JAECOO E5 UK First Drive | Cut-price electric Range Rover?
here. Do you fancy buying an all electric Range Rover for 27 12 grand? I mean, you’d be mad not to, right? Oh, Nick, Nick. Oh, thanks. Oh, it’s Ju’s E5. That adds up. Now, if you’ve never heard of the brand, it’s Chinese, of course, and it’s part of the same company as Amoda. They were launched earlier this year in the UK and you’re starting to see a few of them on the roads. The Emoda electric car is also called the E5, which causes chaos on the electrifying website listings, but presumably saves money on the badges or something. It’s quite clear you’re not going to mistake this for a real Range Rover. But there is no doubt the designers have certainly, shall we say, by inspired by the car, especially the front, the rear. Oh, and the side. Now, there is a fine line when it comes to inspiration and plagiarism. One that I definitely walked to university. What side of the line do you think JQ are on with this? Besides the Range Rover looks, the main attraction of the JQE E5 is the price. It starts at £27,55, which is the same sort of price as something like a Ford Puma or Renault 4. It even undercuts a Motor Z5. Anyway, let’s see what you get for the money inside. Right, let’s take a look inside, shall we? Because I think you are going to be very, very happy in here. Um, A, you can tell I’m reclined. It’s comfortable. B, your attention is drawn to this ginormous digital display. According to JQU, this is the biggest portrait display in a car, period. 13.2 in worth. Um, and I must say it’s very nice. Originally, I didn’t really like how it’s kind of slightly facing up, but I’ve got used to that now. And it is very, very responsive. It’s quick. It’s relatively intuitive to use. Um, down here, no physical buttons for climate, but you do have a constant display for your climate control, which is nice and easy to use. The Apple CarPlay and Android Auto was also really easy. I synced my phone very quickly with Apple CarPlay and got on the road using my Google Maps, nice and fast. We have space for you and your passengers to store their phone. Wireless charging on one side and a lovely little bit of ventilation so your phone will not overheat, which is actually really useful. Seats are comfy, and you’ll notice that they are perforated, which helps with the ventilation. So, they’re not only do they heat up, but they also cool you. Now, when it comes to practicality and storage, you’ve got a little storage area down here. There you’ve got some charging ports, two cup holders, a little storage bin down here, uh your little spot for your owner’s manual down there. Um but all in all, it just feels quite spacious, light, and airy. I suppose one slightly annoying thing is they’ve still managed to find a spot to put some piano black, but at least it’s not where you’re going to be touching things. There’s only three buttons. Okay, so that’s a small niggle, but overall hopefully you’re not actually going to be putting your greasy mitts down there. Um, and then there’s a little bit of shiny plastic up here, but overall the touch points do feel quite nice. This is nice, isn’t it? Little bit of wood finish there on the door. Now, let me point out that this is the luxury spec. So, you do have to fork out an extra £3,000, which pushes the price to just over £30,000, but you get a lot of extras. Let me begin. A panoramic sunglass, the power sun shade, LED headlights, twozone air conditioning, power tailgate, acoustic and thermal installation of the front hatch, loadbearing roof rails, multicolor ambient light, a heated steering wheel, pet friendly eco leather, power adjusted, ventilated and heated driver and passenger seat, a soft upholstered dashboard, a rear bench armrest with integrated cup holders, a Sony 8- speakeraker audio system, a mobile phone 50W cooled wireless charging, front and boot 12V sockets, and pet mode, which means the car stays the temperature you want, so your pet will not overheat when you abandon them to go shopping. Now, most worryingly, there is also an onboard karaoke, which uses an under bonnet speaker. Now, I think this is going to be very popular with a certain presenter. life after love. I can feel something. I really don’t think strong enough. No. Thank you, Wembley. Thank you. You also get vehicle to load, letting you power kettles, fridges, or hair dryers from the car if you happen to be in the middle of a field. Now, back here, there isn’t maybe quite as much room as I was hoping. This is set to my driving position. And at 5’8, I haven’t got loads of room. Um, it’s still very comfortable. Uh, seats are nice. You’ve got two sets of isopix back here. You have the trusty cup holders. Um, old school USB port. Not USBC, just USB. H, that makes it feel a bit old, which is unusual. I would have thought this should have been packed with technology. Um, but what it is is very light and airy back here because you’ve got this massive glass panoramic roof. You also have this extra window back here which brings in some more light and there is decent headroom. So, where you might not have tons of leg room, everything else makes it feel very spacious. In the boot, there’s 480 L, which is bigger than a Kia EV3, high-end Dikona, and even pips the MGS5 EV. It’s bigger than the Renault 42, but it can’t beat the Pummer. Not many cars can. Under the floor is a 61.1 kWh battery, which is an LFP. For all you geeks out there, it gives an official range of 248 mi, which is pretty good for a battery of this size and price. The Puma is 233 mi, Renault 