Advert
The Changan Deepal S07 is another new electric SUV from a Chinese brand that most UK drivers won’t have heard of – and like most other Chinese EVs, it’s a better product than most people will expect.
New car brands from China are launching in the UK pretty much every month. One of the latest of these is Changan, a company that most UK car buyers won’t have heard of, but it’s another business that’s big in China.
Changan now has a base in the UK with a Research and Development facility in Birmingham that employs more than 100 engineers. The company is due to have 50 dealerships by the end of 2025, with aftersales service and parts delivery partnerships.
The Changan Deepal S07 has an SUV body style with more than a passing resemblance to a Lotus Eletre from the front, giving it a sporty appearance.
The Deepal S07 is 4,750mm in length with a large boot of up to 510 litres and an additional 125 litres in a front trunk (frunk). With the rear seats folded down, the luggage capacity can expand up to 1,385 litres. Our test car had an interesting colour combination of black exterior paint and an orange interior.
Under the skin is a 79.97 kWh NMC ternary lithium battery with a rear-mounted 218 PS electric motor.
The Changan Deepal S07 looks sporty, it has a rear-wheel drive chassis, and instant torque from the 218 PS/320 Nm electric powertrain. So the scene is set for a sporty driving experience, but the 0-62 mph time of 7.9 seconds is behind many rivals. Ride quality is comfortable, but that translates to the handling also being comfortable, rather than sharp – which, like the acceleration time, may be absolutely fine for most drivers.
The Deepal S07 has gone down the route of many Chinese EVs, with a minimal interior. You get a stalk for changing gear on the right-hand side of the steering column, and an indicator stalk on the left. But beyond that, you just get a large 15.6-inch central touchscreen, which rotates, as it does in a BYD. There’s no screen in front of the driver, although you do get a head-up display (and verbal satnav instructions appear via speakers in the driver’s headrest).
One of the few buttons inside the car is one that you press to open the door (because there’s no traditional door handle). Apart from that, physical controls are absent for many things. There are no physical controls to adjust the door mirrors – that has to be done on the touchscreen. There are no physical controls for the windscreen wipers – just a button on the indicator stalk, with further controls on the touchscreen. And there’s no drive mode button – you have to delve into the touchscreen to select a drive mode. All this is at a time when many manufacturers are re-introducing buttons due to customer demand (as tempting as it is, we won’t say “we told you so”).
Perhaps the one thing that’s likely to be the biggest issue for UK drivers is that every time you get in the car it says “Hi my name is Deepal and I will be with all of the way”, or variations on that theme. This gets quite tedious after multiple times of hearing this, and no-one was quite sure if this could be turned off.
The Changan Deepal S07 has a WLTP combined electric driving range of 295 miles. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the maximum rapid charging rate is 95 kW, which is very slow compared to virtually all competitors, and this translates to a 10% to 80% DC charge taking 48 minutes, whereas most other EVs take around 30 minutes at the most. Efficiency is also poor compared to rivals, at just 3.3 miles/kWh.
The Deepal S07 offers vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, enabling it to power external electrical devices, while a standard-fit heat pump ensures improved efficiency and range retention during colder weather.
The Changan Deepal S07 is available in just one version and is priced at £39,990, which falls just below the ‘luxury car tax’ threshold of £40,000. It also comes with a 7-year/100,000-miles car warranty and an 8-year/120,000-miles battery warranty.
Exterior colours are Sunset Orange, Comet White, Eclipse Black, Lunar Grey or Nebula Green. Interior colours are the slightly unusual choices of Black, White or Orange.
The Changan Deepal S07 looks good, with Lotus Eletre-like styling at the front. It’s also spacious, with a large boot. The driving experience is perfectly fine, with rear-wheel drive handling, comfortable ride quality, and adequate performance. Even the driving range is decent, at 295 miles. All this for £39,995 represents good value for money.
However there are a few areas for improvement. Chief amongst these is the DC charging speed; 95 kW is too slow for a £40,000 SUV. And efficiency of 3.3 miles/kWh isn’t class leading. Then there’s the lack of physical controls in the cabin. Having no physical controls for the door mirrors (like some other Chinese EVs) just makes life too difficult. But it’s probably the greeting of “Hi my name is Deepal and I will be with all of the way”, or similar, that is likely to be too much for drivers in Britain. The Changan Deepal S07 is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 8 out of 10.
Drive an EV for less than you think with Select Car Leasing 
Save 20-50% on an EV through salary sacrifice with The Electric Car Scheme 
ClearWatt supports buyers, sellers and owners of EVs with app-based battery health testing and detailed EV data insights available for every used EV in the UK. Take the stress out of buying a used EV with ClearWatt and save 10% on all their products with promo code “GCG10”. 
Zapmap: UK's No.1 EV charging points app 2025. Zapmap helps EV drivers search for EV chargers, plan longer journeys and pay for charging. 
With Pod, you're in good hands. With over 15 years of EV charging experience, drivers trust Pod to keep their EVs charged and ready to go. 
Paul Clarke, GreenCarGuide Editor
