New Geely EX5 to switch from front to rear-wheel drive in surprise facelift

While it only arrived in the UK this year, the Geely EX5 is getting an early update – and we’ve spotted some intriguing details thanks to patent applications in China.

Geely has provided fresh information on its updated EX5 on the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website (MITT), which not only reveals the exterior in full, but also key technical changes. 

The most significant update is a new electric motor, which is mounted not on the front axle, as it is on the current car, but at the rear. It develops 328bhp, which is 103bhp more than the existing EX5. The top speed rises from 109mph to 124mph and while the 0-62mph figures haven’t been revealed, we can expect a significant drop from the current model’s 6.9-second time. 

The new EX5’s charging port has also shifted from the front wing to the rear. But while we do know the new battery will retain the same lithium ion phosphate chemistry as the current car’s 60.22kWh unit, no details about charging speed or capacity have been revealed. 

The only clue we have is that, when we first drove the EX5 in late 2025, Geely told us it was contemplating bringing a larger battery with ‘around 70kWh’ usable capacity to market. Right now the highest range you can get in an EX5 is 267 miles, while rivals such as the Kia EV3 and Renault Scenic can offer over 370 miles thanks to their larger-battery variants. 

At the same time, the updated EX5 gets a new look. At the front there are some minor adjustments to the bumper with what appear to be the same LED headlights carrying over. There are even fewer changes at the rear, although the ‘Geely’ script is moved to the middle of the bootlid. The new car does get a set of fresh 18-inch and 19-inch alloy wheels, though. 

We can also spot a LiDAR sensor on the roof, suggesting Geely will give its EX5 a Level 3 autonomous driving system, although we expect this only to feature on Chinese-market variants. Another feature now found on new Chinese cars is physical door handles and we can see the EX5 has ditched its electrically operated flush-fitting handles, which will be banned in China from 2027.

There’s no word on whether the revised EX5 will come to the UK. But if it does, given the significant bump in power, we could see a price rise over the current car, which starts from £31,990 and rises to £36,990 in top-spec Max form. 

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