Jaecoo 7 test drive

Make and model: Jaecoo 7
Description: Medium SUV
Price range: from £25,035

Jaecoo says: “The all-new Jaecoo 7 is the SUV that blends rugged adventure with class-leading luxury.”

We say: The Jaecoo 7 is an impressive new entrant into the burgeoning compact SUV segment. Based on our initial drive, it looks well-placed to succeed.

• More Jaecoo reviews, Expert Ratings, news and features

Introduction

Never heard of Jaecoo? That’s not surprising, as the brand is brand-new to the UK market. Jaecoo is the sister brand to Omoda, which itself only launched last autumn.

Both brands are export products of Chinese automotive giant Chery, and are rapidly rolling out across the UK. So you may not have heard of Jaecoo before now, but if the brand gets anywhere near its stated targets, you’ll start seeing a lot of Jaecoo SUVs on UK roads this year.

This is the company’s first model to be launched in the UK, called the Jaecoo 7. In some markets, it’s called the J7, while in China it’s sold as the Chery Tansuo 06. It’s already in dealerships, so you can head down to one of Jaecoo’s 70-strong dealer network (which should grow to about 130 by the end of the year) to have a look for yourself.

Read more: Jaecoo launches in the UK

What is it?

The Jaecoo 7 is a mid-sized SUV/crossover, available with a choice of petrol or petrol/electric plug-in hybrid forms. Jaecoo is pitched more upmarket than sister brand Omoda, so the Jaecoo 7 is aimed at premium rivals like the Range Rover Evoque and Velar, Audi Q3, BMW X1 and so on.

There are three models in the range:

• 1.6-litre petrol, front-wheel drive Deluxe
• 1.6-litre petrol, all-wheel drive Luxury
• 1.5-litre petrol/electric plug-in hybrid, front-wheel drive Luxury

Jaecoo refers to its plug-in hybrid powertrain as a ‘Super Hybrid System’, describing it as “a revolutionary take on the plug-in hybrid approach”. In real-world terms, it’s basically a very efficient plug-in hybrid but not exactly the revolution that the hype suggests. The most-repeated claim on the launch was that the hybrid model never lets the battery run down to zero so you’ll never run out of charge. Once the battery level drops below a critical point, the car will use the petrol engine to charge the battery, allowing it to keep running in EV mode (well, until you eventually run out of petrol).

Unlike many plug-in hybrid cars, which more or less pair an electric motor with an existing petrol engine, Jaecoo has put considerable effort into optimising a dedicated petrol engine to support the electric motor, resulting in a combination that delivers better real-world economy than most other plug-in hybrids. Our brief drive at the launch was nowhere long enough to assess those claims, so we’ll have to wait and see.

In terms of trim levels, the front-wheel drive petrol model is the lower-spec Deluxe, while the other two models are the higher-spec Luxury version. But it’s not quite that simple, as the plug-in hybrid model has a significantly different cabin to the petrol models. This is something we also saw with the Omoda 5 (petrol) and E5 (electric), where the two otherwise similar cars had quite different interiors.

Styling-wise, it looks like Jaecoo has taken a great deal of inspiration from the Range Rover Evoque and particularly the Range Rover Velar (space-wise, it sits in the middle of the two). It’s mostly a clean and neat design, without any of the zanier flourishes that car makers often use to try and make their cars distinctive in a sea of compact SUVs. The main point of interest is the enormous ‘waterfall’ grille, which is neatly styled but looks about two sizes too big for the rest of the car.

What do you get for your money?

Quite a lot, which tends to be the case for both new car brands and Chinese car brands, and this is both of those things.

Pricing is pretty simple. It starts at about £30K for the front-wheel drive model (assuming you don’t want solid white paintwork), £33.5K for the all-wheel drive petrol version and just under £36K for the plug-in hybrid. If you like white then you can save about £600 on all of these prices. There are no extra-cost options other than paint, so a £30K car doesn’t suddenly become a £40K car once you add all the stuff you actually want. If only every car manufacturer did the same thing…

If you look at the standard specification on even the base model Jaecoo 7 Deluxe, there’s a lot of stuff included that you don’t get on most cars. For example: a large panoramic sunroof, heated and electrically adjustable front seats, automatic high-beam LED headlights, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 13-inch central touchscreen, a full suite of accident avoidance safety systems and much more.

The Luxury specification adds a few more niceties, like a head-up display, a larger 15-inch central touchscreen, upgraded sound system, ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, heated outer rear seats and so on. We went through the Land Rover website to try and build an Evoque with a similar specification to the Jaecoo 7 Luxury, and it took an additional £10K of options to get close.

We must note that Euro NCAP has yet to issue a safety rating for the Jaecoo 7 at time of writing. The car ticks all the boxes for every significant accident avoidance system as standard, as well as the usual complement of airbags all round. But we can’t comment further on how well any of them all work until Euro NCAP puts the Jaecoo 7 through its battery of tests.

What’s it like inside?

