What I learned when test driving the Changan Deepal S07
Changan’s Deepal S07 is the latest Chinese car to arrive in the UK, but does the fact it’s been tuned and styled in Europe give it an edge over the competition?
Plenty of Chinese cars have been launched in the UK in recent years, with brand names many won't have heard of. The latest is Changan's Deepal S07.
Chinese models tend to be offered with long warranties, plenty of equipment as standard and are often sold through conventional dealer networks. The Changan Deepal S07 follows this trend but, as Which? cars expert Dino Buratti discovered, there’s more to this electric SUV than meets the eye.
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Who is Changan?
It might be new to the UK, but Changan is actually one of the longest-established Chinese manufacturers.
Based in Chongqing, it’s a state-owned brand that’s been selling cars under its own name since 1984. It's one of the biggest car manufacturers in China along with BYD, Chery (including sub-brands Jaecoo and Omoda) and Geely (the brand that owns Lotus and Volvo).
Along with Changan-badged cars, it also sells models badged with the Avatr and Deepal names. It’s also responsible for developing the Mazda 6e, an electric saloon that will be sold in the UK from 2026.
What is the Deepal S07?
The S07 is a medium-sized SUV that’s positioned as a premium rival to electric SUVs such as the Nissan Ariya, Smart #3 and XPeng G6. Like all Deepal models, it’s an electric car. It sits above the S05 (a small SUV that will be the brand’s next model in the UK) and below the large, S09 model (which isn’t available in the UK) in Deepal’s SUV range.
The brand formally launched in the UK on 17 September this year, with the S07 going on sale on the same day with a list price of £39,990. This undercuts the UK’s luxury car tax, but is above the limit for the government’s Electric Car Grant.
A spokesperson for the brand told us: ‘We believe customers ultimately make decisions based on value, quality and innovation … we are confident that by delivering excellent products, we can earn a place in the UK market regardless of specific incentives.’
As the S07 is sold through conventional dealers, it’s likely that discounts could be applied to the car in the near future.
Five things I learned while test driving the Deepal S07
Dino Buratti, Which? cars expert
I took the S07 for an extended test drive around the West Midlands, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, and these are my first impressions of the car.
1. It’s built to high standards
Like many Chinese-built cars, the S07 is well-made. The 125 litre ‘frunk’ (storage under the bonnet) is clad nicely, with the bonnet held up by gas struts. The body panels are even and align closely.
Inside, there’s lots of soft fabric and plastic trim on the doors and dash top. Like many cars, there’s a lot of hard plastic on the lower reaches of the dashboard and door trims, which is nothing unusual for a car that costs under £40,000.
Although they may not be to everyone’s tastes, I liked the wood-effect inserts on the door armrests. However, I’d recommend avoiding dour black interior – the orange or white options are much brighter and help to make the car feel more spacious.
Impressively, none of the panels rattled or squeaked at speed during my drive. That said, while the centre console in the front is very stiff and sturdy, the rear centre armrest can wobble a bit when in use.
2. The interior controls can be complex to use
Another characteristic of Chinese cars is an interior that has few physical controls, and the S07 follows this trend. There are a couple of physical controls on the roof lining (for the roof shade and hazard lights), while door, mirror and window controls are found on the doors. Just two buttons sit on the steering wheel; the rest of the controls are accessed via touchpads.
There’s also no instrument cluster. Instead, the car has a head-up display, which I found well positioned and easy to read.
The car has a 15.6-inch touchscreen that’s generally easy to use, albeit after a period of familiarisation. The screen can be automatically set to swivel so it’s angled towards the driver or passenger, depending on who the car detects is sitting inside.
However, I found that the screen sometimes requires multiple presses to make it do what you want. The ‘pull down’ top and side menus for common functions certainly makes life easier.
One thing that annoyed me was the fact the wiper and headlight controls are also situated on the screen, instead of having a dedicated physical stalk or control areas.
3. The active safety systems generally work well
The S07 scored five stars when Euro NCAP crash-tested it in 2024 and, in contrast to cars from many Chinese brands and other established manufacturers, the active safety systems worked very well on my test drive.
The car’s intelligent speed assist and traffic-sign detection was reliable and even picked up speed limits displayed on overhead motorway gantries, in stark contrast to the Polestar 4 I’ve also driven. The distraction monitor also rarely activated in error, even when I was glancing at the central screen (unlike the Kia EV3 I recently drove).
The Deepal’s lane-assist also impressed me, as did the adaptive cruise control system, which is easy to set up and works well to slow you down for traffic. However, during my test drive it did occasionally brake the car unexpectedly, such as when there was a fallen branch by the side of the road.
Curiously, I noticed that when using the built-in sat-nav the car offers up more in the way of safety alerts (such as for speed limits).
4. It’s not the most refined EV
Like most electric cars, the motor is very quiet apart from when you accelerate hard. It’s always smooth and has sufficient power for everyday driving. There’s no dual-motor version of the S07, so look elsewhere if you want a more powerful EV.
I did find that there was a lot of road noise at speed, which appeared to be coming through the wheel arches, along with some wind noise around the double-glazed front side windows. And while Changan states that the suspension has been tuned for UK roads, I have to wonder what they’ve really done to it. The car jars on rough roads and bounces a bit on undulating surfaces. I also clearly felt potholes and road joints in the cabin. It is generally comfortable on smoother roads, though.
The S07 certainly isn’t what I’d call fun. The steering doesn’t have much feel and is both vague and inaccurate in town. It’s more direct and precise at speed, but it could go further. Body roll in corners is also noticeable.
5. The seats could be more comfortable
I found the front seats comfortable enough as the upholstery is quite soft, while the four-way adjustable lumbar support is also helpful. Front passengers should note that their seat can’t be adjusted for height and doesn’t have lumbar support.
An extending and tilting seat base isn't fitted to the front seats, either, while the fixed headrests won't suit everyone.
Despite well-shaped backrests, the outer rear seats are less comfortable. The seat base isn’t contoured much while it’s positioned at a sharp angle, which can be uncomfortable for taller people like me (I’m 6ft 2in tall).
The rear seats can’t be reclined, either, and the headrests didn’t extend far enough for me.
Up front, I found there's a decent amount of headroom, even with my high-set driving position. This is reversed in the rear where there isn’t enough headroom for tall people because of the coupé-style body shape.
There is, however, plenty of legroom and a flat floor so you can sit forward and stretch across the cabin to make use of the space.
Changan Deepal S07: first-drive verdict
Based on my initial drive, it appears that by tailoring its safety systems to UK roads, Changan has given the S07 an edge over many other Chinese brands. It’s also impressively well-made and has a quiet electric motor.
However, it’s also stuck in something of a no-man’s-land: it’s neither as comfortable or refined as many other EVs, but nor does it provide a fun and engaging drive.
It’s also let down by its low maximum rapid charging speed of 93 kW (less than rivals like the Skoda Enyaq) and a claimed 45-minute 10-80% recharge time. And while its claimed 295-mile range is good for a sub-£40,000 EV, I expected more given its 79.97kWh battery. The 87kWh Renault Scenic E-Tech has an official range of up to 379 miles, for example.
We'll report real-world figures for the battery once we've lab-tested the car. In the meantime, check out our pick of the very best electric SUVs we've tested.
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