It seems like almost every new Chinese model released in Australia is just another mid-size petrol, hybrid or electric SUV, or a diesel-powered ute. Yawn.
But then along comes this, the Deepal E07 Multitruck, which is perhaps the most interesting vehicle to ever come to Australia from China.
What is the Deepal E07 Multitruck? Well first, it’s best to explain what Deepal is, and to do that I need to explain who its parent Changan is. Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz at the end.
Founded in 1862, the military supplier started producing off-roaders in the 1950s, before it began manufacturing civilian vehicles – Suzuki models built under license – in 1984.
Changan subsequently established joint ventures with Suzuki, Ford and Mazda, though only the latter two survive today. It also has its namesake vehicle brand, which includes sub-brands like Changan Nevo where the Multitruck is borrowed from, plus the standalone Deepal and luxury Avatr marques.
Despite being one of the largest state-owned automakers in China, Changan has never had a presence in Australia.
That changed late last year when local Subaru and Peugeot distributor Inchcape introduced Changan’s Deepal brand to our market, with the S07 mid-size electric SUV being its debut model.
The first Deepal vehicle entered production in 2022, and the brand specialises in electric vehicles and extended-range electric vehicles (EVs and EREVs). As for the name, Deepal says it means “deep blue”.
Deepal’s presence in Australia is set to grow not only via Inchcape’s efforts, but also via Mazda. The upcoming Mazda 6e, expected to be launched in Australia, is based on a Deepal model.
That was a crash course in who Changan and Deepal are, but what about the E07 Multitruck itself?
Deepal Australia credits CarExpert contributor Matt Campbell with coining the Multitruck name affixed to a vehicle with an otherwise very bland name. And something like this deserves more than a bland name!
Known in China as the Changan Nevo E07, the Multitruck is a cross between an SUV and a ute, with a power-retractable rear section that opens to expose a load bay that can be opened up into the cabin.
It’s not the first application of some of these ideas. The 2004 GMC Envoy XUV was an SUV with a retractable roof section; it was power-assisted, but otherwise conceptually similar to the even older 1963 Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon.
The 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche featured a folding ‘midgate’ to expand the load bay and, if you want to be uncharitable, you could say the rear of the Multitruck bears a resemblance to the Pontiac Aztek of the same era.
Some even say the Multitruck looks like a Tesla Cybertruck. That one’s a bit of a stretch, too. Walter White’s hapless minivan-based crossover SUV and Elon Musk’s polarising electric ute have got nothing on the sleek E07.
It has a presence about it in person – understandable, given it measures over five metres long – and yet it still has a drag coefficient of just 0.237Cd.
The overall look is more coupe-style SUV than ute, and Deepal has also swapped the tri-spoke wheels of the Chinese-market model for a different 21-inch alloy wheel design that helps give this unusual vehicle a more elegant look.
Fundamentally, there’s nothing else like it on the Australian market.
How much does the Deepal E07 Multitruck cost?
It’s hard to pin down a rival for the Multitruck, given its combination of ute and SUV functionality, a large body, and electric power.
| Model | Price before on-road costs |
|---|---|
| 2026 Deepal E07 Multitruck RWD | $64,900 |
| 2026 Deepal E07 Multitruck AWD Performance | $73,900 |
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
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What is the Deepal E07 Multitruck like on the inside?
You must be curious just how this cargo bay area works. I know I was.
Long press the button tucked away near the number plate and the lower rear window retracts, and then the rear glass roof – or dome, as Deepal calls it – slides upwards.
Stick your hand in the load bay and on one side you’ll find buttons on the left to either drop or raise the tailgate and open or close the dome, and on the right you’ll find buttons to raise or lower the rear seats.
It takes close to a minute to turn the Multitruck from a closed-off coupe-style SUV into a ute.
You can also ask the voice assistant to do it from both inside and outside the car, and the touchscreen features an image of the car you can move around and select different elements to zoom in on and control.
What’s especially interesting is you can drive with not only the dome open but also the partition window separating the cargo bay and the second row.
The back of the rear seats, plus the load bay itself, is covered in what feels like a weatherproof material, and there are tie-down points in the ‘tub’.
Deepal quotes a ‘dynamic’ payload for the cargo bay of just 300kg, so this isn’t a heavy-duty load hauler in the same vein as the Toyota HiLux, but you still get an area you won’t be afraid to get dirty like in an SUV. Mind you, we’re not sure we’d want to hose this out.
