Proton e.MAS 5 Premium Review — Best Value EV Starter Car

Offer price: 72800

Currency: MYR

• Appearance - 8/10
  8/10
• Efficiency - 8/10
  8/10
• Features - 7.5/10
  7.5/10
• Materials - 7/10
  7/10
• Performance - 6.5/10
  6.5/10
• User Experience (UX) - 8/10
  8/10
• Value - 9/10
  9/10

Summary

The Proton e.MAS 5 Premium is not trying to redefine what a driver’s car feels like. It is trying to make EV ownership financially and practically accessible to the kind of buyer who has never seriously considered it, and on that measure it has succeeded more convincingly than almost anything else on sale here.

Overall

7.7/10

7.7/10

Pros

• The Ride Quality Is The Biggest Surprise
• Rear-Wheel Drive Gives It A Dynamic Identity
• Refinement That Outpunches Its Class
• The Practical Packaging Is Genuinely Clever
• The V2L Socket Adds Versatility No Petrol Car At This Price Can Match
• The Software Ecosystem Actually Works
• RM72,800 Is Genuinely The Right Number
• The Range And Warranty Close The Deal

Cons

• The Steering And Brakes Offer Little Feedback
• Throttle Response Prioritises Smoothness Over Immediacy
• The Tyres Are The Weakest Link In The Chassis
• No Telescopic Steering Adjustment On A Car This Thoughtfully Packaged
• The ADAS Suite Needs Refinement

• Shopee

Walkaround

The Proton e.MAS 5 Premium is a B-segment hatchback, and its proportions read that way cleanly. The design is rounded without being bland, a shape that knows what it is without reaching for drama it has not earned. The closed front fascia, clean body surfacing, and semi-flush door handles give it a coherent contemporary look, and in Marble Cream with the dual-tone roof that is exclusive to the Premium, it certainly stands out. The Premium’s LED headlamps with Follow-Me Home function and intelligent high beam control are immediately visible upgrades over the Prime’s halogen units, and the 205/60 R16 alloys fill the arches proportionally without looking bolted on from a different car.

The detail that draws the most attention, and rightly so, is the 70-litre frunk under the bonnet, supported by pneumatic rods that hold it open without effort. There is no petrol car at this price that can make that offer, and it changes how you think about packing a car once you have used it. Wet bags, shoes, and smelly food / ingredients that would otherwise impose themselves on rear seat passengers or the boot floor, all have a home. The powered tailgate on the Premium opens to a 375-litre boot that expands to 1,300 litres with the rear seats folded, and beneath those rear seats sits an additional 28-litre underseat storage compartment. The V2L socket rounds off a practical package that a car twice the price would not be embarrassed by.

The cabin uses textured plastics with contrast stitching, and the seams are processed consistently enough that nothing reads as cheap despite the material grade. The leatherette seats and two-tone leatherette steering wheel in the Premium add a tactile upgrade over the Prime’s spec.

Ergonomically, the cabin is mostly well organised. The 14.6-inch FHD display dominates the dashboard without overwhelming it, the automatic air conditioning controls are accessible, and the multi-function steering wheel layout is easy to operate by touch. The one notable absence is telescopic steering adjustment. The reach is adequate for most drivers, and the seat holds its occupant comfortably, but in a car that is otherwise thoughtfully packaged, the missing telescopic adjustment feels like an oversight that will matter to some buyers more than others.

Specifications

Energy Efficiency

During our review periodm, we used up 51% of its battery life, which translates to about 20.48kWh, and managed to go about 161km. This means we managed to get an energy efficiency rating of 7.86km / kWh (12.72kWh / 100km). I do believe it can generally do better figures than this but because we were reviewing it, there were times that we drove faster than necessary, which would inevitably spike up on energy usage. If we do continue driving the way we did, we should realistically see about 315km per full charge, which is pretty close to the claimed 325km range (WLTP).

This might not seem like much range but if you’re someone who has easy access to an EV charger, like if you have a wallbox installed in your own parking space at home, your apartment has an EV charging facility that isn’t being used often. or your workplace has an EV charging bay, you wouldn’t feel limited by it. However, if you have to rely on public chargers that aren’t easily accessible to your home or daily routes, I’d give it a pass as it would be troublesome to have it charged so often.

