Geely EX5 — A New Owner’s Perspective

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Last Updated on: 6th May 2025, 12:26 am

The Geely EX5 is making waves in the Australian electric vehicle market. Over 1000 have been ordered in the past couple of months. Majella and I got to participate in a pre-launch viewing two months ago. At that time, not all the specs or even the price were available. Now we know it is priced and specced to sell. The Geely EX5 is a great value-for-money proposition. A recent purchaser, Karen Yates, agreed to share her experience with me. Here are her answers to my questions. Firstly, the buying experience:

“I previously had an MG HS, so I went to MG, but also knew BYD were competitively priced so looked at the BYD Dolphin first. And test drove both. I decided the Dolphin was too small, as I was used to having the small SUV. So, then I looked into the Atto 3, and I really liked it too. Budget wise though I would have needed the Essential variant, and its range was only 410 km. [It was too expensive for the range offered.] I also wasn’t that thrilled with the BYD sales person, he drove half of the way, and when we got back was like ‘so have we got a deal’ when no numbers or anything were discussed, and when I said ‘any movement on price?’ he responded ‘one country one price,’ and I was like, ‘whatever mate,’ as he didn’t even say ‘but we will look after you with your trade-in or mats’ or anything! They did have coke and popcorn tho! haha.

“The MG4 range and small screen didn’t excite me for the price.”

“I received ads for the Geely and thought ‘wow, worth looking into with the launch offer.’ I emailed on the weekend and the sales rep rang me first thing. When I test drove, he was friendly and knowledgeable about the car. I was then told if I wanted it, they could have me in it by the Thursday (two days later), so given the look of the car (I like this look), the price, and the car’s features, I was sold. To be honest, there was also another sales guy and we all just had a great friendly banter. I asked for car mats, and better price on my trade-in. They had no mats and wouldn’t budge on the trade price, but knocked off $440 from the car price and said there was a gift box (which was an umbrella and a gorgeous Fresko-insulated Geely branded coffee cup). They made it feel easy and like I was important and getting a good deal…..so great salesmen I guess!!”

The generous Geely launch offer — $44,490 driveaway for the base model, 1 year free charging at Evie charge stations, 3 years free servicing, a free 7 kW wall charger, and free colour choice — encouraged Karen to go ahead with the deal. Not to mention delivery within 3 days! GiGi (the name of her car) comes with a 7-year warranty on the car, and 8 on the battery. Seven years of roadside assist is included.

Karen told me that she went for a drive in a friend’s Tesla and that is what inspired her to look at an EV to replace her petrol MG. “Going for a drive in her Tesla made me start thinking about the pick-up of an electric car, and to be honest, I was a bit sick of paying for petrol. I didn’t consider a Tesla (although did briefly look at second hand prices). Overall, I don’t like the shape of the Model Y. I say it has a big Bum, lol. And the Model 3 is too expensive. Plus, I also don’t like the overly minimalist interior. I still wanted to feel like I was in a car.”

And on to the all-important question of charging. “The car came with a charger as part of the launch offer. Don’t ask me anything about it, as I have no idea! But it arrives tomorrow, so instead I charged at the free Evie station whilst I waited for the DEPOW charger (just a brand). I picked it because it was reasonably priced ($180) and had a 60 day money back guarantee plus 3 year warranty.”

Karen has already done a couple of 400 km road trips in her new Geely, GiGi. She tells me about her first one — I asked her if she was nervous: “I drove to Bendigo last weekend after having the car less than 24 hours. I was excited to drive it to Bendigo, and wasn’t overly nervous, because I planned to charge it at the Evie station at the gallery I was attending. This proved problematic because I didn’t think it was Evie, so went to a different one. It took a bit of working out how to connect it up. The only other issue is that it was terrible rain and I wasn’t sure how to use the wipers. I think I am still getting used to the car, but feel comfortable in it with the general features. The biggest difference is you definitely have to plan things out a bit more. Petrol is so much more readily available. The venue we went to didn’t have a charging station, which meant we had to stop for 20 minutes to get enough to go home. Moving forward I will be able to suggest the venue perhaps based on charging availability.”

On the trip to Bendigo, the car used 270 km of range to do the 200 km trip — another thing that EV drivers have had to adjust to. “The charging is easy now I know what I’m doing.” We’ve all been through that. Well done, Karen! There is still lots to learn — about over-the-air updates and regen braking, and all those apps!

This last weekend, Karen once again visited Bendigo for a family member’s 80th birthday The family at the birthday party all wanted to look at the Geely, and loved it. I think the whole electric thing interests people. There were of course the “hope it doesn’t catch fire” jokes.

Karen just laughed along with her family. I suggested Karen point her friends and family towards the EVFireSafe website.

It looks like friendly salespeople and value for money win out over popcorn and coke. In the end, lot of people participating in the rEVolution are looking for value for money. For the thousands who are getting into a Geely EX5, and others, the future is bright and electric. Check out Geely’s cheeky ad here.