Deepal S07 News

In reviewing Deepal’s just-released S07 mid-size EV SUV CarsGuide’s Andrew Chesterton called the newcomer’s active (crash-avoidance) safety systems “the single biggest drawback of the Deepal experience” defining them as “the most annoying (and) infuriating” he had ever come across. 

Hot on the heels of its recently introduced mid-size S07 EV SUV, Deepal Australia has confirmed it will be joined by two new models in the second half of this year - the smaller S05 SUV and category-bending E07, the latter combining key attributes of a five-seat SUV with a convertible ute rear end.

Another Chinese newcomer has landed in Australia with a five-star ANCAP safety rating.The Deepal S07 electric mid-size SUV is a cut-price rival to the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV5, Xpeng G6 and more.ANCAP awarded the Deepal S07 a score of 95 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, one of four safety criteria in the testing regime. It is an equal best result with the Toyota Camry.ANCAP said the result was backed up by "unblemished" injury risk scores for the driver in the side-impact ‘T-bone’ and oblique pole crash tests and the front-seat passenger in the frontal offset ‘head-on’ crash test.The design and structure of the Deepal S07 also stood up to ANCAP testing, with the S07 only scoring a minor deduction of 0.86 points out of a possible 8.00 penalty for vehicle compatibility in the frontal offset crash test.Full points were awarded for child occupant protection in the frontal offset and side impact test.Despite the S07 utilising electronically-retractable door handles, ANCAP found no issues in accessing the inside of the vehicle in the post-crash assessment, with the S07’s doors able to be opened once the vehicle lost power.Additionally, ANCAP also found that its electric windows were able to be opened following water submergence.More mixed results were seen in the use of the S07’s advanced driver assistance systems, such as its Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system in pedestrian testing scenarios.A “marginal” result was even recorded for the AEB crossing scenarios where the S07 showed limited auto-braking performance when crossing the path of another car.The AEB system did, however, receive a “good” score in car-to-car scenarios, while "good" results were also recorded for the performance of the car’s Lane-Keep Assist system.ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said it was refreshing to see new car brands entering the Australian market taking safety seriously.“We’ve seen a number of new brands enter the local market over the past year and they continue to impress in meeting the high safety standard Australian consumers and fleet buyers expect,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.The full safety report for the Deepal S07 can be viewed on ANCAP’s website here.

Getting out among new car buyers can be a rare occurrence in this line of work, with a focus on new products and the promises of executives filling our regular days. So it was refreshing to man the CarsGuide EV advice stand at the 2024 Sydney International EV show for the weekend and get some insight into how electric car buyers think. Although it was a smaller footprint than Sydney Motor Shows of old, fervent visitors started filling the halls from 9am on all three days. In total, more than 30,000 bodies passed through the doors over the weekend. The overwhelming takeaway from talking to buyers was this sect of Aussies was not at all concerned about brand history, with Toyota and Ford’s stands dramatically quieter than the barely-known start-ups from China such as Xpeng, Zeekr and Deepal.It helps that these new marques dressed their stands to impress. Aside from a wild flying machine, XPeng also had a luxurious seven-seat people mover essentially purpose-built to generate public interest with a huge rear entertainment screen and ‘business class’ reclining rear seats with heating, cooling and foot rests. The G6 is the first retail model from XPeng and it was also well-trafficked, along with the larger G9 the brand is considering for local release. Zeekr turned up with the X small SUV along with a few extra bits of eye-candy like the confirmed-for-oz 009 people mover, a 475kW 007 sedan in a lewd yellow paint colour and a 001 FR the Geely-owned marque’s Polestar 2-related first model. The other new entrant was Deepal, which is being imported by well-known company Inchcape that also handles Subaru, Foton, Peugeot and previously Citroen. Along with the classic Tesla Model Y rival, the S07 electric family SUV, Deepal had some cool stuff. Namely, a Cybertruck-like electric and range-extender compatible E05 electric sedan-pick-up amalgamation that was catching attention. Kia’s front-and-centre placement helped drive plenty of traffic to the brand’s new EV5 while also making Hyundai’s lack of presence quite obvious. With the Tasman due next year and the EV5’s sharp price, it’s a brand that’s sure to go from strength to strength. Tesla’s presence was held up by the Australian owner’s club while BYD was represented by a dealer, with an unfortunate lack of Shark utes on the stand. It was Ford and Toyota that were visibly the lowest traffic OEMs over the weekend, and Australia’s third most-popular brand Mazda didn’t even turn up with its plug-in hybrids. With a pair of bZ4Xs on display and charge-box-on-wheels, Toyota’s wasn’t exactly a dull stand yet it proves that people are more interested in the whizz-bang new models — that’s the point of a motor show, after all. As for Ford, despite having prime real estate among the newcomers, it seemed that not so many punters were interested in the Mach-E and plug-in hybrid Ford Ranger Stormtrak, even with the ute’s vehicle-to-load system that can power a coffee machine, TV, work tools and more.Some other mainstream carmakers present were Audi, BMW, Cupra and Volvo though these stands were notably smaller than the others. As for other brands from China, Chery and GWM proved relatively popular but the Smart stand was quiet. MG’s choice to only bring a Cyberster rather than the affordable MG4 seemed a bit short-sighted — next year, maybe.The most common line of questioning was if we would recommend the XPeng G6 and what the best alternatives to a Tesla Model Y are — we fielded almost no questions about the bZ4X or plug-in hybrid Ford Ranger Stormtrak. Plenty of test drives were taken over the three days and at one point on Sunday, you would have had to queue for four hours to sample XPeng’s new G6. But what does all this tell us about the new car landscape?MG has already proven sharp pricing can drive mega traffic into electric vehicles and that, when EVs reach parity with combustion-engined and hybrid options, they are much more attractive. In this case, customers aren’t cross-shopping, say, a Tesla Model Y with just other EVs, but similarly-priced combustion and hybrid models, too. Electric cars aren’t competing with themselves, but in a battle to bring the other 90.6 per cent of the new car market out of combustion and hybrid-engined choices. Most worrying for big carmakers, though, will be the lack of brand devotion. Despite what the bZ4X advertising campaign suggests, there were very few talking about Toyota’s proven low-cost servicing or reliability. Instead, the long seven- and even ten-year warranties of newcomers seemed enough to allay most fears. Don’t expect Toyota, Ford or Mazda sales to drop off a cliff anytime soon, but the interest and willingness of local buyers to branch out and sample an unknown product will definitely cause a headache.

New Chinese brand Deepal has arrived in Australia with sharp pricing on its first model — a direct rival to the Tesla Model Y.

Chinese carmaker Deepal has just launched in Australia with its S07 mid-size electric SUV, but it isn’t going to rest on its laurels.

Deepal is the latest car brand to launch in Australia and its S07 electric SUV is due to land on our roads in November.

Another new Chinese car brand is coming to Australia this year. Deepal will launch Down Under in the fourth quarter of this year and will be distributed by Inchcape, which is the importer for other brands such as Foton utes, Subaru and Peugeot.