2027 Chery E5 Update for Australia: 15.6-Inch Screen, Ventilated Front Seats, Massaging Driver's Seat, Same 430km Range, No Price Yet

Image credit: Chery Australia.

Chery Motor Australia has announced an update for the E5, its small electric SUV, badged MY27. It was announced on 14 September 2026, and Chery said the car would make its first public appearance at the Everything Electric show at Sydney Olympic Park from 18 to 20 September. The changes Chery lists are about comfort and the cabin: a much bigger centre screen, ventilated front seats, massage for the driver and a few convenience items that used to be the preserve of dearer cars. The photos Chery released with the announcement show a different nose and wheels from the current car, but its text describes no styling change.

What Chery has not done is put a price on it. Its own words are that it "will announce further details, including updated pricing and availability, closer to the vehicle's arrival in dealerships". Chery's website now lists a "New E5" as coming soon, right beside the current E5, which is still marked as available now. That gap is the real story for anyone shopping for a small electric SUV this spring, because it leaves you choosing between a known car at a known price and a better-equipped one at a price nobody can tell you yet.

What Chery Has Confirmed for the MY27 E5

Here is the full list of changes as Chery Australia describes them. We have not added anything from overseas versions of the car.

Chery's announcement also lists the equipment it wants you to know the MY27 car has: 18-inch alloy wheels, wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, "Hello Chery" voice control, an eight-speaker sound system, a premium steering wheel, synthetic leather seats, heated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control and what Chery calls a full suite of driver-assistance systems. It does not name the grades, and it does not say whether there will be one grade or more.

What the Changes Are Worth in Daily Use

None of this makes the E5 faster, go further on a charge or carry more. The motor, the outputs and the claimed range are exactly what Chery quotes for the car on sale today. So the question is whether the comfort upgrades are worth waiting for, and that depends a lot on where you live.

Ventilated front seats are the change most Australian owners will notice. Synthetic leather gets hot and sticky in summer, and cooled seats make a real difference on a black-interior car parked outside in Brisbane, Perth or western Sydney. Adding them to both front seats, not only the driver's, is the right call. Massage and four-way lumbar for the driver are nice extras on a long run, and a six-way powered passenger seat fixes a common gripe with cars at this price, where the passenger gets a lesser seat than the driver.

The 15.6-inch screen replaces the 12.3-inch centre display. Bigger is not automatically better: what matters is whether the menus behind it get easier to use, particularly for climate controls, and Chery has not said anything about software changes. Look at it in a showroom before assuming it is an improvement for you.

The active grille shutter is the one change with a possible efficiency angle, because shutters close at speed to cut drag. Chery has not claimed any range gain from it, though, and still quotes the same 430km WLTP figure, so do not count on one. The electric charging-port cover and the auto-dimming mirror are small conveniences. Nice to have, not reasons to wait on their own.

What the announcement does not mention

Read the MY27 list next to Chery's page for the current E5 Ultimate and a few items do not appear. The current car lists heated front and rear outboard seats, a Sony-branded eight-speaker system, a power sunroof, a power tailgate, a heated steering wheel and a full-size spare wheel. The MY27 announcement says heated front seats and an eight-speaker system, and simply does not mention the rest.

That does not mean any of it has gone. A short press list is not a specification sheet, and Chery has not published one for the MY27 car. But the full-size spare in particular matters to country buyers, and it is the sort of thing that quietly disappears in updates across the industry. Ask the dealer for the MY27 specification sheet before you sign anything, and check each item you care about against it.

The Price Question: Buy the Current E5 or Wait?

Chery sells the E5 on driveaway pricing, and the current car's price needs a little care. Chery's offers page lists the E5 Ultimate from $37,990 driveaway under an October offer that it says ends on 31 October 2026, and that is the figure its site shows before you enter a location. Once you set a state, the same site switches to an estimated driveaway price for your area, and for a Melbourne postcode on 1 October it showed $44,602, for Sydney $44,467 and for Brisbane $43,501. Chery says its estimated driveaway price includes the recommended retail price, 12 months' registration, CTP, dealer delivery and stamp duty, and that it is not available to fleet, government or rental buyers. We cannot tell from Chery's site which of those two figures a dealer in your state will honour, so ask for the October offer price in writing.

Chery is also advertising finance on MY26 electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, including new and demonstrator stock, at a 0.70% comparison rate with a 10% deposit over 36 months, for applications approved and settled by 31 October 2026. The comparison rate is based on a $30,000 secured loan over five years, and Chery notes a dealer origination fee of up to $1,495 is excluded. If you finance, that is a meaningful saving on the current car that may not exist when the MY27 lands.

So here is how we would think about it. The MY27 car adds real comfort, but carries the same drivetrain and the same claimed range, and Chery has published no new dimensions for it. If the current car at $37,990 driveaway with cheap finance suits you, the upgrades are not worth an open-ended wait. If ventilated seats matter to you, or you are not buying before Christmas anyway, waiting costs you little except the October offer. What you should not do is assume the MY27 will arrive at the same price. Chery has promised "updated pricing", which could go either way, and we will not guess.

