2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit assessment: Lengthy vary check

In a world the place electrical and hybrid expertise is reshaping the way in which we journey, daring claims are all over the place. And few are as formidable as Jaecoo’s promise that its new 2025 J7 SHS Summit mid-size hybrid SUV can ship as much as 1200km of real-world driving vary.

So, we determined to place the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) medium SUV to the last word check on an iconic Aussie highway journey; from the tragically hip inner-city streets of Surry Hills in Sydney, beginning with a espresso on the well-known Bourke Avenue Bakery, all the way in which to the outback city of… properly, Bourke.

That’s a straightforward 759km one-way drive by way of Sydney’s city jungle and onto its congested freeways, earlier than traversing throughout the Blue Mountains to Lithgow after which meandering by way of the fertile farming areas round Mudgee, Dubbo and Nyngan, and at last heading straight north-west to Bourke alongside one of many straightest, most distant stretches of highway on the planet.

The Jaecoo ought to simply make it Bourke with out stopping and, with a claimed electric-only vary of 90km from its 18.3kWh battery, get us out of city earlier than utilizing a drop of gas.

The problem is, then, how far will it get us again from Bourke earlier than needing to be refuelled or recharged.

How does the Jaecoo J7 evaluate?

View an in depth breakdown of the Jaecoo J7 in opposition to equally sized automobiles.

Jaecoo

J7

How a lot does the Jaecoo J7 price?

The J7 SHS Summit is Jaecoo’s flagship mannequin, mixing rugged off-road styling with fashionable electrification.

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

What’s the Jaecoo J7 like on the within?

Even earlier than you open the doorways, the J7 appears to be like proper at dwelling on leafy inner-city Sydney streets.

Its chunky stance, daring grille and slimline LED headlights, full with a chequered sample, and floating roofline give off child Vary Rover vibes.

Inside, the cabin is stylish, with a easy T-shaped relationship between the dashboard and centre console that’s fused with good high quality supplies.

Such supplies embrace chrome trim highlights and a twin digital display screen configuration that comes with a ten.25-inch instrument cluster with a portrait-style 14.8-inch infotainment show.

The heated and ventilated entrance seats are comfy and provide loads of adjustment, and there’s each attain and rake motion for the three-spoke steering wheel that makes it simple to seek out the optimum driving place.

Fortunately, there’s two cupholders within the centre console for the double-shot lattes from the bakery that I wanted to kickstart this highway journey, and twin telephone pads on the entrance of the centre console – the left one providing wi-fi charging.

The ultimate job earlier than hitting the highway is to attach my telephone to the infotainment system, which is an easy job and gives entry to wi-fi smartphone mirroring. Good.

What’s beneath the bonnet?

Below the bonnet sits a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 105kW of energy and 215Nm of torque, paired with a 150kW/310Nm electrical motor and a 18.3kWh battery pack.

Collectively, they ship spectacular mixed most outputs of 255kW and 525Nm, driving the entrance wheels by way of an clever single-speed hybrid transmission that may shift seamlessly between pure electrical, hybrid, or petrol-powered driving.

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

How does the Jaecoo J7 drive?

Now, with a number of much less litres than a full tank and the battery cost that signifies we’ve got 1116km of vary, it’s time to hit the highway and get out of Sydney on a cool autumn morning.

As I have interaction drive on the column-mounted gear shifter after which begin rolling, I’m instantly alarmed by an odd noise from outdoors the window that feels like I’ve run over one thing. I cease and open the door to test however can’t see something apparent.

It occurs once more the second I transfer off, after which I realise it’s the sound of the motorised pop-out door handles retracting backwards into the physique.

Let me let you know, it doesn’t sound correct. And, even after driving the Jaecoo for every week, it was a shock every time.

Anyway, with the EV mode engaged, first impressions of how the J7 drives are extraordinarily optimistic, because it effortlessly glides by way of the chaos of Sydney’s tangled inner-city streets on battery energy alone. The electrical motor feels punchy and responsive, and the single-speed transmission is seamless in delivering its energy to the highway.

It could possibly induce a little bit of tugging on the wheel beneath heavy acceleration, however I’m aware of limiting my heavy proper foot to maximise the battery’s vary.

One other oddity is the distorted view by way of the central rear-view mirror. With a heavy convex on its glass, you see much more of the rear seats than you usually would and, subsequently, any site visitors behind you seems a lot additional away than it most likely is.

It appears bizarre at first, however turns into extra pure over time. And it’s undoubtedly factor for households that usually carry small youngsters within the again, as the motive force can simply see extra of them with out having to swing round and take their eyes off the highway.

The J7 continues to attract on its battery as we hit the freeway and feels simply as relaxed at freeway speeds because it does round city.

The petrol engine solely begins to chime in as we start to ascend into the Blue Mountains. With the battery set to take care of a minimal 25km of vary (you possibly can alter the proportion within the vitality settings), we achieved greater than 65km of blended driving circumstances in pure EV mode.

We might have gotten extra – and nearer to its claimed most of 90km – however I needed to see how the rest of the journey would pan out with a combination of petrol and electrical energy, and never simply depend on the interior combustion engine alone.

Contemplating that almost all Australians drive lower than 40km on their every day commute, the Jaecoo J7 actually presents the on a regular basis advantages of an electrical automobile with out the negatives of vary nervousness.

It’s barely perceptible when the engine does kick into life. In truth, the Jaecoo J7 is remarkably quiet at freeway speeds, even on coarse nation roads.

And it’s fairly comfy too. The suspension can get somewhat slappy on corrugations, and the steering is overly gentle and lacks suggestions, however for probably the most half it rides properly and feels surefooted by way of the bends.

