Barely 12 months on from its launch in the UK, Skywell has given its BE11 a “comprehensive revision” in the hope of securing a larger part of the hugely competitive all-electric SUV market.
Once again taking on the likes of the Skoda Enyaq, Toyota bZ4X and Nissan Ariya, the BE11 wades in with a big discount of almost £5,000 for 2026. The BE11 starts from £31,990 in ‘Standard Range’ guise and rises to £34,990 for the ‘Long Range’ model, making it much cheaper than many of its C-segment electric SUV rivals – although you can find great deals on them via the Auto Express Buy A Car service here.
Aside from new bootlid badging, the exterior of the BE11 is unchanged; all of the revisions come under the metal and in the cabin. The standard kit now includes heated and ventilated front seats with faux black leather and Alcantara upholstery, electric lumbar adjustment, memory settings, and comfort entry or exit.
Other additions include 128-colour ambient lighting, a three-pin vehicle-to-load charger, and an extra front USB-C charging port, while a 15.6-inch central touchscreen replaces the old 12.8-inch display as standard fit.
Euro NCAP hasn’t crash-tested the BE11, but Skywell has upgraded the car’s safety assist equipment. Adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot detection, driver-alert warning, forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, traffic-sign recognition and several other safety features have been added – and Skywell says they’ve been tailored to meet the requirements of British roads. It’s worth noting that this technology is now standard-fare in the BE11’s rivals due to GSR2 regulations from the European Union. Skywell didn’t initially fit advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) when it launched in July 2024 because it didn’t have to meet those regulations.
When we tested the BE11, we weren’t overly impressed with its powertrain or range – although the real-world efficiency seemed fairly competitive. Sadly, Skywell hasn’t made any technical improvements for the 2026 car, with both versions coming with a front-mounted 201bhp motor sourced from BYD. The Standard Range BE11 gets the same 72kWh battery as before, resulting in 248 miles of range, while the Long Range has a larger 86kWh unit, which offers up to 303 miles.
We expect charging to be unchanged with a peak 80kW rate resulting in a 20-70 per cent top-up taking 36 minutes (for the 72kWh battery) or 45 minutes (for the 86kWh battery).
Skywell had initially planned to offer 50 dealer locations by the end of 2025, but currently there are just 17. Sales figures haven’t been enough to build up a UK presence either; just 27 BE11s were sold until November in 2025.
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