2026 Chery E5 price and specs: Electric SUV gets smaller battery, same driving range

• 2026 Chery E5 pricing and specifications
• Australia's cheapest electric SUV gets smaller battery, but unchanged driving range
• Power boost and less torque from electric motor
• Priced from $36,990 before on-road costs

Chery's first – and, to date, only – electric vehicle in Australia has been updated with a smaller battery, more power but less torque, and an identical driving range rating.

The 2026 Chery E5 electric small SUV – marketed as a Model Year 2025.5 (MY25.5) vehicle – trades its 61.1kWh battery pack for a smaller 58.9kWh unit, still using lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry.

However, despite the smaller battery capacity, its WLTP-rated driving range of 430 kilometres remains unchanged, likely assisted by a 52Nm torque drop from 340Nm to 288Nm.

Power has increased from 150kW to 155kW, up 5kW, from its front-mounted electric motor.

The revisions apply to Chery E5 vehicles built for the Australian market from May 2025, and follow its renaming to E5 three months ago after its initial launch in September 2024 as the Chery Omoda E5.

Other tweaks for MY25.5 include the deletion of cornering lights – following the removal of embedded satellite navigation and puddle lamps earlier this year – while the 50-watt wireless smartphone charger is now limited to the top-of-the-range E5 Ultimate.

Across the Chery E5 line-up, three-phase alternating current (AC) charging is now rated at 10.3 kilowatts – up from 9.9kW – while the Ultimate adds a heat pump air-conditioning system.

Its direct-current (DC) fast-charging limit appears to have risen from 80kW to 130kW for a 30 to 80 per cent top-up in a claimed 30 minutes – slower than the 28 minutes listed for the outgoing model at 80kW.

Pricing for the 2026 Chery E5 electric small SUV remains unchanged at $36,990 before on-road costs for the Urban and $40,990 for the Ultimate, or around $40,000 to $44,000 drive-away with a Victorian postcode.

Model Year 2025 (MY25) examples of the Chery E5, which do not receive the changes detailed above, are being offered with a complimentary home charger until September 30, 2025, valued at $795 for most of Australia, or $1399 for South Australian customers, excluding installation costs.

The Chery E5 is the only non-commercial electric vehicle currently on sale in Australia with a full-sized spare wheel, and the cheapest electric SUV, followed by the Hyundai Inster and BYD Atto 3 (both $39,990).

• E5 Urban – $36,990
• E5 Ultimate – $40.990

Note: All prices above exclude on-road costs.

• 18-inch alloy wheels with 215/55 Kumho Ecsta PS71 tyres
• Full-sized spare wheel
• Dusk-sensing LED headlights with auto high-beam
• LED tail-lights, front and rear lights, daytime-running lights
• Silver roof rails
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless/wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, AM/FM/digital DAB+ radio, voice control
• Rear-view camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Six-speaker Sony sound system
• Dual-zone climate control with PM2.5 air filter, rear air vents
• Plastic steering wheel
• Fabric seat upholstery with synthetic leather-look bolsters
• Six-way driver and four-way front passenger manually-adjustable seats
• Five USB ports (three front, two rear)
• Two 12-volt sockets
• LED front interior dome light, boot light
• Soft-touch materials on door panels, dashboard
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Heated power-folding side mirrors
• Seven airbags
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Adaptive cruise control
• Lane-keep assist
• Lane centring assist
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert with braking function
• Door opening warning
• Traffic sign recognition with overspeed chime
• Driver attention monitoring system
• Tyre pressure monitoring

• 360-degree camera
• Power-opening sunroof
• Synthetic leather-look steering wheel trim
• Full synthetic leather-look seat upholstery
• Power-adjustable six-way driver and four-way front passenger seats
• Heated front seats
• Heated outboard rear seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Eight-speaker Sony sound system
• 50-watt wireless phone charger
• Power-operated tailgate
• Ambient interior lighting
• Scrolling LED rear indicators
• Rear privacy glass
• Acoustic front door glass
• Rear LED interior dome light
• Gloss black side window trim

• Titan Green (no cost)
• Lunar White ($500 extra)
• Saturn Silver ($500 extra)
• Space Black ($500 extra)
• Martian Red ($500 extra)
• Titan Green with black roof ($600 extra, Ultimate only)
• Lunar White with black roof ($1100 extra, Ultimate only)

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Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.

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