Geely is preparing to launch the refreshed Xingyuan in China on May 28, giving the compact electric hatchback more range, a few equipment upgrades and a stronger link to a car Malaysians already know well.
The Xingyuan is sold as Geely EX2 overseas. In Malaysia, its local twin is the Proton e.MAS 5, which has quickly become popular because it’s the cheapest EV around. Proton currently lists the e.MAS 5 from RM56,800 for the Prime and RM69,800 for the Premium, both still as special launch prices.
That puts it in rare territory: an EV priced close enough to tempt buyers who would normally be looking at a petrol hatchback or small sedan.
That is why the refreshed Xingyuan is worth watching here. Many Malaysians would be eager to know what Geely has changed, because those updates could point to where the e.MAS 5 might head later.
The biggest change is battery size.
According to Chinese reports, the updated Xingyuan will be offered with 35 kWh and 47 kWh battery packs, giving claimed ranges of 360km and 460km CLTC respectively. In daily use, the lower-range version may feel closer to a WLTP range of 288km car, while the longer-range version may sit nearer 368km, depending on driving conditions (there is no fixed CLTC-to-WLTP conversion; Tiencars is adopting a conservative 20% drop in calculating WLTP ranges).
The current Malaysian e.MAS 5 uses smaller 30.12 kWh and 40.16 kWh CATL LFP battery packs, with WLTP ranges of 225km and 325km, just as with the previous Xingyuan. Geely has not disclosed whether the refreshed model continues with CATL cells or switches supplier.
The Xingyuan’s styling is not expected to change dramatically. Chinese automotive portal Yiche said the basic design is carried over, with updates concentrated on details and equipment.
New items reportedly include cameras on the front fenders, support for automated parking and sentry mode, plus new wheel designs. Inside, the car is said to switch to a column gear selector, with some button layout changes.
CarNewsChina reported that the rear-motor, rear-wheel-drive layout is expected to continue, with outputs likely unchanged at 58 kW (79 PS) for the smaller-battery version and 85 kW (116 PS) for the larger-battery version.
In China, the existing Xingyuan is priced from 68,800 yuan to 87,800 yuan (about RM40,200 to RM51,300). Pricing for the refreshed model has not been announced.
The Xingyuan is already a big deal in its domestic market. Geely said the electric hatchback was China’s best-selling model across all segments in 2025, with 465,775 units sold from January to December.
It also claimed cumulative deliveries hit 500,000 units in 14 months, the fastest among pure electric vehicles launched in China between 2024 and 2025.
Proton has not announced a refreshed e.MAS 5, and the China-market Xingyuan update does not guarantee a Malaysian revision soon.
Even so, the refreshed Xingyuan gives Malaysian buyers a useful preview of where Geely’s affordable EV hatchback is heading.
The range increases, based on reports about the upgraded batteries, are modest rather than dramatic. Still, for a small city EV, every extra kilometre helps. If the same upgrade reaches the e.MAS 5 later without a large price jump, Proton’s cheapest EV would become a more convincing daily car.
