New to the UK market, the £37,000 Geely EX5 Max is a top spec C segment all electric SUV that shouts great value for money. And for those who raise eyebrows at the arrival of yet another Chinese mystery marque, I’m pleased to report that this one is from a company that owns (or part owns) Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and Smart. It is a car from an experienced automotive maker that has high credibility internationally.
For motorists keen to plug-in to tomorrow the Geely EX5 combines practicality with panache. Quality can only be described as very good. Put brand badges from established marques on one of these and you would pay much more.
The Geely brings sparkling vigour to the SUV market. With bright appeal it delivers a package of pleasing attributes. Excellent engineering allied to attractive styling, represents a handshake between the sciences and the arts. And you get a top standard of active and passive safety thanks to sturdy construction and electronic guardian angels; putting the Geely on an equal footing with established rivals. There are negatives though – to be revealed later.
The car didn’t disappoint. The cabin is roomy enough for five while affording premium levels of comfort. It’s the latest hi-tec environment with systems controlled from a master touchscreen. The technology is to a point where your driving is monitored by cameras in the cab while external cameras monitor the road ahead. It’s so hi-tec that you don’t even have to physically unlock the car. It reads the key in your pocket. Hey Presto! You’re straight in…and if it has been a stressful day you just turn on the massage function of your seat and you get a powerful and soothing massage: the best in the business.
But…Oh Dear! You have to manually select ‘drive’. Voice control too saves you from the rigors of opening and closing windows and the panoramic sunroof – and also saves you from having to continually poke the touchscreen to get things done. For the driver, necessities of the computer age are there – connectivity is at your fingertips. There’s all that is best in up-to-the-minute assistance: all in the service of performance, safety and manoeuvrability: and It’s so easy to place the car when manoeuvering with the additional help of that excellent camera system..If this sounds brilliant..it is – but it’s a bit too clever at times. Space age guidance, monitoring from Heaven and electrical assistance to a level whereby your muscles might atrophy, is wonderful. However, at every perceived transgression you are admonished by repeated ‘bings and bongs’. I was even falsely accused! (Yes readers – I tell it as it is). Driving along a lane on the dark side of the moon and listening to the radio giving out vital instructions on how to survive a nuclear attack, the radio was suddenly muted and bings and bongs told me I was exceeding a 30mph limit. Believe me readers…there wasn’t a 30mph limit within twenty miles. I was fitted up!
It’s a car for tomorrow. And tomorrow arrives not with a roaring engine and a fruity exhaust note, but with a whisper. Beneath the skin magic works its spell. The latest batteries are used which allow speedy charging and ultra safety.
Always one to leap out into the unknown – but only after breakfast – I wanted to see if negative ions needed ironing out before I was free to go and flow electrically? These are serious questions despite the flippant tone. (One day I shall become solemn and write a regular column headed ‘The Parson Knows”).
So is the Geely EX5 the car to answer such questions? First it ticks all the boxes regarding contemporary SUV practicality. As a car qua car it can’t be faulted. It all comes down to the question of electric energy.
On a single charge, the 60 Kwh battery is claimed to give 267 miles of motoring. It can take between about 20 minutes to charge from 30% to 80%. You can use a domestic three pin socket if in dire straits – but this is not recommended. (Unless, of course, you happen to be borrowing the socket of your neighbour Victor Frankenstein). And if you do, it will take until Christmas..
What can I tell you about the electric motor? That it was forged in the fiery furnaces of our industrial heartland? That the rumbling of the V8 double overhead cam rotor shaft stirred my soul? No. But I can tell you that the motor is the latest appliance of science that gives the smoothest driving experience this side of a Devon cream tea. You don’t ‘roar’ or ‘brmm brmm’. You waft along on a carpet of velvet enjoying a comfy ride and secure handling.
Electric torque makes for swift getaways and you can go as fast as any sane person needs these days. I liked the silent running that induced in me a state of calmness when my Neanderthal atavism had begun to fret without carbon energy to assist.
The Geely is no pious pretender on a virtue signalling mission – but a properly engineered cutting edge electromobile. An extension of traditional priorities… but with batteries. As such it stretches horizons but without stretching the bank balance. As for the infrastructure for charging – the chaos theory rules. Just make sure you get a home charger.
