Jaecoo 5 / E5 review (UK): price, range, charging, verdict

The Jaecoo 5 is a compact SUV sold as a petrol car or as the fully electric E5, and the E5 gives you 248 miles of WLTP range, a 480-litre boot and a long equipment list from £27,505 in November 2026. It is strong value for families who charge at home, but testers rate its ride, handling and 80 kW rapid charging behind the best rivals.

The 5 is the entry model in Jaecoo’s UK range, below the Jaecoo 7 and Jaecoo 8, and it sits on Chery’s T1X platform, which Electrive reports is shared with Omoda; our guide to the Jaecoo brand covers every model and the dealer network. This review concentrates on the E5, the electric version, and compares it with the petrol 5 where that helps you choose. EV Compared has not driven the car: the verdict rests on Jaecoo’s published data, government figures and the UK reviews named below.

Verdict: who should buy the Jaecoo 5 / E5, and who should not?

Buy the E5 if you want a roomy, well-equipped electric SUV for under £30,000 and you can charge at home. The Pure costs £27,505 for 248 miles of WLTP range, which works out at £111 of list price per mile of range, and charged off-peak at home it costs 1.5p a mile to run. The 480-litre boot, pet-friendly upholstery and a seven-year warranty make it an easy car to live with on the school run and the weekly shop.

Do not buy one if you regularly drive long motorway journeys, because 80 kW peak charging means longer stops than faster-charging rivals. Skip it, too, if a composed ride and tidy handling matter to you: What Car?, Auto Express and Carwow all mark it down for how it drives. And if you want a car with a proven reliability record and a Euro NCAP rating, the E5 has neither yet.

How much is the Jaecoo 5, and what do the trims include?

The Jaecoo 5 costs from £24,555 as a petrol Pure and the electric E5 from £27,505, on Jaecoo’s on-the-road prices in November 2026. There are two trim levels, Pure and Luxury, for both the petrol and the electric car, and the Luxury costs £3,000 to £3,495 more.

Version	Price (Nov 2026)	Power	0 to 62mph	What the trim adds
Jaecoo 5 Pure (petrol)	£24,555	140 PS	10.2 seconds	13.2-inch touchscreen, cloth seats, six speakers
Jaecoo 5 Luxury (petrol)	£28,050	140 PS	10.2 seconds	Panoramic roof, heated and ventilated seats, Sony audio
Jaecoo E5 Pure (electric)	£27,505	207 PS	7.7 seconds	Connected navigation, rear camera, vehicle-to-load
Jaecoo E5 Luxury (electric)	£30,505	207 PS	7.7 seconds	Pure kit plus the Luxury extras

The petrol Jaecoo 5 uses a 1.6-litre turbo engine with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and is not a hybrid. The E5 uses a 155 kW (207 PS) electric motor with 288 Nm of torque driving the front wheels.

Every version gets 18-inch alloy wheels, a 13.2-inch portrait touchscreen and an 8.8-inch driver’s display. Electrive’s launch report lists wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on both E5 trims, along with Level 2 driver assistance on the Pure. Both E5 trims also have vehicle-to-load, a socket in the boot that can run external electrical equipment from the car’s battery.

No Jaecoo appears on the government’s list of cars eligible for the Electric Car Grant, so there is no discount at the dealer from that scheme. Jaecoo is running its own offer instead: on PCP orders placed from 1 October 2026, a £3,000 “Jaecoo EV Grant” goes towards the deposit, and its representative example comes to £343 a month for the E5 Pure and £388 for the Luxury over 49 months at 2.9% APR.

Our Jaecoo 5 / E5 price and specs page lists the full figures for each version.

Jaecoo 5 Pure vs Luxury: which trim should you choose?

The Pure is the better value, and Auto Express names the E5 Pure the pick of the range. The Luxury adds comfort and convenience rather than anything that changes range, performance or charging, which are identical on both.

