► Luxury kit list, mainstream pricing
► Decent performance, overly harsh ride
► Disappointing battery specs
Chinese car manufacturers are falling over themselves to launch product in the UK, with Changan the latest in a long list. It’s one of the country’s oldest car companies and one that already has design and engineering centres long established in Europe.
Our first taste of the brand comes from the Changan Deepal S07, a D-segment electric SUV that just about dodges the luxury car tax whilst offering a kit list of something far pricier. There’s just one model, and the only option you’ll pay for is a towbar. Rivals include the BYD Sealion 7 and Skoda Enyaq, but I’m sure Changan would suggest it gives BMW iX3 luxury at mainstream prices.
The promise of a chassis tuned for UK roads certainly has its appeal, but how does it really cope with the land of the pothole? We headed towards Changan UK’s Birmingham HQ to find out. If you want to know how we get to our verdicts, have a look at our how we test page.
Should you buy a Changan Deepal S07? No. There is potential here, but the ride and handling aren’t up to scratch, and neither is the battery tech.
At a glance
Pros: Spacious in the back, good brake pedal feel, exceedingly well-equipped for the money
Cons: Fidgety and harsh ride, unimpressive rapid charge rate and range, uninvolving handling, overly full infotainment menus, lots of road noise
What’s new?
Under the S07 sits Changan’s EPA1 platform that’s been around since 2022 and also underpins the Mazda 6e. The S07 itself was introduced in China in 2023 and it’s the 2024 facelift that we’re now getting.
For the moment we only get the biggest of two batteries available driving the rear wheels. Other markets also get a range-extender version that pairs a smaller battery with a 1.5-litre petrol engine that acts as a generator. This should be coming to Blighty in due course along with the smaller Deepal S05 SUV.
Huawei is responsible for the infotainment and semi-autonomous driving system while CATL supplies the battery pack. All this is wrapped in a body designed by Changan’s Turin-based design studio.
What are the specs?
You get an 80kWh NMC battery pack that powers a 215bhp electric motor driving the rear wheels. The Deepal S07 takes 7.9 seconds to get from 0-62mph making it by no means the slowest EV, if by no means the fastest.
Range is a so-so 295 miles on the WLTP cycle where most rivals with a similarly sized pack will go much farther. Rapid charging rates also disappoint. A peak of 90kW means the industry standard 10-80% time is 48 minutes where most dip below 30 minutes, while the best rivals do it in less than 20.
How does it drive?
Uncomfortably. Talk of the car being tweaked for the UK doesn’t seem to mean it was tested over here as the S07 fidgets constantly no matter your speed or the road surface. Throw potholes and crumbling surfaces into the mix and you’ll feel the suspension struggle to round off these obstacles, eliciting more than one wince as the car crashed and thumped its way over them.
You don’t really benefit from sharp handling, either. The steering is too light and too quick to build confidence and the S07 doesn’t feel particularly keen to turn in to bends. Traction is however good – not always a given in this segment – and performance feels perfectly good on the open road. Brake pedal feel is also better than many mainstream rivals.
Double glazed windows help keep wind noise to a minimum and you don’t really notice the motor whining. A bigger nuisance is the amount of road roar generated by coarse surfaces and noisy suspension.
More impressive is the semi-autonomous driving tech, if not all of the driver assists. The S07 has one of the most overactive driver attention monitors I’ve experienced, and the lane assist was also nervy.
What’s the interior like?
Very Tesla in its minimalism. All major functions are controlled by the 15.6-inch landscape touchscreen that automatically tilts towards the driver when they get in but can be angled flat or towards the passenger instead.
The graphics look crisp and the software is responsive. I like the two configurable shortcut bars and that the main one stays on the bottom of the screen even in CarPlay or Android Auto. Some of the menus are rather text heavy, and the system isn’t as easy to navigate as the best out there. A giant AR head-up display is also standard and means you don’t miss not having a driver’s display.
Quality is good from hip level up. There’s lots of soft-touch plastic and faux leather that doesn’t feel to plasticky, and everything feels well built. Harder plastics lower down are to be expected, it’s just a shame there’s no rubber mat or flocking inside the door pockets.
Space is one of the big reasons you’d buy the 4.75m S07. Rear legroom is very generous and headroom isn’t bad, while the flat floor helps squeeze three in the back. Boot capacity of 445-litres is OK but certainly no great shakes.
Before you buy
A list price of £39,990 means it undercuts most similarly sized rivals and doesn’t attract the luxury car tax. Yes, a Renault Scenic is cheaper and similarly spacious, but it won’t have anywhere near as much equipment.
Standard kit includes an electric driver’s seat, heated and ventilated front seats, an electric tailgate, keyless entry and start, a 14-speaker stereo and a 360-degree camera.
Verdict: Changan Deepal S07
It’s another nearly car from China. As good as a few aspects of the S07 are, there are others that are downright bad. The ride comfort and rowdy road noise would be enough to put me off alone, but my issues run deeper than that.
The biggest disappointment is definitely the battery tech. A 295 mile range isn’t that great for a battery this size and the rapid charge rate is just plain rubbish. Some tweakery to the fiddly infotainment and chassis would help make the S07 a bit better, but it really needs a new battery to challenge the class best.