Geely Monjaro EM-i in Egypt – 1.5T PHEV with optional AWD, up to 340 PS, 667 Nm, 0-100 km/h 5.8 secs

Having been revealed last week, the Geely Monjaro EM-i has gone on sale in Egypt, the car’s first market. With that comes more details of the plug-in hybrid D-segment SUV, which is set to enter global markets such as Australia, Europe and the UK later on.

The E-Motive Intelligence (EM-i) powertrain has been upgraded from the one in the Starray EM-i (known to you and me as the Proton eMas 7 PHEV). The 1.5 litre BHE15 four-cylinder engine gains a turbo, similar to the one in the Chinese-market Xingyue L i-HEV hybrid. Outputs are down 19 PS and 25 Nm of torque at 144 PS and 230 Nm, which importantly is still 45 PS and a whopping 70 Nm more than the naturally-aspirated version.

In effect, the Monjaro EM-i is a big-battery version of the Xingyue L i-HEV – itself a PHEV with a small battery. The force-fed engine helps juice an electric motor that is less powerful than the one in the i-HEV (55 PS less, in fact, at 163 PS) but with much more torque (81 Nm more at 343 Nm), resulting in a total system output of 277 PS and 544 Nm.

The number of speeds in the dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT) isn’t known, but we assume it’s the usual EM-i single-speed unit. So equipped, the Monjaro EM-i is able to sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds on its way to a top speed of 200 km/h.

As previously reported, the Monjaro EM-i can also be had with all-wheel drive, with a rear induction motor boosting electric outputs to 272 PS and 493 Nm. Add the turbo mill to the mix and you’re looking at a combined 340 PS and a whopping 667 Nm, getting this two-tonne leviathan to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds. Oddly, the top speed is slightly lower at 190 km/h.

The battery options are identical to the Starray EM-i, with front-wheel-drive models getting an 18.4 kWh CATL LFP pack, delivering a pure electric range of 92 km. This gets boosted to 130 km on the AWD model thanks to a larger 29.8 kWh Aegis short blade unit. These figures are on the outdated NEDC cycle; expect closer to 80 km and 110 km respectively on the WLTP cycle.

As for charging, the 18.4 kWh models support up to 38 kW of DC fast charging, topping up the battery from 30 to 80% in 20 minutes. The AWD version goes up to 78 kW and can charge to the same benchmark in 15 minutes. All models can accept 6.6 kW of AC charging, with the FWD models taking three hours to get from 20 to 100%, and the AWD taking 4.2 hours.

The design of the car is as per the Xingyue L i-HEV, featuring a new bumper with twin silver “tusks”, a vertically-slatted grille and a rear bumper with large fake vents. The multi-spoke alloy wheels, meanwhile, were lifted from the Galaxy M7 and measure 20 inches in diameter.

Inside, the Monjaro EM-i has been completely redesigned and adopts elements from Geely’s newer EVs and PHEVs, such as the EX5 (i.e. the Proton eMas 7) and the Starray EM-i.

It does feel a step up from the norm, however, with a steering wheel from the Galaxy M9, a stitched dashboard and door cards and lashings of wood and metal-look trim. As is typical for a Chinese car, large 12.3-inch instrument, 25.6-inch head-up and 15.4-inch infotainment displays feature (no passenger screen here, unlike the ICE model), as do smartphone holders, a 50-watt Qi wireless charger and a 16-speaker Flyme Audio sound system.

The asymmetric centre console houses the usual multifunction rotary control knob, and in a refreshing departure from most Geely models, there are physical temperature toggles for the air-con. You also get quilted seats and a passenger dash panel with a mountain motif that references the car’s name (itself a nod to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa).

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