IM5

The recent flood of Chinese vehicle registrations on our roads is evidence of this, with a new name seemingly popping up on every corner, most of them electric. China has roughly 169 automakers. No surprise then, that we're spoilt for choice.

SAIC Motor Corporation Limited is China's largest carmaker, majority-owned by the Shanghai municipal government, with annual sales of over five million vehicles and operates joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors. SAIC also owns brands like MG, Roewe, Maxus and the premium electric marque "IM", and our test subject this time around is the very good-looking Intelligent Mobility 5, or IM5.

Exterior

A few Fridays ago, while roaming around Havelock mall post scrumptious dinner at Colombo Steak House with the better half, we walked up on the IM5 on display. I immediately exclaimed, finally a properly good-looking electric car! The IM5, has a brilliantly fluidic, sleek profile that looks good from almost any angle. The car has a tight, purposeful look, while ticking all the right futuristic boxes.

The front end's low-slung, cab-forward stance is accentuated by a sculpted nose that flows into the bumper in one continuous, aerodynamic sweep. The hawk-eye LED headlamps taper sharply toward the center, lending the car a predatory look, while the smooth, grille-less fascia signals its all-electric credentials. From the front three quarter angle, perhaps the headlights could've been tweaked a slight bit so that there would be less bonnet surface-area, given the absence of a front grille, but that is probably subjective nit picking.

Subtle creases in the hood arc outward in a way that visually echoes the front wheel arches, almost as if the sheet metal is flexing over the car's stance. It gives the IM5's nose a sense of muscular beefiness, reinforcing the car's planted look while keeping the surfacing clean and slippery. It's a clever bit of design.

On the side, the IM5 carries the same futuristic drama as the nose. Instead of conventional side repeaters on the front fenders, the IM5 has slim camera pods that feed the digital "mirrors" that pop up on the wide screen on the dash when signaling to switch lanes. The lower door panels boast deep, organic curves that swell back into the rear arches, adding to the overall muscular design while flush door handles keep the side profile clean. The whole design works very well together to give a coupe-like silhouette with that sloping rear roofline going into the hatch, finished off with the upswept ducktail-style integrated rear spoiler.

The design language borrows heavily from Maserati in the front and Aston Martin at the rear but to complain about this would be akin to saying a woman looks too much like Ana De Armas in No Time to Die. Our test car came with the "smaller" 19-inch wheels, in black. I'm not usually a fan of completely black wheels but the rather large, orange Continental calipers behind them really set it off and the look just worked, suggesting a higher performance car than it actually is. 

Mech & Tech

The IM5 is driven by a rear-mounted permanent-magnet synchronous motor delivering 109 kW of power. Output figures are average in this spec but, if your budget allows, you could potentially opt for the downright fast dual-motor AWD variant with 553 kW (that's around 742 hp) and 802 nm torque which will propel you to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds – as quick as a McLaren F1.

In our test car's spec, the motor has been tuned for smooth, linear torque delivery. The 75 kWh lithium-ion battery pack allows for a claimed 505 km of range on the NEDC cycle. The IM5 supports fast charging and can charge 10–80 % in just over half an hour, while a full overnight AC top-up takes around eight hours

The IM5 rides on IM's proprietary "Agile Lizard Digital Chassis" with ESP – a mouthful that sounds like marketing spiel at first, but let's dive in. The system ties together the car's power delivery, braking, stability control, and steering. It constantly monitors wheel speed, steering angle, yaw rate, lateral G-forces, and traction levels in real time and redistributes torque between the driven wheels, is capable of adjusting brake pressure at individual corners, and tweaks steering assistance to keep the car on the intended path if it detects wheel slip or a sudden loss of stability.

This interlinked-system contrasts older setups where each component (ESP, traction control, ABS) operated more independently, and is faster and more precise. On slippery surfaces and wet roads, the Agile Lizard system is claimed to reduce deviation by 80%. The IM5 also comes with rear-wheel steering (up to 12°), which the system uses as part of its stability program.

The rear-wheel steering allows tight turning at low speeds as well as "crab mode" lateral movement. While crab mode is probably more of a talking point, a tighter turning circle is always useful. At higher speeds, the system can even counter-steer to keep the rear planted and stable during fast lane changes or sweeping bends.

More tech wizardy - the Intelligent Comfort Stop (ICS)… this system tackles one of the trickier aspects of EV braking: the transition between regenerative and traditional friction braking, where (in most EVs), the initial braking force comes from regenerative braking, but as speed drops and regen fades, the system blends in the mechanical disc brakes. This causes a jolt or forward lurch right before the car stops that many have gotten somewhat accustomed to in electric vehicles but is no less graceful after many years of driving.

ICS eliminates this transitional jolt using sensors and brake controllers to manage the switchover. It monitors pedal pressure, vehicle speed, wheel slip, incline angle, and longitudinal G-force, and, instead of letting regen fade abruptly, ramps up hydraulic brake pressure to compensate. IM claims ICS reduces perceived braking G-forces by 92% on flat roads.