The £3,000 step from E5 Pure to E5 Luxury buys LED headlights in place of halogens, a panoramic glass roof with a powered sunshade, synthetic leather seats with six-way power adjustment, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, multi-colour ambient lighting, a Sony eight-speaker stereo, 50W cooled wireless phone charging, a powered tailgate and a load-bearing roof rack. The Luxury also weighs 20 kg more, at 1,710 kg against 1,690 kg.

What Car? recommends the Luxury, arguing the extras are worth the premium. If you mostly drive short local trips, the Pure keeps the essentials: connected navigation, smartphone mirroring, the big screen and a rear camera with dynamic guidelines.

What is the Jaecoo E5’s range, WLTP versus real world?

The Jaecoo E5 has a WLTP range of 248 miles from its 58.9 kWh usable battery. Jaecoo lists the battery at 60.9 kWh gross, and both trims have the same figure.

That works out at 4.21 miles per kWh on the official test. This is EV Compared’s figure: WLTP range divided by usable battery capacity, as set out in our methodology.

Real-world range depends on speed, temperature and how you drive. Carwow’s testers recorded 3.7 miles per kWh in Kent, which would give about 225 miles from a full charge, or around 90% of the official figure. What Car? expects 150 to 200 miles in everyday use.

Our page on Jaecoo E5 real-world range and charging times goes into more detail on how far it goes in different conditions.

How fast does the Jaecoo E5 charge?

The E5 charges at up to 80 kW on a public rapid charger, and Jaecoo quotes 27 minutes to go from 30 to 80%. At home it accepts up to 11 kW on AC, and a full charge on a 7 kW wallbox takes about 8.4 hours on our sums, so an overnight charge fills it.

Where you charge	Charging power	Time	Cost of a full charge
Home 7 kW wallbox, off-peak tariff (6.5p/kWh)	7 kW	About 8.4 hours, 0 to 100% (EV Compared)	£3.83
Home, standard rate at the price cap (26.32p/kWh)	7 kW	About 8.4 hours, 0 to 100% (EV Compared)	£15.50
Home 7.4 kW wallbox	7.4 kW	8 hours 10 minutes (Carwow)	n/a
Public rapid charger (82p/kWh)	Up to 80 kW	27 minutes, 30 to 80% (Jaecoo)	£48.30

The wallbox time uses the slower of 7 kW and the car’s onboard charger, and the costs ignore charging losses. Jaecoo does not publish a 10 to 80% time.

The 80 kW peak is the E5’s main weakness. What Car? calls it “piddly”, and Carwow’s verdict is that slow DC charging makes it “a poor choice for long drives”. Of the electric rivals in the table below, the Geely EX5 charges at up to 120 kW, the Omoda E5 at 130 kW and the Leapmotor B10 at 168 kW. If you rapid charge once a month, that matters little; if you do it several times a week, the extra time adds up. Charging is also slower in winter, as our explainer on why EVs charge more slowly in cold weather sets out.

Jaecoo has offered E5 buyers help with home charging; our report on the E5’s Octopus home charger offer explains how it works.

For choosing and installing a wallbox, our partner site Best Chargers compares home chargers.

What does the Jaecoo E5 cost to run?

Charged at home on a 6.5p/kWh off-peak tariff, the E5 costs 1.5p a mile, which is £124 over 8,000 miles. Those figures use the Intelligent Octopus Go off-peak rate and ignore charging losses.

How you charge	Pence per mile	Cost over 8,000 miles
Home, off-peak at 6.5p/kWh	1.5p	£124
Home, price cap rate of 26.32p/kWh (October to December 2026)	6.3p	£500
Public rapid charger at 82p/kWh (Zapmap, October 2026)	19.5p	£1,558

The gap shows why the E5 makes most sense for drivers with a driveway. Someone who relies on rapid chargers pays 13 times as much per mile as someone charging at home overnight on an off-peak tariff.

Insurance. Auto Express puts the E5 in insurance group 34 and the petrol Jaecoo 5 in groups 25 to 26, and says that is higher than several rivals. The Car Expert lists group 34D.

