Omoda 5

FIRST DRIVE Small crossover's EV and petrol powertrains have been joined by a full-hybrid. Is this the pick of the range?

- Alastair Crooks [e-mail]

OUT of the new-to-the-UK brands Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda, it was the latter that arrived first back in the summer of 2024, with the 5 small crossover. In its first full year, the firm managed to sell almost 20,000 cars, and while that's not quite as many as its luxury-oriented Jaecoo sibling brand (28,000 units in 2025), it showed that Omoda is certainly one Chinese marque to be reckoned with. With rivals arriving thick and fast in the past 18 months, not just from within the Chery International group but also the recently updated Kia Niro, BYD Atto 2 and Leapmotor B10, the Omoda 5 has had its work cut out. It's been fighting on two fronts, with pure petrol and all-electric 'E5' variants. Now Omoda has added to the range by introducing a new full-hybrid called the SHS-H.

While Omoda doesn't state it on its website, SHS-H actually stands for 'Super Hybrid System - Hybrid'. Silly name aside, the full-hybrid shows promise on paper. Revealed as recently as October 2025, it's a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a small electric motor and 1.83kWh battery pack. It's not connected in any way to the MG ZS Hybrid's unit, though, which strangely has the same-size battery and engine. Power in the Omoda goes to the front wheels via a dedicated hybrid transmission called DHT - something we've seen in a few plugin hybrid cars from the Chery group already.

The system works in a similar fashion to Toyota's hybrid setups, with the petrol engine recharging that small battery. The SHS-H isn't designed for a large amount of electric-only driving (and Omoda doesn't provide a range estimate anyway), although the firm claims 52.2mpg is possible on a combined cycle - way up from the woeful official figure of 31.1mpg the petrol car provides.