Proton has unveiled the e.MAS 5 to the media to view. I happened to be one of the lucky few that were free on the days that they had allocated and this is their latest B segment compact hatchback. As it wears the e.MAS badge, it is an electric vehicle. The e.Mas 5 is a compact hatchback and is rear motor, rear wheel driven and based on a Geely Geome which has sold over 200,000 units over in China. So Proton has decided to show us the pre-production car, albeit in stickered form ahead of its, no idea when, but they said by the end of the year, launch.
So this is what it’s supposed to be – A B segment compact hatchback, that isn’t a SUV (thank God, as manufacturers seem to be calling everything SUV ’cause it sells, even if it’s more like a hatchback) and is a fully Battery EV with a WLTP range of 320Km for the top spec and a low spec of 230km WLTP thereabouts. See the specs for the Premium variant above, and below (TAKE NOTE…THIS ARE PRE-PRODUCTION SPECS. The official launch variant may differ).
Top speed is 145kmh and you can charge this car up from 21% to 80% in under 21minutes or so which actually means that they plonked in a decently fast charger in this. 0-50kmh is also stated at under 3.9 seconds so it should be nippy around town.
Notable stuff inside is the large 1080P HD infotainment screen so that passengers and the drive can feel like having their own personal space and entertainment center while they sit in the car. Of course, this is the same with most cars these days and even this entry level EV from Proton is doing just that. However, like the recently launch Proton X50, the infotainment system voice command works in Bahasa Melayu and English and already has Android Auto as well as Apple CarPlay inside it when it is launched from the get go. How convenient.
And the dashboard isn’t a single cascading piece which you see in almost every new car from China launched recently. This has a left and right section with a dip in the middle where the infotainment screen sits. So it is slightly different. But the rest is familiar, and at least there are physical air-conditioning off-on switches rather than for me to suffer and go into the menus on the screen to get to the controls.Another thing to note is that on this preproduction model the interior is a two toned black and white. Let’s see what comes during its launch.
The car is targeted to first time car buyers, small families that want a second car for their children to drive or the other half to run short distances and those who want to try out an EV but do not want to spend a whole lot on one.
I have to say that while Proton are targeting this more affordable EV for the masses, they already know that EV adoption isn’t actually for the masses – think if you were living in a budget flat and there are no charging points. This is still for those with easy access and those that have charging facilities at home or very close by to use.
The second thought is that this must come in under the larger e.MAS 7 EV, so it will definitely cost under that car’s price – RM110,000 approx. So this being targeted to B segment hatchback buyers it should come in somewhere in the Perodua Myvi to the Toyota Yaris range as well as the newly launched, similarly sized BYD ATTO 2 which comes in at RM100,000 but seem to get an automatic rebate of RM13,500 from their dealers.
So while no price has been decideded yet and no booking options have been opened officially as yet, I think Proton are looking at the RM75K to RM90k price range. I don’t expect it to be lower than this as this is still a first adopter car and if you go buy those that car afford to buy an EV, they will usually buy something with a brand first over a Proton unless they think otherwise and are more into technology at a price than buying up to a notable brand.
I’m not saying that Proton doesn’t make a good EV or a good car, but there are brand snobs out there and they may just pay an extra RM10,000 just to buy another brand rather than try this, which seems to be pretty decent in my opinion as Proton usually throw in everything but a kitchen sink in their new launches. So you are going to get a lot of kit in this e.MAS 5 regardless of what they will price it as.
However, one of the arguments I have been hearing is that this car isn’t too much different from the Geome over in China. I don’t really feel that is an issue as going by what I have experienced in the e.MAS 7, it should be decent. But that said, the folks at Proton has stated that what they have done is mostly underneath, where the have done tropicalisation to their cars. This means that the cars can take Malaysian weather and road conditions rather than on cosmetic stuff and details (so this means that the car looks very similar to the China version).
I have to also state that I wouldn’t look at the lower specced low mileage variant as having less than 250km WLTP range limits the usage of the car to a totally city car. Of course, if it is for the school run, or to the neighbourhood shopping mall and nothing else, then it is okay. But, personally, I wouldnt buy a car with so short a range as even if it is RM50,000, it isn’t small change.
Anyway, Proton have decided to do another long drawn teaser, preview that will be ongoing till early October 2025. Expect a media test drive report sometime then and then a ‘NOW OPEN FOR BOOKING’ bit of news, and a few weeks after that, the launch. This is PROTON telling you to not buy anything until then. They want your attention and wait until they can show you the whole car and tell us how much it will cost before you go buy a BYD or a Toyota Yaris or a Perodua.
Nice new marketing strategy car companies use these days.
Photos are here.
