2025 Chery Tiggo 7 CSH Urban Review: Is Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid worth the money? The answer might surprise you

Among the influx of Chinese ‘Super Hybrid’ SUVs, the Chery Tiggo 7 CSH (Chery Super Hybrid) holds a special place because it is the cheapest of them all.

In fact, priced from $39,990 drive-away as the Urban model we’re testing here, this five-seat wagon undercuts every other plug-in hybrid on sale in Australia, be it SUV, passenger car or ute.

While that’s great, Chery models haven’t been at the forefront of critical acclaim since the brand relaunched here in 2023 (it had an initial unsuccessful run between 2011-2015).

But Chery has promised since day one its line-up would be subject to continuous improvement.

Time to check out whether the action matches the words with the Tiggo 7 CSH.

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2025 Chery Tiggo 7 CSH Urban price and equipment

The Urban is priced just ahead of the new Geely Starray EM-i (from $37,490 plus ORCs), with (in alphabetical order) the BYD Sealion 6, GWM Haval H6 and H6GT, Jaecoo J7 SHS, Leaspmotor C10 REEV and MG HS Super Hybrid in hot pursuit.

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that pioneered this space languishes $20,000-plus off the pace. Japanese plugless hybrids such as the Toyota RAV4 find themselves competing with the Chinese PHEVs on price.

The Chery follows the orthodox Chinese PHEV set-up. Orthodox but also very, very clever.

It combines a 105kW/215Nm 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, a single 150kW/310Nm e-motor and an 18.3kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate battery pack that can together or separately drive the front wheels via a single speed transmission.

It all sounds quite simple, but is genuinely clever.

The NEDC claim is a 93km EV range, the Chery claim is 1200km operating as a hybrid. Official NEDC consumption numbers are 16.3kWh/100km and a highly theoretical 1.4L/100km thirst for the cheapest 91 RON fuel.

Beyond the powertrain the Tiggo 7 CSH reads very orthodox technically. It is underpinned by independent front and rear suspension, stopped by disc brakes and turned via electric-assist power steering.

For the money, this is a pretty well-equipped vehicle. The conservative exterior presentation is highlighted by projector LED headlights, 18-inch black, flat alloy wheels and roof rails, Inside you’ll find dual 12.3-inch digital screens, wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, a six-way powered driver’s seat and synthetic leather seat trim. Vehicle to Load (3.3kW) charging taps into the high-voltage battery pack to power items like laptops and bbqs.

The $43,990 drive-away Ultimate adds a panoramic sunroof, seat heating and ventilation, a wireless phone charger and swaps from no-name six speaker to Sony eight-speaker audio. There is no embedded satellite-navigation in either model.

As is usual with Chinese cars, the list of active safety equipment is long and includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, various forms of lane policing, protection when reversing and speed limit monitoring.

Both cars come with eight airbags and rear parking sensors but only the Ultimate gets front parking sensors and a surround view rather than reversing camera.

Neither car gets a spare tyre. The CSH can only tow 750kg, which will rule it out for some potential buyers.

Vehicle warranty protection is a generous seven years/unlimited km and the battery warranty eight years/160,000km. Seven years of capped price servicing is also included.

2025 Chery Tiggo 7 CSH Urban: What we think

As stated up front, previous exposure to Chery models launched in Australia had not inspired any particular confidence in the brand.

Key issues included overly intrusive driver assistance systems that were also annoyingly intricate to switch off and a sloppy combination of ride, handling and steering.

Well, Chery has been consistent in promising improvement and it’s clear with the Tiggo 7 CSH it’s delivering.

The intrusions from driver monitoring, speed monitoring and lane departure prevention have been dulled right down in terms of audible and written warnings and steering corrections. It’s liveable, but not perfect, with them on.

At the same time it’s so much easier to switch them off thanks to a swipe down shortcut menu that will even appear when the infotainment screen has been taken over by CarPlay.

While we’re on the subject of controls, I love the physical roller for volume on the centre console and the ability to tune air-conditioning without always having to drill into the screen. But the pressure pads on the dashboard need to be easier to see in direct sunlight.

Now, ride, handling and steering. And as we always stress, we’re coming at this not from the perspective of a driving enthusiast but safety. The better a car handles, grips, steers and rides, the more chance you have of avoiding on-road dramas.

Tested out on some challenging roads, the Tiggo 7 CSH maintained its composure. Crucially, it is not under-damped in the way predecessors have been. Hits are dealt with quickly and efficiently, rather than providing repeated after-shocks. Only big holes deliver a thump into the cabin.

Tightening up the settings has also had a positive impact on body control. There’s less leaning and rolling in corners and the Tiggo 7 feels more stable and better connected to the road.