The ability to let fresh air in while you’re driving is neat, and there’s more opening glass than in utes with sliding rear windows. The dome glass moves upwards to cover the fixed glass roof, but you still get a panoramic view out of the top of the car.
If you just want to toss something in the back, it’s not as quick as swinging open the tailgate of an SUV or dropping something into a ute’s tub. But the Multitruck has a 131-litre storage compartment under the bonnet if you want to chuck stuff in in a hurry, and helpfully it’s drainable too. It’s rated to carry up to 35kg.
By the way, as is often the case with EVs, there’s no spare wheel – just a tyre repair kit, located under the boot floor alongside a couple of storage areas.
Not only do the rear seats fold flat, but the front ones can be folded to meet the rear cushions after you remove the head restraints. That gives you, according to Deepal, enough space for a queen-size mattress.
Turn on Camping Mode, which manages cabin temperature and the PM2.5 air filtration system, and you’ve got a comfortable and quirky camper. You can also use the 6.6kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality to power electrical appliances, while the Multitruck can be fitted with roof racks. All this makes the Multitruck quite versatile.
Up front, the cabin isn’t as distinctively styled as the exterior, but there’s still plenty to like here.
Let’s talk about what isn’t great, however. There’s virtually no physical switchgear, with almost everything done via the touchscreen. That includes adjusting the direction of the airflow through the vents.
Sound familiar? We’ve seen all of that before in the Xpeng G6. Chinese brands have embraced this minimalist, tech-heavy cabin style, which seems to be what buyers back home want.
While we’re griping, why is it that so many brands ditching traditional buttons also insist on replacing door handles with buttons? Seems a bit contradictory, no?
The large touchscreen has myriad menus you can get lost in, though there is a shortcut dropdown menu and the climate controls are anchored at the bottom.
Still, it’s not completely intuitive – some seat functions are in the vehicle menu, but most are accessed via the climate menu.
There’s just so much to unpack here. You’ll want to spend an hour just burrowing through all the menus on the touchscreen – I know I’ll want to when we get one through the garage for a longer loan. It’s perhaps not the most straightforward of infotainment system layouts, but the graphics are slick.
There’s no instrument cluster in the E07 but thankfully Deepal didn’t completely follow Tesla’s lead. Yes, you can see a speed readout on the corner of the touchscreen, but there’s a much safer, much more intuitive head-up display that shows important information like your speed.
Still, if you wear polarised sunglasses, this mightn’t be as ideal as a simple instrument cluster.
The steering wheel may also take some adjustment with its minimalist (though configurable) switchgear.
The Multitrucks we sat in had the Premium Orange interior, available for an extra $500, which helps make this cabin feel special – though we know it won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
Material quality is good, with soft-touch trim everywhere except the outer section of the bottle holders in the doors and the absolute lowest reaches of the dash. Yes, there’s even soft-touch material inside the bottle holders.
There’s a floating centre console with a storage compartment, a pair of cupholders, and a ventilated 50W wireless phone charger.
The plush front seats feature Nappa leather upholstery, 14-way power adjustment, lumbar support, heating, ventilation and memory.
They also feature ‘zero gravity’ tech – no, you won’t go floating through the Multitruck’s cabin, but you will enjoy excellent comfort. That includes adjustable leg rests like you’ll find in Hyundai EVs.
There are nine different massage modes including a specific Buttocks mode. You can adjust the intensity and the massaging functions work marvellously – as the presence of the Buttocks mode suggests, the hardware isn’t just located in the seatback but in the base as well.
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Step into the back seat – and watch your head, due to the sloping roofline – and there’s a comfortable rear bench and a completely flat floor.
There’s plenty of light back here, thanks to that panoramic glass roof which has a closing sunshade, and headroom is good for someone 180cm tall.
Rear passengers are treated almost exactly as well as those up front. That means those on the outboard seats also get heating, ventilation and massaging, as well as a power-adjustable backrest.
The bottle holders will fit 600ml bottles, and there’s a USB-C outlet at the rear of the centre console above controls for the seats and HVAC. There’s also a fold-down armrest with cupholders.
