Chery’s new electric SUV is comfortable, roomy and loaded with kit, and it’s a close relative of the Jaecoo 7 that topped Britain’s sales chart in September. I drove a pre-production car in China, and if you want an EV with a name people will ask about in the company car park, it deserves a look, though the price will decide whether it deserves your money.

Lepas L6 EV price and UK launch date

The Lepas L6 EV is a comfortable, roomy electric family SUV with a long kit list and an official range of up to 279 miles, and on my drive it earned a place on any electric SUV shortlist. The steering is its weak spot, and the value case can’t be judged until Lepas names a price.

That price hasn’t been announced yet, but order books are due to open in the final quarter of this year, and dealers are already taking registrations of interest. The brand is on sale here already with the L8, a bigger plug-in hybrid SUV that costs £34,900 in Essence trim and £37,900 as an Elevate, which shows where Lepas is pitching itself. Motorpoint expects the L6 to start at around £30,000 to £32,000.

I drove a pre-production L6 EV over several days between Shanghai and Chery’s headquarters in Wuhu. It impressed me with its comfort and straightforward performance, although the steering felt artificial.

The L6 shares its technology with the Jaecoo 7, Chery’s plug-in hybrid SUV that was the UK’s best-selling car in September, and it joins Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo and the L8 in the company’s push into Britain. Its electric rivals include the Skoda Elroq, Kia EV3 and Volkswagen ID.4.

Who makes Lepas, and why does it exist?

Lepas is Chery’s newest brand, launched in April 2025. At the 2026 Chery International User Summit in Wuhu, which was the other reason I was in China, I asked Zhong Wei, Lepas’s deputy chief executive, why the world needed it.

For Mr Zhong, the brand reflects a shift in what buyers want. As people become more discerning, he says, they look for a car that expresses their personality and taste as well as getting them from A to B. Chery’s existing brands can’t satisfy every customer in the same way, he explained, so the company created a marque with its own identity, built around what he calls an elegant lifestyle of new-energy vehicles, intelligent technology and a more considered ownership experience.

That’s a big ask in Britain, where plenty of company-car drivers and private buyers have stuck with European badges for years. They’ll want to know what a Lepas is worth after three years, and because the brand is so new here, there’s no track record to tell them.

What is the Lepas L6 EV like to drive?

I drove the L6 EV on multi-lane expressways, across the flat roads of the Yangtze River Delta and along more scenic mountain routes.

It felt comfortable throughout, and acceleration was strong enough to make overtaking straightforward without the abrupt surge some electric cars produce. It also stayed composed on faster roads, in rain or shine (the part of China we were in seemed to deliver four seasons in one day). The cabin had enough room for four of us and our luggage, so it made a relaxed family car.

The L6’s main weakness is its steering, which lacks the feedback you get from some European brands. If all you want is a comfortable, easy SUV, you’ll barely notice, but if you enjoy a more connected drive, it’s the part of the L6 most likely to disappoint.

These impressions are based on a pre-production car, so the finished UK version may have different suspension and steering settings.

The L6 pairs a 65kWh battery with an electric motor producing 217PS and 275Nm of torque. Lepas quotes a 0 to 62mph time of 7.9 seconds and an official WLTP range of up to 279 miles.

Driving in China isn’t always easy, especially in downpours (it’s almost as tricky as London), so I kept my eyes on the road rather than the instruments for much of the trip. We covered 360km (223 miles) in a day on fairly fast expressways, in humid weather with the air-con running the whole time, and the range never became a worry.

Efficiency on that route hovered around 3.5 miles per kWh. That works out at roughly 225 miles from a full battery, about 50 miles short of the official figure, which is a fair result for fast driving in the heat with the air-con on, and it should cover most commutes for several days between charges.

Maximum DC charging power is 120kW, and Lepas says a 30 to 80 per cent top-up takes about 22 minutes. How the L6 copes with a British winter and UK chargers is something I’ll find out on the UK-spec drive.

Lepas L6 EV interior, boot space and technology

The dashboard has a 13.2-inch touchscreen and an 8.88-inch digital driver’s display, and the system is quick and easy to use. There’s also a Hello Lepas voice assistant, which I didn’t try because I don’t speak Chinese. The cameras are crystal clear, making parking a doddle even when you’re jetlagged in the middle of a Chinese service station, and I think they’d earn their keep in tight city streets and underground car parks, especially in London.

There are only two trims, Essence and Elevate. Both get 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a heated steering wheel and windscreen, 50W wireless phone charging, a 540-degree camera system, 22 driver-assistance functions and a 3.3kW vehicle-to-load socket. The Elevate adds heated and ventilated, electrically adjustable front seats, leather-effect upholstery, a power tailgate, an eight-speaker Sony stereo and parking assistance that includes remote parking. My pre-production car seemed to mix equipment from both, with fabric seats in place of the Elevate’s leather-effect finish.

We drove four-up for most of the trip, and there’s room for three across the back seat. All our luggage went into the 410-litre boot, which grows to 1,334 litres with the rear seats folded (we didn’t need to try that), and a 99-litre compartment under the floor is handy for charging cables or a work laptop you’d rather keep out of sight.

Lepas L6 EV company car tax and running costs

For company-car drivers, the L6 sits on the same 4 per cent benefit-in-kind rate as any electric car in the 2026/27 tax year, rising to 5 per cent from April 2027. If it were priced at £35,000, in line with the L8, that would be roughly £560 a year in tax for a 40 per cent taxpayer and £280 for a basic-rate one.

Private buyers will want to see the price before judging value, but the warranty is reassuring, with seven years or 100,000 miles on the car and eight years or 100,000 miles on the battery. RAC roadside cover comes free for the first year and can be renewed for up to seven years if you service the car at a Lepas dealer.

Is the Lepas L6 EV worth buying?

The L6 EV has the makings of a credible electric family SUV, with useful performance, a practical cabin and a long list of standard kit. The big unanswered question is value.

What we like

• A claimed range of up to 279 miles, and about 225 miles in hot, fast real-world driving.
• Comfortable cruising and plenty of room for a family and its luggage.
• A long list of standard technology, including a 540-degree camera system that makes parking easy.

What worries us

• Steering that felt artificial.
• No confirmed UK price.
• Unknown resale values for a brand that’s new to Britain.

If the L6 is on your list for when orders open, find out what your current car is worth with Regit’s free valuation, so you know how much a part-exchange could knock off the price.

The Lepas L6 EV deserves a place on your electric SUV shortlist, because it’s comfortable and spacious, has a boot you wouldn’t turn your nose up at, and comes with a camera system that takes the stress out of tight streets and underground car parks. The steering needs work, though, and the L6 still has to prove itself on British roads.

Until Lepas confirms UK pricing, the value case is a blank, and with the L8 already at £34,900 the L6 needs to come in well below that. Get the number right and it could be a serious alternative to better-known electric SUVs such as the Skoda Elroq. I’ll be driving a UK-spec car in the coming weeks, and I’ll update this review when I have.