Driving Experience

The IM5 is so tech-forward, it doesn't even come with a start button – because who has the time to press a button anymore right? Just walk up to the car with the key fob (or paired smartphone) in your pocket, the flush-mounted door handles motor out to greet you, and the doors unlock automatically. Once inside, you simply press the brake and select Drive. That's it. The setup is similar to that of other luxury EVs (Tesla, Lucid, etc.)

With all the tech mentioned above working together, setting off feels quite natural. Most of us now have at least some amount of EV driving experience under our belts so the overall feel of not having a combustion motor or gears is unsurprising. I would've preferred at least some basic physical controls inside though, especially for drive modes, which too have to be toggled using the touch screen.

109kw isn't a lot of power, but electric cars always feel faster than they are because of the instant torque delivery. 100kmh comes up in a claimed 6.8 seconds, which is respectable, but the instant response makes overtaking in short spaces effortless, with that electric whine at low speed "take-offs" having its own quirky appeal. Steering, which is by wire like everything else in this car, feels well weighted, particularly in sport mode and at higher speeds, though feedback itself is scarce. In this category of car and at this price point however, the goal is more insulation than feedback and it does that well.

One big plus of course is that the car is RWD, and hard acceleration out of a corner manages to eek a bit of tire squeal out of that large diameter rubber. The whole car feels very taut and cohesive, where the body and chassis feel like one unyielding piece. The wide tires and rigid chassis (together with all the electronic gizmos doing their fully-integrated thing) inspires a lot of confidence in high-speed cornering, with the car feeling completely surefooted.

Comfort on lesser roads is certainly worth a mention. Though not as comfortably damped as its taller IM6 sibling, the IM5 performed very impressively on harsh surfaces, despite erring on the sportier side of things, with no harshness being conveyed to the cabin. The double wishbone up front and multi-link independent rear suspension do an excellent job at keeping passengers comfortable on most surfaces.

Living with the IM5

The cabin feels super airy thanks to its full-length sunroof which is really enjoyed by the rear passengers getting full view of the sky. This was further aided by our test car's light beige interior. Just keep your hands clean while using the car!

Interior processes are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8295 chip, running a 26.3" infotainment display and a 10.5" central touchscreen. The car also features active noise cancellation, and Rainy Night Mode which uses AI-enhanced camera feeds to project a clear view of pedestrians and vehicles onto the interior display when visibility is obscured by heavy rain.

The screens themselves are not overdone in this car – something you can't say about certain German manufacturers nowadays, but I reckon one can spend a good half a day fiddling with all the menus in the car. As mentioned above with regard to the drive modes however, I would've preferred some physical button controls at least for basic functions like ac and side mirror adjustment. The fluidic design language is carried through the interior of the car as well and, overall, it is a nice place to be.

Entertainment is complete with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and a 20-speaker(!) surround sound system. The audio wasn't immediately impressive however though it got better after some fine tuning. Still, a 20-speaker sound system left me expecting more, with it notably lacking low-end punch. The IM5 makes up with double-glazed glass active noise cancellation – it makes the cabin quiet, reducing external noise so you can better appreciate what the sound system is doing.

Safety

The IM5 uses a "submarine cage" structure - a safety cell that surrounds the passenger compartment along with a suite of electronic driver-assistance systems. You get the usual full complement of airbags, including front, side, curtain, and far-side units. On the active side, the IM5's ADAS tech combines inputs from cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, offering autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, lane departure prevention, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert with auto-braking, driver attention monitoring, and traffic sign recognition. This is all in addition to the now standard electronic stability control, traction control, ABS, and hill-start assist. Yes, that's a lot.

Price & Range

Rs.26mn is not a small ask but then this is a lot of tech inside a beautiful, quiet car. The range of just over 500kms is just about where you'd expect it to be and is on par with a combustion car's full tank of fuel, for potential first time EV buyers who are still not convinced that they'll make it home from their 20km daily commute on a full charge.

The price tag puts it somewhere in the middle – above the very popular BYD offerings but more affordable than entry level European metal (read 3 series, C Class). In fact, this is about what you would pay for a Corolla, but feels and is an altogether different animal.

Conclusion

It's going to take a bit of getting used to before we Sri Lankans jump into names that aren't as well known as the rest. Perhaps if this car were called by the name it is in other markets – the MG IM5 – it would be more comfortably welcomed by the masses, given the popularity of the MG ZS here. It's certainly a stand out and can really be a head turner in the right color.

Choosing the "right" electric car can feel overwhelming these days, with a new badge popping up almost every week. But SAIC — one of China's automotive "Big Four" — isn't just another startup; it's a global heavyweight. So if you're thinking electric but feeling uninspired by the usual suspects, give the good folk at Evolution Auto a call and take the IM5 for a spin — it just might surprise you.