Geely Starray review

Your starting price is £29,990. That’s for the entry-level trim and smaller battery. It’s £34,990 if you want the bigger battery, because you also have to step up to the top trim.

Geely will currently lease you one for £335 a month with a £1,199 deposit and zero per cent APR over four years, or £395 with a £2,125 down payment if your heart is set on having the extra range.

The Starray undercuts the likes of the Ford Kuga, Hyundai Tucson and Toyota RAV4 by £5-10k, although equally underwhelming competition comes in the shape of the BYD Sealion 5, Chery Tiggo 7 and Jaecoo 7, all of which are near enough identically priced.

What’s the difference between trims?

Entry-level trim is the Pro. It gets 19in alloys, synthetic leather interior, heated electrically adjustable front seats, 15.4in central display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 360-degree surround view camera, rear privacy glass, and keyless entry. But you’re restricted to the 18.4kWh battery and maximum 30kW DC fast charging.

Step up to the mid-spec Max and you’re still limited to the smaller battery, but you get a head-up display, panoramic sunroof, ventilated driver’s seat, wireless phone charging, 256-colour ambient lighting, a 16-speaker premium audio System and power tailgate. 

At the top of the range is the Ultra. It’s identically specced to the Max, but adds the larger battery with 60kW DC charging. But quite why you'd bother stopping to charge a PHEV is anyone's guess.

What’s the best spec?

The Max trim looks the best bet to our eyes, commanding just shy of £3k extra over the base trim but bringing a few nice luxuries.

The extra e-range of the Ultra adds convenience, but most people will be well served by the 51-mile range of the smaller battery. So stick with that unless you do a lot of longer day trips.

Oh, and final thing: every version of the Starray gets a base warranty of eight years or 125,000 miles. Ah, peace of mind.