Changan Deepal S05 - The Chinese influx continues with this £38k option
Here we go again, friends! Another fresh entry to the UK market from China. This time it’s Changan and its electric Deepal S05.
Changan launched here towards the end of 2025 with the D-Segment Deepal S07, but you’ll still not be judged for not knowing exactly what Changan is and what it’s about. The S05 is a C-segment SUV/Crossover/family car, which means people looking for electric transport to tackle the everyday have another choice in a crowded market. Before it hits the UK, I went on a cold weather jaunt to Austria to see what it’s like.
The Changan Story So Far
Now, you’re probably asking the same question others are pondering: What’s a Changan? The company’s been around for a fair while, though it’s not had a crack at Europe until now. Changan’s one of China’s biggest manufacturers, though it doesn’t limit its operations to the East. Its R&D centre is in Birmingham, because it identified that the UK is where the best engineers are. Crews in the Midlands have been developing and tweaking powertrain, ride, and all manner of essential components for over a decade. Similarly, Changan spotted that the prettiest cars come from Italy, so set up a design studio with hundreds of keen scribblers there. As a result, it’s sold loads of cars in its home market. Now it wants a slice of ours, but it’s got a way to go.
It’s early days, and as so many Chinese cars are rushing to snag your hard earned money, it needs to stand out. Changan isn’t competing against Skoda, VW, Kia, Hyundai and the like; it’s got to face down Geely, Omoda, Jaecoo, BYD, and…whoever else lands here in the coming years.
Deepal S05 Prices & Specs
How’s it going to do that then? UK R&D aside, it’s playing it as safe as it can. Its current two car line up are SUV/crossovers, which people like (just look out of your window and you’ll see why). That’s an instant win. The cars are well priced, too. The RWD MAX Deepal S05 will hit the market at £37,990, while the top spec AWD MAX is £39,990. Not small money, but competitive in the market.
On the specs front, both get a 68.8kWh LFP battery, which is chunky enough to get 303 miles out of the RWD car, and 278 from the four-wheel driver on the WLTP cycle. Plump for the rear driven car and you’ll get 268 bhp and 214lb ft, while the top of the range model gets an extra motor on the front axle, giving a total output of 429bhp and 370lb ft. 0-62 takes 7.5 and 5.5 seconds respectively, while top speeds sit at 112mph.
Exterior
Changan’s keen to point out that while, yes, it’s a big car, it's slippery - it’s got a 0.25Cd drag coefficient. That’s a small number, and those are good. The Italian influence on design is pleasing in person. It’s not an amorphous blob and has neat swooshes and flicks in all the right places. The only thing that irks is a sort of pock mark on the C-pillar - it’s all RGB gamer-y, and is there to indicate charge.
Interior
Inside isn’t groundbreaking, but has some neat touches. Upholstered in vegan leather, there’s lots of space to stretch out, but nothing about it will leap out at you. There are more than 30 storage spaces for your daily nonsense, and the boot is decent: 492-litres seats up, 1250-litres seats down, and there’s even a 159-litre frunk.
Minimalism is the style of the moment, which means there are few physical buttons - instead, a 15.2-inch screen through which you control everything. That is a slight sticking point. To change drive modes, adjust door mirrors, and all the useful stuff, you’ve got to go through that. It’s not a new thing in today’s climate, but it’s not necessarily a good one. It does have a fun trick, though - it moves! You can have it pointed towards the driver, facing the middle of the car, or angled at the passenger. Yes, it’s needless, but it’s a neat party piece for passengers to marvel at. To keep your eyes on the road, Changan’s fitted a pretty jazzy augmented reality HUD, too. It’s big, clear, and shows you everything you could possibly want it to.
What is it like to drive?
It’s all very pleasant and family car-ish then. Lovely.
To show off what it could actually do, we were taken to a test facility in snowy Austria to have a crack at playing in low grip environments in the AWD MAX model. Lots of silliness happened, including trying to kick the rear out on a skid pad, and even giving it a good ‘ol wang around a track. The Deepal S05 did a good job when the going got slippery in its various drive modes. The performance in sport mode was truly entertaining - it’s a properly quick car - and, despite a kerb weight ticking just over two tonnes it wasn’t all that roly poly. Yes, there was weight transfer, but you won’t worry about falling over. While trying to do silly skids, things didn’t go quite to plan. A mix of ham-footedness, and a set up designed to keep normal drivers on the straight and narrow meant it tended to understeer more often than not. If you’re looking for a drift machine, though, perhaps a family EV isn’t the car for you. Just go easy if it’s icy out.
We then took to the road to see what it’s like in the real world, where normal people will do normal driving. Austria’s roads, at least the ones near the test centre, are a decent facsimile of the UK’s in that they’re a bit cack. You get a mix of rough and smooth, with the odd pot hole. The ride was a touch jiggly over the rough stuff, which was a slight surprise, but also… it’s a family car and not a Roller, so these things are to be expected. With a lot of standing water and puddles on the road, each time it went through them, there was more noise than you’d hope coming from the rear wheel arches. This is something that the UK’s R&D team can sort through…if they want to.
Otherwise, it was smooth, comfortable, and quick. It’s very good at being A Car. Working the infotainment through the touch screen on the move was a pain, though. Changing things requires looking directly at the panel, and then the car politely but firmly asks you to pay attention to the road. It’s worth setting yourself up before you head off, then leaving it all well alone.
Should you buy one?
Well, it’s entering a busy market and there’s a lot of choice out there. It feels well built, looks good, and bar a couple of fixable, or at least manageable irks, it’s a decent drive. Changan notes that there’s a strong support network for parts and repair, so you needn’t worry about bits needing replacing and the like. The only thing that’ll stop some people (competitors aside), is the brand’s relative newness in the market. For some, a lack of lineage might be off putting, for others… not so much. It’ll be launching in the UK later this year.
words: Alex Goy
pictures: Changan