There are top-tether child seat anchor points for all three rear seats, plus ISOFIX points for the outboard seats.
| Dimensions | Deepal E07 Multitruck |
|---|---|
| Length | 5045mm |
| Width | 1996mm |
| Height | 1680mm |
| Wheelbase | 3120mm |
| Cargo capacity | 524L (rear seats up) 1654L (rear seats folded) |
| Under-bonnet storage capacity | 131L |
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
There’s a choice of two electric powertrains in Australia. The E07 is also available as an EREV in China, with a 1.5-litre engine to power the battery, but this hasn’t been confirmed for our market yet.
| Specifications | RWD | AWD Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Drivetrain | Single-motor electric | Dual-motor electric |
| Battery | 89.98kWh ternary lithium | 89.98kWh ternary lithium |
| Power | 252kW | 440kW |
| Torque | 365Nm | 645Nm |
| Drive type | Rear-wheel drive | All-wheel drive |
| Tare mass | 2320kg | 2440kg |
| 0-100km/h (claimed) | 6.7 seconds | 4.0 seconds |
| Claimed range (WLTP) | 550km | 510km |
| Max AC charge rate | 7kW | 7kW |
| Max DC charge rate | 240kW | 240kW |
| Braked towing capacity | 1500kg | 1500kg |
Our drive route took us from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, across a mix of highways and rural roads but little in the way of urban driving. We observed energy consumption of around 18kWh/100km in both RWD and AWD Performance variants.
The Multitruck rides on double wishbone front and multi-link independent rear suspension, with a combination of air suspension and Continuous Damping Control that Deepal calls “Magic Carpet” suspension.
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How does the Deepal E07 Multitruck drive?
The E07 Multitruck AWD Performance is bloody quick, though the RWD is no slouch either. Both variants have plenty of grunt and provide the effortless thrust you get with EVs thanks to instant torque delivery.
But the RWD doesn’t have the theatre of the AWD Performance, which pushes you back in your seat and sends the nose pointing to the sky.
I say theatre despite the fact the E07 makes little in the way of noise, and hugs the road thanks to its grippy Michelin Pilot Sport 4 EV tyres.
Whether you’re in the RWD or the AWD Performance, the Multitrack is wonderfully quiet, even on rougher country roads and highways.
The patchwork roads of the Hunter Valley are anything but smooth. In fact, they’re littered with potholes, yet the Multitruck ate them up.
That’s not altogether surprising given all E07s ride comfort on air suspension, and there was only slight fidgeting and only on certain surfaces. For the most part, this is one cushy cruiser.
And yes, in typical Chinese fashion, this is a fairly softly sprung vehicle. It doesn’t feel tied-down like a sports car, but then again this is a 2320-2440kg ute/SUV mash-up with zero sporting pretensions.
Oh sure, the Multitruck will get you up to speed quickly, particularly in AWD Performance guise. But there’s no fighting physics, and this car feels its weight and size in the corners.
You can carry more speed into corners than with a typical ute, and it avoids the top-heavy feeling most dual-cabs have. But the light and vacant steering stops the E07 from feeling engaging; Sport mode adds some more weight to the steering, but it’s still uncommunicative.
By the way, there’s a configurable Custom mode allowing you to toggle between settings for power delivery, energy recovery, steering weight, and brake feel. You can also adjust the suspension height and firmness.
It’s a modern Chinese car, so of course it has to have a long list of active safety and driver assist features accompanied by bings and bongs and flashes and such, right?
Well yes, but in the Multitruck you can turn these all off and they’ll default to off when it’s started up again. Hallelujah!
When we first set out on the road, the lane support systems in the E07 we drove were set to provide audible alerts only. That proved infuriating as soon as the roads started getting twisty. We selected actual steering assist later, as well as the lane centring system that works in conjunction with the adaptive cruise control, and these generally proved competent.
The calibration of driver assist systems is often something Chinese brands seem to mess up in Australia, and Deepal concedes it didn’t have this nailed down when it first launched here.
However, it did bring updates quite quickly, showing it’s receptive to Australian customer feedback. Deepal says it specifically tuned the Multitruck’s active safety and driver assist technology for Australian roads, where it logged over 50,000km of driving in engineering test cars.
We’re keen to spend more time in the Multitruck to see how liveable these systems are in day-to-day driving.
We didn’t take the Multitruck off road, but it has between 133mm and 223mm of ground clearance depending on the air suspension setting, and a wading depth of 600mm.
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What do you get?
Sheesh, what don’t you get?! After all, what other car at this price point offers rear seats that are power-adjustable, heated, ventilated and massaging?