4 247, and the smaller batteried MGS5 just 211. So, so far this JQ is sounding pretty good, right? Well, the real test is going to be how it drives. So, it is time now to put it through its paces. Now, in terms of facts and stats, we are talking naugh to 62 mph in a not too shabby 7.7 seconds, which actually is pretty impressive. Uh, brake horsepower 204, which is probably more than enough. I think despite the size, it actually feels really agile. It’s nice and nippy, and uh, it’s got that obviously that instant acceleration that you get with electric cars. So, we are off to a good start. The downside I would say is that the suspension is quite hard. Uh we’ve been on all roads, country lanes, B- roads, motorway, and I would say that you can kind of feel pretty much all the imperfections, every lump and bump. So for again, maybe the expectations on a car like this is that it would be quite a smooth drive. Um maybe alter your expectations on that one. Now, the other thing I want to point out is the regen braking. Um, obviously we’re big fans of regen braking, particularly one pedal driving in the city, and it does have that capability. It doesn’t bring you to a complete standstill, but it is pretty strong if you can choose three different modes for regen. Um, but there’s a weird quirk to it. When you have the regen braking on even if you’ve got the same pressure on the throttle on the accelerator, if you are going downhill, the regen braking kicks in. So you it slows you down. And it doesn’t always just happen when you’re going downhill either. It just happens at kind of random times. So, when you have exactly the same pressure applied to the accelerator, the regen braking can kick in, which is a bit strange because the regen does have that quirk. I would probably drive this car without the regen on at all, which is a shame. In the lovely presentation that we have before we got the keys to the E5, they were telling us about the silent glass that this car boasts so that you have very little wind noise and a silent cabin. Not sure. Not sure about it. It’s definitely not silent, obviously. I mean, you know, everything’s 100% silent, but I’m not even sure if it’s that quiet. um you can still hear the wind noise, you know, as soon as you go above kind of 30, 40 miles an hour, um you do visibly notice a difference. So maybe for lower speeds, the silent glass is working. Higher speeds, not so much. Now, we know you’re not all looking for a new EV, and that is why we have built our very own used EV marketplace on electrifying.com. It’s packed with great deals and details like battery warranties, so you can buy with confidence. All you’ve got to do is scan the QR code on screen to browse while you keep watching. Now, what I will say is that look, if you are a driving enthusiast and driving dynamics as number one priority, well, a you’re probably not going to be looking at a car like this to start with and b if you are, this car is not for you. You know, that’s not necessarily been the priority when it comes to building a car like this for a budget like that. pretty sure most of my friends, most of the people I work with outside of the motoring world would not notice the driving dynamics of this. It’s perfectly acceptable. It’s really quite enjoyable. It’s relatively smooth. The suspension could be a bit softer. Um, but I think for most people, this is going to tick pretty much most of the boxes when it comes to um how it feels when you’re on the road. Now, on this drive, we have been averaging 3.6 miles per kilowatt hour on a cold autumn day, which actually is pretty close to the claimed 4.06 m per kowatt hour. The maximum charging capability is 80 kW on a DC point, which is distinctly average, meaning it will take over half an hour to get to 80% from anywhere near empty. All the rivals I can think of are faster. Now, I’ve been thinking about a bit of an analogy when it comes to how this JQ looks. I mean, effectively on the outside, it is trying to be the Range Rover. On the inside, it’s not. Underneath it’s not. So the question is, would you go into Zara and buy a bag that looks like a Hermes bag but is not in fact a Hermes bag and wander around with a bag pretending to be a Hermes bag but not being one? Or would you go into Zara and just buy a completely different bag? Now I am of the mindset I would just buy a completely different bag. I don’t want a copycat. If I can’t buy the real thing, I don’t want the real thing. And I’m not going to try and pretend. I’ve got the real thing when everyone knows that I haven’t. So, if you want a Range Rover, but you can’t afford a Range Rover, don’t go and buy something that looks like one. Just go for something completely different. Right, conclusion time. Now, the big attraction of this car is going to be the price, right? I mean, nothing else offers the combination of range and space for the same cost. Although we do have to wait and see what the lease and PCP monthlys come out as because they will depend on the resale value which haven’t actually been rock solid on the current Amoda and JU models. But once the prices have got you in the showroom, you’re going to sit in it, play with all the buttons. You’re going to be impressed. But you have got to drive it. Go out, take it for a test drive, compare it to some rivals, and see what you think. You know, you might not actually be that bothered that the dynamics are a little bit weward. And if that’s the case, well, enjoy your JU and the £75,000 that you will have saved by not buying the Range Rover. My gift to you.
