Deepal S05 Review: Numbers Don’t Tell The Whole Story

There is something slightly amusing about the Deepal S05. Read its Singapore-market specification sheet and you may wonder whether somebody accidentally sent you the figures for the entry-level version - there is 133 bhp, 290 Nm and an 11.4-second 0-100 km/h time.

In an age when electric SUVs casually boast outputs that would embarrass yesterday’s sports cars, those aren't numbers that will impress your friends at the coffeeshop.

Then you actually drive it; and you realise that perhaps we have become a little too obsessed with performance numbers.

The Inside Story

The S05's cabin is one of those interiors that makes you wonder where the manufacturer hid all the mechanical bits - there is genuinely useful room for five adults, rather than the usual automotive interpretation of "five-seater", where the fifth passenger eventually begins questioning the friendship…

That long wheelbase gives rear passengers plenty of legroom, while the largely uncluttered floor adds to the sense of space. The large panoramic glass roof helps too, flooding the cabin with light during the day and preventing the predominantly dark interior from becoming gloomy.

Then Deepal adds little splashes of orange stitching across the seats and dashboard.It sounds insignificant, but it works; against all the black and grey surfaces, that small amount of colour somehow enlivens the entire cabin without making it look as though the interior designer discovered the colour palette only five minutes before submission…

Build quality is convincing too: Materials feel properly substantial where they matter, and the general impression is less "affordable Chinese EV" and more simply "modern EV".

Let’s not forget there is Deepal's 15.4-inch Sunflower touchscreen; and it isn't called that merely because somebody in marketing needed a cute name.

The screen can physically swivel towards the driver, effectively following whoever needs it. If the front passenger wants control, it can instead angle towards them. It's one of those pieces of technology that initially sounds gimmicky, until you use it and wonder why more manufacturers haven't tried something similar.

Speaking of the front passenger, theirs may actually be the best seat in the house. Deepal calls it a zero-gravity seat; "business class" probably describes the experience more accurately. Recline it, stretch out and imagine being stuck in Causeway traffic - it may suck being the driver in that situation, but hey, that's a bonus for the passenger princess.

The standard audio system deserves praise as well. Pairing my iPhone proved fuss-free, but more importantly, the system has enough clarity and precision that music doesn't merely become background noise. There is decent separation between instruments and enough detail to make a properly recorded track enjoyable.

Practically Speaking

Practicality continues behind you. The rear boot offers 492-litres, which is already generous, while folding the rear seats expands that to around 1,250-litres.

But the clever bit is at the other end.

Open the bonnet and there is a whopping 159-litre frunk.

That isn't a token compartment designed for one charging cable and perhaps half a packet of tissues - it's properly useful storage.

Groceries, bags, takeaway food you don't want perfuming the cabin - or smaller items you'd rather not have performing a gymnastics routine around the rear boot - can go up front.

Between both luggage compartments and that spacious passenger cabin, the S05 is a remarkably convincing family car.

Driving It

The Singapore-spec S05 is deliberately configured for Category A COE, with its rear-mounted permanent-magnet synchronous motor capped at 99 kW - or 133 bhp - while producing a much healthier 290 Nm. Drive goes exclusively to the rear wheels through the usual single-speed EV transmission.

More important to somebody actually considering buying one is what sits underneath: A 68.82 kWh LFP battery. The official combined WLTP figure is 485 km, while its WLTP City figure stretches to 647 km. Deepal quotes energy consumption at around 6 km/kWh.

Ignore that 647 km figure if you're planning your Kuala Lumpur road trip, as city-cycle figures naturally favour an EV. The 485 km combined number is the more useful benchmark for everyday ownership, and it puts the S05 comfortably into the territory where charging should become something you plan around rather than constantly worry about.

Charging is respectable too. AC charging peaks at 6.6 kW, but hook the S05 up to a suitable DC charger and it'll accept up to 200 kW, with Deepal quoting just 15 minutes from 30 to 80 per cent.