Range, Battery and Charging: What We Know

For the MY27 car Chery quotes only the headline: 155kW, 288Nm and up to 430km on the WLTP cycle. For the current car, Chery's specification sheet adds the detail. It lists a 58.9kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, AC charging at 6.6kW single-phase or 10.3kW three-phase, and a DC charge from 30 to 80% in about 30 minutes on a 130kW charger. Chery's current E5 page also quotes 0 to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds and a drag coefficient of 0.281, and backs the battery with an 8-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on top of the 7-year, unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty.

Chery has not said the MY27 car keeps that battery or those charging figures. The identical range claim makes it likely, but likely is not published, and we would want to see it on a MY27 spec sheet before relying on it.

On towing, Chery's current spec sheet gives a 750kg unbraked limit and a 75kg maximum towball download, and does not print a braked towing figure. That is enough for a box trailer or a couple of bikes on a rack, and not much more. If you need to tow a camper or a boat, the E5 is not the car, and the MY27 announcement says nothing about towing at all.

How It Stacks Up Against Other Small Electric SUVs

The MY27 E5 is not in our directory yet, so the comparison below uses the current E5 Ultimate alongside the small electric SUVs on sale that a buyer at this money is likely to be cross-shopping. Only cars on sale appear. Pick any two.

The closest relative is the Jaecoo J5 EV Summit, from a brand in the same Chery group. On the figures we list it has the same 155kW, 288Nm and 58.9kWh battery, with 402km of WLTP range against the E5's 430km, and we list it at $35,990 before on-road costs. Because the E5 is quoted driveaway and the J5 before on-roads, the two headline numbers are closer than they look; get a driveaway quote on both. We list the J5 with a tyre repair kit, while the current E5 has a full-size spare.

The GWM ORA 5 Lux is the like-for-like driveaway comparison, at $33,990 driveaway as we list it, with 150kW and 435km WLTP on our figures. That is $4,000 under the E5's October offer price for a very similar range. The Leapmotor B10 Style we list at $37,888 before on-road costs, with 160kW but 361km of WLTP range. Further up, the Geely EX5 Complete at $41,990 before on-road costs is a bigger car, 191mm longer than the E5 on our figures, with 475km of WLTP range.

The BYD Atto 3 EVO Dynamic is the obvious name here, and on our figures it has 150kW, 310Nm and 420km of WLTP range, a little short of the E5. We have not quoted its price because we have not yet checked it against BYD's own site; the comparison tool shows the figure we currently list.

One number worth knowing before you buy: the E5's boot is small. Chery quotes 300 litres up to the cargo cover, rising to 1,079 litres with the rear seats folded to the roof. On our figures the ORA 5, J5 EV and B10 all list more seats-up space. If you carry a pram or a big weekly shop, take it to the dealer and try it, because a larger screen will not fix a small boot, and Chery has not published a MY27 boot figure.

Safety, Tax and the Fine Print

ANCAP. We have found no ANCAP rating that names the MY27 E5. Its current record for the Chery C5, dated 2022, says the rating is based on testing of the Omoda 5 and Omoda E5 and applies to "Omoda E5 battery electric variants sold in Australia". ANCAP has not said whether that coverage extends to the updated car. Until it does, we treat the MY27 E5's rating as no data. If a rating matters to you, for a company car policy for example, ask Chery or the dealer to confirm in writing which ANCAP rating applies to the MY27 build.

FBT and luxury car tax. As general information for the 2026-27 financial year, the luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles is $91,661, and battery electric cars under it can qualify for the electric car fringe benefits tax exemption on a novated lease. The current E5 is far below that line, and unless Chery prices the MY27 very differently it will be too. Announced changes from 1 April 2027 limit the full exemption to cars at or under $75,000, which again should not trouble a car in this class, but the rules depend on when the car is first held, so check with your lease provider when you order.

Ownership. Chery's page for the current E5 lists a 7-year, unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty, an 8-year, unlimited-kilometre battery warranty, 7 years of capped-price servicing and up to 7 years of roadside assistance renewed with each scheduled service at a Chery dealer. Chery has not published MY27 terms, so confirm they carry over.

What Chery Has Not Told Us Yet

• The price, and whether it will be quoted driveaway like the current car.
• The grades. The current E5 comes as the Ultimate only, and Chery has not said how the MY27 range is structured.
• An arrival date. The site says coming soon, and nothing firmer.
• Battery capacity and charging speeds for the MY27 car.
• A full specification sheet, including whether heated rear seats, the sunroof, the power tailgate and the full-size spare carry over.
• ANCAP coverage for the updated car.

Who Should Wait, and Who Should Not

Wait if you live somewhere hot and ventilated seats are high on your list, if you want the bigger screen, or if you are not in a hurry. The MY27 car is a better place to sit on a summer afternoon, and that counts for a lot in a car you will own for years.

Do not wait if the current car already ticks your boxes and you can lock in the October offer and the 0.70% finance before 31 October. You would be buying the same claimed range and performance, with the equipment and spare wheel you can see on the showroom floor today, rather than betting on a price that has not been set. Run-out stock of the outgoing model can also be worth a conversation with the dealer as the MY27 gets closer.

And if you are not set on a Chery, look hard at the rivals above before deciding, because at least two of them list more boot space and similar range for similar money. We will add the MY27 E5 to the CarSorted directory with full specifications once Chery Australia publishes them, and current offers are on our deals page.