5 Chinese EVs at the Paris Motor Show That Might Come to Canada

In France, Chinese cars have already taken hold. No, they aren’t absolutely everywhere like some might say; that’s hyperbole. But they are very much a part of the automotive landscape over there, as evidenced by the fact that Chinese automakers had about as much presence as French ones at the 2026 Paris Motor Show.

It’s been nine months since Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would allow 49,000 Chinese EVs into the country at a massively reduced tariff, and since then, all three of China’s biggest automakers – BYD, Geely, and Chery – have announced plans to enter our market. However, the specific models we’ll actually get remain a mystery. Officially, at least.

Given the companies that have confirmed Canadian plans, the cars they already sell in other markets, and Canadian car tastes, we can make educated guesses as to which Chinese electric cars will eventually make it to our shores. Here are five from this year’s Paris Motor Show that are pretty safe bets.

Geely E5/EX5

Named either the E5 or EX5 depending on where you are in the world, this is Geely’s mainstream compact electric crossover. Since the tariff deal applies only to full EVs for now, and Geely makes only two (the E5 and the tiny E2 city car), it’s almost a no-brainer that the E5 would be one of Geely’s first Canada-bound products. For what it’s worth, your author recently spotted a lightly camouflaged black E5 running around North York, Ont.

It’s sized like a Toyota RAV4 on the outside but claims to offer interior space more in line with a crossover from one rung up, and having driven and been in one, that’s not an unfounded boast. Overseas, it’s rated for up to 475 km of range, but that’s on the generally more lenient European WLTP test cycle; we’d expect a Natural Resources Canada range figure to be lower. A single motor powering the front axle makes 215 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, getting the crossover from zero to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds. It’s not a prestige EV with the speed or luxury to blow anyone away, although its 15.4-inch touchscreen runs software that just might.

Jaecoo 5

Jaecoo is a subbrand of Chery, and the 5 subcompact crossover (also called the J5 or E5 depending on market) is its sole all-electric offering. Not for nothing, a grey J5 was one of the Chinese cars spotted in a North York, Ont., business park parking lot back in the spring. It’s admittedly not the most excitingly styled car even compared to its equals, but it’s available with a big panoramic sunroof, a 35L washable frunk, a 3.3-kW vehicle-to-load system that lets you use the car as a generator, and entire official “ecosystems” of pet and camping accessories.

In U.K. spec, the electric Jaecoo gets 399 km of range from its 60.9-kWh battery and makes 204 horsepower, getting from zero to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds. It’s notably smaller and slightly less powerful than the Geely E5, but if Chery can offer it to Canadians for less money, it could be a decent value play. At any rate, let’s hope they don't both get called the E5 if they both come here. That would be confusing.

BYD Atto 8

Out of all the Chinese automakers (there are a lot of them), BYD is the top dog, and by global volume, it surpassed Tesla as the biggest EV maker, period, selling 2 million electric cars in 2025. Making its debut in Paris this year is the Atto 8 under the main BYD brand (the group has two luxury subbrands). It’s a range-topping, three-row, seven-seat electric crossover, but its most notable feature isn’t its size; it’s the battery.

Using a 115-kWh, second-generation Blade battery, the Atto 8 gets 652 km of range on the European test cycle, but the real party trick happens when it’s charging. BYD’s new Flash Charging technology is said to get the Atto 8 from 10 to 97 per cent in just nine minutes. The more common use case of 10 to 70 per cent is apparently accomplished in just five minutes, and BYD says extreme cold temperatures that typically cripple EV charging speeds add just three minutes to the wait time.

BYD has some seriously cool cars — the 496-km/h Yangwang U9 Xtreme is the fastest car in the world right now — but perhaps its most exciting potential contribution to Canada’s EV landscape is its Flash Charging network. The company plans to install 3,000 Flash stations across Europe by the end of 2027.

Leapmotor B03

The much smaller Leapmotor B03 also made its European entrance at the Paris Motor Show this year.

Leapmotor hasn’t officially announced plans to sell cars in Canada, but Stellantis (the auto conglomerate behind Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat) acquired a 21 per cent stake in the company back in 2023 and owns 51 per cent of the joint venture intended to sell the Chinese brand’s vehicles outside of China. Earlier this year, there were even talks of Stellantis building Leapmotor cars at its idled plant in Brampton, Ont., an idea that was met with controversy.

Politics aside, the B03 is a tiny hatchback made for city centres, and gets 390 km of range per European testing standards. Its tiny footprint and 194 horsepower suggest it could be plenty fun to drive, while a 14.6-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto could make it the hit with younger buyers Stellantis’ own Fiat 500e wants to be. There are also happy faces in its taillights, which is super fun.

Zeekr 7X

Geely Auto Group consists of several brands, and it recently told AutoTrader that mainstream Geely-branded cars will come to Canada first. If that first wave goes well, we can totally see the Zeekr 7X luxury compact crossover landing here sometime after. Zeekr is to Geely what Lexus is to Toyota, and the electric 7X occupies about the same amount of space as a Lexus NX. Where the Geely E5 punches above its weight in terms of space, the 7X does it with luxury amenities and horsepower. All four doors can open and close themselves at the press of a button, Rolls-Royce-style, and its 16-inch touchscreen infotainment system should serve as the industry benchmark.

For 2027, the 800-volt 7X was refreshed for Europe. Equipped with the bigger 100-kWh battery, it now gets 627 km of range (up from 615 before), and dual-motor models now make 671 horsepower instead of the paltry 637 it used to. Zero to 100 km/h takes 3.7 seconds. Having flung one around an autocross course and ridden shotgun in this car’s 7GT wagon platform-mate around a high-speed oval going over 210 km/h, the brochure numbers, if anything, undersell its performance.