And oh, there is one other number worth remembering: 1,931 kg. Yes, this 133 bhp SUV weighs almost two tonnes - we'll come back to that.

Dimensionally, it's hardly small either. At 4,620 mm long and 1,900 mm wide, with an unusually generous 2,880 mm wheelbase, the S05 occupies substantially more road than its Cat A positioning might suggest.

And that pays dividends once you climb aboard.

Back to that 1,931 kg kerb weight.

On paper, combining nearly two tonnes with 133 bhp sounds about as exciting as pushing a wardrobe uphill. And that official 11.4-second 0-100 km/h doesn't exactly improve expectations either.

Yet the S05 feels considerably livelier from behind the wheel. That 290 Nm arrives with the smooth immediacy we've come to expect from an electric motor, so normal urban acceleration feels effortless. Joining an expressway, slipping into a gap or getting away from the lights never leaves you thinking the S05 is underpowered.

And really, that's more relevant than what happens between zero and 100 km/h with a stopwatch running.

Refinement is another pleasant surprise.

Despite having frameless windows - normally something that gives wind noise another opportunity to introduce itself - the cabin remains impressively isolated from what's happening outside. At expressway speeds, road and wind noise are well suppressed, complementing the inherent silence of the electric drivetrain.

This makes the S05 feel more expensive than its specification sheet suggests.

Look closely at the front bumper and there’s another neat detail: Active air-intake louvres that open when cooling is required, and close when it isn’t. Shut, they help clean up airflow around the nose and reduce drag; open, they allow more air through for cooling. You’ll probably never notice them doing their thing - which, frankly, is exactly how good engineering should work.

Ride & Handling

Start pushing harder and you discover that the S05 isn't allergic to corners either.

There is some body lean, unsurprisingly, but it's progressive and well controlled. You can carry a decent amount of speed through a sweeping bend without the chassis suddenly waving a white flag.

The brakes are confidence-inspiring too, with sufficient progression to make slowing almost two tonnes of SUV feel natural rather than dramatic – you can feel the car’s Comfort Braking at work here.

My criticism concerns the steering.

Like quite a few Chinese electric SUVs, there's precious little conversation happening between the front tyres and your fingertips. The weighting could feel more natural, and there isn't much feedback telling you what the front axle is doing.

This is one area where European manufacturers still generally have an advantage. Decades spent obsessing over steering calibration, damping and chassis communication do count for something.

But let's maintain perspective.

Nobody is buying an S05 for Sunday morning attacks on South Buona Vista Road. For everyday Singapore driving, its combination of comfort, stability, refinement and easy performance matters considerably more.

In A Nutshell

The S05 makes a stronger argument the longer you spend with it.

At the time of writing, it is listed at around S$189,999 including COE, although Singapore car prices being Singapore car prices, that figure can obviously change faster than the weather.

And yes, that's still a considerable amount of money.

But COE doesn't appear particularly interested in heading south anytime soon. In today's market, the question increasingly isn't whether S$190,000 sounds expensive for a Cat A electric SUV; it's how much car you're getting for that money.

Here, the S05 starts making sense.

You get 485 km of combined WLTP range, a 68.82 kWh battery, 200 kW DC charging capability, an enormous 159-litre frunk, a 492-litre boot, genuine room for five, a huge panoramic roof, that clever Sunflower screen, a front passenger seat that'll make the driver jealous, strong refinement and a surprisingly agreeable driving experience.

It doesn't try to win you over with a ridiculous horsepower figure or a neck-snapping 0-100 km/h time - instead, it concentrates on things you'll actually use every day.

Perhaps that explains why more than 200 S05s have already found homes in Singapore since May. In our tiny market, and from a brand that is still comparatively new to many buyers, that's significant.

Somehow, I suspect that number will continue climbing.

You see, sometimes the cleverest car isn't the one with the biggest numbers - it's the one that gives you more of the things that matter… without making you pay for the things that don't.

Photos by Azfar Hashim (@azfar.talks)

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