2025 Deepal S07 Review: It might be the sexiest Chinese electric SUV yet, but is there substance to match the style?
Before I even climbed into the Deepal S07, I was ready to happily issue it at least one important award.
In my humble opinion the S07 is the best-looking Chinese electric SUV we’ve seen in Australia to date, with its collection of purposeful creases and angles, its big two-tone alloys and the eye-catching hues on offer.
It looks good. Great even. And that’s not a compliment often handed to the runaway best-seller in the segment, the Tesla Model Y. But the Deepal isn’t the only recent newcomer. Both the Xpeng G6 and the Kia EV5 offer quality alternatives — and then there’s the cheap-as-chips Leapmotor — and the segment only grows more crowded with each passing week.
In short, the S07 will need to be more than a pretty face to compete. But is there substance to match the style? Read on.
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2025 Deepal S07 price and equipment
There’s just the one model in the Deepal S07 range, and it’s currently $58,521 drive-away in NSW. That puts it about on-par with an entry level Kia EV5 or an XPeng G6 standard range, and significantly less than the new Model Y, which is another $5k for the cheapest variant. It’s also way more than the Leapmotor C10, which starts at $47,500 drive away.
There’s also only one powertrain and battery combo on offer, which is a rear-mounted motor producing 160kW and 320Nm, and a 79.97kWh ternary lithium battery promising a WLTP range of 475kms.
The outputs actually suit the Deepal well – it’s not lightning fast, but it’s not stodgy either – but the EV tech is a bit of a letdown. The range is ok, but the S07 only allows for 92kW DC fast charging, meaning it takes more than 30 minutes to go from 30 to 80 percent full when plugged into the fastest possible charger. It can take 7kW or 11kW AC charging, and both mean an overnight charge at home.
Elsewhere, you’ll find 19-inch alloys, LED lighting, a powered boot and a fixed sunroof (with a shade, thankfully). Inside, there’s a big and swivelling (towards the passenger or driver) 15.6-inch central touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging and a 14-speaker Sony-branded stereo.
The rest of the kit is on-par, too, included heated and ventilated seats trimmed in a faux-leather, but I could take or leave the gesture control, which can take horrific photos of you and your passenger when you make the peace sign towards the windscreen, or mute the radio or answer or hang up the phone when you make more hand gestures. It doesn’t always work, and even when it does, you look a bit of a goose.
The Deepal S07 is just over 4.7m long and 1.9m wide, with a 2.9m wheelbase, and it will deliver 445 litres of boot space with the rear seats in place, or a sizeable 1385 litres with them folded flat. There’s a frunk up front, too, that holds another 125 litres.
In the back, as is the case in lots of bespoke EVs, there is ample room for adults. When sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I had more than enough knee and headroom to get comfy, and you could legitimately fit three regular-sized humans in the back.
Oh, and the Deepal wears a five-star safety rating, but more on that in a moment.
2025 Deepal S07: What we think
I have battled many an enthusiastic safety system in my time, but I can’t recall going to war with any quite so annoying as those fitted to the Deepal S07. Honestly, they’re bonkers.
All the big ticket items are present and accounted for – AEB, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and a full suite of airbags – which helped Deepal secure a five-star ANCAP rating.
But if that’s the good, the bad is that they seem to have been programmed to specifically drive you crazy. The worst offender is the driver monitoring system that warned me repeatedly of an ‘occlusion’ problem (I had to Google it), and the attention warning, which sets off a series of bongs should your eyes venture from the road for even a moment. And as the icing on the cake, when you start looking around to figure out a) what is bonging, and b) how the hell to turn it off, they increase in frequency, sounding very much like you’re defusing a bomb and the Deepal is about to explode.
It is genuinely infuriating, and a problem made worse by the fact you need to switch off every time you get in. Crazy to have to take that extra step to make a car liveable every time you hop in.
Which is all a bit of a shame for the Deepal, because otherwise it’s a very decent electric SUV. Sure, it’s not dynamically perfect when pushed, and there were some odd rattles in the cabin when we travelled at 100km/h plus. But if you’re an urban dweller, the Deepal will happily cruise through the suburbs without too much fuss, with its smooth, steady flow of power and easy ride and steering.
It’s not the fastest not the most outright-dynamic feeling electric SUV we’ve driven, but it ticks a lot of other boxes in terms of comfort, space and (occasionally pretty fiddly) technology.
It’s also offered with an almost-Kia-level seven-year or 160,000km warranty, with the battery covered for eight years or 240,000km. Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km,.
2025 Deepal S07: Verdict
Almost, but not quite, a great electric option, some small but important tweaks would massively improve the Deepal S07. Still, it ticks a lot of boxes on price, features and practicality.
SCORE: 3.5/5
2025 Deepal S07 specifications
Price: $58,521 drive-away (NSW)
Basics: EV, 5 seats, 5 doors, medium SUV, RWD
Range: 475km (WLTP)
Battery capacity: 79.97kWh ternary lithium
Battery warranty: 8 years/160,000km
Energy consumption: 18.6kW100km (WLTP)
Motors: 1 rear permanent magnet synchronous, 160kW/320Nm.
AC charging: Up to 11kW, Type 2 plug
DC charging: 92kW, CCS combo plug
0-100km/h: 7.9 seconds
