BYD
ATTO 3
From $39,990
Jaecoo
J5 EV
Model Profile
ElectricSUV2026
From $36,990
Offer price · priced Sep 2026. Limited-time offer. Details →
The short version
The J5 is the value packed SUV that is hard to deny; you get a lot for your money and it's an example of how the Chinese brands are assaulting the local market. Jaecoo is the newer, plusher half of Chery's two-brand push into Australia, and the J5 EV is its first electric car here: a single, heavily equipped grade aimed at the value end of the electric small-SUV rush. It landed in showrooms in early 2026 with a glasshouse cabin, a claimed 402 kilometres of WLTP range, DC fast-charging peaking at 130 kW, a long warranty and a drive-away price that made buyers look twice. The catch, if there is one, is under your right foot rather than on the spec sheet.
The numbers that matter
What matters to you?
402km
Range155kW
Power480L
Boot space8years
Battery warrantyRange shown across the J5 EV line-up. Pick a priority to see the numbers that matter to you.
In the metal
Images are illustrative and digitally rendered. They may not reflect the exact variant, colour or trim. Details →
The full picture
Living with the J5 EV.
The J5 EV is the value play in a crowded new class of affordable electric small SUVs. It comes one way only, in top-spec Summit trim, with a single front-mounted motor driving the front wheels. The pitch is simple and consistent across the board: a lot of electric car, a premium-feeling cabin and a class-long warranty, at a price that undercuts most of the nicer rivals. Read it as value first, driving second, and it makes a strong case for itself.
The money is where the J5 EV lands its punches. The launch deal, live as of September 2026, is $36,990 drive-away, folding in registration, stamp duty, delivery and premium paint rather than adding them on top. Ownership stays cheap from there: an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty that also covers the high-voltage battery, capped-price servicing across those eight years, and intervals set at a relaxed 20,000 kilometres or 12 months. Roadside assistance runs to the same eight years, so the cover that matters most on a new brand is spelled out, not assumed. For a buyer moving out of a petrol car, the running-cost gap is the whole point, and cheap home charging keeps it that way.
Because there is only one grade, there is no equipment ladder to climb and no decision to agonise over. The Summit arrives with a panoramic glass roof and powered sunshade, heated and ventilated front seats trimmed in pet-friendly synthetic leather, dual-zone climate, a 13.2-inch central touchscreen, an 8.88-inch digital driver's display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a surround-view camera, a wireless charging pad and a powered tailgate. Most of it reads off the extra-cost options list on pricier small SUVs, the sort of features buyers usually add one box at a time. Here it all comes standard, and that generosity is the strongest part of the everyday ownership case.
Under the floor sits a 58.9 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, a chemistry prized for durability and cost over outright energy density, feeding a 155 kW motor for a claimed 402 kilometres of WLTP range. The hardware is honest for the price; the polish is where the newness shows. Reviewers are consistent on the flaws: the steering is light and short on feel, the regenerative braking is jerky with no true one-pedal mode, and too many functions live inside the touchscreen. Real-world range also sits below the lab figure, as it does for most EVs. None of that undoes the value, but it does put the J5 EV a rung below the class's sharper-driving cars. Buy it for the cabin, the kit and the ownership terms, and go in knowing the drive is the compromise.
No. 1
electric small SUV, May 2026
Australia's best-selling electric small SUV in May 2026, a result even Jaecoo did not see coming.
The range
J5 EV Range Walk
The J5 EV keeps the range simple: there is one grade, the Summit, so the walk-up is really a checklist of what that single, loaded spec includes. There is no cheaper trim beneath it and nothing pricier above, so the ladder is one rung tall.
- 01
J5 EV Summit
Buyers who want a fully-loaded electric small SUV without decoding a spec sheet.From $36,990
The only grade, and it is the top one. A 155 kW front motor, the 58.9 kWh battery, the panoramic roof, heated and ventilated seats, the touchscreen, surround-view camera, wireless phone charging and a powered tailgate all come standard. Nothing is optional except the paint.
Offer price · priced Sep 2026. Limited-time offer. Details →
Specifications
Under the skin.
Safety
How it protects.
This model doesn't carry an ANCAP safety rating. Here's the active-safety equipment fitted across the range.
Airbags7
AEBStandard
Adaptive cruiseStandard
Blind-spot monitorStandard
360° cameraStandard
The verdict
Buy the J5 EV if a premium-feeling cabin, a loaded equipment list and a long warranty matter more to you than the way a car steers. At $36,990 drive-away, its launch price as of September 2026, it is the cheapest of the genuinely nice small electric SUVs, and the eight-year battery cover takes some of the risk out of an unproven brand. Cross-shop it against the BYD Atto 3, Leapmotor B10 and MG S5 EV if outright range leads your brief, and against the class's sharper-driving cars if the way it steers matters more than the way it is equipped, because each pulls ahead once you set price and kit aside. But for a value buyer who spends more time in the cabin than chasing apexes, the J5 EV is a lot of electric car for the money.
Where it shines
- Sharp drive-away value for the equipment
- Premium-feeling, roomy, well-kitted cabin
- Eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty covers the battery
- Usable 402 km-class range with a 130 kW DC peak
- Punchy single-motor step-off in town
Worth weighing up
- Light steering, short on feel; unengaging to drive
- Jerky regen braking, no true one-pedal
- Too many controls buried in the touchscreen
- Real-world range sits below the claim
- Road and wind noise intrude at speed
The back story
Where the J5 EV has been.
Past generations. Context, not the car on sale today.
The J5 EV has no lineage to speak of: it is a brand-new nameplate from a brand still finding its feet in Australia. Jaecoo is the more upmarket half of Chery's two-brand strategy here, sitting above the Omoda badge, and the J5 EV is its first electric model in the country. The petrol and hybrid J5 are separate models that followed it into showrooms.
2026 to now
Jaecoo, Chery's semi-premium sub-brand, brings the J5 EV to Australia as its first electric car, landing in showrooms in early 2026 as a single Summit grade.
Questions
Asked about the J5 EV.
By Yuri Cartland, Editor
Keep exploring
Where to next?
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