accelerator response.

The thing is, these more tame aspects of the EX5’s drive experience really grew on me, especially as I compared it to rival cars. Hopping in this thing and taking it for a drive was always refreshingly calm.

While it isn’t the most balanced offering on the market, and it tilts a little in the corners, I’d argue most people don’t need or want their car to ride as hard as a Tesla Model Y. 

For a long time many EVs hid their weight with harshly-sprung limited-travel suspension, but the EX5 unapologetically leans into a softness that escapes many rivals.

It wafts over the harsh bumps and filters out crashy moments with ease. After driving some of its rivals, I looked forward to retreating back into the softness of the EX5. How many owners are pushing the limits of the surprisingly good Goodyear tyres in the corners anyway?

The caveat is the software-dulled acceleration being a tad annoying when it’s overtaking time. It seemingly limits the torque response to stop the front wheels from spinning, which makes it feel safe, just not as quick as it sometimes should be.

Dislike 3 - The safety suite is infuriating

Just like the unfinished UX in the multimedia screen, the active safety suite is also a potential dealbreaker for someone considering the EX5.

It’s a similar story across a lot of Chinese brands - poor calibration or execution of systems leading to a propensity to turn them off. In the EX5’s case the most annoying features are the traffic sign assist and driver attention alert.

Traffic sign assist pulls traffic signs from everywhere then repeatedly chimes at you for exceeding them, even when it’s pulled them from a freeway exit or side street or the 40km/h from the back of a bus.

Driver attention alert is inconsistent. Sometimes it chimes constantly, other times it doesn’t really bother you. Sometimes it hates hats, other times it hates sunglasses. Turning either system off is two menus deep, and requires jabbing at small toggles in each. Distracting if you forgot to go through this process when you started the car.

Then there’s lane keep assist which is the most inconsistent of them all. It’s not constantly annoying like it is on some rivals, thankfully, but has a weird need to have you constantly applying significant weight to the steering wheel, so on long straight stretches of road it will begin to panic thinking you’re not holding the wheel even when you are. When it does this, you have to give it a proper wiggle to get it to stop chiming.

It’s frustrating that these systems take away from an otherwise decent drive experience.