Brand New JAECOO 8 1.5T SHS Luxury 5dr Auto [7 Seater]

Rival brands may well have their sights set on this Jaecoo 8 SHS-P as it aims to redefine the value proposition for a premium seven-seat family SUV Plug-in Hybrid. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Review

The Jaecoo 8 SHS-P aims for the more premium end of the class for larger mid-sized seven-seat Plug-in Hybrid SUVs. It's a slightly posher take on this kind of family crossover than you get from its similarly-engineered Chery Motor Group segment cousins and, like them, delivers impressive recipe of performance, EV range, space and equipment for the money.

Background

If you're after a mid-sized family SUV with a Plug-in Hybrid powertrain, there are now quite a few ordinary mainstream brand options to choose from. But what if you don't want an ordinary option in this class? Well then, we might direct you to this car, the Jaecoo 8 SHS-P. Look at the stats here; 422bhp, 4WD and acceleration virtually as quick as a Golf GTI. Arguably more impressive though, is what you can achieve in this car when you're not flexing your right foot - up to 83 miles of EV range. Jaecoo is one of the portfolio of brands brought here by the Chinese Chery Motor Group and Jaecoo is a marque that's performed beyond its importer's wildest dreams with the first model it brought here, the mid-sized Jaecoo 7 SUV. As the name suggests, the Jaecoo 8 is the next size step up from that car, sharing almost everything under the skin with two other slightly less aspirational Plug-in Hybrid SUV Chery Group models, the Omoda 9 and the Chery Tiggo 9. Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Spec

We've now entered a new phase of PHEV development where the latest Plug-in Hybrids feature batteries bigger in size than those that were used with early EVs. They can go further than early EVs on a charge too, the Jaecoo 8 claiming an electric range of up to 83 miles between charges from its 34.5kWh battery. Which plays its part in contributing towards the kind of total driving range any EV owner could only dream about - in this case over 700 miles, enough to get from London to Berlin without stopping. As you might expect if you know anything about the background behind this car, the drivetrain is the same one used in the Chery Tiggo 9 and the Omoda 9 versions of the same basic design. Which means a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine mated to a couple of electric motors, one on each axle to create 4WD and generate 580Nm of torque. There's a Hybrid-specific 3DHT 3-speed auto transmission with 12 power delivery modes. Total output is a hefty 428PS, which is why 62mph can be dispatched in a hot hatch-like 5.8s. Jaecoo wants to talk about this car's adaptive terrain response system, but thanks to just 162mm of ground clearance, the off road stats aren't very impressive for a big SUV - an approach angle of up to 21-degrees and a departure angle of up to 23-degrees. Don't expect too much from the wading depth (up to 600mm, the same as a Land Rover Discovery Sport) or the braked towing weight - rated at up to 1,600kg. But likely customers will be more interested in things like cruising refinement (which should be excellent thanks to a standard Active Noise Cancellation system); and ride quality (aided by Continuous Damping Control adaptive suspension).

Design and Build

Jaecoo wants to know why you'd pay around twice as much for a seven-seat Range Rover rather than this Jaecoo 8 - and there are some customers who might agree with that perspective. Particularly as there are 'Range Rover Sport' vibes to this Chinese model's sloping profile and its swept-back rear end. The '8' isn't quite as substantial a thing as one of those, but it's not far off, measuring in at 4.8-metres in length. The front though, is all the brand's own, borrowing its enormous 'Waterfall' grille and chunky JAECOO lettering from the company's successful mid-sized Jaecoo 7 SUV. As you'd expect in this class, there's a full-width rear light bar and big 20-inch wheels. Inside up-front, there's the usual Chinese brand banishment of buttons, all key functions instead handled by the usual pair of screens, these ones not especially big at 12.3-inches in size. Below three square central vents is a wide, aircraft-style centre console. All variants spoil you with niceties like ventilated and massaging heated front seats with inset headrest speakers for the 14-speaker Sony sound system. What you get in the middle row depends on the Jaecoo 8 variant you've decided upon. The standard seven-seat version has the usual three-person bench. But if you stretch to the six-seat top 'Executive' model, there are two separate heated, ventilated and massaging 'Captains Chairs' instead. With a 'Boss Button' provided on the side of the front passenger seat so that if the front seat is unoccupied, the person behind can easily move the chair forward to increase leg room. The '8' is the first Jaecoo model on sale here to offer a third seating row and the rear-most pews are slightly more adult-friendly than is usually the case with this class of family SUV. Obviously, there won't be much luggage space with all three seating rows in use, but with the second row folded, the car can offer up to 738-litres of space. Fold the second row as well and there's up to 2,021-litres of capacity.

Market and Model

There are two Jaecoo 8 SHS-P variants; the seven-seat 'Luxury' model, priced from launch at £45,495. And the six-seat 'Executive' flagship version, which from launch cost £47,495. To give you some price perspective in this class, the identically-engineered Chery Tiggo 9 seven-seater cost £43,105 at launch; the other identically-engineered Chery Group model, the Omoda 9, only has five seats - and cost £44,990 at launch. If you're looking at more established brands for seven-seat Plug-in Hybrid family SUV class options, a Kia Sorento PHEV will cost about the same as a Jaecoo 8; but a Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV would need around £5,000 more. Standard equipment as you'd expect is generous. You get 20-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with intelligent high beam control, roof rails, all-round parking sensors, a panoramic sunroof, active noise cancellation, power-folding mirrors, rear privacy glass, an NFC key and a rear-mounted towing ball. Inside, there's powered front seats, with eight-way adjustment for the driver, driver's seat heating and ventilation, metal foot pedals, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a heated and cooled front centre armrest, dual-zone automatic climate control with an air quality system, a 50W wireless charging mat and a 540-degree surround view camera. Media features are taken care of by a 12.3-inch centre screen with wireless smartphone mirroring (with 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'), plus voice control, online navigation, a 4G and Wi-Fi hotspot and a 12-speaker Sony premium audio system with two headrest speakers. To this tally, the top 'Executive' model adds leather upholstery, a suede headliner, a heated steering wheel and second row separate reclining seats with a massage function and individual arm rests.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the EV range figure in our 'Driving' section - up to 83 miles. Add the fuel driving range to that and as we told you in our 'Driving' section, you should be able to do up to 700 miles or more between stops. The combined cycle fuel economy figure is around 200mpg, with 50g/km of CO2. Not all PHEVs can be replenished from a DC public charger but the Jaecoo 8 SHS-P DC rapid-charges at speeds of up to 71kW, which allows for 30 to 80% spell of battery replenishment in about 18 minutes. The car also offers Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) technology, with a power output of 6.6kW, allow allowing owners to power external devices from the vehicle's drive battery. There's an 8 year unlimited mileage battery warranty for this PHEV. Like other Jaecoo models, this one gets a 7 year / 100,000 mile warranty (with no mileage limit for the first three years) and a year's roadside assistance. Affordable servicing plans are available at point of purchase.

Summary

Did you ever imagine a relatively affordable family SUV might be anything like this? Seven seats, 4WD, hot hatch-like performance and an almost EV-like electric driving range. It's not a unique recipe for this segment - it can't be because of this Jaecoo 8's borrowed Chery Group technology. But with the '8', you might feel that it's all delivered with a cooler, 'Range Rover'-style vibe you might not have expected to get at this price point. Which is one reason why we expect the Jaecoo 8 to easily out-sell its Chery and Omoda group stablemates. Whether it will out-sell more established segment contenders like PHEV versions of the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Kia Sorento is a more difficult question, but we wouldn't bet against it. Jaecoo is a brand on the rise in the UK. And here's another reason why.