I Just Drove a $10,000 Chinese EV. No, It Didn’t Suck

I’m spinning the Geely EX2 into a tight figure-eight section of a compact autocross course Geely has set up for journalists in its home city of Hangzhou when the car’s tiny tires start pleading for mercy. I’m driving it hard and it’s leaning and pushing, the light steering allowing me to quickly wind and unwind the wheel and hurtle toward the next set of cones. As I hammer the brakes hard, navigate the final turn, and power out, I’m thinking to myself, hey, this thing’s not half bad.

We’re betting hardly anyone who owns the EX2 hustles their car like I just did to any real extent. But there certainly are a lot of EX2 owners, given Geely’s B-segment runabout ended 2025 as the bestselling car in China. (The B-segment is hotly contested there, with a half-dozen or so models battling for market share including two from leading EV brand BYD.) The EX2 is also making inroads globally, with sales expanding to Brazil, Mexico, and England. Did we mention it sells for the equivalent of $10,000?

EV For the Masses

The affordability crisis is a global phenomenon, and few cars—let alone EVs—are more affordable for a Chinese buyer than the EX2. Before you dismiss it as some sort of tin can or glorified golf cart, our drive showed it’s a real deal car. However, it’s also one with some clear drawbacks from an American perspective.

First off, it’s billed as a classic “city car.” Translation: It’s sloooow off the line. There’s no typical EV shove as you roll away, more of a suggestion of rapid acceleration until it gets rolling. Its optional, higher spec battery pack is rated at roughly 40 kWh (the 2027 Chevy Bolt’s battery is rated at approximately 65 kWh), and at 114 horsepower and 110 lb of torque with an electronically limited top speed of 85 mph, this isn’t a car in which you’d be super comfortable among the giant SUVs and trucks on American highways.

Range is another issue, or would be here in the U.S. While it’s tough to get a true gauge given the wildly different ratings systems in play in China and elsewhere, our best guess is the EX2 would receive an EPA rating somewhere in the 170–190 mile range per charge. Geely claims that the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery can charge from 30 to 80 percent in 21 minutes at a DC fast charger, and its Level 2 charge speed maxes out at 6.6 kilowatts. So, not great, but acceptable numbers.

Dimensionally, it looks small but it’s not microscopic. In fact, at just under 163 inches long with a 104.3-inch wheelbase, one of its closest analogs is the Mini Cooper 4 Door and its 158.9-inch length and 101.1-inch wheelbase. Weight is somewhere in the 2,850-pound range at the high end, about 250 pounds or so less than the Mini.

We received no interior measurements either, but we can say anecdotally that it’s borderline huge inside for a car of its exterior dimensions. I’m six feet tall, and I sat in the back during one of the autocross runs and had several inches of legroom and a couple of inches of headroom. Super impressive.

Then there’s the large, optional 14.6-inch horizontal infotainment screen, comfortable front and rear seats, tidy build quality, that roomy cockpit, and a usable center stowage area. In short, there’s everything you’d likely want and need from a daily driver. Oh, and there’s a deep, usable frunk in addition to a solidly sized rear cargo area. We’d call its design non-threatening, the somewhat bulbous, clean shape trimmed with swept-back headlamps, flush door handles, and a black greenhouse. You can also get it in either front or rear motor configurations. Did we mention it’s $10,000?