In 2024 Chery Automobile entered the UK car sector with two Omoda models, the 5 & electric E5, both of which we drove. Neither is flawless but as a first effort from the Chinese brand, the E5 in particular struck plenty of chords. As one of the largest car makers in the world, Chery sells a lot of models especially in China, where customers want a good looking, well equipped car with European SUV’s a popular choice. Indeed a joint venture with JLR over the past decade has seen Chery building Jaguars & Land Rovers for the Chinese market. Alongside Omoda, Chery have also launched Jaecoo a more premium brand & their first UK model the Jaecoo 7 landed with us in April & here’s what you need to know.
Tell me more?In effect it’s targeting the mid-sized SUV sector & aims to offer a premium product at a more mainstream price, with entry level models priced at £30,000.
Engines & drivetrainThere’s a choice of a petrol or plug-in hybrid powertrains & it’s the latter we were testing as it comes with just 8% BIK making it company car friendly. The petrol model is offered in both front & all-wheel drive, while the PHEV is front-wheel drive only & features the brands Super Hybrid System.
TrimsDeluxe or Luxury with the plug-in only offered in Luxury trim. Goodies include a full length panoramic sunroof, 13.2-inch portrait touchscreen, electric boot, heated & electrically adjustable front seats, keyless entry, dual zone climate control & on Luxury, add a heated steering wheel, seat cooling, heated rear seats, a Sony audio system & a larger 14.2-inch portrait touchscreen.
Outside
Plug-in performance, emissions & MPG
Inside & infotainment
Almost everything is controlled via the touchscreen, which is good – keeps the dashboard tidy – and bad, adjusting the side mirrors via the screen for example is one function too far.
We found that you can access quite a few of the more popular functions via a quick-access menu; music/radio, phone, SatNav, by swiping down from the top of the screen. The system uses an android set-up & the functions resemble apps so smart phone users will feel right at home. Connecting to Apple CarPlay was straightforward, but try as we might, we could not get any clear DAB radio reception . An early gremlin perhaps ?
The gear lever is located the right of the steering wheel & you’ll find the lights & wiper stalk on the left & some steering wheel buttons to access the cruise control & infotainment buttons. The driver attention warning module sits above the screen behind which is a neat & tidy 10.25-inch drives display & a clear head-up display. It all looks good, is extremely functional & again is very Tesla in its construction.
Cabin practicality
Boot
Range & charging
The 7 can also be fast charged at up to 40kW so a 30%-80% charge can be achieved in just 20 minutes. And it comes with a useful 3.3kW charging plug offering V2L capability.
Safety
Warranty
Onto the motorway & with adaptive cruise control selected the 7 makes easy work of long distances. Only when you put your foot down does the engine whine a bit as the electric motor gets the system up to speed. This is because the most of the work is done by the electric motor, rather than the 1.5-litre petrol engine, which means the 18.3kWh battery never gets completely flat. The downside then is a slight lapse in power as the petrol-engine finally kicks in.
Out & about, Sport mode adds some heft although the difference between that setting & Normal is minor. Eco mode does reduce power & is a good motorway option. On some local more challenging roads you get the chance to play a bit. Here we found that the Jaecoo 7 suffers from notable oversteer. It’s hyper-sensitive. And quick-fire brakes.
New energy is another menu that’s good to study., Here you can manage the battery charging, adjust the power saving mode & schedule charging times & duration. As with the overall system, getting used to the different settings will take time & as is the Chinese way, they’ve over micro-managed these & many drivers will only use a few of the huge options day to day.
OutsideWe’ve mentioned its resemblance to several European models, but what makes it stand out from the pack is the large front waterfall grille which gives the Jaecoo 7 some kerb presence. Vertical LED lights adorn the front edges with the sides featuring flush hidden door handles & tinted rear windows. The roofline slopes downwards to the back of the car elongating the profile. At the rear ‘Crystal Array’ LED’s stretch across the width of the car. It’s attractive.
Plug-in performance, emissions & MPGWith 204PS the plug-in is the most powerful Jaecoo 7 & offers 310Nm of torque. Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 8.5 seconds. CO2 emissions are just 23g/km with overall claimed fuel consumption as high as 403mpg.
Inside & infotainmentThe cabin feels light & airy thanks to a combination of the panoramic sunroof & clutter free dashboard. The synthetic leather seats & dashboard top look more premium than they actually feel to the touch. Quality overall though it’s very good with the tactile dash-front a stand out.
Almost everything is controlled via the touchscreen, which is good – keeps the dashboard tidy – and bad, adjusting the side mirrors via the screen for example is one function too far.Although the climate controls are located on the screen, they’re at the bottom & can be adjusted fairly easily. I effect th overall layout follows the Tesla set-up that seems to be popular with many brands, including BYD, Volvo & Polestar, in that everything comes from the screen menus, so you’ll need time to take it all in.
