Changan Deepal S05 review
Changan's Deepal S05 has some redeeming qualities, but they are all overshadowed by its sub-par driving experience and high price tag.
Our opinion on the Changan Deepal S05
The Changan Deepal S05 has its merits, like the impressive amount of space, bountiful standard kit list and better onboard tech than many of the Chinese cars we’ve tested to date. However, all of them are overshadowed by the sub-par driving experience, particularly the clumsy handling. We’d very much like to know exactly which roads in the UK this car was supposedly tuned on. Hopefully Changan carries out some additional chassis tweaks sharpish, but even with that we feel this is a curious leftfield option in the mid-size electric SUV segment, at most. It’s not a serious threat to the best around.
About the Changan Deepal S05
Changan may be the oldest carmaker in China but it only started selling cars in the UK late in 2025, so don’t worry if you’re unfamiliar with the name. What’s meant to set it apart from the countless other brands that have arrived recently is that its cars are designed (at least in part) by a team in Turin, Italy, and are powered by British engineering. The company opened a brand-new powertrain R&D centre in Birmingham in 2019, and tunes cars on our roads.
The Deepal S05 is the brand’s second offering to Brits, following closely behind the Deepal S07 which rivals the Tesla Model Y. As its name suggests, this new model is the slightly smaller and slightly less expensive one. It’s not as cheap as some might expect a Chinese SUV of this size to be, though.
It doesn’t just cost more than the base versions of the Elroq and EV3, it’s pricier than the long-range versions that can go quite a bit further between charges too. This puts the Deepal S05 on the back foot from the start.
Performance & driving experience
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We were hoping the Deepal S05 would distinguish itself on the road, partly because we were told it had been tested on UK roads and tuned specifically for them. We also found the bigger Deepal S07 to be one of the better driving Chinese contenders. Unfortunately, Changan really dropped the ball here, as the car lopes and lumbers around on typical British B-roads.
Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed
The Deepal S05 is offered with two electric powertrains plus a single plug-in hybrid option. The first EV powertrain uses a rear-mounted motor rated at 268bhp and 290Nm of torque. Acceleration is best described as brisk rather than truly fast, with 0-62mph taking 7.5 seconds. If that’s not enough, the all-wheel drive model adds an additional motor at the front axle for a combined 429bhp and 502Nm of torque, dropping the 0-62mph time to a hot hatch-like 5.5 seconds.
We’ve extensively tested the rear-wheel drive version, and although it does have a decent amount of performance, deploying it isn’t the most rewarding experience. You need to be very delicate with the throttle and brake pedal to drive the Deepal S05 smoothly. A hair too much pressure on the accelerator and a sudden hit of torque pushes everyone back into their seats.
The plug-in hybrid is a more recent addition. Its powertrain has been partly developed at the company’s UK R&D centre, and it mixes a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an 18.4kWh battery pack and an electric motor for a combined output of 255bhp. It’s not quite as quick as the rear-wheel drive EV, taking 7.9 seconds to reach 62mph.
| Model | Power | 0-62mph | Top speed |
| Deepal S05 Ultra PHEV | 255bhp | 7.9 | 112mph |
| Deepal S05 RWD | 268bhp | 7.5 | 112mph |
| Deepal S05 AWD | 429bhp | 5.5 | 112mph |
Town driving, visibility and parking
The steering is slow, vague, and gets heavy very quickly as you turn the wheel, so even in Comfort mode, trying to do a three-point turn feels like quite a workout. The limited rear visibility doesn’t help much in those situations either, which made us grateful for the various exterior cameras. We didn’t experience any issues with visibility out of the front.
Country road driving and handling
We can only assume the engineers set this car up for maximum softness to deal with the very worst, most pox-marked roads in Britain, but the Deepal S05 is only relatively comfortable, not remarkably so. It does an adequate job absorbing the impacts from potholes and other imperfections, however, going over them sends loud thumps through the cabin. Even on smooth road surfaces, the car is always wallowing around, refusing to settle. There is almost no sense of composure in how it drives.
Similarly, the brake system seems to have been poorly calibrated, and as a result, the car slows too sharply if you press the pedal even a fraction too much. An overly sudden transition between the regenerative braking and physical discs seems to be the problem.
It doesn’t help that you appear to only be able to increase the strength of the regenerative braking when in Custom mode. Even when it’s cranked all the way up, which is done in the complicated system of sub-menus, it takes a while for the car to slow after you lift off the throttle.
Hopefully, given the speed with which Chinese brands are able to update their cars, Changan can fettle the chassis on the Deepal S05 to improve the balance of comfort and stability, as well as ironing out a few of the other bugs.
Motorway driving and long-distance comfort
Performance in the standard rear-wheel-drive model quickly tails off after the initial surge and going from 60 to 70mph like you might on a motorway feels sluggish. That probably has something to do with this car weighing about 2.4 tonnes. The more powerful all-wheel-drive version shouldn’t suffer from the same stamina problem, but it costs £40k. Refinement at speed is just about acceptable, but nothing more.
