Deepal E07

First, let’s have a little background about Deepal (pronounced De-Paul and not the way you’d think – check out our embedded video where we tell you how to pronounce it). Deepal is a brand of Changan Automobile, one of China’s largest automakers. Changan’s roots stretch way back to 1862, when they made military supplies. Today, they’ve got a range of brands including Changan, Deepal, AVATR and more. The E07 is called the World’s First Transformer SUV as per their brochure, and it certainly looks like it. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the review.

Exterior

Right off the bat, this vehicle looks distinctive. Our test E07 rolls on 265-section tires wrapped around 21-inch alloy wheels with covers that give it a very Cybertruck vibe, however unlike Elon’s finest, the covers on the E07’s wheels won’t chew up your tires’ sidewalls over time. In fact the overall silhouette of it leans towards Cybertruck, and yet it’s not a carbon copy. For example, look at the side profile towards the rear that emulates a windshield. If you’re a Nineties kid like me, you’ll liken it to Knight Rider’s KITT – more specifically, the third-generation Pontiac Trans Am. I’d even dare say that this thing looks better than a Cybertruck.

Meanwhile, the front has a fair hint of seventh generation Dodge Charger about it, and yet once again, it’s not a carbon copy. Overall, these elements gel well into something that looks cohesive and definitely turns heads. Our tester comes in Obsidian Black, but it’s got a sort of colour-shifting effect and appears to be a very deep and dark blue under some types and angles of lighting.

What about that slick transforming feature? Well, push a button on the key fob or via the infotainment screen and the two-piece tailgate opens. The top half seamlessly rolls forwards, while the bottom half flips downwards. Then, you’ll note that the cargo area is separated from the cabin via a glass partition – just like in a pickup truck. Moreover, the cargo area is flat-floored, and you can control the two-piece tailgate independently. So, you can use the E07 like an SUV or like a pickup truck. Neat!

Mech & Tech

Our test E07 is a rear-wheel drive variant, packing a 190 kilowatt (254hp) electric motor that can develop up to 365Nm of torque. The motor is fed its steady dose of electrons from an 89.98 kilowatt hour ternary lithium battery. The brochure informs us that the battery can be charged at up to 240 kilowatts at DC fast charging stations although I’m not sure that we have such fast DC chargers in Sri Lanka yet. You can also perform AC charging at up to 6.6 kilowatts. Furthermore, Vehicle-To-Load (V2L) is supported, meaning that your E07 can power your home appliances if needed. Perfect for those days when scheduled power cuts are happening but you work from home, or when a sudden mini cyclone knocks out power – which seems to be happening more often now.

The E07 features front and rear ventilated disc brakes with ABS and EBD, but there’s also some pretty strong regenerative braking depending on drive mode. There are three drive modes – Eco, Comfort and Sport, and they tailor drivetrain characteristics accordingly. Eco of course, has the strongest regeneration. The suspension uses double wishbones at the front and a multi-link configuration at the rear. The steering is electrically assisted.

Driving Experience

Upon entering the cabin of the Deepal E07, you’ll notice that Deepal is going for simplicity. There’s almost no physical buttons and knobs, and the hazard light switch is mounted at the front of the roof near the map lights. Everything is controlled via a 15.4-inch touchscreen that angles itself towards the driver. Simply enter the vehicle, close the door and you’re ready to go. There’s no ‘Start’ button to press. The vehicle is ready as long as it’s unlocked and the NFC-enabled Key Card is inside. Plus, you can also lock and unlock the vehicle by simply tapping the Key Card against the driver’s side door mirror housing.  

Thanks to the Easy Entry & Exit feature, the seats motor all the way back to help you get in or out of the E07’s driver or front passenger seat. Once you close the door, the seats return to their set positions. You’ve got 14-way power adjustment for both front seats, along with 4-way power lumbar, and ventilation too! I’m always a fan of ventilated seats, because they really make a difference in Sri Lanka. Heated seats on the other hand are basically useless and I’m happy that the E07 doesn’t have them.

Press the brake pedal, select Drive via the column-mounted gear shifter and away you go. There’s no traditional gauge cluster because everything pertaining to driver information is displayed via a heads-up display. The unit worked superbly during our test, even under bright sunshine. You’ve got great visibility, making it easy to thread this 5 meter long, 2 meter wide vehicle around Colombo traffic. You’ve also got blind spot monitoring, a surround-view camera, and a host of ADAS features that we’ll talk about in their own section. Rearward visibility though, could be better as it’s slightly restricted owing to the narrow rear window between the passenger cabin and cargo area.

What about the three drive modes? Well they alter many factors including throttle response, power delivery and regenerative braking. Under Eco, you’ve got the most damped throttle response and maximum regenerative braking. You can even do one-pedal driving in some cases, but the vehicle doesn’t come to a full stop unlike others with one-pedal driving. So, it’s great for crawling around in slow-moving town traffic but you’ll need to hit the brake to stop.

Selecting Comfort mode dials down the regenerative braking a smidge and gives you a bit more oomph. Foot flat to the floor, you gain speed in a very smart manner accompanied by a slightly audible motor whine from the rear. But if you really want to use all 250 plus horses, Sport is the way to go. Here, the throttle is much sharper, regeneration is more akin to engine braking in a manual transmission-equipped car, and of course, you’ve got the maximum performance to enjoy. Flatten the throttle and the E07 leaps forward with verve, emitting a bit more motor whine and putting a smile on your face. Ah, that electric torque is quite something. Given its test performance with three adults on board, I have no doubt that it will cope very well even when fully loaded with passengers and cargo.

