2025 Geely EX5 Review: Is this cut-price electric SUV bad news for the Leapmotor C10, BYD Sealion 7 and Tesla Model Y?
I know that home brands don’t always scream quality. Value, maybe. But you don’t usually find too much premiumness amongst the curiosities piled high in the middle aisle at Aldi.
But the EX5 promises to upend that theory. This electric midsize SUV is the first home-branded product to arrive from the gigantic Geely Auto Group. We’ve already got its sub-brands Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr and Lotus in Australia as well as the Smart co-venture with Mercedes-Benz, but the EX5 heralds the arrival of the Geely mothership itself.
Naturally, as a mid-size SUV, it will find itself taking on models like the Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7, but its razor-sharp reported pricing also means it will find itself going head-to-head with some of the cheapest EV offerings in Australia, like the BYD Atto 3 and the Leapmotor C10.
So, how does is stack up?
2025 Geely EX5 price and equipment
There will be two 2025 Geely EX5 trims, the Complete and then the Inspire, and the pricing looks like it will be pretty damn sharp. Pricing has appeared online – and we’ve reported it here – that puts the Complete trim at $43,490 plus on-road costs, while the Inspire is listed at $47,490 plus on-road costs.
Geely hasn’t confirmed those numbers officially, but given they’ve appeared on giant, and manufacturer-updated, car-data site Redbook, I’d say it’s a pretty strong bet.
Anyway, both models are a single motor, front-wheel drive proposition, good for a decent 160kW and 320Nm, meaning the EX5 is brisk enough, but not lightning quick.
It also gets Geely’s “Short Blade Battery”, a 60.22kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate unit, which is enough to deliver 410km of range in the Inspire, or 430km in the lighter Complete. It’s also pretty efficient, using around 16kWh per 100kms.
It will accept 11kW AC charging at home, which is good. And there’s a function which means you can set the time at which you’d like to charge, if your home charger won’t do it for you. Less good is the DC charge speed, with the 400v architecture allowing for just 100kW. Geely reckons that means 20 to 80 percent charge takes 28mins. An Xpeng G6, for example, will charge at 280kW.
There’s also a 3.3kW V2L connection, and V2V, which means you can charge up another stranded car with your surplus energy.
It’s also safe to say that, as is usually the case with Chinese newcomers, you get a lot of stuff. Think LED lights, a 15.4-inch central screen (though without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with Geely saying they’ll arrive via an OTA update down the track), a 10.2-inch driver display, and 18- or 19-inch alloys.
We tested the top-spec Inspire, which is all about the cabin experience. The seats up front aren’t just heated and cooled, but offer a massage function, too, and both fully recline so you can kick back when charging, there’s even a powered leg rest for the passenger. Plus, there’s a 16-speaker Fly-Me sound system, which booms, even if the clarity is less than stellar at full noise.
As is typical of these new-breed SUVs, space is plentiful in the backseat, too, while the boot delivers up to 410 litres with the rear seats in place, and a massive 1877 litres with them folded flat.
2025 Geely EX5: What we think
In terms of the drive experience, this is super-competent, super-comfortable electric motoring, even if there’s nothing about the experience that will really get the hairs on the back of your neck standing up.
The power delivery isn’t raucous and is unlikely to force you back in your seat, but it’s really ample for the EX5 and its nature. We had no problem getting up and going or overtaking at freeway speeds. Whenever you plant your right foot you’ll find a steady, constant flow of power ready to respond.
Geely makes the point that the EX5 has been tuned and tested in Australia, largely for the way its safety systems work, but also fine-tuning the way that it rides and handles. And I can tell you they’ve largely succeeded at one and largely failed at the other.
The EX5 is really comfortable, it rides well over even dodgy road surfaces, and while it’s no sports car, and it can feel heavy, it handles twisty stuff easily enough – helped by a traction control system that quickly numbs the accelerator when it senses you’ve pushed the EX5 as far as its willing to be pushed.
But the real perk of EX5 ownership is that, while it can do the enthusiastic stuff to a point, it really shines at the everyday mid-size SUV stuff. It is comfortable, super-spacious and would be plenty easy to live with.
Where they’ve failed, though, is in the tuning of the mind-bending safety systems. The Driver Attention monitor is so hopped-up on red cordial you dare not blink lest it starts bonging at you, and the overspeed warning will squawk at you should you exceed the speed limit by the tiniest amount. And then there are the warnings I couldn’t even figure out, but just felt like random bing-bonging for the sake of it.
I also hate the little ice-cream truck jingle played at slow speeds that’s supposed to warn pedestrians you’re about, but that you can also definitely hear in the cabin. I had it phantom brake for me once while the cruise control was on. And while the big screen looks good, it is is super finicky in places — you can poke at the temp controls what feels like a thousands times before they respond.
2025 Geely EX5: Verdict
The Geely EX5 is comfortable and very competent EV motoring at a very affordable price point. It drives well, feels nice to sit in, and is backed by a company that’s been around a long time. But the tech and safety stuff is annoying.
Good, even great in places, but not perfect.
Score: 3/5
Price: from about $43,490 (estimated plus on-road costs)
Basics: EV, 5 seats, 4 doors, SUV, FWD
Range: 410kms to 430kms WLTP
Battery capacity: 60.22kW
Battery warranty: TBA
Energy consumption: 15.8-16.6kWh/100km
Motors: Single front-mounted 160kW/320Nm
AC charging: 11kW
DC charging: 100kW
0-100km/h: 6.9-7.1s