2025 Deepal E07 RWD standard equipment highlights:
- 21-inch alloy wheels
- Puncture repair kit
- Automatic LED headlights
- Automatic high-beam
- Air suspension
- Continuous Damping Control
- Electronic parking brake
- Auto hold
- Hill descent control
- Eco, Comfort, Sport and Custom modes
- Rain-sensing wipers
- Power tailgate
- Proximity entry and start
- Integrated dashcam
- Interior and exterior voice assistant
- Power mirrors
- Heated
- Power-folding
- Auto-dipping
- Position memory
- Fixed panoramic glass roof
- Rear privacy glass
- Head-up display
- 15.4-inch rotating touchscreen infotainment system
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Satellite navigation
- 18-speaker sound system
- 50W ventilated wireless phone charger
- Nappa leather upholstery
- Power-adjustable front seats
- 8-way power adjustment
- 4-way power lumbar
- 2-way leg rest adjustment
- Heating
- Ventilation
- Massage
- 2 x driver memory profiles
- 3 x passenger memory profiles
- 4-way power steering wheel adjustment with memory
- Heated steering wheel
- Rear bench
- Heating
- Ventilation
- Massage
- Power backrest adjustment
- 60/40 split/fold
- 256-colour ambient lighting
- Dual-zone climate control
- PM2.5 filter
- 1 x USB-A outlet
- 2 x USB-C outlet
The AWD Performance differs only in its powertrain, and in offering a pair of extra exterior paint finishes: Jade Green and the lurid Spessartite Orange.
All we feel is missing is a digital rear-view mirror, even though visibility out the back isn’t too bad.
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
Is the Deepal E07 Multitruck safe?
The Deepal E07 Multitruck has yet to be tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.
Standard safety equipment includes:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Pedestrian and cyclist detection
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Driver fatigue detection
- Lane-keep assist
- Emergency lane-keep assist
- Front cross-traffic assist
- Rear cross-traffic assist
- Safe exit warning
- Intelligent speed limiter
- Traffic Jam Assist
- Traffic sign recognition
- Surround-view camera
- 3D mode
- Transparent chassis mode
- 6 x front parking sensors
- 6 x rear parking sensors
- Front, side and curtain airbags
- Tyre pressure monitoring
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How much does the Deepal E07 Multitruck cost to run?
The average cost to service the Multitruck is about the same as the Deepal S07, and individual workshop visits can vary from as little as $161.33 to as much as $986.65.
| Servicing and Warranty | Deepal E07 Multitruck |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 7 years, 160,000km (vehicle); 8 years, 240,000km (battery) |
| Roadside assistance | 12 months |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 20,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | 7 years |
| Total capped-price service cost | $2954.59 (RWD) and $3143.90 (AWD Performance) |
| Average capped-price service cost | $422 (RWD) and $449 (AWD Performance) |
To see how the Deepal E07 Multitruck lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
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CarExpert’s Take on the Deepal E07 Multitruck
Lew Bandt, the late Ford designer, said he received a letter from a customer who wanted a car comfortable enough to take his wife to church on a Sunday but capable enough to carry pigs to market on a Monday. That led to the creation of the Australian ute.
We wonder if there was an email or a Weibo message sent to Changan asking for the solution the E07 Multitruck provides, and we wonder what exactly that person’s request was.
It wasn’t that they needed a vehicle to haul pigs, we can tell you that much. This isn’t as capable a load-hauler as most dual-cab 4×4 utes, and while we’ve yet to test this we suspect it won’t be as capable off-road either.
But there’s no ute that’s as sumptuous inside and as comfortable to drive as the Multitruck is, unless you spend north of $100,000 on something American but then it won’t be electric. There certainly aren’t any SUVs, either, offering giant retractable roof sections that allow you to turn them into a ute.
The Multitruck might be the answer to a question nobody asked, but what an answer it is!
In creating something so different from a traditional ute or SUV, Deepal has launched the Multitruck without any direct competition… and that makes it all the more enticing.
Cynics may argue the Multitruck is built around a gimmick, a party trick powered by electronics that could be costly to repair later, all for a dubious use case. And they may argue the vehicles it appears to draw inspiration from, such as the GMC Envoy XUV, were hardly success stories.
But I suspect there are Australian buyers who may find the Multitruck suits their needs perfectly, with its combination of zero emissions, camp-friendly V2L functionality and folding seats, plus an opening load bay for the occasional carrying of dirty or tall items.
Are there a lot of buyers like that? Perhaps not. But the Multitruck’s suite of capabilities, combined with its luxurious interior, powerful performance and extraordinarily long equipment list, make this a surprisingly tempting new offering.
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