Geely Starray EM i | All new plug in hybrid medium SUV coming soon
EVs are slowly but surely gaining momentum in Australia, but when it comes to plug-in hybrids, Aussies can’t seem to get enough. Not only did sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles double last year, but more Aussies are now considering them, at least according to the latest car sales consumer survey. But there’s another piece to the puzzle. There are now more choices than ever before in the growing sea of fevs. And now here you’re looking at the latest one. This is the Jile Star, and I’m going to tell you five things you need to know about it. This car is already available in China where it’s sold as the Jely Galaxy Starship 7. Sounds exotic, right? Well, it’ll just be called the Star here, which is not to be pronounced Starry. Due in Australia before the end of 2025, this is a sneak peek of what to expect when J’s second model arrives down under alongside the electric EX5 SUV already on sale. A word of warning before we start. This will be a high-level overview of the new Star because this is a pre-production model that we’ve been given early access to to give you a glimpse of what’s coming later in the year. This is due in the fourth quarter of the year, so later in 2025, and we’re told two variants will launch. This one is more representative of the topsp spec flagship model. So, some features you can expect are things like 19-in alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, keyless entry and start, an electric tailgate, and a bunch of fancy interior bits, which we’ll get to in a moment. Obviously, there are a lot of things we still don’t know about the Star, including price, which is probably one of the biggest. This thing will be up against some pretty stiff SUV competition down under. You’ve got cars like the BYYD Sea Lion 6, GWM Havl H6, Mitsubishi Outlander, and JU J7, among others that all offer plug-in hybrids. Julie knows it’ll need to be sharp with its pricing. And judging by the EX5 that’s already on sale, it already knows that this is classed as a midsize SUV, and in terms of proportions, it’s just a little longer and wider than the very popular Toyota RAV 4. It’s around 4.7 meters long and 1.9 m wide, which is closer in size to a BYD Sea Lion 6 and just a little bit bigger than the EX5 electric SUV, which this shares its platform with. In terms of wheelbase, it’s just over 2.7 m long, which means cabin is very spacious. If it feels like super hybrids are popping up everywhere, that’s because they are. Cherry has them, MG is about to launch one, and now J has one, too. Essentially, it’s the latest iteration of plug-in hybrid technology. And in this application, it’s designed to prioritize electric power, meaning the petrol engine is really only there to act as a generator to recharge the battery. Under the bonnet is a naturally aspirated 1.5 L 4-cylinder petrol engine and a 160 kW electric motor, which both combine for a total output of 193 kW, which is impressive. But all of that power is sent directly to the front wheels. So, this is a front-wheel drive only from launch. Underneath the body is an 18.4 kWh LFP battery and J quotes a combined fuel consumption rating of 2.4 L per 100 km. It also says you’ll get around 80 km of electric only driving range and another benefit which not all FEVs offer is access to DC charging up to a rate of 30 kW. The Star Ray will also bring handy features like vehicle to load capability and vehicleto vehicle, which means you can top up your mates’s battery if they run out of juice. Jumping in the cabin of the Star, it’s very impressive. And if you’ve seen the EX5 electric SUV, this is very similar. The materials, the layout. Yeah, I just really like the way that it’s all laid out. You’ve got this covered over um cup holder section, some storage here, some more storage down here. The materials are very nice. The first sort of feeling, these seats are very soft. The leather is soft, but also they’re nice and cushioned. Also in the back seat, which we’ll get to in a sec. But yeah, I really like the layout. This Squovel kind of steering wheel. I’m not sure how, you know, I’ve got to drive it before I kind of make a full judgment on that. Overall, it’s a really impressive cabin. I think one of the main highlights is this big 15.4 in touchscreen. I’ve only played with it a little bit today, but it’s very intuitive, very responsive, too. And the graphics are really good. So you can do things like change the theme. You can have a little kitten on the dashboard or a guinea pig or a dog. Sort of whatever you want. You can change the ambient interior lighting to two-tone. So you can have red and green or just one color, whatever you want. You can really customize this car to how you want it to feel. Um, you can also add your own pictures. So, those wallpapers that you’ve got, you can put a picture of yourself or your own pets or whatever you want really. There’s um a lot of options. I really like this touchcreen and it reminds me of