Perodua eMO EV spied – hatch/SUV Proton eMas 5 rival, 410 km range, from RM80k, December launch?

It’s clear that development of Perodua’s first electric vehicle, the eMO (Electric Motion Online), is progressing at a rate of knots. Just five months after the eMO-II concept was shown at the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS), images of the hatchback have surfaced all over social media, with these ones – posted by Meng Lee Chen on the paultan.org Automotive/Car Discussion Group on Facebook – giving the best view. Testing was only set to commence next month, so P2 is actually ahead of schedule.

How do we know that this is definitively a Perodua? The trade plate number B3598A belongs to the national carmaker, having last been seen in these pages on a Daihatsu Move on test. Being that the car is still months away from its slated launch at the end of the year, the company has obviously seen fit to cover the test prototype in plenty of camouflage, including some hard disguise around the front end and the rear windscreen to obscure the eMO’s true shape.

Still, it’s pretty clear that the eMO’s design will stay faithful to the show car. Look past the rear windscreen shroud (gives the car a bit of a Citroën C4/Renault Avantime vibe, don’t you think) and you’ll see that the actual glass has a similarly fast rake to it.

Also carried over from the eMO-II are the thick C-pillars and the upswept window line, the latter helping to disguise the rear doors in concert with the hidden door handles. Further forwards, you’ll be able to spot flush door handles for the front doors, plus a wraparound windscreen design with what will surely be blacked-out A-pillars, à la Ativa.

Not much can be seen from the blurry front photo, but we can see that the car has sprouted split front headlights, with the main units visible lower down in the bumper. We can expect the production model to retain the eMO-II’s full-width light bar up top, as well as the same aggressive air intakes.

One thing that’s clear is that the production model will be significantly larger than the Myvi – the mule dwarfs the Honda City next to it, and it doesn’t look to be much lower than the Mitsubishi Triton behind it. This suggests that Perodua may position the car as an SUV instead, as hinted at by the black plastic wheel arch trims on the prototype.

Few technical details have been revealed just yet, but initial specs released at KLIMS include a zero-to-100 km/h sprint time of between six and seven seconds, as well as a range of between 400 to 410 km from a CATL-sourced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. Perodua says it will initially import the battery and motor but plans to eventually assemble these components in-house; it has also floated a possible RM80,000 starting price without the battery, which it said may be offered through a subscription.

The Perodua eMO is set to take on Proton’s forthcoming small EV, widely tipped to be called the eMas 5. That car is expected to be based on the Geely Xingyuan, which also has a maximum range of 410 km, this time on China’s ridiculously lenient CLTC cycle. Which one would you buy? Sound off in the comments after the jump.

GALLERY: Perodua eMO-II Concept at KLIMS 2024

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