Jaecoo J7 review: Good wheel hunting
The Jaecoo J7 is electric for the errands, petrol for the adventures and seamless everywhere in between. Will it make plug-ins popular?
2024 was undeniably the year of the electric vehicle (EV) in Singapore. One in three cars sold was fully electric, and BYD almost certainly nabbed the sales crown with an EV-only line-up. Yet, for anyone still on the fence about whether to leave the combustion world behind, a review of this car might be an apt one to end the year on: the Jaecoo J7, a plug-in hybrid EV, or PHEV.
PHEVs give you the silent, zero-emissions charm of an EV, ostensibly for your daily grind, but when the open road calls (or the chargers are scarce), the petrol engine takes over without fuss.
In China, where the J7 is from, plug-ins have become the hottest-selling type of car, with consumers swayed by their versatility. Here, however, they don’t qualify for early adopter incentives (unlike pure EVs), while early examples from the likes of BMW and Volvo could barely cover a day’s driving on battery power, so it’s no head-scratcher that they haven’t been popular.
If the name Jaecoo does make you scratch your head, it might be because it’s a fresh-faced upstart that only burst from the corporate womb of Chery Automobile in April 2023.
Whoever named the brand went for a mash-up of “Jaeger” (German for hunter) and “cool”, so it’s meant to be “yay-coo”, though I suspect most will default to “jay-coo” until corrected by some insufferable know-it-all at a dinner party (like your typical motoring writer).
I couldn’t wait to drive the J7, mainly because it looks like it was conceived by a Range Rover Velar designer who up and left for China. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. It’s properly handsome, managing to look both ready for a wilderness adventure and swanky enough for a night out at the opera.
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Behind that wide, upright grille lies a proper plug-in hybrid setup that’s actually worth reconsidering your electric car purchase for. The J7 has an 18.3 kWh battery that’ll give you an easy 80 km of pure electric motoring, which is enough to gambol about for two days without troubling the petrol engine. When you do need juice, it’ll gulp down electrons in about three hours on AC power, or roughly 20 minutes if you find a 40 kW DC charger.
In electric mode, it’s quieter than a librarian’s dreams. Even when the 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine joins the party, it does so imperceptibly, like a ninja wearing velvet slippers. You can barely tell when the J7 is burning fuel, and you can’t really detect when it’s changing gears.
With two electric motors boosting the engine, the hybrid setup delivers enough power to have the front tyres performing an impromptu chirp fest. There’s a brief pause when you mash the throttle, like it’s gathering its thoughts, but once it gets going, the J7 picks up speed the way a motoring writer picks up freebies at a car launch.
The J7 can apparently cover an astounding 1,200 km on a full tank, which means most owners will only see their favourite petrol pump attendant once a month – or even less frequently if they have regular access to charging.
As for how it performs as a family hauler, the J7 is more adequate than spectacular. You won’t be hosting any impromptu yoga sessions in the cabin, but the amount of space is decent, and a full glass roof helps to make it feel larger than it is. That said, you won’t find the sliding or reclining rear seats that give the Volkswagen Tiguan, say, so much of its versatility.
The ride quality leans towards the firm side as well, so bumps and potholes are noticeable, though the chassis’ stiff setup works well with the surprisingly quick steering to give the car a semblance of sportiness.
The touchscreen interface looks modern and vibrant, but it’s not the most intuitive system to use. It seems designed more by computer nerds than by drivers, with some basic functions buried under layers of menus.
That said, the J7’s overall build quality is commendable, with paintwork in particular that would make a Lexus factory manager proud. While the body panel alignment isn’t flawless, it’s far from slipshod.
In short, the J7 is a car of hits and misses, like most cars, but its PHEV powertrain is a genuine trump card. With enough electric range for daily commuting and the petrol engine for longer drives, it bridges the gap between battery power and fossil fuels convincingly.
Whether it suits you comes down to how you intend to use it. One possible scenario? Glide through your weekday commute on electric power, then load it up with friends and golf bags for a speedy drive up to Malacca for a few rounds on the links.
Early PHEVs may have given the segment a poor reputation with their paltry electric range, but the J7 shows just how far the technology has come. Like 2024 itself, maybe it’s time to put the idea of PHEVs offering half-baked electrification behind us.
Jaecoo J7 PHEV Engine 1,498 cc turbocharged in-line four Engine power 142 hp at 5,200 rpm Engine torque 215 Nm at 2,500 rpm Electric motors 150 kW, 310 Nm System power/torque 347 hp, 525 Nm Battery type/capacity Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) / 18.3 kWh Charging time/type 1 hour 20 minutes 0-100 per cent (AC 6.6 kW), 20 minutes 30 to 80 per cent (at DC 40 kW) Electric range 90 km (WLTP) Combined range 1,200 km (WLTP) 0-100 kmh 8.5 seconds Top speed 180 kmh Fuel efficiency 0.7 L/100 km (combined) Efficiency 18.7 kWh/100 km Agent Vertex Automobile Price S$219,888 with Certificate of Entitlement Available Now
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