While the Proton e.MAS 5 Premium is clearly targeted for daily commuters, I’m sure some people would be tempted to take it for long-distance driving. It certainly is a comfortable ride for the price but, putting aside it’s 135km/h top speed, its range would mean having to make a stop for charging depending on how far you go. If you’d like to go to Penang Island or Johor Bahru from KL, you’d likely stop by Ipoh for the former and Melaka for the latter. With a DC charger, it would make for a good break to stretch your legs but if this is during peak periods like Hari Raya or Lunar New Year seasons, it might be tough to do as I’m pretty sure DC chargers will be packed.

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The Good

The Ride Quality Is The Biggest Surprise

Whatever reservations exist about the e.MAS 5’s driving feel at higher speeds, the suspension calibration on everyday roads deserves genuine credit. The front MacPherson and rear multi-link independent setup is tuned for absorption rather than sharpness, and on the kind of broken, patched, inconsistent tarmac that makes up the majority of real Malaysian driving, the e.MAS 5 deals with surface changes in a way that feels more settled and substantial than its dimensions and price suggest. The test unit stayed composed and planted throughout, and there was nothing that suggested the calibration is compromised by the budget. At this price point, ride quality of this standard is unusual.

Rear-Wheel Drive Gives It A Dynamic Identity

The combination of rear-wheel drive and that suspension setup also gives the car a mild dynamic identity that front-wheel drive competitors at a similar price cannot replicate. There is a faint sense of being pushed rather than pulled, a slight shift in weight character that makes the car feel more deliberate in direction changes. It does not translate into any actual tail behaviour, even with stability control switched off the e.MAS 5 remains well-mannered, but it contributes to a chassis that feels genuinely considered rather than simply adequate.

Refinement That Outpunches Its Class

Noise and refinement are stronger than expected for the segment. Below urban speeds the cabin is impressively quiet, and at higher speeds road and wind noise are present but not intrusive. The e.MAS 5 Premium sits a step below the e.MAS 7 in overall refinement, which is exactly where it should be at this price, and it is still quieter and smoother than most petrol cars within the same price range.

The Practical Packaging Is Genuinely Clever

The 70-litre frunk with pneumatic rods is not a gimmick in Malaysian use. Wet umbrellas, shoes removed before entering a surau or a client’s home, bags from a wet market, everything that previously had to sit in the cabin or compete with the boot has a dedicated sealed space. The under-rear-seat 28-litre storage compartment adds another layer of organisation that most cars at any price do not offer. The powered tailgate, rear air vents, and rear USB ports complete a practical case that is genuinely more thoughtful than the headline price implies.

The V2L Socket Adds Versatility No Petrol Car At This Price Can Match

The V2L socket adds a versatility argument that is harder to quantify but easy to appreciate once you have used it. Powering a portable speaker, a small projector, or charging devices at a campsite or outdoor event transforms the car from transport into a mobile power source. It is an EV-specific advantage that no petrol car at this price offers.

The Software Ecosystem Actually Works

The 14.6-inch ATLAS Auto system is responsive and logically organised, with offline navigation, an integrated live charging map, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The dual-language voice command system recognising both Bahasa Melayu and English is a genuinely practical local inclusion rather than a marketing bullet point. The Proton e.MAS app’s parking comfort mode, which allows pre-cooling while the car is locked, is the feature that converts people in Malaysian weather more reliably than any specification comparison does.

RM72,800 Is Genuinely The Right Number

The Premium at RM72,800 is where the e.MAS 5 stops being a headline and becomes a real car. The full ADAS suite, the 360-degree camera, LED lighting, alloy wheels, the larger 40.16kWh battery with 325km of WLTP range, and the 71kW DC charging capability that gets you from 30 to 80% in around 21 minutes, these are not incremental upgrades over the Prime. They are the difference between a car for strict city commuters and a car for everyone else. The 6-year unlimited mileage vehicle warranty and 8-year / 160,000km high voltage battery warranty remove the residual anxiety that followed previous EV purchases in Malaysia.

