YOUR FIVE A DAY? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

In full-electric form, the Changan Deepal S05 is a lower-mid-sized EV crossover you probably hadn't considered. Should you? Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 42

Chinese maker Changan Deepal broadened its UK product line-up with this car, the S05. The full-EV version we look at here targets the volume lower mid-sized part of the electric crossover market and aims to offer something just a little bit different.

Backgroundword count: 131

The number five, we told, does in numerology represent adventure and change, both things intended to be encapsulated by this S05. You'd be forgiven for not being familiar with Changan, one of China's biggest manufacturers - in fact it's the country's oldest car maker. The UK though, didn't see the marque until it launched here in 2025 with an upper-mid-sized EV model from its mildly up-market Deepal sub-brand, the Changan Deepal S07, which is a Tesla Model Y (& co)-targeted upper mid-sized EV. As its name suggests, the Changan Deepal S05 is a size smaller than that car and in the full-electric form we primarily look at here, it's aimed at slightly more compact but still family-sized electric crossover models; think Skoda Enyaq or Volkswagen ID.4. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 331

The S05 comes with a choice of two powertrains. A PHEV combustion package; or the full-electric version we look at here. The full-EV follows established practice for electric crossovers of this sort, with a two-tier powertrain offering. Most sales will be of the most affordable single motor RWD variant we're trying here which uses a 68.8kWh LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) battery pack able to take the car up to 303 miles between charges. It energises a 262bhp motor on the rear axle and generates 290Nm of torque, though the high kerb weight limits the 0-62mph time to 7.5s en route to 112mph. The full-EV alternative is the AWD twin motor model, which uses the same battery but increases power to 429bhp, improving the 0-62mph time to 5.5s, though range falls to 278 miles. Other Chinese brands don't set the bar high in terms of ride and handling in this segment, but the S05 aims to offer an improvement in this regard, thanks to Europe-centric input from Changan's UK R&D centre in Birmingham. Despite that, you shouldn't expect this S05 to match the rest of its European rivals around the twisty stuff, something not helped by the prodigious 2.4-tonne kerb weight. As usual with Chinese cars, you'll probably come away from a drive feeling that a little more work is needed on the rather vague steering feel and the somewhat over-firm ride. The impact-absorbing five-link rear suspension copes with poor surfaces a little better at higher speeds and, helped by 5mm-thick frameless glass, cruising refinement is as quiet as you'd hope it would be. Earlier, we mentioned the PHEV combustion version of this car; a bit on that before we finish. The S05 PHEV uses the company's latest 'Ultra Hybrid' technology, which sees a 1.5-litre four cylinder petrol engine paired with a permanent magnet synchronous rear-mounted electric motor, the two combined producing 254bhp. The motor is energised by an 18.4kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery offering an EV range of up to 62 miles.

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