Jaecoo E5 review

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the Jaecoo E5 seems to have borrowed some styling tips from a certain British SUV. Perhaps we shouldn’t name names and risk accusing anyone of copyright infringement, so let’s just say the SUV in question rhymes with Blame Blover Blort. 

Then again, you could say the petrol version (the Jaecoo 5) looks ever more like the Blort, because it swaps the E5’s smooth face for a proper front grille. We’ve reviewed the petrol 5 separately. 

Here, we’re focusing on the E5 small electric SUV. It’s a rival to the class leaders like Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4, so read on to find out how well the E5 stacks up. 

What’s new? 

- June 2026: We test the E5 in Luxury trim

- April 2025: The Jaecoo 5 (petrol) and E5 (electric) are revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show 

How fast is it and which motor is best?

The Jaecoo E5 is nippy. That’s especially true around town, but it can still hold its own on the motorway. There’s just the one motor option: it has 204bhp and the resulting 0-62mph time is 7.7sec. 

You’ll find the E5 is a little quicker than the rival Renault 4 (8.2sec) and roughly on a par with the Kia EV3 Standard Range (7.5sec) and Nissan Leaf (7.6sec).

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

The answer is ‘not really’ on both fronts, but we’ll start with the former: the E5’s handling is quite sloppy. Our main gripe is the steering, which is imprecise and inconsistently weighted. It robs you of confidence on any sort of road but especially tight, twisty b-roads. 

Check out the Ford Puma Gen-E if you’re after sharp handling, but then again, even the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4 give you more reassurance. They have more accurate steering and higher grip levels to boot.  

Those cars are also more comfortable. The problem with the E5’s ride is that it’s poorly controlled and easily tripped up over potholes and bumps, which sends a jolt through the interior. It does feel a bit smoother at motorway speeds, but there’s still a slight underlying fidget and it can still thwack over expansion joints. 

Is it quiet and how easy is it to drive smoothly?

Around town, there’s quite a lot of road noise and, at higher speeds, wind noise picks up too. Overall, the E5 feels quite tinny from a refinement perspective. 

We wish it were easier to drive smoothly, too. There’s a slight yet noticeable delay between letting off the accelerator and the regenerative braking activating. When you need to get on the proper brakes, the pedal is quite soft and grabby, too. 

We found Eco mode to be the best mode, because everything becomes a bit more gradual. Still, the above gripes remain, and you’ll find most rivals, including the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4, are easier to drive smoothly. 

What’s the range and efficiency like, and how quickly can it charge?

Every E5 has a 61kWh battery and a 250-mile official range – expect around 150-200 miles in the real world. That’s competitive with the Renault 4 (249 miles) and Ford Puma Gen-E (259 miles); what’s more, it’s not far off the Kia EV3 Standard Range (270 miles).  

Still, if you need a long range, then the Nissan Leaf offers a pretty mega 386-mile official range. It can also charge at a maximum charging rate of 150kW, which is much faster than the E5’s piddly 80kW peak rate. The EV3 Standard Range and Renault 4 can also charge faster – both are capable of 100kW. 

With the E5, you can expect a 30-80% charge in 27min, so long as you hook up to a capable enough charger. 

“I can’t say I enjoyed driving the E5 on my motorway commute. It’s quite noisy and I don’t like the steering.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer 

What does the interior look like and is it well made?

The Jaecoo E5 has a smart-looking, minimalistic interior. Again, you can see some Blame Blover inspiration in its design. As you might expect, the material quality is nowhere near luxury SUV good, but it’s not bad for the class and price. There are quite a lot of soft touch materials and any hard, scratchy plastics are hidden low and out of sight. 

Still, if you want a higher quality interior, the Nissan Leaf represents a big step up. 

Is the driving position comfortable and is it easy to see out?

You sit up quite high in the E5, giving it a proper baby SUV feel – more so than the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4. The driving position isn’t exactly perfect though, for two main reasons: the steering wheel doesn’t come out very far towards you, and the footwell is quite shallow. You might find your right foot gets jammed between the top and bottom of the footwell when you’re using the accelerator pedal.  