Suspension is another area where Chinese cars have come a long way. You’ve basically got Euro-level compliance and refinement, with bumps and potholes superbly damped away and harsh edges softened. All in all, the E07 is a very comfortable long distance cruiser. It’s also got suitably strong braking via its four disc brakes so you’ll have nothing to worry about there. I must also comment that the regenerative braking and disc braking transition is well blended, and you don’t really notice it.

Living with the Deepal E07

Overall, the Deepal E07 is a very family-friendly vehicle. We’ve already briefly touched on its trick transforming cargo area, but did you know that it is rated for a payload capacity of 350 kilograms? You’ve also got a cargo area light and some side pockets there. Oh, and the vehicle also has a front trunk, or frunk. Then, the interior has a deep centre console box, and a storage area beneath the front centre console too. Curiously, there’s no glove-box within the passenger side of the dashboard.

We mentioned the front powered and ventilated seats, but did you know that the rear seats get ventilation too? In addition to this, rear passengers get their own vents for the car’s dual-zone climate control system and USB charging ports. Meanwhile up front there’s a 50-watt wireless phone charger plus USB charging ports. Front and rear passengers get cup holders too. However, you must control nearly everything via the touchscreen. For me, this wasn’t ideal as I prefer physical buttons and knobs at least for climate control and media volume functions. However, this seems to be an over-arching theme across most major Chinese automakers – I hope they ‘see the light’ and revert to buttons and knobs, at least for major functions. You can also adjust the 256-colour interior ambient lighting system via the touchscreen. Overall, there’s a lot going on via this screen and I’d suggest that new owners spend about 45 minutes to an hour familiarizing themselves with their E07’s infotainment system and the myriad options available for them to play around with.

Audio plays through an 18-speaker sound system that offers decent sound quality, and there’s a very interesting Outdoor Speaker function too. You see, EVs have external speakers to transmit an audible noise when traveling at slow speeds. The purpose of this is to warn pedestrians of their presence, since there’s no engine rumble. Changan have figured out, why not use those speakers for music too? Hence, the E07 has a feature where you can play music via the external speakers! Granted the quality isn’t as high fidelity as the interior speaker system but it’s no less than say, a portable boom-box. Plus, there’s also a Party Mode where, like in some Tesla models, the vehicle will put on a sort of light show using its external lights.

Other features of the infotainment system include Apple and Android mobile phone connectivity, navigation, and internal plus external voice control. There’s an in-car monitoring system that uses a camera to monitor what’s going on inside the cabin – very useful for fleet purposes or taxi use. The vehicle can also use its 360-degree camera system as a versatile dash cam system.

Finally, there’s a very interesting feature called Scenario Modes. One of these is a Nap Mode which adjusts the seats to a comfortable angle for sleeping, plays soothing sounds and keeps the climate control running for your comfort. The doors are locked so that you can peacefully take a snooze in your E07, and there’s even an alarm function to wake you up after a pre-determined time period. It’s perfect for when you’re waiting in the car for your kids or significant other and want a quick digital detox.

Safety & ADAS Features

You’d rightfully expect a vehicle of this ilk to be dripping with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and you’re not wrong. The safety features list in the Deepal E07’s brochure almost rivals its list of interior and infotainment features. For starters, we’ve got a very smart adaptive cruise control system that we were able to test out on Marine Drive, and it worked a treat! The vehicle maintained its speed and distance from the surrounding traffic, and even pre-emptively slowed down at pedestrian crossings! Much better than most Sri Lankan drivers, then.

Moving on, there’s a slick remote parking feature that we couldn’t test out, but are told supports straight-in, reverse-in and parallel parking. Then, there’s the usual lane departure warning, lane-keeping assistance and automatic emergency braking with front cross traffic braking. You’ve also got blind-spot alerts, rear cross-traffic detection and rear cross-traffic braking. There’s a safe exit warning system, emergency lane keeping feature, and laterial deviation control. You’ve also got a comprehensive suite of airbags, a driver fatigue monitoring system and even rollover mitigation. Oh, and that’s just about half of the list of items. Suffice to say, the E07 doesn’t skimp on safety features. However, I MUST impress upon you that these systems are no excuse to put your feet up and take your hands off the steering wheel. You’re still the driver, and responsible for any consequences that may occur.

Charging and Range

Range anxiety is slowly being addressed in the Sri Lankan EV context, but it’s still largely prevalent. After all, this is something that requires cooperation with multiple industries and business segments, including hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, apartment complexes, and more. Thankfully, the Deepal E07 offers AC and DC fast charging as we described in the Mech & Tech section. Deepal Sri Lanka tells us that the quoted range for the E07 in this specification is 640 kilometres. This covers most trips in Sri Lanka, and if you can arrange some charging at one of your overnight stops, you’re covered.

Warranty and Price

The Deepal E07 is priced at Rs. 30,600,000 on-the-road at the time of testing. It comes with a 5-year / 120,000-kilometre warranty on the vehicle, and 8 years / 120,000 kilometres on the battery and electric drive system. 

Final Words

As I handed back the key card of this quirky SUV slash pickup truck, I realized that I actually quite liked it. Its unconventional looks endow it with genuine practicality while its rear-wheel drive electric powertrain offers ample performance, even for keen drivers who need a family vehicle. Plus, with its impressive claimed range and myriad charging capabilities, I’m sure that you won’t need to be constantly thinking about finding the nearest charging station every time you venture too far from home.

Oh, and build quality of these Changans, not to mention most Chinese vehicles coming to us in 2025 has massively improved by leaps and bounds. During our test I tapped and rapped on panels, pressed on soft-touch surfaces, and tried to find iffy panel gaps. Everything felt like it was put together with precision. So, if you want a vehicle that’s unconventional, doesn’t follow the traditional path of an SUV (or a pickup truck), and comes with some neat luxury features, the Deepal E07 ticks all the boxes.