Changan Deepal S07 160kW Ultra 80kWh 5dr Auto

Ten Second Review

Changan's Deepal S07 is a stylish mid-sized EV crossover with some strong plus points: an affordable entry price, loads of equipment and eye-catching looks. But there are some issues too, so you'll need to be clear about what is really being offered here.

Background

Ready for another mid-sized Chinese EV crossover? They keep coming don't they? Here's another, the Changan Deepal S07. It joins a crowd of other Chinese would-be Tesla Model Y rivals at around the £40,000 price point, including the Xpeng G6, the MG IM5, the Leapmotor C10 and the Geely EX5. All serious players - as this S07 claims to be, signed up for sale with some of the UK's biggest dealer groups. These operators have done their homework on this car and if customers do the same, they'll find out that Changan is one of China's largest car makers, with over 40 years of production experience and 39 factories worldwide. Deepal is one of the conglomerate's most successful sub-brands, though it's only actually been selling cars since 2023. This one, the Italian-designed S07, will sell here alongside a smaller S05 SUV model. Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Spec

You don't need a start button to get going. Just get in, push the brake pedal and drive off. There's a head-up display instead of an instrument binnacle - and an area view camera system for surroundings that cuts out at 18mph. A 79.97kWh battery sounds properly sized for a car of this kind, but it doesn't offer the kind of driving range that will trouble the class leaders. Still, reports suggest that the 295 mile claimed figure is closer to being day-to-day realistic than is the case for many rivals. And, to be fair, it's just 16 miles short of an entry-level Tesla Model Y. That battery energises a 218PS motor with 320Nm of torque, which translates into a not particularly startling 0-62mph time of 7.9s. Top speed is 112mph. Regenerative braking is adjustable to suit the driver and works above around 9mph. But no setting is fierce enough to provide the kind of strong 'one-pedal' retardation championed by some rivals. Should you want to add a tow bar, trailers at up to 1,500kg in weight can be pulled along. As usual with Chinese cars, some of the ADAS settings and drive assist features can be intrusive. Fortunately, Deepal provides two programmable steering wheel buttons to help you set four of the functions. And these can be used to disable the speed limit warnings and the Lane keep assist (but not the driver attention monitoring). Expect a firm ride - but excellent refinement.

Design and Build

Changan thinks the thing that's most likely to make you want a Deepal S07 is the way it looks. 'Designed in Italy' is a phrase littered across its marketing for this car, a reference not to input from Giugiaro or Pininfarina but to the fact that for two decades, the company has had a design office in Turin. From which ex-Volkswagen and General Motors stylist Bertrand Bach and his team have produced quite a pleasing, smoothly angular end result that manages to strike a good balance between boxy SUV and swept-back SUV-Coupe. Like most of the Chinese contenders in this segment, the 4,750mm length is a little longer than the class norm, but 40mm shorter than the rival it most wants to target, Tesla's Model Y. The S07 runs on 19-inch wheels and has a CUPRA-style rear light bar with a light-up logo. The car automatically unlocks on your approach and the flush-fitting door handles pop out to welcome you. As for the interior, well one day a Chinese brand will probably bring us cabin design targeted at the tastes of European customers, but there's not much evidence of that here, with virtually everything controlled by a 15.6-inch 'sunflower' central touchscreen which can pivot towards the driver or passenger. As with the Tesla, there's no instrument screen to view through the (rather ugly) two-spoke wheel, but unlike with Tesla, Deepal provides a useful head-up display instead, so you don't have to keep looking off to your left. Most of what you'll need - temperature control, drive modes, mirror adjustment, even air vent direction and opening the tailgate - must be done through the big screen, but unlike Tesla, Deepal does at least provide physical controls for gear selection and wiper activation. Cabin quality feel slightly above what you might expect for this car's price point - and in true Chinese fashion, there's absolutely loads of standard kit. Including a 14-speaker audio system, climatised vegan leather seats, gesture recognition and augmented reality navigation. Your rear vision is rather compromised by the sloping roof line, so you're going to need the standard area view camera system. In the back, those extra body length millimetres are useful and the panoramic glass roof gives an airy feel. Two adults will be comfortable and three can be accommodated if need be thanks to the flat floor, if you don't want to use the long fold-down middle armrest. The slow powered tailgate rises to reveal boot space that's unexceptional at 445-litres and the sloping roof line will make it difficult to take bulky items. At the front, there's a 125-litre carpeted under-bonnet 'frunk' for the charging leads.

Market and Model

It will be much to Changan Deepal's advantage that from launch they've been able to pitch the price for this S07 a fraction below the £40,000 point at which the government charges its luxury car tax. Also advantageous for sales in the UK is the fact that some of Britain's biggest dealer groups will be selling this car. Changan Deepal launched here with 20 UK sites, with Lookers Star City in Birmingham its UK flagship centre. The brand says that a further 30 dealer sites will added shortly nationwide, operated by well-known names like Ancaster, Parks, DM Keith and Stoneacre. Despite the affordable asking price, there's absolutely loads of kit as standard. Including 19-inch wheels, double-layer sound insulation glass, keyless entry, a heat pump to preserve range in colder months and a smart phone app so that you can interact with your car when you're away from it. There's also a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) system so that you can charge external devices from the car's drive battery. Inside, there's a head-up display, vegan leather upholstery, heat for the seats and steering wheel, ventilated front seats, a 360-degree surround view camera system, a panoramic roof with an electric sunshade, dynamic multicolour ambient lighting and a 40W wireless charger for your 'phone. Media features are taken care of by a rotating 15.6-inch 'sunflower' central screen with 3D precision augmented reality navigation, gesture control, Wireless CarPlay and a 14-speaker premium sound system that includes a driver's headrest speaker.

Cost of Ownership

With the exception of MG, Chinese brands generally trail behind most of their global counterparts when it comes to EV charging speed - and Deepal is no exception. You have to be quite forgiving to accept a car in this segment with a DC charging speed of just 92kW; many rivals charge at twice that speed. A Tesla Model Y charges at 250kW - and is no longer the fastest charger in the segment. Chinese customers clearly don't think this matters and it might not if you've planned your movements around this S07's lengthy 10-80% DC charging time of 48 minutes (for a comparison, a rival Hyundai IONIQ 5 needs 18 minutes). As for AC charging, well using a 7.4kW wallbox, a full charge would take around 12 hours. You want peace of mind if you're buying into an unknown brand and Changan Deepal provides it with an impressive seven year / 100,000 mile warranty. Even the battery warranty is better than the class norm, at eight years / 120,000 miles. Servicing intervals are every year or 12,427 miles (20,000km), depending on which comes first.

Summary

Few Chinese brands have the experience and production history of the Changan conglomerate. So we've to take this Deepal S07 very seriously as a mid-sized EV crossover segment player. You might choose it over similarly-priced Chinese rivals due to its Italian-influenced looks. Otherwise though, it serves up much the same sort of proposition, with lots of equipment and technology but an ownership feel that's Oriental rather than European. To put it another way, this is a Chinese car for people who like Chinese cars, with their screen-dominated cabins, complicated ADAS systems and angular looks. If the S07 wants to reach out beyond that kind of customer demographic and appeal to someone wanting a more established brand, it would need to offer longer range, faster charging speed and more user-friendly drive interfaces. With a British R&D centre already in place, we expect Deepal to eventually bring us a car in this segment with just these attributes. For the time being though, the S07 represents a useful and, in its own Oriental way, quite appealing starting point.