Visibility, on the other hand, is great. The windows are big and the rear pillars have decent sized windows cut into them, increasing the view over your shoulder. What’s more, every E5 gets a panoramic-view camera to help with parking. 

Are the dashboard and infotainment system easy to use?

The E5’s centre console has physical buttons for the drive modes and hazard warning lights but that’s pretty much it. For the climate controls, you have to use the touchscreen or voice command. In fairness, there are some permanent shortcuts for temperature controls at the bottom of the screen, but they disappear if you’re using smartphone mirroring – you need to swipe up to bring them back. We’d prefer if there were some handy dials or buttons (like you get in the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4) for commonly used functions. 

The 13.2in, portrait-orientated touchscreen is at least of a good quality. The graphics are crisp and it’s fairly responsive to your inputs. The layout and menus aren’t quite as easy to grasp as the Renault 4’s, though. 

“For reference, I’m a size 10. I could only use half of the accelerator without getting my right foot stuck. I had to angle my right foot to the side to avoid the issue. It won’t affect everyone, though. My colleague never had a problem.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

How much space does it have for people?

You’d have to be a giant to struggle for space up front in the Jaecoo E5. It’s roomy in every dimension. 

The rear-seat area is more mixed, because there’s a lot more head room than there is leg room. If you’re six foot tall, you’ll have a good chunk of head room to spare, but your knees will likely be rubbing up against the seat in front. The Renault 4 is similarly cramped, while the Kia EV3 and Nissan Leaf are more spacious. 

It’s possible to sit three abreast in the back of the E5, and thankfully the floor is almost completely flat. The E5 isn’t a particularly wide car, though, so you’ll probably feel quite squished. 

How much room is there for luggage?

A lot. The E5 has a 480-litre boot, which is massive for a small SUV. It’ll swallow an average weekly shop with plenty of room to spare under the boot floor. For reference, the Kia EV3 has 460 litres; the Nissan Leaf has 437 litres; the Renault 4 has 420 litres. 

The E5 also has a 35-litre front boot (or frunk), which is big enough to take the charge cables. The EV3 has a slightly smaller 25-litre frunk, while the Renault and Nissan do without one entirely. 

“I was surprised to find out that the E5’s boot is only 20 litres down on the larger, more expensive Jaecoo 7.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

How much does it cost and what equipment do you get?

The Jaecoo E5 costs from around £27,500, making it more expensive than the Renault 4 but cheaper than the Kia EV3 and Nissan Leaf. 

Mind you, if you’re looking at PCP finance – like the vast majority of buyers – the E5 is even more competitive, often undercutting the Renault. 

The entry-level trim, called Pure, comes with 18in alloy wheels, manually adjustable seats and a six-speaker sound system, but we’d recommend upgrading to Luxury trim. 

As of writing, it comes with a £3000 premium, but you get a lot more, well, luxuries. There are electrically adjustable front seats, a powered tailgate, heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic glass roof, Sony eight-speaker sound system and ambient lighting.  

Is it reliable and how long is the warranty?

The E5 and Jaecoo as a brand were absent from our 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey, but if anything were to go wrong, you have a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty to fall back on. That’s a longer duration of cover compared with most brands. 

How safe is it, and is it easy to steal?

The Jaecoo E5 hasn’t been Euro NCAP safety tested yet, but it does come with plenty of standard safety kit, including six airbags and as many as 19 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). 

The E5 has an electronic engine immobiliser and automatic door locking to ward off thieves; and to stop them using digital relay keys, the E5’s Passive Entry Passive Start (PEPS) system mitigates keyless entry hacking, prevents mobile key spoofing and blocks unauthorized on-board diagnostics (OBD) manipulation. 

“If you can put up with the poor driving experience, I’d say the E5 ticks a lot of boxes, especially when it comes to value for money.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Buy it if…

- You need your small SUV to have a big boot

- You’re looking for low PCP finance payments  -

- You’re happy with a 250-mile official range (around 150-200 miles in the real world)

Don’t buy it if…

- You’re after a well-executed, refined driving experience

- You often use DC chargers and want a quick charge

- You haven’t test driven a Renault 4 

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