Tesla’s system, but one of the key features here is Apple CarPlay. It will be offered wireless in this car from launch. And then Android Auto will also be offered, I think, from January, we’re told. So, it won’t be offered from launch. Um, but the EX5 doesn’t have either of those. although we are told that it’ll be offered very soon in an overthe-air update. Another few things I’ll just quickly mention, the driver’s display here is digital, but the fonts are quite small, so you may have trouble if you’re slightly vision impaired. Might be difficult to sort of read those smaller fonts and numbers. Um, but you do have a head-up display, which from what I can see now is pretty clear, although, you know, I’ll have to drive this car to get a bit of a better judgment on that. Um but overall, yeah, a few um key shortcut buttons here for um recirculating the air con and um this multi-function dial here certainly helps um I would think on the move. But yeah, overall pretty impressed with the cabin. Well, I think I might have found the best seat in the house or at least the best row in this 5seat SUV because the second row here is so spacious because of the platform of this vehicle. It’s based on the EX5. You can have a plethora of drivetrains built into this car. So, this one’s obviously the plug-in hybrid. The EX5 is electric, but it means that they can package it different ways. So, there’s no transmission tunnel here, which means that there’s so much leg room, even if you’re sitting in this middle seat. Um, but overall, yeah, there’s just so much room. There’s leg room, plenty of headroom. Although, yeah, I’m 166 cm, so if you’re a pretty tall person, you might struggle a little bit. But overall, there’s a really nice sense of aireriness. Um, this especially with the panoramic sunroof open. This is a a more shaded cover. It’s not um sort of a see-through, you know, when you get those mesh ones that let a lot lets a lot of light but also a lot of heat in. So, I think that’s a really good option cuz it can be more so fully sealed up. But yeah, the glass works all really big. It feels nice and airy. the back rest of this. Um, this one you can’t change the recline level of it. You can’t like recline it further back. But again, this is a pre-production model, so it could have like two-stage reclining option. Um, but overall, this also this back rest, it looks contoured, but it doesn’t feel contoured. I I feel like maybe for a bigger person, it would be better, but um I feel like if the driver’s, you know, driving a bit enthusiastically, you might be kind of thrown around a bit. But yeah, overall good um amenities as well. You’ve got this drawer down here for storage, two USB ports, air vents, plenty of storage options. You’ve got more storage down in the door bin down here. There’s a spot up here. You could probably sit your phone if you wanted to. Um yeah, I really like this this cabin. This is nice. You’ve also got this uh center armrest. Feels really spacious. It’s nice. Well, before we go, here’s a quick look at the boot. You’ve got a dual height floor and you could probably fit a space saver spare tire under here, but you’ll have to buy one because it only comes with a tire repair kit and a little triangle down here and some tools under here. But overall, there’s a few bag hooks. There’s no light that I can see, but again, that might be coming in production models. The other thing, you can fold these seats almost flat. This is a 60/40 split fold, and that’ll give you around 2,000 L of cargo space, which is pretty handy. Well, that’s the J Star plug-in hybrid SUV in a nutshell. Be sure to check back in later in the year when we get to drive this midsize SUV on Aussie roads for the first time. And until then, give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed watching. Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this new Chinese SUV. And be sure to subscribe to the car sales channel to see more videos like this.
Geely is readying the launch of its second model, a high-tech medium SUV with its latest plug-in hybrid tech and we’re getting a first look at the Chinese newcomer’s next model.
👉 Full Review: https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/geely-starray-plug-in-hybrid-suv-detailed-for-oz-149869/
Fast Forward
00:00 Intro
00:29 Overview
00:52 Spec
01:26 Price
01:53 Size
02:21 Powertrain
03:33 Interior
This is our first look at Geely’s second model due in Australia, the Starray EM-i. It’s a plug-in hybrid five-seat mid-size SUV set to go up against cars like the BYD Sealion 6, Jaecoo J7 SHS, and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Built on the same platform as Geely’s first Aussie arrival – the electric EX5 SUV – the slightly larger Starray (pronounced Star-ray) is powered by the latest PHEV tech, dubbed ‘Super Hybrid’. Said to offer around 80km of electric-only driving range, the Starray will arrive with loads of tech in the fourth quarter in 2025 with loads of tech when
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