Geely Starray Review 2026

Impressive value is the Geely Starray's twinkliest attraction. This Chinese brand’s second UK model is a plug-in hybrid family SUV that undercuts costlier rivals by more than £10,000, making it easier to accept its many shortcomings. Find out if there’s more than just its low price to like in our full Geely Starray review.

Geely is known better in the UK for the other brands in its portfolio rather than its own label cars. Those additional marques include Volvo and Polestar, as well as the famed sports car manufacturer Lotus. Its first eponymous model arrived in autumn 2025 in the guise of the EX5 electric SUV, forming the basis of the follow-up Geely Starray EM-i.

That last bit of the name has nothing to do with the record company that Johnny Rotten formerly ranted about, instead standing for E-Motive intelligence. While that isn't terribly descriptive, it's Geely's way of saying this is a plug-in hybrid, or PHEV for short. 

You can only specify the Geely Starray as a PHEV, with two battery sizes to pick from. Both versions are powered by the same 1.5-litre petrol engine working in conjunction with an electric motor.

It's a very long list of well-established family SUV rivals that the Starray finds itself up against, including the Kia Sportage, the Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan Qashqai among many others.

Equally new competition to the Geely is also expected from its compatriots in the shapes of the BYD Sealion 5 and the Chery Tiggo 7.

At 4740mm long, it's slightly bigger than most of its rivals, barring the BYD, but not quite as large as models from the next size up. Think Volkswagen Tiguan rather than the Tayron, in other words. 

Its name is curious, apparently being derived from 'starry', while back home in China it’s sold as the Galaxy Starship 7. Mind you, Ford's trademark lawyers would have had something to say about it if Geely had tried to use it in Europe. If you're wondering, it’s pronounced ‘star-ray’.

The Starray's exterior proportions look awfully similar to those of the Geely EX5, while inside the family link becomes yet stronger, with an all but identical cabin. That's good in terms of its clean design which feels nicely upmarket, but less positive when it comes to the annoyingly, overly complicated on-board tech. 

We have other misgivings about the Geely Starray. Its driver assistance systems are far too keen on emitting various bings and bongs, the ride and handling fall short of the standards set by the aforementioned Tucson and its cohorts, while the PHEV system frequently proves noisy. Overall, we think its low price makes it tempting enough to be able to live with its foibles, but you won’t be able to ignore them.

Geely Starray EM-i: Range and charging times

According to the official WLTP Combined cycle the Geely Starray EM-i Ultra manages an impressive electric-only driving range of up to 84 miles, while the Pro and Max versions are quoted at 51 miles. 

That higher range figure is considerably better than either of the Starray's aforementioned Chinese rivals from BYD and Chery, at 53 miles and 56 miles respectively, but not massively far ahead of the VW Tiguan eHybrid’s 75-mile best.

More impressive is that the Volkswagen achieves that range with a 19.7kWh battery pack. Compare that with the Starray EM-i Pro and Max using an 18.4kWh alternative, with the Ultra packing a 29.8kWh battery. That's one of the biggest plug-in hybrid battery packs available and larger than what was fitted to the earliest versions of the electric-only Nissan Leaf.

Plugged into a 7.4kW AC home wallbox it should be around 2 hours 30 minutes to charge the smaller battery and just over 4 hours for the bigger one.

The Starray is also capable of being charged using public DC connections, although given its cost it’s something we advise only doing when vital. Should you fancy it, the Pro’s and Max’s 30kW on-board charger enables a 30-80% charge in 20 minutes, while the Ultra's beefier 60kW version can do the same in 16 minutes.

Geely recruited the engineering expertise of its Lotus subsidiary in the development of the Starray, but even after a short time behind the wheel, we were questioning just how much involvement the famed sports car brand really had. 

Feedback-laden steering is largely a thing of the past, but even so, the Starray's feels especially vague when going around corners. You're never really quite sure what the front wheels are up to. The suspension is also quite firm, sending shudders through the cabin even over what look to be smoother sections of road.

The ride never seems to settle, with the car constantly jiggling around and even feeling a bit wayward if you're cornering a bit quicker or taking a roundabout with more enthusiasm than usual. It's here that the price gap between this and something like a Hyundai Tucson starts to make sense – in cars of that ilk, you simply don't get these problems. 

Traction is also lacking in damp conditions, despite the use of Goodyear tyres, where some other Chinese brands cheap out when it comes to footwear. Use too much throttle coming out of a side turn and you'll have a whole load of wheel spin, which the traction control will aggressively quell, only for the wheels to immediately spin-up once again. 

Wind noise is reasonably well suppressed at speed, but the Starray's 19-inch wheels generate a lot of noise that rumbles its way into the cabin much more than we'd like, particularly over rougher surfaces. 

All versions of the Geely Starray EM-i use a non-turbocharged, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine, which joins forces with an electric motor. Drive is sent to the front wheels via an automatic gearbox. 

This setup is able to operate in three different ways. The electric motor powers the car on its own and uses up the available battery charge, the motor powers the wheels while the engine tops the battery up, or both power sources drive the front wheels together. 

