Launched: Proton e.MAS 5 – 2 Variants, From RM56,800*

The wait is over - the Proton e.MAS 5 officially launched earlier today in Setul Depot, Kuala Lumpur. Prices and after-sales were both detailed too.

At last, D-Day has come for the Proton e.MAS 5 as it officially launched earlier today by the national automaker – specifically through its Proton New Energy Technology (PRO-NET) arm – at Sentul Depot, Kuala Lumpur.

As expected, two variants are on offer, those being the ‘Prime’ and ‘Premium’ guise. Critically, prices were announced too, and they read at RM59,800 and RM72,800 respectively. In turn, the e.MAS 5 now stands as the most affordable EV on sale locally.

Besides price, official warrantires were also detailed. Included in the price is a 6-year unlimited mileage base vehicle warranty, followed by a separate 8-year or 160,00 KM EV battery and component warranty.

A special launch rebate worth RM3,000 was also announced for bookings placed before Dec 31, and this brings prices down to even more 'accessible' figures of RM56,800 (Prime) and RM69,800 (Premium).

Of course, that’s not all. Mirroring the launch of its bigger e.MAS 7 sibling, there’s an ‘Early Bird’ offer on hand. Exclusive to customers booking the e.MAS 5 before Dec 31, these early adopters benefit with an RM3,000 launch rebate. In turn this bring the price down to even more ‘accessible’ figures of RM56,800 (Prime) and RM69,800 (Premium).

On top of which, Proton will even offer an additional value worth RM5,000 through its ‘Power’ deals covering special trade-in bonus, 7 kW home wallbox charger (worth RM1,500), special 5-year financing deal with a fixed interest rate of 1.98%, plus a 5-year unlimited internet data plan (worth RM1,800).

Proton top management with representatives from ministries and MARii posing for photos with the Proton e.MAS 5 earlier today.

We’ve detailed the Proton e.MAS 5 in-depth prior, but it’s worth refreshing your memory that it is essentially a twin to the Geely Xingyuan (Star Wish) – the best-selling car in China for the first half (1H) of this year (2025).

Both variants harness CATL-sourced LFP battery packs, albeit with differing capacities – 30.12 kWh in the Prime and 40.16 kWh in the Premium. This also explains their differing range figures of 225 KM (WLTP, Prime) and 325 KM (WLTP, Premium) respectively too.

As for charging, up to 53 kW (prime) and 71 kW (Premium) DC fast-charging is available, thus allowing 30-80% re-charges in the Premium guise done in just 21 minutes. As standard though, both guises accept 6.6 kW AC charging inputs, and both also offer V2L functionality.

Proton e.MAS 5 in Premium guise pictured donning one of two exclusive colourways - Marble Cream.

Shared across both too is the rear-mounted e-motor and rear-wheel-drive (RWD) setup, but outputs again differ here – Prime makes do with just 79 PS (58 kW) and 130 Nm, whereas the Premium stands peppier with 116 PS (85 kW) and 150 Nm instead.

The differences continue visually. Firstly, the Prime and Premium variants are easily set apart by their respective rolling stock – you’ll find the Premium guise rolling on proper 16-inch two-tone alloy wheels versus 15-inch units in the Prime.

The visual differences continue in the headlights, whereby the fancier full-LED setup is brimmed in the Premium guise only – you’ll find good old-fashioned halogen types in the Prime variant instead.

Key touches denoting the Premium variant include two-tone 16-inch alloy wheels, full-LED headlights, as well as the two-tone exterior motif featuring a black-painted 'floating roof'.

Another key visual difference lies in colorways – both for the exterior and interior. Premium guises benefit with a two-tone motif featuring a black ‘floating roof’, as well as exclusive exterior colour options called Marble Cream and Quartz Rose.

Shared across board are Moonstone Grey, Graphite Silver and Slate Grey exterior colour choices. Another Premium-variant exclusive is the Albaster White cabin colour. Otherwise, the standard hue here is Flint Grey, which looks almost black.

Both 6.6 kW AC charging speed caps and V2L functionality plus the 70-litre frunk are shared across both guises, but just the Premium guise gains a powered tailgate function.

The difference continues with level of kit brimmed aboard. Naturally, luxuries like powered tailgate, 360-degree surround view camera, six-speaker audio setup, are all reserved for the Premium variant only.

What’s shared across both are artificial leather seat upholstery, manual climate control with dedicated rear vent, manual seat adjustment, 70-litre frunk, crystal gear selector switch, 8.8-inch digital instrument panel, and a sizeable 14.6-inch central infotainment touchscreen.

Take note, besides being powered an automotive-grade chip plus the offer of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, the touchscreen mentioned is brimmed with a voice command suite that was also developed to recognise Bahasa Malaysia, and it can be easily prompted by saying “Hi eMas.”

On board, it's a good mix of high luxe and tech (in the Premium variant at least). The infotainment even boasts voice recognition in Bahasa Malaysia, and can be prompted by saying "Hi eMas..."

Lastly, the biggest key difference between the two variant is the presence – or absence – of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) features. Naturally, only the Premium variant gets this, and there are up to 12 ADAS features primed replete with ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) in the mix.

Apart from that, we’ve detailed much of the practical storage present in the Proton e.MAS 5 through our initial preview report. You can also get to grips with how the Premium variant drives through our First Drive report.

What do you folks reckon then? Has the Proton e.MAS 5 got enough to woo you into becoming your first EV?

Otherwise, that’s everything we can unpack from the Proton e.MAS 5 from its official launch today.

Well, what do you folks reckon? Has Malaysia’s most affordable EV on sale won you over? Or would still rather wait and see how rivals P2 in Rawang will respond? Hit the comments below…