Vehicle tax. The first year’s tax is included in Jaecoo’s on-the-road price, at the £10 rate for zero emission cars. From the second year the E5 pays the standard rate of £200 a year, according to gov.uk. Its list price is well below the threshold for the expensive car supplement.

Company car tax. Electric company cars are taxed on 4% of their list price in the 2026 to 2027 tax year, rising to 5% in 2027 to 2028, according to HMRC. What Car? works out that an E5 Luxury costs £244 a year in company car tax for a 20% taxpayer and £487 for a 40% taxpayer.

How big is the boot, and how practical is the Jaecoo 5?

The Jaecoo 5 has a 480-litre boot with the rear seats up and 1,180 litres with them folded, on both the petrol and electric versions. What Car? also found a 35-litre front boot under the E5’s bonnet, which is handy for keeping charging cables out of the way.

That is a large boot for a car 4,380 mm long. Auto Express says it is well ahead of the Dacia Duster and Renault 4, and Carwow notes it beats the MG S5 EV’s 453 litres and the Renault 4’s 420 litres, though the Ford Puma Gen-E offers 556 litres. Among the electric rivals in our table, the E5’s boot is bigger than the Geely EX5’s 461 litres, the Leapmotor B10’s 430 litres and the Omoda E5’s 370 litres.

Inside, Electrive’s launch report counts 35 storage spaces, and Carwow praises the amount of front space and storage. The rear seat is less generous: What Car? found plenty of headroom but tight legroom. Jaecoo fits pet-friendly upholstery on both E5 trims.

The E5 can tow a braked trailer of up to 1,250 kg and an unbraked one of 750 kg. It measures 4,380 mm long, 1,860 mm wide and 1,650 mm tall. What Car? notes that the climate controls sit on the touchscreen rather than on physical buttons, which Carwow’s testers found annoying.

What the testers say about the Jaecoo E5

UK reviewers agree that the E5 is strong value and practical, and weak on the road. The summaries below are their findings, not EV Compared’s.

Auto Express rated the Jaecoo 5 range 3 out of 5 in October 2026. Its reviewers, Max Adams and Shane Wilkinson, found it “can’t compete with European rivals when it comes to refinement” but “offers an impressive amount of space for the price”. They praised the tech as “at a higher level than you’d expect at this price point”, criticised a choppy ride over imperfections at low speeds, and named the E5 Pure the pick of the range for its combination of performance and low running costs.

What Car? tested the E5 in Luxury trim, and its senior reviewer Oliver Young was blunt about the driving. He found the ride “easily tripped up over potholes and bumps”, the handling “quite sloppy” and the steering imprecise, with noticeable road and wind noise. He concluded that the E5 is worth a look for its “low pricing, a big boot and generous kit list”, but “not worth considering if you want an average (let alone good) driving experience”.

Carwow updated its review of the E5 in June 2026. Its testers praised the front space, storage, pet-friendly touches and a responsive touchscreen. They found the ride fine in town but fidgety on rough roads, comfortable and fairly quiet on the motorway, and noted that the body leans too much on twisty roads. Their main complaint was charging: slow DC speeds make it “a poor choice for long drives”.

Is the Jaecoo E5 safe and reliable?

The E5 has no Euro NCAP rating yet. Auto Express reported in October 2026 that Euro NCAP had not tested the car, and The Car Expert said the same in July 2026. The Jaecoo 7 plug-in hybrid has its own five-star rating, awarded by Euro NCAP in April 2025, but that does not carry over to the 5 or E5. What Car? notes the E5 has six airbags and up to 19 driver assistance systems.

There is no reliability data for the E5 either. What Car? points out that neither the car nor the brand featured in its 2025 reliability survey, and The Car Expert had no reliability rating in July 2026. Electrive reported that UK deliveries were due to start in October 2025, so the oldest cars are only about a year old.

The DVSA’s vehicle recall checker lets you look up any car by its registration number, which is the reliable way to check a specific car before you buy it.