We found that you can access quite a few of the more popular functions via a quick-access menu; music/radio, phone, SatNav, by swiping down from the top of the screen. The system uses an android set-up & the functions resemble apps so smart phone users will feel right at home. Connecting to Apple CarPlay was straightforward, but try as we might, we could not get any clear DAB radio reception . An early gremlin perhaps ?The gear lever is located the right of the steering wheel & you’ll find the lights & wiper stalk on the left & some steering wheel buttons to access the cruise control & infotainment buttons. The driver attention warning module sits above the screen behind which is a neat & tidy 10.25-inch drives display & a clear head-up display. It all looks good, is extremely functional & again is very Tesla in its construction.Cabin practicalityMore good news is the large 50W cooled wireless phone charger located just in front of the centre twin cupholders. Four USB’s two A & two C also feature, the front ones are lower down & a little hard too reach. On Luxury trim the glovebox opens slowly & you’ve a twin opening armrest with storage beneath, long front door pockets & a couple of small areas in front of the front passenger. There are also useful electric seat leavers on the inside of the front seats, a fold-out rear armrest with cup holders & separate rear heating controls.
BootThe petrol 7 offers customers a useful 500 litre boot, which with the 18.3kWh battery located underneath the boot floor, drops to 412 litres in the PHEV.
Range & chargingWhen the Jaecoo 7 was delivered fully fuelled, the tank indicated a 695 mile driving range. Fully charged the Super Hybrid System is good for 56 miles of electric only driving, making it very company car friendly. This never falls to zero as the 7 has a built in tech that enables it to set its own self charging level.
The 7 can also be fast charged at up to 40kW so a 30%-80% charge can be achieved in just 20 minutes. And it comes with a useful 3.3kW charging plug offering V2L capability.SafetyHere’s where the 7 offers both the good & the bad of safety functions. Good in the they are comprehensive with 16 ADAS systems in place, including Front Collision Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Lane Control Assist, Traffic Jam Avoidance, Traffic Sign Recognition & Intelligent Speed Assist, to make your journeys super-safe. Bad in that you need to turn several off every time you re start the car; Lane Departure Warning, Speed Warning & Driver Attention being the most culpable. Plus 10 airbags & a good quality surround view camera system are standard across the range.
WarrantySeven years/100,000 miles.
Driving & comfort
The Jaecoo 7 is pretty accomplished when handling your day to day driving needs. There’s no starter button you just get in & go by selecting D on the gear stalk. And the car turns itself off when you exit as long as you’ve depressed B on the end of the gear lever stalk.
Our neighbourhood like many contains a ridiculous amount of worn out tarmac & pot-holes & whilst the lovely fitted alloys look susceptible to a scratch or worse, they actually coped extremely well with what was thrown at them. The suspension too proved admirably pliant.
Onto the motorway & with adaptive cruise control selected the 7 makes easy work of long distances. Only when you put your foot down does the engine whine a bit as the electric motor gets the system up to speed. This is because the most of the work is done by the electric motor, rather than the 1.5-litre petrol engine, which means the 18.3kWh battery never gets completely flat. The downside then is a slight lapse in power as the petrol-engine finally kicks in. On the plus side, even on the motorway you can drive in pure EV mode, although we’d recommend the HEV setting once you go over 30mph & EV setting when driving below.
Out & about, Sport mode adds some heft although the difference between that setting & Normal is minor. Eco mode does reduce power & is a good motorway option. On some local more challenging roads you get the chance to play a bit. Here we found that the Jaecoo 7 suffers from notable oversteer. It’s hyper-sensitive. And quick-fire brakes. Further investigation via the screen menu & within Vehicle Settings, we discovered both a Steering force mode & Brake sensation mode. After a little bit of trial & error we realised that if you click to come out of both & choose the Mid option, below, hey presto both the steering gets firmer & the brakes less sensitive, improving the cars handling & our enjoyment as well. We’d also suggest entering the Driver Assistance page to select or de-select the safety options to your preferred choices, in our case turning off Lane Departure Warning, Driver Monitoring System & Speed Limit Warning. Everything else is good to go.
New energy is another menu that’s good to study., Here you can manage the battery charging, adjust the power saving mode & schedule charging times & duration. As with the overall system, getting used to the different settings will take time & as is the Chinese way, they’ve over micro-managed these & many drivers will only use a few of the huge options day to day.
CompetitionWhen you compare how the the Jaecoo 7 handles to similar SUV PHEV’s, such as the Kia Sportage, Ford Kuga, HyundiaTucson, Peugeot 3008 & Vauxhall Grandland, it’s cut from the same cloth. Neither it or they are particularly engaging or sporty, thanks in the main to the addition of a heavy battery. The powertrain isn’t especially refined nor efficient either as is the same across the class especially in the sub £40k bracket. Talking of which, price is where the 7 SHS does perform well. With an asking price of £35,000 in Luxury trim, it undercuts most of the competition by over £5,000 & build quality wise is as good or better than some as well.
ProsIt’s competitively priced with low BIK. Equipment levels are high as is build quality. Looks good from the outside. Large UK dealer network & decent warranty.
ConsOver reliance on the touchscreen for some simple adjustments can be frustrating. Handling is only so so.
VerdictEven though the government has recently increased plug-in hybrid company car tax levels, plenty will still be tempted by a practical SUV PHEV. Many will love the Tesla-like smart phone style infotainment screen & the minimalist interior & specification-wise it’s top-notch as well. It’s also a very attractive looking car.
From a driving perspective the 7 offers pretty much the same vanilla driving experience as it’s competitors, so that’s not going to put anyone off either. Overall, what the Jaecoo 7 SHS does well is to offer a low price point with plenty of goodies, a policy that has worked wonders for MG in recent years . We don’t see why Jaecoo can’t repeat this success with the 7, as British customers love value & spec & the Jaecoo 7 offers both in spades.
Plug-In for less 3.25/5