Combined, all of this develops 217PS and 262Nm of torque, making for a 0-62mph time of 8.0 seconds. That's not bad, but the Starray rarely feels that quick, not helped by the appallingly slow response of the hybrid system. 

Put your foot down while you're already on the move, perhaps to overtake another vehicle, and you will feel some limited initial response from the electric motor, but it takes around three seconds for the engine to wake up and join the party.

When it does, good Lord, does it make a big deal of it, sounding noisy and strained. When the battery is out of juice and the engine’s running in the background to top it up, you’re very aware of how grumbly it is while going about its duties.

The Geely Starray has been awarded the full five-star rating by Euro NCAP. Breaking down into the individual categories, it scored 90% for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupants, 86% for vulnerable road users and 77% for its safety assistance systems.

On the subject of the latter, the Starray comes with a comprehensive suite of safety technology, including lane assistance, a driver attention monitor, autonomous emergency braking and blind spot detection as standard.

The driver attention monitor will sound with only the briefest glimpse away from the road, though, which is difficult to avoid when so much of the car has to be controlled through the touchscreen. The lane assistance isn't very slick, either, often triggering when you're nowhere near a white line. 

The Geely Starray has a movable boot floor that leaves you with 428 litres in its highest position and 528 litres at its lowest. That's nothing particularly special — the Hyundai Tucson PHEV provides 558 litres of space despite being a shorter car. Fold the Starray's rear seats over, and the total available space grows to 2065 litres.  

Legroom in the back is very good, and you'll have no complaints about headroom. A full-length panoramic sunroof on the Ultra adds to a feeling of airiness in the cabin, although it's a shame there's not a proper button for it. Instead, it's one of the many functions requiring the use of the central touchscreen (more moaning about that shortly).

The Starray’s centre console features an open area with a storage tray underneath. On the bridge-like piece above that joins the dashboard to the central armrest, there's a pair of cupholders which can be hidden away when not in use. Further back is a tray for two smartphones, although don't expect them to sit particularly securely there as the sides are too shallow.

Given that the Starray's cabin seems to be identical to the EX5's, it's no surprise to see that it's also a mixed bag in terms of quality. There are some decent-feeling materials that seem quite upmarket, especially for the price, but they're mixed with a few less-good aspects to the build quality.

There are a few bits of trim that don't line up as well as they should, with naff fake stitching on other pieces. 

The Geely Starray features a 15.4-inch touchscreen to access its infotainment system. It's overly complicated and has to be used for myriad functions owing to a general lack of physical buttons and switches. 

There is a rotary controller on the centre console, which you might think is a BMW i-Drive-style affair for navigating the on-screen menus, but it's actually just a volume control by default. It can be switched to operate other features, but the selection is limited — one of them is for changing the screen's wallpaper, which is frankly odd. 

It's the same system as seen in the EX5, although the software here is newer, meaning the Starray has both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity from the off. In the EX5, it'll be added at a later date.

A starting price of £29,990 for the Geely Starray EM-i Pro might not sound so impressive when you can get the cheapest Hyundai Tucson for £33,105, but you won't be getting the plug-in hybrid version for that.

Checking the Tucson's price list confirms the cheapest PHEV version is £39,410, making the Starray £10k, give or take, cheaper in its entry-level trim. For a further comparison, note that the least expensive VW Tiguan eHybrid costs £42,870.  

It's then £32,690 for the Starray EM-i Max and £34,990 for the range-topping Ultra version. 

The Starray isn't the only SUV of this size majoring on value, with two other options that also come from China featuring plug-in hybrid setups and very similar price tags. It's £29,995 for both the Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid and the BYD Sealion 5 DM-i. Mind you, the Starray has bigger batteries and therefore superior electric driving ranges to both of those.

There's no longer a discount for VED car tax for low-emission cars, so it will cost you the same for the Geely Starray as a regular petrol or diesel-engined car, currently priced at £195 annually after the first year. You won't have to worry about the Expensive Vehicle Supplement as all versions of the Starray are priced well below the £40,000 threshold. 

Based on the average domestic electricity unit price it should cost around £5 to charge a Starray with the smaller battery and about £8 for the Ultra with its bigger pack. If you're able to get on a variable-rate electricity tariff and charge the car during cheaper off-peak periods, it'll be a fraction of that. 

The Geely's warranty is impressive, lasting eight years or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first. 

The Geely Starray is offered in three trim levels called Pro, Max and Ultra.

The Geely Starray Pro comes with the following equipment fitted as standard:

• Vehicle-to-load capability
• 19-inch alloy wheels
• LED front and rear lights
• Heated and electrically adjustable/folding mirrors
• Electrically adjustable front seats
• Climate control
• Adaptive cruise control
• 15.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster
• Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity
• 360-degree parking camera
• Reversing camera
• Front/rear parking sensors 

Upgrading to the Geely Starray Max upgrades the above specification with the following:

• Panoramic roof
• Powered tailgate
• 256-colour ambient lighting system
• Ventilated driver seat
• Memory function on driver's seat
• Rear seat central armrest
• Head-up display
• 16-speaker sound system
• Wireless smartphone charging 

The Geely Starray Ultra comes with all of the same equipment as the Max, but switches to a larger battery pack for a greater electric-only range.