Geely, one of the biggest car makers in the world, which has also set up operations in Australia this year and delivered over 2,300 EX5 electric SUVs, has announced that the very popular model will now receive the highly anticipated Apple CarPlay via an over-the-air (OTA) update.
This update has been one of the most requested from Geely EX5 drivers who started taking deliveries of the car back in March this year, when the brand announced aggressive pricing of the two variants this model is offered locally.
Apple CarPlay inclusion into the infotainment system will mean that owners with an Apple iPhone will be able to install the latest update and have phone mirroring available to bring their favourite phone apps into the car.
The screen-mirroring feature in the latest OTA will work both wired and wirelessly, providing both options to drivers.
On the back of this, one owner installed the update and shared their experience on Geely EX5 owners group: “Post 1.1.7 update the apple car play, looks nice. Have to see if any changes with driving and notifications”.
Another owner commented about using the popular Waze navigation app via Apple CarPlay inside the vehicle: “Tested it immediately using Waze and everything good. Sound now works properly in all of the apps including Waze.”
Users of Android devices are also expected to receive an update with Android Auto in the Geely EX5 in the first quarter of 2026.
In March, Geely launched in the Australian market with the EX5 SUV with starting prices of $40,990 for the entry-level Complete variant, while a top-of-the-line Inspire variant started at $44,990, both before on-road costs.
For the Australian market, the EX5 comes with a 60.22 kWh battery pack that can deliver 430 km of WLTP range.
On the charging front, this battery, from 30-80% will take roughly 20 minutes, due to a 100 kW peak DC charging speed, and 11 kW AC charging is also on offer.
Along with that, the vehicle-to-load (V2L) discharge rate is up to 3.3 kW. This is an excellent offering given its price point.
Last week, the company announced that it now has 43 dealers across the country, almost doubling its dealership count since launching.
With more Geely EVs making it to the road and OTA updates making improvements to the customer experience, it will instil confidence in the brand and the EVs in the affordable segments of the market.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.