- We have our first look at the interior of the Chinese Buick Electra E5, as first reported by InsideEVs.
- The most notable feature is the large 30-inch curved OLED display mounted on the Electra E5’s dashboard.
- While the E5 is for China, Buick has confirmed that the brand’s first electric SUV will use the Electra name and debut in 2024.
When the 2025 Buick Electra E5 comes to America, we expect the brand’s first electric SUV to feature a giant OLED display mounted on the dashboard. At least that’s what it looks like based on interior images that Buick released today on its Chinese website, discovered by InsideEVs.
Large OLED screen
Entering a new era, Buick introduces a revised triple-screen logo and fresh design language, making their American debut on the 2024 Buick Encore GX. That facelifted model also adopted a large glass panel with dual displays on its dashboard, setting the stage for other Buicks to do the same. While the Encore GX’s display will no doubt appease tech-obsessed buyers, the unit found in the Chinese Electra E5 is more akin to the Cadillac Escalade’s stunning 38-inch curved OLED display.
While not quite as large as the one in the Caddy, the Electra E5 features a substantial 30-inch curved OLED screen with an impressive 6K resolution; Buick says it can reflect at least 1 billion colors. Of course, the E5 also has 5G technology and allows over-the-air OTA updates. Other notable, albeit expected, infotainment features include wireless Apple CarPlay (and likely wireless Android Auto) as well as wireless phone charging. Buick says it has improved voice recognition software and offers users numerous configurable settings.
Is Buick upping its luxury game?
We rarely accuse Buick models of missing luxury features, but we often see that GM’s tweener brand seems to compromise its interior quality through the excessive use of materials that are also found in the mainstream alternatives.
The China-bound Electra E5 certainly has high content, such as a 12.6-inch color head-up display and ambient interior lighting with 121 color options. Based solely on the new images we’ve seen, however, it appears that Buick may be upping its game in the luxury arena.
While hard plastics still remain below the E5’s beltline, there appears to be luxury brightwork on the floating center console, the doors and the dashboard. The other materials on the latter two surfaces also look attractive. If nothing else, the seats appear to be very comfortable, especially their “floating” headrests.
Of course, it’s too soon to say how luxurious the Buick Electra E5 will be and how close the American version will be to its Chinese counterpart. Still, based on the images we’ve seen and the information we’ve learned today, the US-bound Electra could help propel Buick upmarket when it hits our shores sometime in 2024—likely as a 2025 model.
Senior Editor
Eric Stafford’s car addiction started before he could walk, and it fueled his passion to write news, reviews and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno-esque car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social media influencers make it seem, so he eschewed financial success altogether to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree from Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.