The Bad

The Steering And Brakes Offer Little Feedback

The steering, brakes, and throttle in the e.MAS 5 all share a common character; clean, capable, and thoroughly detached. The steering is light and accurate enough to place the car confidently, but the ratio is a touch slow and there is no communication from the front axle. You turn and it goes, but it does not tell you anything about what the road is doing underneath. The brakes compound this with a pedal feel that is largely absent, making precise modulation more a matter of reading the car’s body motion than trusting the feedback from your foot. It is a common EV trait, and some brands manage the blend between regenerative and hydraulic braking considerably better than this.

Throttle Response Prioritises Smoothness Over Immediacy

The throttle takes a similar approach, preferring to ramp up power smoothly rather than deliver an immediate response to input. It suits the car’s city-focused brief and is not a dealbreaker for daily use, but drivers who want the car to do exactly what they ask exactly when they ask will feel the gap. Legacy brands that have spent longer calibrating electric motor response have found a better balance between smoothness and immediacy. The e.MAS 5 has not quite reached that point yet.

The Tyres Are The Weakest Link In The Chassis

The chassis has more capability than the tyres chosen to work with it. On a damp or slippery surface, or when the rear motor is asked to accelerate sharply from low speed, the 205/60 R16 Linglong Comfort Master tyres can be overwhelmed before the dynamics have the chance to become interesting. The stability control steps in competently, but the tyre limitation means the car’s actual dynamic potential, which the rear-wheel drive and multi-link suspension setup hints at, is never fully explored.

The most meaningful upgrade you can immediately get, assuming you care about getting the most out of this car, would be upgrading the tyres to something like the Michelin Primacy 5 or Continental UltraContact UC7. Alternatively, you can also consider the Hankook Ventus Prime 4 if you don’t want to spend too much on rubber.

No Telescopic Steering Adjustment On A Car This Thoughtfully Packaged

Given how comprehensively the e.MAS 5 Premium has been packaged in almost every other dimension, the absence of telescopic steering adjustment stands out as the one obvious omission. Taller drivers or those with longer arms will find the fixed reach adequate but not ideal, and in a car that otherwise adapts to its occupants well, the fixed column position is a daily compromise that should not exist at this price. It is the kind of detail that would have cost very little to include and will matter to a meaningful number of buyers across the ownership period.

The ADAS Suite Needs Refinement

The full ADAS package on the Premium is the right decision for a 2026 car at this price, and its presence alone separates the Premium from the Prime in a way that cannot be overstated. But the implementation has edges. The adaptive cruise control brakes later than the best systems and reaccelerates with more abruptness than is comfortable, which means you learn its habits rather than trusting it.

Several of the other ADAS functions are calibrated conservatively enough that they intervene at moments that experienced drivers will find unnecessary, while occasionally missing moments where intervention would be welcome. I’m very certain that it has been improved via OTA updates compared to when it first launched, and it will continue to improve over time so this might not mean much by the time you read this.

Proton e.MAS 5 Premium Verdict

The Proton e.MAS 5 Premium is Malaysia’s most important new car in years, and evaluating it purely on dynamic grounds misses the point entirely. It is not trying to redefine what a driver’s car feels like. It is trying to make EV ownership financially and practically accessible to the kind of buyer who has never seriously considered it, and on that measure it has succeeded more convincingly than almost anything else on sale here.

The ride quality is genuinely impressive for the price, and the practical packaging is more clever than most cars at twice the money. The 300+km range, 21-minute DC top-up, and the warranty coverage take the residual anxiety out of the ownership conversation. And RM72,800 for a rear-wheel drive, multi-link suspended EV with a full ADAS suite, 360-degree camera, and frunk is not a proposition that existed in Malaysia before this car.

Yes, it certainly has its shortcomings but, apart from certain things being subjective to personal taste, it feels more of a reminder that it is an affordable BEV for the masses rather than being the best around. With that in mind, I award this hatchback BEV with our Silver Pokdeward.

Big thanks to Proton Malaysia for loaning us this car for the purpose of this review.