“The rate of improvement with Chinese cars is rapid, so there’s some hope that the Deepal S05’s ride and handling issues are smoothed out in time.” - Ellis Hyde, news reporter.
MPG & running costs
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Simply by virtue of being an electric car, the Changan Deepal S05 EV will be very cheap to run if you can keep it charged at home, and preferably on a tariff with a cut-price overnight rate. The PHEV meanwhile has enough electric range that some drivers might rarely need to use the car’s engine to get around, helping cut costs.
Those savings could be offset by what you’re paying for insurance premiums, though, which have the potential to be quite high on the S05.
| Model | MPG | CO2 | Insurance group |
| Changan Deepal S05 Ultra PHEV Pro | 139.2mpg | 47g/km | 36 |
| Changan Deepal S05 Ultra PHEV Max | 139.2mpg | 47g/km | 36 |
Electric range, battery life and charge time
The Deepal S05 features a 68.8kWh battery that Changan says is good for up to 303 miles - some way off the 372 miles the equivalent Skoda Elroq 85 offers. The AWD version drops slightly to 295 miles.
During our testing, we averaged 3.6mi/kWh, which isn’t bad, and if we kept it up would give us a real-world range of about 245 miles. For comparison, when we lived with an Elroq 85 for six months we managed 3.8mi/kWh, giving us a realistic 293 miles per charge.
One improvement the Deepal S05 does make over its big brother is that it can charge at up to 200kW, whereas the Deepal S07 peaks at a disappointing 95kW. This allows for a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in 23 minutes, according to Changan.
| Model | Battery size | Range | Insurance group |
| Deepal 05 RWD | 68.8kWh | 303 miles | 38 |
| Deepal 05 AWD | 68.8kWh | 295 miles | 41 |
Insurance groups
The Deepal S05 Ultra PHEV sits in car insurance group 36, and then it’s 38 for the RWD EV and 41 for the AWD. This looks high when an Elroq starts from group 22, and even the range-topping vRS is only in group 36.
Tax
It’ll cost you £200 a year for Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), better known as car tax, on the Deepal S05. The RRP is low enough that you won’t need to worry about the government’s Expensive Car Tax supplement, and the lowest possible Benefit in Kind (BiK) company car tax rate will make for very modest costs.
Depreciation
According to our data, the Deepal S05 is set to retain between 46.5 and just over 47 per cent of its value by the time it reaches three years old or 60,000 miles, which is comparable to the Skoda Elroq.
Interior, design & technology
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The S05’s design doesn’t do much to help it stand out from the crowd. Sure, it’s a nicely proportioned, angular and fairly smart-looking crossover, but also a rather forgettable one.
Interior and dashboard design
The simple, uncluttered interior makes more of an impression, even though at a glance you assume it’s yet another imitation of Tesla’s extremely minimalist cabins. Indeed, much like a Tesla Model Y, there’s no traditional instrument panel ahead of the driver.
All versions of the S05 EV thankfully come with a head-up display, but the entry-level version of the PHEV does without, so you’ll have to look over at the central screen to see vital driving information like your speed.
Materials and build quality
The interior feels well built overall and perceived quality is good too, but we noticed the vegan-friendly leather alternative on the doors and other surfaces is just a very thin layer concealing hard plastics. Also, the top of the dashboard is covered in what feels like the rubber surfacing that’s used for children’s playgrounds.
Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo
The 15.4-inch, 2.5k central display is sharp and, thanks to a Qualcomm processor, very responsive, with all the menus loading quickly. Plus, the infotainment system is fairly intuitive and features a customisable swipe-down control centre like a smartphone’s, with lots of big shortcut buttons. It’s easily one of the better, less frustrating systems we’ve experienced in a Chinese car.
That said, the customisation options feel almost endless along with the general amount of settings you can play with in this car. It’s great for the things owners will set and forget, but it can feel a bit overwhelming when you try to change anything that can’t be done on that swipe-down shortcut menu. Fully switching off the speed limit warning, for instance, has to be done in one of the numerous sub-menus.
There are some interesting novelties too, like the touchscreen being able to angle itself either towards the driver or towards the front passenger at the push of a button. The most bizarre thing we found is that the speaker in the front of the car can be used to play messages to pedestrians and other motorists. One of the pre-programmed options is telling people to ‘get off their phones and drive safely’, which is unlikely to de-escalate any road rage situations. If for some reason you really do want to go about nagging fellow road users, you can actually set one of the two customisable buttons on the steering wheel to activate the speaker.
Boot space & practicality
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The Deepal S05 is bigger than a lot of rivals, translating to a lot more interior space. Boot space is impressive, too, and the front luggage area is massive, which makes the S05 stand out when many alternatives don’t have a frunk at all.
Dimensions and size
The Deepal S05 looks pretty big for the class in terms of length, stretching some 110mm beyond the Skoda Elroq, and it’s nearly 300mm longer than a Kia EV3.