The warranty is the reassurance Jaecoo offers in place of a track record: seven years or 100,000 miles on the car and eight years or 100,000 miles on the battery.

Should you choose the electric E5 or the petrol Jaecoo 5?

Choose the E5 if you can charge at home: it costs £2,950 more than the petrol Pure but is quicker and far cheaper to fuel at home, and it is taxed at 4% as a company car. Choose the petrol only if you cannot charge at home and mostly drive long distances.

The E5 reaches 62mph in 7.7 seconds against 10.2 seconds for the petrol, and Auto Express says its 288 Nm of torque arrives almost instantly. The petrol 1.6 is the weaker of the two in Auto Express’s test, which found it weak and unrefined and recorded 35mpg against an official 40.4mpg.

If you want something bigger with a petrol engine and some electric driving, the Jaecoo 7 plug-in hybrid is the brand’s next step up.

Which rivals should you compare with the Jaecoo E5?

The nearest rivals on price are three electric SUVs, the Geely EX5, Leapmotor B10 and Omoda E5, and three plug-in hybrids from Chinese brands. Every electric rival costs more than the E5 Pure, but each charges faster and goes further on the WLTP test.

Car	List price (Nov 2026)	WLTP range (electric range for plug-in hybrids)	Peak DC charging	Boot
Jaecoo E5 Pure (electric)	£27,505	248 miles	80 kW	480 litres
Geely Starray EM-i Pro (plug-in hybrid)	£29,990	51 miles	30 kW	528 litres
Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Aspire (plug-in hybrid)	£29,995	56 miles	40 kW	565 litres
Geely EX5 SE (electric)	£31,990	267 miles	120 kW	461 litres
Omoda 7 SHS-P Knight (plug-in hybrid)	£32,005	56 miles	40 kW	590 litres
Leapmotor B10 67.1 kWh (electric)	£32,495	270 miles	168 kW	430 litres
Omoda E5 Knight (electric)	£33,065	267 miles	130 kW	370 litres

On list price per mile of WLTP range, the E5 Pure’s £111 compares with £120 for the Geely EX5, £120 for the Leapmotor B10 and £124 for the Omoda E5, the lowest of the four electric cars here. Charged at home off-peak, it costs the same 1.5p a mile as the Geely EX5, while the more efficient Omoda E5 costs 1.4p.

Omoda E5. The Omoda E5 comes from Jaecoo’s sister brand and has the same 155 kW output and 58.9 kWh usable battery. The Omoda costs £5,560 more as the Knight, goes 19 miles further on the WLTP test and charges at 130 kW, but its boot is 110 litres smaller. Pick the Jaecoo for space and price, the Omoda for long trips.

Geely EX5 and Leapmotor B10. Both cost about £4,500 to £5,000 more and charge much faster. The EX5 is a bigger car at 4,615 mm long and has an eight-year warranty; the B10 has the most range here at 270 miles but the shortest warranty, at four years.

The plug-in hybrids. The Geely Starray EM-i, Chery Tiggo 7 and Omoda 7 cost a little more and offer bigger boots, but only 51 to 56 miles of electric range before the petrol engine takes over. They suit drivers who cannot yet commit to an electric car; read our Chery Tiggo 7 and 8 review for how that approach works in practice.

Should you buy a Jaecoo 5 or E5?

Yes, if you want plenty of space and equipment for your money in a small electric SUV and you can charge at home. The E5 Pure gives 248 miles of WLTP range, a 480-litre boot, a 13.2-inch screen and a seven-year warranty for £27,505, and it costs 1.5p a mile to run on an off-peak tariff. Families, dog owners and company car drivers on a budget will find a lot to like.

No, if you drive long distances often, because its 80 kW charging is slower than any electric rival in our table. No, too, if you care how a car rides and steers: What Car?, Auto Express and Carwow all mark it down on the road. And buyers who want proven reliability, a Euro NCAP rating or a resale record should wait until the E5 has them.

This verdict rests on published data and the UK reviews cited above; EV Compared has not driven the Jaecoo E5.