Changan Deepal S05 SUV (2026 - ) Electric review

We’ve said it before but while bottom-line price might not reflect the way most of us buy our cars these days it’s still a useful benchmark for comparing relative value between the models competing for your cash. And the fact both versions of the S05 cost less than £40,000 and the single all-in spec level is generous in tech and kit is a strong start against the likes of the Skoda Enyaq, Kia EV5, P​eugeot e-3008 or many like them that may also be on your shopping list. Sure, they have similar starting prices. But will likely end up quite a bit more expensive with equivalent trim. Chinese rivals like the Leapmotor B10 push it harder in value for money stakes but the Changan is very much competitive in bang for buck terms. Running costs? As with all electric vehicles a lot cheaper if you can charge at home or need to save on Benefit In Kind as a company car. But you likely know that script by now!

Call it a holding score for now, for the fact Changan is simply too new to the UK market to have a sense yet. Having had a tour of its Birmingham-based R&D centre we’re impressed with the investment in engineering resource, while at an ownership level a seven-year (or 100,000 miles) warranty for the car and eight-year cover for the battery mean first or even second owners should still be well within the guarantee period.

Chinese manufacturers put a lot of faith in their driver assistance tech and the Deepal S05 certainly has all the kit, including much that rivals might have you paying extra for. For all the talk of calibration for British driving conditions we still found the lane keeping to be too aggressive, especially on country roads where it tried several times to steer us into the gutter. At least the systems are easy to turn off via a single swipe-down menu on the screen, even if we’re less happy at having to take eyes off the road to check anything as basic as speed. True, it’s also projected onto the windscreen in your line of sight, but wasn’t always visible. In better news Changan is proud of its focus on child safety, and the top score it received in independent testing for the effectiveness of its airbags in frontal and side impacts for younger passengers.

The strong first impression given by the exterior styling continues inside, the ‘vegan leather’ feeling impressively plush and the quality of all fixtures and fittings well up to standard. Front seats are both heated and ventilated as standard, the passenger getting true VIP treatment with a specific recline setting and extending leg rest. Meaning as the driver you’re more likely to get snores than conversation out of whomever is riding shotgun. Those in the back get plenty of space as well, with a flat floor so even piggy-in-the-middle has a decent deal. A decent conventional boot is matched with a properly useful ‘frunk’ under the front hood, this even fitted with a plug hole so wet and muddy kit can drain under the car. Tempting as it might be the RSPCA will be having words if you’re tempted to chuck your dog in there after a wet walk in the woods – best save it for wellies, charging cables and other mucky kit and put a blanket down in the boot for pooch.

Easy. The only options are the panoramic roof or a folding tow bar. Everything else – metallic paint and the funky tan interior option – is standard across single- and twin-motor versions. Inevitably the giant screen takes literal centre stage, novelties including its ability to swing toward passenger or driver as required. Good job there’s that head-up display for basics like speed and nav projected onto the windscreen if you’re battling over who gets the screen. We liked the system powering it more than we do those on many Chinese cars we’ve tested recently, the graphics chunkier and easier to operate on the move with quick to configure ‘widgets’ for accessing favourite – or essential – functions via the pull-down shortcut menu. Which is for the best, given nearly all your interactions will be through the screen. Wireless CarPlay or Android Auto connectivity is also there if you prefer your phone apps, something you still don’t get on a Tesla Model Y, of course. Good job you can navigate via your phone as well, given the infuriating auto-zoom function on the built-in nav wouldn’t switch off.

We appreciate Changan’s generally gimmick-free approach, this including the sensibly-pitched performance of the standard, single-motor version we drove. At nearly 2.4 tonnes this is a heavy old car but it has enough to be getting on with for a family SUV of this type, the twin-motor option quite a bit faster on paper though we haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Without descending into tedious number crunching we’ll just say the performance here is bang-on the class average against equivalents like the Skoda Enyaq. The novelty of the weird, ice cream van style tinkling below 20mph wears thin pretty quickly but beyond that there is nothing of great significance to report about the driving experience, other than it being smooth and quiet in the usual electric car way. Range from the averagely sized battery is … an average sounding 303 miles by official claims for the single-motor and 278 miles for the twin-motor. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but instead points to the general sense of understated competence you get from the Changan as a whole.