The steering, too, has been brought more into focus. It’s not pin sharp by any means but it’s more accurate and responsive than before. It can be varied through three levels, but is fundamentally too light.

All this means the Tiggo 7 CSH is capable on the open road and a better drive than its predecessors and some of its rivals. Sure, it’s coming off a low base, but the improvement is palpable.

On to the powertrain. Like its rivals, the Tiggo 7 CSH is effectively an EV for day-to-day running if you are diligent in charging it when the battery runs low. You don’t even need a wallbox (it can charge at up to 6.6kW if you have one), just a 240V outlet in reach of the cable – which would be helped by being a metre longer – because the battery will recharge overnight.

You can also DC fast-charge the Tiggo 7 CSH, although its recharge rate is slow at a maximum 40kW. And it’s expensive, so reserve that for must-have moments only.

We got 78km out of the Tiggo 7 CSH running on electricity alone in Eco mode (there are also livelier Normal and Sport modes) at a claimed average 17.6kWh/100km. Even when it switched to hybrid mode and brought the petrol engine into the mix there was still 25 per cent battery charge remaining.

And what is fuel consumption like once the petrol engine is running? For us the average across 259km and a wide variety of road and traffic types came out at 4.9L/100km.

By the time we refuelled the battery level had climbed back up to 28 per cent. We’d seen it as high as 32 per cent!

All this means you can go for weeks or even months without visiting a petrol station, depending on how far you travel day-to-day.

Performance-wise, EV-only running provides enough grunt for urban and even country running. Switch to HEV (via the switch or when automatically when battery power depletes) and response increases a fair bit. It will chirp the front tyres under solid acceleration and twist the steering wheel in your hands.

As a HEV, tapping all potentially available power and torque, it feels like the Tiggo 7 CSH has reached its performance limit.

Through all this it stays impressively quiet. Some wind rush and some coarse chip tyre roar are most noticeable in the cabin.

Beyond the powertrain the Tiggo 7 CSH is orthodox medium SUV fare.

Overall it’s roughly the same size as a Mazda CX-5, although it does a better job of accommodating taller people in the back seat. They also get the benefit of adjustable air vents, dual USB-Cs, map pockets and door bins. The centre-rear safety belt comes out of the roof, which can be an obstruction for the driver’s rearward view.

The Tiggo 7 CSH also has a decently-sized if basic boot at 475 litres, expanding to 1500 litres with the rears seats folded.

Up-front the driver sits in a single piece seat, grasps a flat-bottomed steering wheel (that’s as sporty as this car gets) and faces the usual Chery digital instrument cluster that in this case insists on squashing a bunch of info such as cruise control speed into a bottom corner in small digits that are hard to read.

The infotainment screen has only one obvious glitch, a determination to switch to the air-con screen even if you don’t want it.

More annoying is the gear selector action that requires a very firm movement of the lever. Otherwise it won’t engage and you’ll be rolling down the road in neutral.

It’s also weird to not have a start-stop button or a proper park brake (just a park button). The car turns on and off depending whether you’re sitting in the driver’s seat with the key in proximity.

Storage includes substantial door bins, a double-level centre console, dual cupholders and a deep lidded bin.

The interior trim presentation doesn’t scream budget, with faux carbon-fibre and scratched metal and vinyl-looking leather trim injected around the cabin.

2025 Chery Tiggo 7 CSH Urban: Verdict

Among the phalanx of Chinese PHEVs the Tiggo 7 CSH attracts immediate attention because it is cheap. Turns out there are more reasons to buy it than just price alone.

It is the most impressive Chery ever launched in Australia, offering a combination of price, equipment, technology and calibration that makes it so.

That last bit – calibration – is so important. All the Chinese brands talk about how they are tuning their vehicles to suit Australian taste and requirements. This is proof that Chery is also walking the walk.

Sure, there are unknowns to be cautious of. How durable and reliable is this car and its complex systems and how good is Chery’s back-up if things do go wrong?

And yes, the Tiggo 7 CSH has still got a way to go in terms of fine tuning. But, no doubt recognition is deserved.

SCORE: 4.25/5

2025 Chery Tiggo 7 CSH Urban specifications

Price: $39,990 drive-away
Basics: PHEV, 5 seats, 5 doors, SUV, FWD
EV range: 93km (NEDC)
Combined range: 1200km (claim)
Battery capacity: 18.3kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate
Battery warranty: Eight-years/Unlimited km
Energy consumption: 16.3kWh/100km (NEDC)
Fuel consumption: 1.4L/100Km Combined (NEDC)
Powertrain: 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder 105kW/215Nm
Motors: 1 front, 150kW/310Nm
Combined output: Unstated
AC charging: 6.6kW, Type 2 plug
DC charging: 40kW, CCS2
0-100km/h: Unstated