Geely EX5 electric cars to take on Tesla

A Chinese car making giant new to Australia has set its sights on knocking off Tesla with some extraordinarily cheap vehicles.

Low-speed driving in the Geely EX5 is accompanied by gentle music that could be mistaken for Greensleeves.

It’s a fitting combination in this electric car that sounds like an ice cream truck.

This might be the most vanilla car on sale.

Like the 30 cent soft serve cone at Macca’s (remember those?), the Geely EX5 undercuts rivals with sharp prices.

On sale from $40,990 plus on-road costs (about $44,000 drive-away), it slides in underneath alternatives such as the BYD Atto 3 and Tesla Model Y.

It’s well-equipped for the cash, bowling up pleasant touches such as heated seats, alloy wheels, a 360-degree camera and the full gamut of safety features as standard.

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Geely’s EX5 is a plain-looking machine. Picture: Supplied

Folks who want more can spend a further $4000 on the motoring equivalent of sprinkles and chocolate fudge topping – a panoramic sunroof, premium stereo, heads up display and other non-essentials that ramp up the feel-good factor.

Bland styling aside, the Geely makes a strong first impression with a spacious cabin that feels much more premium than many cars at this price.

But there are omissions, including a lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, (at least for now) which means you need to roll up your sleeves and contend with that enormous touchscreen.

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The Geely’s cabin is loaded with tech and features. Picture: Supplied

You’ll get familiar with the screen, its occasionally tricky layout and myriad gramar problems – “Driver is facial detection is missing” – when trying to mute beeps and bongs attached to its safety systems.

At least you can be soothed by extraordinary massaging seats and 256 colour ambient lighting that come in handy when relatively slow (100kW) peak charging speeds make for longer visits at public energy stations.

The 60.2kWh battery pack’s claimed 430km range is helped by reasonably efficient running from a 160kW/320Nm motor capable of propelling the car to 100km/h in about seven seconds.

MORE: Geely’s plans in Australia

Geely has big plans for Australia. Picture: Supplied

Better still, customers who commit before May 1 get three years of free servicing, one year of free charging with Evie Networks, free metallic paint and a low 3.88 per cent finance offer that represents about another $5000 in value.

Those are the sort of sweeteners manufacturers must use to get customers to try new brands in an congested and cooling electric car market.

So, why pick Geely? It’s a huge company.

While new EV brands such as Leapmotor, XPeng, Zeekr and Geely are relatively unknown, the Geely Group is a whopper that includes Volvo, Polestar, Smart, Zeekr, Lotus, Proton, and more.

The Geely drives the front wheels with an electric motor. Picture: Supplied

Some of those companies share key hardware to reduce costs and complexity.

But this Geely EX5 is no mechanical cousin to rear-wheel-drive EVs such as the outstanding Volvo EX30 – it has entirely different hardware that sends power to the front wheels.

This makes it cheaper to build (and buy), but worse to drive than premium cousins.

Powerful front-wheel-drive cars have a tendency to spin their wheels if you have a heavy foot and ask too much of the tyres.

Geely sought to prevent that by pre-emptively dulling throttle responses to limit the flow of power, resulting in frustrating delays to driver input.

Geely is one of the world’s largest automotive groups. Picture: Supplied

Use the cruise control and it will even slow down for you in the bends, minimising strain on the car and its passengers.

Keen drivers will hate that.

And they won’t like the roly-poly suspension that can wallow over tricky territory.

Looking for driving thrills in a cheap EV is like panning for gold in a kiddie pool.

You won’t find many nuggets worth keeping.

Most folks will appreciate the Geely’s plush ride, generous equipment list and quiet composure.

As long as you’re going fast enough to outrun the Mr Whippy music.

The Geely EX5 is on sale now. Picture: Supplied

VERDICT

Affordable and inoffensive, this well-equipped electric car represents a vanilla pick for EV customers.

3.5 stars

GEELY EX5

PRICE: About $44,000 drive-away

POWER: Front electric motor, 160kW and 320Nm

SAFETY: 7 airbags, auto emergency braking, active cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert

RANGE: About 430km

WARRANTY: 7-year/unlimited km

BOOT: 410 litres

SPARE: Repair kit

Originally published as Geely EX5 electric cars to take on Tesla