The launch was in the presence of Dr. Li Chunrong CEO of PROTON, Mr Roslan Abdullah Deputy CEO of PROTON, Mr Zhang Qing who is Proton New Energy Technology (Pro-Net) chief executive officer and Mdm Salawati Mohd Yusoff who is Cheif Branding Officer. At the unveiling, Dr Li said the goal with the e.MAS 7 is to fulfil Proton's promise of delivering Malaysia’s first national all-electric vehicle.
This is a very Malaysian government thing in many ways as the most recent push by MITI, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, there seems to be a need to make Malaysia a hub for all things electric and all things about the Internet of Things, or a very connected country. So for Proton to start the ball rolling in allowing Malaysian engineers a foot in designing a Malaysian-centric EV is something which I believe Proton feels it needs to do.
Now back to tbe e-MAS7. From the exterior this is clearly a Geely Galaxy E5, but Proton have stated that this has a whole lot of Malaysian input - a bout a hundred Proton engineers and designers have a hand in it and from what I see if you compare with the fully stickered car in blue and grey, it looks mighty similiar to the Galaxy E5 (below).
In terms of styling, I am actually not complaining. It isn't something that looks offensive. It looks good, presentable and something which if you drive up to a hotel lobby will be greeted by the bellboy or the car jockey relatively well. There are also many Porsche Cayenne cues after the B pillar rearwards and the total shape feels like it. But bear in mind this is the size of a Macan or a Proton X70. So there.
As for the interior, Proton have decided to just show us the exterior and are keeping the interior under wraps. This was basically done for many of the recent smart car launches and it seems this continues. But expect the same large screen, leather bits and bobs and a cabin that is the size of the X70 but may be a little wider from the looks of it. For a reference, this is what the Galaxy E5 looks like on the inside. It looks clean and modern. Very much like what most EVs from 2024 look like. So this is a good thing, yes?
But it is underneath or mechanically and electronically that Proton's engineers have touched upon. According to Roslan Abdullah, they (Geely and Proton I presume) have put in a total of 700,000 man hours into the car and about 10million km in testing. Now being Proton, they usually ensure that the car will be suitable for Malaysian roads and drivers. And if you know Malaysian drivers, they like driving fast on highways. This actually differs from the driving characteristics of drivers in China, where from what many of my automotive media has seen on trips to China drive at sedate speeds on their highways (basically if the speed limit is 100kmh, nearly 99% are doing that).
So Proton at the moment seem to be the only manufacturer that brings in cars from China that has been sorted out for driving at higher speeds Malaysian road conditions.I think they will ensure the same for the e-MAS7. As for specs, they haven't mentioned anything as yet so I do not really like speculating on whether it will have 400km WLTP range or what not from a single motor, single speed gearbox setup (most likely in this category).
Anyway, aside from that, it is all about seamless connectivity of the software and hardware inside these EVs. So Proton have also spoken on this fact.These new fangled EV cars are usually very software intensive and the e-MAS7 seems to be the same the Pro-Net team, the new energy subsidiary of Proton (which handles all EV matters for Proton), has been developing local telematics services to support vehicle control, navigation, integrated charging, and the Proton e.MAS super app to deliver a seamless experience to the customers.
So far, there are 18 Proton e.MAS outlets since June 2024 , Pro-Net has now expanded its reach to a total of 29 outlets nationwide. The company aims to have 25 Proton e.MAS showrooms operational before the e.MAS 7 is officially launched.
These are interesting times ahead. With so many of the Chinese brands entering the market in terms of EV cars as well as normal petrol powered ones in the same B/C segment size and price, it would be quite good to sit down and watch on what Proton and the other brands will be doing next. As for guessing how much the e-MAS7 would be, I think it would be like their other cars, you will be getting a C segment sized car for a B segment price. So let's say this could come in the RM110-125K price range. What's your guess? If you would like to say something directly to me, head over to the Motoring-Malaysia Facebook link for this post and tell me your thoughts.
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