You already know all there is to know about the Proton eMas 7 PHEV from a product and variant standpoint, and now, the first eMas with an engine and exhaust pipe (sorry, we don’t think we’re going to call it a “dual-powered EV”) is open for booking in Malaysia. Also, no more camo, so feast your eyes on this avalanche of photos – in the flesh at last! The estimated price is between RM110k and RM130k and the launch will be in February ahead of deliveries soon after. Of course, there’s an early-bird package – book the eMas 7 PHEV for just RM99 and get a RM500 booking fee rebate if your car is one of the first 5,000 to be successfully registered. Now, because the eMas 7 PHEV isn’t actually launched yet, the RM129,800 Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV is still Malaysia’s cheapest PHEV for now. We expect the final prices to be below the estimated ones, of course, so let’s wait for the launch to officially declare it the country’s most affordable plug-in hybrid. Essentially a Geely EX5/Starray/Galaxy Starship 7 EM-i, the China-imported (CBU) eMas 7 PHEV sees a 99 PS/125 Nm 1.5 litre BHE15-DFN non-turbo engine join forces with a 218 PS/262 Nm front motor to send a combined output of 262 PS and 262 Nm of torque to the front wheels. The petrol engine is closely related to the Saga MC3’s BHE15-CFN. Still port-injected, but it’s been made simpler and lighter for higher efficiency, runs on an Atkinson cycle full time as opposed to part time, has just single- instead of dual-VVT, and features efficient exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Furthermore, the engine’s lack of an auxiliary belt minimises parasitic losses – no belt-driven air-con compressor and inverter. And like the Saga, it uses a timing chain so there’s no timing belt either. The engine’s thermal efficiency is 46.5% – slightly lower than in China, which gets an updated version that’s more efficient and more powerful – 111 PS and 136 Nm of torque. An 11-to-1 electrified dedicated hybrid transmission (E-DHT) combines a P1 integrated starter-generator and P3 traction motor. The system works similar to Honda’s e:HEV in that the car is driven primarily by electricity but the engine can be clutched in at higher speeds, when petrol power is more efficient. It’s a series-parallel plug-in hybrid and not an EV, so it’ll have engine size-based road tax and wear black number plates. The engine can charge the battery up to a limit of 85%, and at the other end of the scale, the system protects the battery by not allowing the state of charge to dip below 20%. The battery is an LFP pack – Proton strongly recommends that customers plug it in to fully charge the battery once a week to prolong battery health. There are Prime, Premium and Premium Plus variants. The bottom two get an 18.4-kWh CATL LFP battery, an 83-km EV range, a 943-km combined range, DC charging up to 30 kW (30-80% in under 20 minutes) and an eight-second 0-100 km/h time. The range-topping Premium Plus gets a 29.8-kWh Geely Aegis short blade LFP battery, a 146-km EV range, a 996-km combined range, DC charging up to 60 kW (30-80% in under 16 minutes) and an 8.2-second century sprint time. All ranges quoted above are on the more-realistic WLTP cycle – Proton has, in a departure from usual, chosen to market this model using NEDC figures, clearly to more closely match its rivals. The combined NEDC ranges are 1,065 km for the Premium Plus and 1,000 km for the Prime and Premium, their corresponding NEDC fuel consumptions are a claimed 4.4 and 4.3 litres per 100 km, and their respective NEDC EV-only ranges are 170 and 105 km. Moving from WLTP to NEDC is certainly a backwards step, as the former is clearly more realistic and closer to what customers will eventually get in the real world. Proton eMas has long championed the use of WLTP, against most of its NEDC-toting competitors. Where combined range is concerned, the eMas 7 PHEV loses out against the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV (1,200 km) and Jaecoo J7 PHEV (1,300 km) mainly because its fuel tank is smaller at 51 litres versus 60 for both Chery Group products. In terms of actual fuel efficiency, it’s the Proton that has the edge. At 8.0-8.2 seconds, the eMas 7 PHEV is slower than its EV sister (6.9 seconds) to 100 km/h, but quicker than its turbocharged PHEV rivals from Jaecoo and Chery (both around 8.5 seconds). And while we’re comparing against those, the eMas 7 PHEV also has the longest pure EV range, and quicker DC charging too. A 51-litre pressurised fuel tank, 6.6 kW AC charging, 170 km/h top speed, vehicle-to-load (V2L) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) capabilities are common to all variants. Exterior-wise, the eMas 7 PHEV differs from the EV in its split headlamps (DRLs above, headlamps below), full-width front LED bar (except Prime), a different front bumper and regular door handles (the EV’s ones are hidden/pop-out/flush/recessed/retractable – call ’em whatever you like). The rear number plate’s been moved up from the bumper to the tailgate, allowing a minor rear bumper redesign. Wondering if those small front intakes can provide enough cooling? Proton says its local R&D team has done 30,000 km of durability testing in various weather conditions, and its international R&D team has done thermal testing