- Following its European brand launch earlier this year, Changan Automobile has now launched in the UK, initially coming with a fully-electric SUV: The Deepal S07.
- With a single, all-equipment-included retail price of £39,990, the Deepal S07 comes in considerably cheaper than a key rival in the segment, the £44,990 Tesla Model Y.
- By combining China’s expertise in rapid manufacturing and Europe’s R&D and design prowess, could Changan be on to a sales hit in the UK?
Changan is the latest Chinese EV brand to come to the UK
Despite having a research and development site in operation in the UK city of Birmingham since 2010, and a Turin, Italy design centre since 2001, you’ve likely never heard of this car brand before. Changan Automobile is the latest in a long line of Chinese automakers now selling electric cars into the UK, following manufacturers such as BYD, XPENG, and Leapmotor.
As a company, Changan is over 140 years old, and has been building passenger cars in China since the 1980s.
Injecting consumer confidence into what is a relatively unknown brand to the country, Changan will be offering the Deepal S07 with a warranty that corresponds with the renowned competitive warranties offered by brands such as Kia and Hyundai. This includes a seven-year, 100,000 mile vehicle warranty, and an eight-year, 120,000 mile battery warranty. The manufacturer already has a UK-based warehouse fully stocked with RHD specific parts for its vehicles, which should also help with insurability – and help keep customers happy, should any EVs need replacement parts.
At the launch event, the manufacturer confirmed that it is ‘actively exploring’ plans to build some of its EVs within Europe, in the future.
The first vehicle to arrive from Changan in the UK is the Deepal S07, a midsize electric SUV which, at its £39,990 price, will go head-to-head against EVs such as the Volkswagen ID.4 and Tesla Model Y. From next year, the S07 will be joined by the S05, a more compact electric SUV. Changan wouldn’t give us any hints on pricing, but we predict that the latter model will start somewhere under the £33,000 mark, allowing it to compete with more affordable and similarly-sized electric SUVs like the Volvo EX30.
Fine-tuning vehicles for the UK’s unique roads
Despite being a new arrival for the UK and Europe, Changan has already been available across China since 2023, whilst also now being sold in territories such as Australia and Mexico.
At the launch, Changan pressed upon the importance of ensuring that cars launched in the UK are tailored for the specific and high demands placed on vehicles by UK drivers – and this will be more of a challenge for Chinese manufacturers, who are often selling vehicles originally designed for vastly different Chinese roads.
First of all, vehicles in China typically focus on comfort for the rear passengers, rather than the driver. Meanwhile, cambered and narrow roads are much less common in China’s cities compared to the UK, creating another challenge for both the chassis and ADAS systems to deal with.
With all that in mind, Changan has utilised its Birmingham R&D centre to undertake around 150 specific tweaks for Deepal S07s bound for the UK. This includes tweaking to the ADAS system, numerous software tweaks, and suspension tuning to offer the balance of comfort and strong road holding that UK customers demand.
The ‘China-speed’ manufacturing that OEMs like Changan can reach provides another benefit here. The timeline from initial development to the first prototype of UK-revised suspension was just one month, highlighting just how rapidly this manufacturer is able to tweak cars on a country-specific basis.
This opportunity to rapidly fine tune vehicles could allow Changan to succeed where previous manufacturers who have attempted to sell cars originally envisioned to be driven in countries with vastly different roads have failed.
UK driving impressions of the Deepal S07
With those aforementioned changes in mind, we took the Deepal S07 out on a drive across UK roads.
The Deepal S07 is sold at one price: £39,990. For that, you get five exterior colour options free of charge, and three interior colours: Black, white, or orange. The orange option really stands out in a sea of increasingly dull car interiors. The interior trim is vegan leather, but certainly feels similar to the real thing, and overall, gives it the feeling of an EV much more expensive than its sub-£40k price tag suggests. This price also allows every customer to avoid the expensive car supplement, which applies to cars with a list price above £40,000. The only paid option is a £800 retractable towing hook, allowing the S07 to tow up to 1,500kg.
With 214 horsepower and 320Nm of torque, the Deepal S07 certainly isn’t the fastest electric SUV on the market, but the higher levels of power seen on some of its rivals is largely unnecessary in the real world. 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds is still a respectable time and more than enough to deal with any situation on our roads. Battery-wise, this EV packs a 79.97kWh capacity, offering a claimed WLTP range of 295 miles.
On the road, the Deepal S07 remains just as refined as many of its rivals, in part due to its body-flush door handles and double-glazed windows all round. You can certainly feel the suspension changes that now allow this EV to cope with the UK’s many potholed roads, but push on further and it still handles respectably for what is ultimately a two-tonne electric family SUV.
The Deepal S07 comes packed with a range of ADAS systems, partly helping it to achieve its five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. This includes a semi-autonomous drive mode which combines radar cruise control with steering assistance, which worked impressively well on UK roads. For drivers who want all systems switched off, the infotainment screen has easy to access hotkeys that turn off these systems quickly – no fiddling through lots of submenus, like we see on some other EVs. Speaking of the infotainment screen, actions and animations remain smooth and snappy, especially in comparison to the systems on some of its Chinese rivals such as Leapmotor.
To conclude, Changan’s first entry to the UK, the Deepal S07, seems at first glance to be a competent EV that is very competitively priced when you consider the equipment list, perceived build quality, and relative pricing compared to rivals. You can only learn so much about an EV after only a few hours behind the wheel, and we hope to spend more time with the S07 in the future to conclude whether it can match the overall experience of its rivals.
Nic Thomas, Managing Director of Changan UK, commented on the Deepal S07’s UK launch:
“The Changan Deepal S07 is designed to make electric driving accessible, enjoyable, and practical for UK consumers. It combines sleek design, intuitive technology designed around the customer, and real-world range with a price point that makes sense. We believe it will truly resonate with British drivers looking for a high-quality EV without compromise.”
