It seems that Proton and BYD can’t help but trade blows at every opportunity. Less than a day after the latter revealed a new teaser for the Atto 3 Evo, the national carmaker has usurped it with a shadowy image of its own – this time for an updated eMas 7 of sorts. The reveal is set for eight days from now, which would be June 11, the press day for the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS). What could this possibly be? Well, one only has to look at the Australian and Thai markets, where the car’s twin, the Geely EX5, has been upgraded with a larger 68.39 kWh Aegis short blade LFP battery, a mild bump from the previous capacity of 60.22 kWh. This provides a marginal increase in range to 475 km on the WLTP cycle, up from 410 km on the current eMas 7 Premium. We should point out that this figure is with the base 18-inch alloy wheels that is fitted to the Prime; add the Premium’s 19-inch rollers and this figure drops to 450 km – a mere 40 km increase. Geely EX5 Max+ in Thailand with the bigger battery With an unchanged front motor continuing to serve up 218 PS (160 kW) and 320 Nm of torque, as well as a 50 kg weight penalty, the larger battery version (called the Premium Plus here to match the eMas 7 PHEV, perhaps?) is slower from zero to 100 km/h, taking 7.4 seconds compared to the current model’s 6.9 seconds. The car’s DC fast charging power remains at 100 kW, but with such a slight increase in battery capacity, Geely claims it takes the same 20 minutes to be topped up from 30 to 80%. It also still supports up to 11 kW of AC charging, taking seven hours to charge from 10 to 100% (up from 6.1 hours for the other models). Given the minor increase in range, the new flagship model could gain some kit missing from the existing Premium variant to provide greater differentiation, such as a front centre airbag and a built-in passenger ottoman to match the EX5 globally. The update should also introduce a new Emerald Green paint option, similar to the eMas 7 PHEV. Geely EX5 Max+ in Thailand with the bigger battery Of more importance is what this change means for the rest of the lineup. With Geely having phased out the base 49.52 kWh battery in China, it’s possible that the Prime moves to the “middle” 60.22 kWh pack, which would provide a healthy boost of range from 345 km to 430 km (again, with the 18s). While the larger battery is by far the strongest possibility, there is the outside chance of a curveball, perhaps a special edition or a bodykit option. However, given that the car shown in the teaser looks exactly the same as the current model – it is, in fact, the same official photo released together with the launch of the original car nearly two years ago – this is unlikely to be the case. In either case, are you excited for this new eMas 7 variant? Let us know in the comments. GALLERY: Geely EX5 Max+ in Bangkok Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro. Use the promo code 'PAULTAN' when you checkout for 10% discount!
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