in both winter and summer extremes, and discovered no overheating nor other issues. Same tyre and wheel sizes as the EV (225/55 R18 for the Prime; 235/50 R19 with Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance SUV rubber for the rest), but the PHEV is given a new multi-spoke design. Suspension? Like the EV – MacPhersons up front, multi-links out back. It runs a global set-up; no ‘Proton ride and handling‘. The drag coefficient (Cd) is 0.288, compared to the EV’s 0.275. Length, width, height and wheelbase are respectively 4,740, 1,940, 1,685 and 2,755 mm, making it 125 mm longer, 39 mm wider and 15 mm taller, and with a 5 mm longer wheelbase, than its EV sister. It’s also slightly larger than both the Chery and Jaecoo. Interior time. You’ll see that the cabin is pretty much similar to the eMas 7 EV‘s (making CKD easier and cheaper; China’s version has a different cabin) – no matter the variant, you get Flyme OS (with Bahasa Melayu support) powered by a 7nm automotive-grade chip, live charging map integration, a 10.2-inch LCD instrument cluster, a 2.5K 15.4-inch infotainment central touchscreen and leatherette seats. But unlike the EV, the PHEV gets a tonneau cover (except Prime) and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto from the get-go, plus physical sunroof controls (sunroof only on Premium Plus). To jog your memory, on the EV, you need to go into the screen to operate the sunroof. The button-like front seat backrest inserts have been changed from chrome in the EV to satin silver here to better match the rest of the cabin, but they also lose out on the small Proton logos that the EV has. The fuel flap can be unlocked either via the screen or by holding down the left side mirror control button. The drive modes here are Pure (that’s EV-only mode), Hybrid and Power, compared to the EV’s Eco/Comfort/Sport. Pro-Net says interior space is about the same as the EV – there’s 932 mm hip-to-hip between the front and rear seats, 125 mm of rear knee room and 73.5 mm of rear headroom, the last of which the carmaker says is class-leading. Let’s talk about variants and equipment. Literally the only differences between Premium and Premium Plus are the battery, max DC rate and sunroof. Both are otherwise equally equipped – powered tailgate, auto-folding side mirrors, auto-dimming frameless rear-view mirror, powered/ventilated front seats, fully-reclinable front passenger seat, rear centre armrest, 256-colour ambient lighting, tonneau cover, 13.8-inch head-up display, wireless charging, 16 Flyme Sound Wanos speakers including in the headrests, auto air-con, seven airbags including a centre airbag (which the Geely Galaxy E5 in China gets and our eMas 7 EV doesn’t), a 360 camera and front parking sensors. All the stuff mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the Prime doesn’t get, settling instead for six speakers, six airbags and a reverse camera. It also has the smaller of the two wheels offered and no full-width front LED bar (we’ve yet to clap eyes on this base variant, so what it looks like is still a mystery, as is the brand of tyres used – Giti like the eMas 7 Prime EV?). In terms of active safety, while all variants get AEB, ACC, ICC, lane functions, leading vehicle departure alert and traffic sign recognition, the Prime omits emergency lane keep assist, rear collision warning, rear cross traffic alert and braking, lane change safety warning, blind spot detection, door open warning and occupant detection alert. Pro-Net has been wildly inconsistent with its base variants – see, the eMas 7 Prime EV has full ADAS while the eMas 5 Prime has no ADAS (although it does have blind spot detection and RCTA). Now, the eMas 7 PHEV Prime has ADAS but no blind spot detection. The boot can take 528 litres; fold down the back seats for 2,065. This is quite a lot more than the EV’s 461 and 1,877 litres. The PHEV’s 100-litre hidden underfloor storage is also 49 litres up on the EV, although it loses the EV’s under-seat drawer because that space is now taken up by the fuel tank. You can have your eMas 7 PHEV in Obsidian Black, Lithium White, Mercury Silver, Galena Grey or Aquamarine Blue, while the interior can be had in either Alabaster White or Onyx Black (black is new – the eMas 7 EV’s interior is either Alabaster White or Indigo Blue). The service interval is 12 months/20,000 km and according to Pro-Net, the car is 41% cheaper over 10 years than a “same-segment ICE SUV” (X70, we guess) at RM29,200 versus RM49,800, including fuel, charging and maintenance. Estimated costs, of course. By the way, Proton successfully completed its two-day live-streamed stunt – a convoy of eMas 7 PHEVs (full tank, full battery) drove from Penang to Johor Bahru and then to Shah Alam before finishing at the Proton COE, covering 1,104.5 km with 189 km range remaining and averaging 4.0 litres per 100 km. It has to be noted that this was achieved with mostly highway driving and may not easily reflect real-world conditions. Proton eMas 7 PHEV – Aquamarine Blue exterior, Alabaster White interior Proton eMas 7 PHEV Premium Proton eMas 7 PHEV Premium Plus interior Proton eMas 7 PHEV official photos Proton eMas 7 PHEV presentation slides Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Atome, Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.