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Read review: https://www.electrifying.com/reviews/jaecoo/e5/review
Join Nicki as she takes the brand-new Jaecoo E5 out for a first drive to see if the latest Chinese electric SUV to land in the UK is the real deal — or just another copycat. With its rather familiar design the Jaecoo 5 looks like it’s aiming straight at cars like the Range Rover Evoque and Audi Q4 e-tron. But can it deliver the same quality and refinement, or does it fall short once you scratch beneath the surface?
Join Nicki as she dives into the design, tech, performance, and value of this newcomer to the UK EV market. Could this be the surprise hit of 2025, or just déjà vu with a different badge?
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Electrifying.com is the #1 destination for electric car reviews, explainers and guides. Founded by Ginny Buckley, we bring you the latest updates on EVs and in-depth reviews of the hottest new models. Whether you’re switching to electric or just curious, our plain-English guides and expert advice make it easy to navigate the world of electric cars. Stay informed, make confident decisions, and join the electric revolution with Electrifying.com!
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0:00 – The £27K Electric Range Rover?
Meet the JAECOO 5 EV – the Chinese EV that looks suspiciously familiar…
0:22 – Who on Earth is JAECOO?
A quick intro to the brand behind the E5, its UK arrival, and that Range Rover déjà vu.
0:54 – Inspired or Imitated?
When “design inspiration” crosses into copycat territory — you decide.
1:10 – The Big Sell: Price & Rivals
From just £27,500, this electric SUV takes on the Ford Puma, Renault 4 and MG S5.
1:29 – Inside the E5: First Impressions
Surprisingly plush cabin, reclining seats and the biggest portrait screen in its class.
2:10 – Tech & Infotainment
Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, wireless charging and a massive 13.2-inch display.
3:01 – Cabin Quality & Comfort
Ventilated seats, wood trim, decent materials… plus a little too much piano black.
3:41 – Luxury Spec Highlights (£3K Upgrade)
Panoramic roof, ambient lighting, heated everything, Sony speakers and even Pet Mode.
4:44 – Karaoke Mode (Yes, Really)
Built-in karaoke system with bonnet speakers.
5:07 – Space & Practicality
Good headroom, panoramic glass roof, ISOFIX seats – but legroom’s tight in the back.
6:09 – Boot & Battery
480L of luggage space and a 61.1 kWh LFP battery delivering up to 248 miles of range.
6:48 – On the Road: First Drive
204 hp, 7.7 s to 62 mph – brisk, agile, but with firm suspension.
7:28 – The Ride & Regen Reality
Hard ride, unpredictable regen braking and the not-so-silent “silent glass.”
9:40 – Used EV Plug
Browse electrifying.com’s used EV marketplace for great deals and battery warranty info.
10:01 – Driving Verdict
Not for enthusiasts, but smooth enough for daily drivers who want value over thrills.
10:52 – Efficiency & Charging
3.6 mi/kWh efficiency, 80 kW DC max – average charging speeds vs faster rivals.
11:20 – Fake Range Rover or Smart Buy?
Zara bag or Hermès bag? Nicki’s analogy sums up the E5’s identity crisis perfectly.
12:22 – Verdict: Bargain or Copycat?
Unbeatable price, good range, solid spec – just don’t expect Range Rover polish.
12:58 – Final Thoughts
Test it, compare it, and if you’re not bothered by dynamics – enjoy saving £75K.
