RHD Geely Emgrand EM-i PHEV headed to Australia, Malaysia how?

Geely’s right-hand drive (RHD) product offensive continues, as Australian publication Drive reported that the Geely Emgrand EM-i plug-in hybrid is headed Down Under real soon.

What is the Geely Emgrand EM-i PHEV?

The Geely Emgrand EM-i is sold in China as the Geely Galaxy Starshine 6 (吉利银河星耀6), as the electrified version of the fifth-generation Geely Emgrand.

Power for the Emgrand EM-i comes from a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid (PHEV), comprising of a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre BHE15-BFN (Slightly different from our eMas 7 PHEV’s BHE15-DFN) mated to a pair of P1 and P3 electric motors, housed into an 11-in-1 dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT).

The P3 motor serves as the car’s traction motor, and is able to deliver 163 PS and 210 Nm.

The engine delivers 112 PS and 136 Nm, which itself aren’t particularly outstanding, but Geely is keen to point out that the boasts a thermal efficiency of 47.26%, which is one of the highest for a modern-day series production engine.

Like our eMas 7, the Emgrand EM-i can be had with two battery capacity options – 8.5 kWh and 17 kWh. Under the WLTC test cycle, the Geely Emgrand EM-i is able to return a fuel consumption figure as low as 3.75 L/100 km. Mind you, the figure was achieved with the battery in an empty state.

Why does this matter for Malaysia?

There are several reasons for the Malaysian connection. For starters, the Geely Emgrand, albeit in its fourth-generation, is already sold here as the Proton S70.

Additionally, when we visited the Beijing Auto Show a couple of months ago, Proton officials hinted to us that the Geely Emgrand EM-i could be the “correct car” we should see at the motor show.

Said sedan was also show, after the motor show, at Geely’s private test drive event, hinting that the model’s arrival is a matter of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’.