Geely EX5 vs Vauxhall Combo Life (2021-2024)

The Geely EX5 is £120 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the two land within £200 of each other - effectively the same to own. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 198 miles for the Geely EX5 and 145 miles for the Vauxhall Combo Life - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Geely EX5 goes roughly 53 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 20 minutes in the Geely EX5 and 30 in the Vauxhall Combo Life, so the Geely EX5 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Geely EX5 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 20 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 499 mm of total clearance for the Geely EX5 and about 479 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Combo Life.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 90% battery health for the Geely EX5 and 84% for the Vauxhall Combo Life. That gives the Geely EX5 a modest edge in retained real-world range. The Geely EX5's LFP-type pack tolerates daily 100% charging, while the Vauxhall Combo Life's NMC-type pack lasts longest kept to about 80% for everyday use. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.