Geely Starray EM-I Super Hybrid (2026) Review

THE nest is empty. The boy as flown the coop, well not so much flown as been driven away and delivered to his drama school in London.

How can a young man of just 18 years accrue so much stuff? Clothes? Enough for a small boutique. Food? Sufficient to feed an army – I hope his new accommodation has a big fridge/freezer.

Electrical gadgets? Well, there’s a kettle, a toaster, a toastie maker, air-fryer, a velvetiser, a Nutri-bullet, a Neom diffuser and wellbeing pod, wide screen TV, Bluetooth speaker, PS4, copious leads, chargers and extension leads, iron, ironing board, laptop, phone, electric guitar with amp and acoustic guitar. Then there are pots, pans, glasses, various utensils, bedding and, oh, a yoga mat.

All of that had to fit in the Geely Starray along with two sad parents in the front – so add a box of tissues – and a tall ginger budding actor in the back. Ridiculous.

Luckily, mother has the packing skills of an Amazon dispatcher and somehow it all fits in. Every cubbyhole is packed to the gunwales, even the storage area under the boot floor. Fortunately, the Starray has asymmetrically split rear fold seats. So two thirds of the back bench is folded flat allowing the boy to squeeze into the remain third.

The EM-I Super Hybrid has been carefully selected for the job and fits the bill perfectly. It’s large enough to accommodate all of the above but not too big for the congested roads of London, well Chiswick and Hammersmith to be accurate.

No-one wants to pay the ultra-low emissions zone charge and the plug-in hybrid set up ensures we don’t come anywhere close thanks to a CO2 figure of just 32g/km. It will even do between 50 and 80 miles on full electric, well it would if I had bothered charging it.

It’s a long old drive as well – 278 miles door to door – so great economy will be a blessing and the 50+ I achieve helps me stretch a gallon to the maximum. If the battery had been fully charged the MPG would have been closer to 100, I’m sure, but in the chaos of moving him I forget.

At 7.30pm at night he has finally secured his keys and we have emptied the car. I must say I did see the posh mother next door with the V8 Defender casting perplexed (what sort of car is that?) but admiring glances at the Geely. It’s in a lovely green and looks so much posher than its £30K price tag would suggest.

A brief ugly cry from mother over and it’s time to head home leaving the boy a dwindling figure in the mirrors. Like I said, it’s 278 miles home and the satnav is predicting a half past midnight arrival.

So what becomes important now is the Starray’s ability to cosset. It is superb. It feels so plush inside, like something three times the price, and the specification and quality of fixtures and fittings are off the chart.

Ergonomics are perfect, the seats lush and supportive and the 16-speaker, 1,000W Flyme premium audio system is stupendous. Showtunes on and cranked up, the journey seems to fly by. The Geely is so swift and smooth it simply eats up the long lonely trek home and I’m no more tired at journey’s end than I was at the start, which is quite an achievement. Brilliant in fact.

Given the monumental task at hand the Starray accomplishes everything and more. It’s a momentous occasion taking the boy to drama school for the first time and the Geely will always sit in my affections as our fledgling actor begins the opening scene of his new life.

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