The steep descent down Mount Victoria recouped portion of vitality and refilled virtually 1 / 4 of battery’s capability due to the regenerative braking functionality, which – even in its highest setting – feels smoother than many different rivals.

The lively lane holding help, nonetheless, is somewhat overzealous, continually tugging on the wheel on the sight of a white line.

The adaptive cruise management additionally doesn’t like bends and can sluggish the automotive somewhat too dramatically. And the motive force monitoring system incessantly bings and bongs the second you look on the infotainment display screen.

Fortunately, the previous and latter will be deactivated by way of the driving menu on the principle display screen. However it’s a must to do that every time you begin the automotive.

The drive westward noticed the J7 settle comfortably into freeway mode. The plush seats, massive panoramic sunroof and first rate Sony audio system made the cabin a pleasing place to spend hours on the highway.

We rolled into Dubbo – the midway level – to refuel ourselves on the Pastoral Resort on Talbragar Avenue (the steak sandwich was scrumptious, by the way in which), however the Jaecoo’s petrol gauge had barely moved and we nonetheless had greater than three quarters of a tank. Spectacular.

It wasn’t till we had been deep into outback NSW, on the lonely highway between Nyngan (with its Massive Bogan statue proudly on show in the principle road) and Bourke, with nothing however pink filth and herds of feral goats on the edges of the highway for firm, that we started watching the vary extra rigorously.

Bourke got here into sight properly earlier than the J7 confirmed any actual indicators of concern. Arriving at certainly one of Australia’s most distant EV chargers (sure, Bourke has a charging station now — and it’s powered by a intelligent mixture of photo voltaic and battery storage), we nonetheless had simply over 1 / 4 of tank of gas and an estimated vary of greater than 300km till empty.

With a fast top-up of the battery, I figured we might simply match – if not beat – Jaecoo’s claimed 1200km vary.

Nonetheless, after spending the night time on the quaint Darling River Motel and dinner on the Port of Bourke resort, we awakened to an enormous desert storm brewing on the horizon.

The black sky offered a dramatic backdrop in opposition to the scorched pink earth, and it quickly began to bucket down, which not solely slowed our velocity to under the posted restrict however created a headwind and extra drag on the drivetrain, which in the end had a destructive impression on our problem.

The rain chased us all the way in which again to the outskirts of Dubbo earlier than the gas warning gentle got here on, forcing us to cease there once more to refuel – this time for each me and the automotive.

Nonetheless, we had lined a complete of 1128km earlier than the automotive wanted a drink, which is impressively near the promised 1200km — particularly contemplating the sub-standard real-world circumstances, together with elevation modifications, headwinds, and a automotive loaded with gear.

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

What do you get?

There are a complete of 4 Jaecoo J7 variants out there.

J7 Ridge AWD highlights:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Full-sized spare wheel
• Purple brake calipers
• Panoramic glass sunroof
• Privateness glass
• Puddle lights
• 14.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Head-up show
• Alloy pedals
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Heated steering wheel
• Perforated artificial leather-based upholstery
• Ventilated entrance seats
• 4-way energy driver’s seat lumbar
• Driver seat and mirror place reminiscence

J7 SHS Summit provides:

• Distinctive aero-design aspect mirrors
• Darkish gray roof rails
• 19-inch aero wheels
• Tyre restore package
• J7 SHS-exclusive inside design
• Steering column-mounted gear selector
• *Removes heated steering wheel

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

Is the Jaecoo J7 protected?

The Jaecoo J7 PHEV was not too long ago awarded a five-star ANCAP security score primarily based on 2025 testing.

Customary security options embrace:

• 7 airbags incl. front-centre
• Autonomous emergency braking
  • Pedestrian
  • Bike owner
  • Junction
  • Reverse pedestrian (backover)
• Adaptive cruise management
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver monitoring system
• Lane departure warning
• Emergency Lane Conserving help
• Lane centring
• Lane change help
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Reversing digicam
• Rear parking sensors
• Site visitors Jam Help
• Tyre strain monitoring system

J7 Monitor 2WD provides:

• 8 airbags incl. driver’s knee
• Encompass-view digicam
• Entrance parking sensors

J7 Ridge AWD and SHS Summit add:

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

How a lot does the Jaecoo J7 price to run?

The Jaecoo J7 has a powerful possession promise from a brand new model.

Should you’re interested by how the Jaecoo J7 compares to its rivals, take a look at our comparability device

CarExpert’s Tackle the Jaecoo J7

Given that almost all of our drive concerned sitting at freeway speeds — circumstances the place hybrids historically wrestle in comparison with pure petrol engines — the result’s nothing in need of exceptional.

Past the numbers, the J7 SHS Summit impressed us with its refinement. The experience high quality was wonderful, the cabin was whisper-quiet even on rougher surfaces, and the real-world tech labored with out fuss.

At $47,990 drive-away, the Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit is likely one of the most reasonably priced plug-in hybrids out there in Australia for the time being. And, in contrast to some its Chinese language rivals, it delivers on extra than simply worth for cash.

For starters, it proves that plug-ins can provide the perfect of each worlds – being an on a regular basis electrical automotive and a long-distance, cross-country cruiser – and surprises with a formidable degree of ordinary tools, high quality and general refinement.

It positively feels extra at dwelling in Bourke Avenue than it does in Bourke. However it can actually get you there – and past – with out stopping.

Inquisitive about shopping for a Jaecoo J7? Get in contact with certainly one of CarExpert’s trusted sellers right here

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