Geely EX5 UK Review: £31,990 Family EV With a Lotus-Tuned Ride — Good Enough?

A new badge with very old money behind it

Geely is one of the largest car groups on the planet, yet until now it has sold cars in Britain only through the brands it owns — Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and, lately, Zeekr. The EX5 changes that: the first car wearing Geely's own badge in UK showrooms, priced from £31,990 and reportedly carrying Lotus fingerprints in its chassis tuning. The Geely EX5 review UK buyers actually need boils down to this: cheap, safe, comfortable and mostly convincing — with one persistent irritation.

Timing explains the search traffic. The EX5 is on sale through 2026 with aggressive self-funded discounts that shadow the government's Electric Car Grant, which has turned an unfamiliar badge into one of the year's most searched Chinese newcomers. Cheap, roomy and five-star safe is a strong formula. Whether the execution matches it is the real question.

Pricing, trims and the grant-matching game

The range is simple by modern standards. UK prices run from £31,990 to £38,990 across four trims — SE, Pro, Max and Ultra — with a single battery option throughout, so you are choosing equipment rather than untangling a chemistry set of packs and motors.

The cleverer move is what Geely has done about the Electric Car Grant. Rather than wait for buyers to work out which versions qualify, the company has matched the full £3,750 grant with a self-funded scheme on top trims, and knocked £2,300 off the entry model. In effect, Geely pays the discount itself where the government does not. That is the aggression of a giant buying its way into a market, and it makes the effective entry price hard for rivals to answer — the Omoda 5 and the rest of the best Chinese cars on sale in the UK suddenly have company at the sharp end.

Range, safety and the Lotus connection

One battery means one range figure: 267 miles WLTP. Adequate rather than remarkable — regular motorway drivers will notice the gap to longer-legged rivals, but for school runs, commutes and weekend trips it is plenty.

Safety is a stronger card. Euro NCAP awarded the EX5 a full five stars in 2025, with category scores between 83% and 87% — consistent marks across the board rather than one flattering headline number. For a newcomer badge with no UK track record, that consistency matters more than cachet.

Then there is the ride. Reviewers consistently praise the EX5's supple ride tuning, which Lotus is reported to have been involved in. Nobody is calling it a sports saloon, but the way it breathes over poor British surfaces is repeatedly singled out as a genuine strength — rare among budget EVs.

Inside: space to praise, screens to curse

The cabin follows the same value-first logic. Rear legroom draws consistent praise from reviewers, as does the warranty — two things family buyers actually care about and that rarely make headlines.

The infotainment is the sore point. Top Gear and What Car? both criticise it as over-complicated: too many functions buried in menus, too much of the car run through the screen. You would learn to live with it. You would also mutter at it weekly.

The honest assessment

The EX5 is a serious first effort, not a curiosity. The maths is the headline: £31,990 before Geely's self-funded discounts, five-star safety, a supple ride and a roomy rear cabin add up to a car that deserves a place on a family shortlist. The trade-offs are equally plain: 267 miles of WLTP range is mid-pack at best, the infotainment will test your patience, and the badge carries zero residual reputation in the UK — which is precisely why the warranty and the grant-matching exist. Buy it with your calculator and it makes a strong case. If you want the same group's engineering with more polish and more money, our Zeekr 7X first drive covers the upmarket route.

The questions buyers actually ask

How much does the Geely EX5 cost in the UK? UK prices run from £31,990 for the SE to £38,990 for the Ultra, across four trims. Geely has matched the full £3,750 Electric Car Grant with its own self-funded scheme on top trims, and offers £2,300 off the entry model.

What is the Geely EX5's real-world range? One battery option, rated at 267 miles WLTP. Expect less in cold weather and at motorway speeds — usable for family duties, unexceptional for long-haul drivers.

Is the Geely EX5 safe? Euro NCAP awarded it a full five stars in 2025, with category scores between 83% and 87% — a consistently strong result for a UK-market newcomer.

Key takeaways

• The EX5 is Geely's own-brand UK debut, priced from £31,990 to £38,990 across SE, Pro, Max and Ultra trims.
• Geely matches the £3,750 Electric Car Grant itself on top trims, with £2,300 off the entry car.
• One battery, 267 miles WLTP — adequate for families, not a long-distance champion.
• Five stars from Euro NCAP in 2025, scoring 83% to 87% across categories.
• Ride comfort, rear legroom and warranty impress; the over-complicated infotainment is the consistent complaint.