Say hello to…
…the Jaecoo 7, a new five-seat family SUV from new Chinese brand Jaecoo. Sister brand to Omoda, and part of the huge Chery group, Jaecoo is to Omoda what Lexus is to Toyota. UK boss Victor Zhang is keen to pitch the new brand as premium and the Jaecoo 7 as a rival to more expensive cars from legacy car makers. This premium assertion is based on claimed quality levels, the car’s styling and materials.
Available with two powertrains, the Jaecoo 7 is available as a 1.6-litre petrol with front- or all-wheel drive or as a front-drive plug-in hybrid which uses a 1.5-litre petrol coupled to an electric motor and 18.3kWh battery which has an official EV range of 56 miles. Interestingly, Jaecoo insists on verbally calling the plug-in hybrid and SHS, standing for Super Hybrid System, because it claims the term PHEV has negative connotations in the UK. However, the Jaecoo 7 does wear a PHEV badge on the boot lid.
There are two trim levels available. The ICE car is available in both and the PHEV is available only in the higher specification.
- Deluxe
- Luxury
Deluxe trim includes 19-inch alloys, opening panoramic sunroof, synthetic leather upholstery, heated front seats, powered driver & passenger seat, 60-40 split folding rear seat, wireless phone charging, 13.2-inch digital infotainment screen, 2x front USB sockets, 2x rear USB sockets, front and rear parking sensors, surround-view parking camera, adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, keyless start, powered tailgate, wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and drive modes.
Luxury adds rear tinted windows, head up display, 14.8-inch infotainment screen, uprated stereo, heated steering wheel, heated outer rear seats and ventilated front seats.
Is The Jaecoo 7 Suitable For My Fleet
From a practicality and value point of view, the Jaecoo makes a great deal of sense. The warranty lasts seven years and includes breakdown cover which will do a lot to squash any reliability fears.
The boot is an impressive 412 litres in the PHEV/SHS and 500 litres in the ICE version. There’s also loads of room for rear seat passengers and in the ICE car a space-saver spare wheel.
Possibly more impressive is the maximum charge speed of 40kW. This is significantly better than other plug-in hybrids and not far off some BEVs.
The 56 mile EV range from the PHEV is good too, as is the 47mpg figure we saw while driving with an empty battery.
Leasing A Jaecoo 7
As yet, the Jaecoo 7 is too new to be listed on our favourite leasing sites, however, the top specification plug-in hybrid car has a list price of £35,065. However, according to Gensen Reports, you should expect a lease rate around £440 on a 3+35 basis with 10,000 miles a year and running costs will be £29 a month.
Driving A Jaecoo 7
While some new entrant brands have been conservative in their styling, that cannot be said about the Jaecoo 7. Yes, there are some influences in the car’s design from the legacy brands the glass and roofline are very close to that of the Range Rover Evoque. However, you won’t really mistake it for anything else, which is a good thing in a market brimming with family SUVs.
And once you’re sat in the car, it does that excellent thing of feeling smaller on the road than the decent interior space would suggest.
Jaecoo may be pitching the 7 as a premium car, the interior, doesn’t really convey the message either in design or materials. The fit and finish is decent enough, although in one of the cars we tested there was a persistent rattle, but the higher quality materials quickly turned to cheaper plastics if you started looking beyond the most immediate surfaces.
The infotainment system is however, impressively responsive and offers shortcut buttons to disable lane keeping, speed limit warnings and driver monitoring.
Interestingly, there was a marked difference between the entry level front-drive ICE car and the top spec PHEV in the look and feel of the cabin. The PHEV had a much cleaner look and did without a traditional gear lever (or door mirror controls), while the petrol car cabin looked more fussy.
On the road, there were marked differences between the way the two powertrains drive too.
The ICE car is by far the more engaging drive with good body control and predictable handling. It’s not a car you’d have fun on a b-road, but it equips itself well in everyday driving. The brakes are reassuring and while there’s not much feedback, the steering does what you expect and the Jaecoo 7 is easy to position on the road. The only real negative to the driving experience is the lack of refinement from the 1.6-litre petrol engine and the level of resonance in the cabin from tyre and wind noise.
Switching to the PHEV the refinement improves thanks to the electric motor removing some of the engine noise. However, the PHEV does not drive or more exactly steer and handle as well as the petrol car. In the PHEV there is a noticeable lag between turning the steering wheel and the car changing direction. This could be down to the additional weight of the batteries creating greater inertia, but it’s not a pleasant feeling if you need to quickly avoid a pothole or make similarly fast steering inputs.
Overall, these points have to be set against the price of the Jaecoo 7. With list prices starting at just over £29,000 you could put up with some of the negatives, particularly given the very generous equipment levels.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The Jaecoo 7
It may not be a true premium car, but it is amazing value for money.
Jaecoo 7
- Model: Jaecoo 7 SHS Luxury
- Power: 204hp
- Torque: 310Nm
- Max speed: 108mph
- 0-62mph: 8.5s
- Official battery range: 56 miles
- Official consumption: 403mpg
- Test consumption: 47mpg*
- CO2 emissions: 23g/km
- BIK tax band 2024/25: 8%
* with battery depleted
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