Dimensions comparison | |||
| Model | Changan Deepal S05 | Skoda Elroq | Kia EV3 |
| Length | 4,598mm | 4,488mm | 4,300mm |
| Width | 1,900mm | 1,884mm | 1,850mm |
| Height | 1,600mm | 1,625mm | 1,560mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,880mm | 2,765mm | 2,680mm |
| Boot space | 492 litres | 470 litres | 460 litres |
Seats & passenger space
The Deepal S05’s generous exterior dimensions make it a roomy car inside. It’s spacious, with loads of legroom in the back and headroom to spare for six-foot-tall adults.
Boot space
There’s a huge 492-litre boot in the EV, which is slightly bigger than the Elroq’s or EV3’s, while the PHEV has slightly less at 445 litres. While there is a sizeable load lip you’ll need to hoist stuff over, it’s a big and wide load space with tie-down points and just enough room under the floor to keep the charging cable out of sight.
The rear seat folds in a 60/40 split rather than the more versatile 40/20/40. There’s a curiously large difference in the figures quoted for the EV and the PHEV with the seats folded. The EV only manages 1,250 litres, which seems very low compared to rivals, and indeed the PHEV, which is rated by Changan at 1,636 litres. We wonder if the EV is measured up to the windowline, and the PHEV up to the roof (which is the norm).
Meanwhile, under the bonnet of the EV is a cavernous 159-litre frunk, ideal for muddy walking boots, and it has a drain hole if you need to clean it afterwards. You do lose a tiny bit of space at the front of the all-wheel drive model because of the motor at the front axle, but it’s only a seven-litre reduction.
Towing
Both the EV and PHEV versions of the Changan Deepal S05 are rated to tow braked loads of up to 1,600kg.
“The Deepal S05 EV’s massive frunk is especially impressive considering many rivals don’t have a front storage area at all ” - Ellis Hyde, news reporter.
Reliability & safety
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As with other emerging Chinese brands, it’s difficult to tell what the long-term reliability of the Deepal S05 might be like. In years to come, we’ll have useful ownership experiences filtering through in the Auto Express Driver Power survey, but for now, it’s good to see that Changan offers an above average seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, on top of the mandated eight year/100,000-mile cover for the EV’s high-voltage battery.
The S05 also came away with the full five-star rating from Euro NCAP when tested in 2025, with a particularly strong result in the adult occupant category of 94 per cent.
| Euro NCAP safety ratings | |
| Euro NCAP safety rating | Five stars |
| Adult occupant protection | 94% |
| Child occupant protection | 87% |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 78% |
| Safety assist | 76% |
Buying, prices and deals
- Best buy: Deepal S05 Ultra PHEV Max
We’re used to cut-price Chinese car prices, so it was a bit of a surprise to see the Deepal S05 coming in at £37,995 for the RWD EV, and £39,995 for the AWD. That’s getting on for mid-spec Skoda Elroq territory.
You can pay a lot less than that, though – we’ve seen discounts of up to £8,000 via the Auto Express Buy a Car service. The plug-in hybrid meanwhile gets a lower starting price of £32,990.
There is only one specification for the Deepal S05 EV called Max, with every model coming generously equipped with that large touchscreen and head-up display. There’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 540-degree surround-view camera system, a built-in dashcam system, 14-speaker stereo, wireless charging pad and numerous driver-assistance systems. The only optional extras are a panoramic roof (£1,000) and a detachable tow bar (£600).
The PHEV can be specced in a slightly less well-apportioned Pro trim, which misses out on the wireless phone charger, rotating screen, heated and ventilated front seats and augmented reality head-up display. It’s an extra £2,000.
Changan Deepal S05 Alternatives
The Deepal S05’s strong pricing pitches it against some much better-rounded alternatives. You can have a Skoda Elroq SE L 85 for less, and although the standard equipment level isn’t as high on the Czech car, it drives far better than the Changan and can go much further on a full charge.
The Kia EV3 meanwhile is another much more sorted package that’s £2,000 less than a Deepal S05 in its cheapest bigger-battery form, but the price does ramp up quite quickly from there if you want more gear to better compete with the Changan’s offering. Again, though, the range is significantly better.
The Deepal S05 also has to compete with fellow Chinese cars, many of which are much more aggressive on price. The Geely EX5, for example, has a starting price that’s some £8,000 lower.
The S05 Ultra PHEV looks a bit keener on price than the EV, undercutting the cheapest Kia Sportage PHEV by about £6,000. Again, though, there are plenty of other value-focused, Chinese-made PHEVs that the S05 has to tempt people away from, including the MG HS.
Changan Deepal S05 pictures
Frequently Asked Questions
The Deepal S05 has some redeeming qualities, but at this price, you can do much better. It’s not a car we strongly recommend, although there are some good deals around to offset its less-good elements.
Deals on the Changan Deepal S05 and alternatives
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