The cabin ambience depends, to a degree, on whether you’re driving the plug-in hybrid or the petrol-powered version of the Jaecoo 7. That’s because the interior layouts are surprisingly different, even though the kit levels are similar.

The plug-in hybrid has a more modern and minimalist style. There are fewer switches and physical controls, with more functions controlled by the central touchscreen – including the exterior mirrors, which is somewhat annoying. The petrol models are designed to look and feel a bit more rugged, so these models get a chunky gear lever on the centre console instead of a sleeker wand on the steering column, and there are bulky, metallic-look plastic grab handles and door handles. The centre console is styled differently, with completely different switchgear and storage compartment designs. Even the window switches are different. A quick chat among the reviewers at the launch suggested most preferred the plug-in hybrid version, but Jaecoo says that customer opinions to date have been evenly balanced.

It’s a curious approach from both Jaecoo and Omoda to offer two different interiors on the same model, but the companies seem content with it. Despite the different designs, the equipment levels on the two Luxury models are the same.

In practical terms, the seating position is good and visibility is better than plenty of other compact SUVs. Rear legroom is inevitably fairly tight as it’s not a large car, but headroom is decent. Boot space is 500 litres for the petrol models, which reduces to 412 litres on the plug-in hybrid version as the battery eats into the available space.

The large central screen is arranged in a portrait formal and generally works well. On Deluxe models it’s about 13 inches across, while Luxury versions get a larger 15-inch screen. To be honest, we didn’t notice any particular advantage of having a larger screen as the smaller one was easily big enough for most needs. In fact, there’s so much space available that Jaecoo should really have a permanent menu bar for the climate controls, rather than having to swipe up to access them.

What’s it like to drive?

Our launch event allowed time in both the petrol and plug-in hybrid versions of the Jaecoo 7, although most of the driving was in the petrol versions as more of them were available.

Regardless of which version you’re driving, the general cabin ambience is good. The plug-in hybrid is particularly smooth and quiet when in EV mode, but the switching between electricity and petrol is unobtrusive. The petrol models are not as muted, but they’re still generally well-hushed in gentle driving.

Under hard acceleration, the petrol models in particular do get noticeably rowdier – but you could say the same about most petrol or hybrid SUVs of a similar price. The petrol engines themselves don’t feel as refined as you’d expect from the likes of BMW or Audi, although the 1.5-litre petrol unit in the plug-in hybrid felt and sounded better than the standard 1.6-litre petrol unit (they’re completely different engines).

On all models, the front wheels tend to spin up quite easily exiting junctions when you’re accelerating and steering at the same time, which is something that still needs improvement. The good news is that this can probably be done by Jaecoo via over-the-air software updating as it’s all controlled electronically, so you may wake up one morning and find that your car is behaving better than it was the day before.

The ride quality on our urban and semi-urban route was decent, and certainly comparable with other cars in this sector. The seats are the same in all versions and seemed very comfortable over our relatively short journeys, while the view out from the driver’s seat is generally quite good. Like many cars, there’s not quite enough adjustment in the steering column – particularly in reach, so taller drivers will feel like they’re stretching a bit more to hold the wheel.

We didn’t do any off-roading at the launch, but realistically most customers are not going to bother too much about that. Let’s face it, when was the last time you saw a Range Rover Evoque spattered in mud from a weekend off-roading trip?

As with every new car, there are endless annoying beeps and bongs that alert you to every possible danger scenario you can imagine, mainly involving speed limits or looking away from the windscreen for more than three-eighths of a second. Switching these off is easy enough, but in accordance with the latest EU diktat, they will switch back on again next time you start the car.

Verdict

Understandably, consumers have questions and concerns about Chinese cars and Chinese car companies. We’re not assessing global geopolitics, economics, human rights or international relations. We’re just assessing the cars, and on that front, there’s a tsunami of change heading our way. The latest generation of cars from China are as good as those from Europe and Japan, and you’re getting more for your money. This is one of those cars.

The Jaecoo 7 is an impressive new entrant into the burgeoning compact SUV segment, and – based on our initial drive – it looks well-placed to succeed. Against other cars for a similar price, it more than holds its own. Within its own family, the petrol Jaecoo 7 Deluxe is a vastly more impressive vehicle than the cheaper Omoda 5, and well worth the extra £5,000 if your budget allows it.

Is it as good as a Range Rover Evoque – the car that appears to be its greatest inspiration? Dynamically, no. The six-year-old Evoque is still a better car to drive. But the Jaecoo appears to be just as well built and the material quality is good, especially on the plug-in hybrid version. Styling is subjective – to our eyes, it’s not as sharp as the Range Rovers Evoque or Velar, but is certainly nicer than the ungainly Mercedes-Benz GLA.

But the Jaecoo 7 is 30% cheaper than an Evoque based on headline prices. And if you add in all the optional extras you’ll need on an Evoque to get to a specification that’s almost the same as the Jaecoo 7, you’re looking at an extra £22K – that’s an extra 40% more money for a smaller car that’s no better built and still not as well equipped. Is that Range Rover badge really worth more than £20K?

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Key specifications