RAY MASSEY: The rising Starray of SUVs is really going place

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Next Tuesday marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

And the new Starray EM-i five-seater, which launched this week, is the perfect choice of horsepower as we gallop into the next Zodiac cycle.

It is the second offering from manufacturing giant Geely, which arrived in the UK as a standalone brand only last October.

On sale now from under £30,000, the Starray has been designed from inception to be a plug-in hybrid or PHEV – rather than adapted from existing petrol or electric vehicles.

However, it offers the security of a traditional petrol engine, backed by electric batteries that will either boost the car's performance and fuel-efficiency or, if fully charged, allow you to drive up to 84 miles in electric-only mode without 'charging anxiety'.

It will appeal to UK buyers seeking a keenly priced, highly-specced car.

Lotus touch: Ray with the new EM-i, which has been designed from inception to be a PHEV – rather than adapted from existing petrol or electric vehicles.

Dubbed a 'super-hybrid', the front-wheel drive Starray combines a 1.5L, four-cylinder petrol engine and 51-litre tank with a compact electric motor to create a 262hp (193kW) package of power. It accelerates briskly from 0 to 62mph in eight seconds, to a top speed restricted to 105mph.

Riding on 19in alloy wheels, there are three trim levels, Pro, Max and Ultra, and two battery options.

The 18.4kW Pro (from £29,990) and Max (from £32,690) models offer a claimed electric-only range of up to 51 miles – enough for a zero emissions daily commute – and a total hybrid range of 585 miles, enough to go from London to just beyond Inverness with the equivalent of 117.7mpg.

The more powerful 29.8kWh battery Ultra model (from £34,990) promises a longer EV-only range of 84 miles and a total hybrid range of 618 miles, which would get you further up the Scottish East coast to Dornoch, with fuel economy of 201.8mpg.

Setting off from the launch at the Longcross Film studios near Chertsey in Surrey, I drove the mid-range Starray Max, which boasts a panoramic sunroof.

It's a practical SUV which (thanks to help from Lotus engineers) is balanced and engaging, with more character than some bland Chinese rivals.

There are three driving modes: electric-only Pure; a smooth Hybrid, and Power, which turns up the performance. Brake resistance can be tweaked to boost electric regeneration.

It's roomy for passengers in the back, with a boot that expands from 528 litres to 2,065 litres with the rear seats down.

Riding on 19in alloy wheels, there are three trim levels, Pro, Max and Ultra, and two battery options

There are three driving modes: electric-only Pure; a smooth Hybrid, and Power, which turns up the performance

It's a practical SUV which is balanced and engaging, with more character than some bland Chinese rivals

There's an over-emphasis on screen and AI voice commands - so you do have to spend a bit of time familiarising yourself with settings on the 15.4 inch central screen

‹ Slide me ›

It's roomy for passengers in the back, with a boot that expands from 528 litres to 2,065 litres with the rear seats down

It has a five-star Euro NCAP crash-test safety rating and an eight year/125,000 mile warranty. Metallic paint is an £800 additional option.

Geely said: 'The Starray EM-I is a born super hybrid. Rather than converting an existing model by integrating a new powertrain, it was designed and engineered fromm the ground-up as a PHEV to help ensure optimum efficiency and strong driving performance.'

Even the entry-level Pro model from £29,990 comes well stocked as standard including 19-inch alloy wheels, heated and power-adjustable front seats, keyless entry, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 540-degree surround view cameras, LED Headlights and 30kW DC charging. There are also PCP finance deals from £339 per month.

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As well as the large panoramic sunroof, the mid-range Starray Max which I drove includes head up display, wireless charging, a power tailgate, and upgraded seats and hi-fi among the standard kit.

Starray's chassis, suspension, dynamic handling and ride quality were developed and tuned to be 'fully optimised for UK roads' in collaboration with British sports car specialists Lotus Engineering, which is also part of the expanding Geely conglomerate which includes Lotus, Volvo, Polestar and London black-cab maker LEVC.

The company said: 'Geely Auto UK worked with the Lotus engineering team, utilising the firm's expertise in chassis and dynamics assessment, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Starray EM-i.

'The vehicle has undergone subjective and objective assessments by the Lotus engineering team of dynamics experts on UK roads and the Lotus test track.'

However, as with many modern electrified cars, there's an over-emphasis on screen and AI voice commands - saving the cost of more user-friendly buttons and knobs. So you do have to spend a bit of time familiarising yourself with settings on the 15.4 inch central screen.

And you'll probably want to turn down or off some of the more intrusive, irritating and nannying driver assistance warnings, as I did.

The 13.8 inch head-up display projected into the windscreen is particularly useful.

Online sat-nav is standard on all trims.

With a domestic 7kW AC home wall-box the Pro and Max models will fully charge in 3 hours while the more powerful Ultra will take 4.6 hours. Top-up charging to 80 per cent on a 30kW DC fast charger takes 20 minutes and 16 minutes respectively.

Geely also has partnerships with designer home-charging firm Anderson EV and Octopus Energy to help keep charging and tariffs simple and cost-effective.

Geely said: 'The Lithium Iron Phosphate battery packs benefit from a cell chemistry that is designed to achieve improved cost-efficiency because it does not feature rare and expensive materials such as Nickel or Cobalt.'

To ensure safety, robustness and durability, Geely noted: 'The packs were developed using more than 100 extreme tests, including crash tests, 2-metre drop tests, immersion in salt water, and being subjected to 700°C temperatures.'

Launch of the Starray EM-i is the latest step in Geely's expansion in the UK, following the launch last October of their electric EX5 SUV.

It sold more than 4 million cars globally last year and plans to boost to 6.5million by 2030, of which a third will be sol outside of China.

It has already doubled its number of UK dealerships from 25 in October to 51 today and aims to sell 100,000 cars a year here by 2030.

The Longcross film studios from which I drove the new Starray at its launch has been used for movie blockbusters from the Star Wars and Mission Impossible franchises - which is fitting for the 'Star' in its title.

As for the 'Ray' - well, it's got my name on it.