Our Ed travelled to Proton’s sprawling Tanjung Malim plant to have a go at their new e.MAS 5. He has high praise for the compact, and thinks Proton should build a “hot” version

I got to sample two very important electrified Protons during my recent visit to Malaysia. The Proton e.MAS 5 and the e.MAS 7 PHEV are important cars for Singapore, as VINCAR Group, the distributor here plans to field more models after the success of their first car here – the e.MAS 7.

Quite shortly after this trip, the Proton e.MAS 5 was unveiled back home, with an indicative starting price of S$158,888.

Stay tuned for my driving impressions of the Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV. But now, here is more about what I think is an amazing small electric car.

What is it?

It is a B-Segment SUV… well actually in my books, it feels more like a hatchback with blacked-out wheel guards. You can call it whatever you want, but for one thing, it is one of the more affordable EVs that you can buy at this point.

The Proton e.MAS 5 slots under the e.MAS 7 SUV. It essentially a clone of the Geely EX2, where the latter became one of the best selling cars in its home country.

The higher-spec ‘Premium’ variant we are getting, receives power from a 40.16kWh CATL lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which can deliver 325km of range. The electric motor produces 114hp (85kW) and 150Nm which easily qualifies this as a Category A COE car.

What sets the e.MAS 5 apart from same-segment competition is that it has a rear-wheel drive setup, which gives it a traction advantage.

This one was a little fluffy

Driving impressions

There is that inherent electric motor smoothness, and I was surprised at the EV’s willingness to tuck into tight turns. I learnt from one of the Proton officials on-hand that the underpinnings for the e.MAS 5 is shared with Mercedes-Benz’s smart #1 and smart #3.

The RWD setup truly paid dividends on the handling track. Under acceleration, the weight shifts to the rear, keeping the rear-driving wheels planted. There was very little in the way of understeer too as the front wheels did not need to manage torque delivery. In fact, it feels quite forgiving, even if you are carrying a little too much speed around a turn.

Proton actually said that the e.MAS 5 is designed with female drivers in-mind, therefore that part also played out in how easy manoeuvrable the car was. However, the steering feels a tad too light for my liking. 

That said, what amazes me is that engineers have seriously sorted out the handling of the small Proton. I actually did mention to them that the chassis would be able to entertain a higher-powered sport-oriented variant, just based on the positive driving impressions for the day. After all, smart has Brabus-badged variants of the #1 and #3.

Stay tuned for my First Drive of the Proton e.MAS 7 PHEV.