The Jaecoo E5 is here with a supremely cute dog to distract us from its hideousness

Look at it! Isn’t that just the sweetest little border collie? Our day has instantly been improved after seeing its happy little face.

Unfortunately, we were then forced to look at the face of the new Jaecoo E5. Day ruined. Seriously, what is going on with the design of this thing? It looks like a Range Rover Evoque was redrawn using only a ruler and then uploaded to a computer using 1970s spec CAD software.

Jaecoo says this is its “compact, urban friendly SUV” so it’s smaller than the current 7 and will be on sale in the UK very shortly, with first deliveries scheduled for October. Where the 7 is available in petrol or hybrid forms though, this new little’un will be offered as the internal combustion-engined 5 or the all-electric E5. Does look slightly more acceptable with a proper grille up front, doesn’t it?

Anyway, we now know pricing and specs for both the petrol-powered version and the EV. The standard 5 will get a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine with 145bhp and a seven-speed dual-clutch auto, while the E5 will house a 61.1kWh battery for 248 miles of range and a 204bhp electric motor for a 0-62mph time of 7.7 seconds. And yes, Omoda (which, like Jaecoo, is also a Chery brand) already has small crossovers named the 5 and E5. This isn’t confusing at all.

Inside we’re told both cars get a “digital-first cabin” with a 13.2in portrait touchscreen and a ‘Hi JAECOO’ voice assistant. The electric one also gets a ‘Pet Mode’ hence the image above. There will be ‘Pure’ and ‘Luxury’ trims, with the entry level versions kicking off at £24,505 for the petrol engine and £27,505 for the aesthetically challenged EV.