Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 to get plugged in as demand for PHEVs grows in Australia
As EV demand stalls at least temporarily in Australia and plug-in hybrid interest rises, Chery has announced it will roll-out its advanced PHEV tech on the 2025 Chery Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro as well as models in its new premium Jaecoo brand.
Sharing tech that is first being introduced with the Jaecoo J7 SHS mid-size SUV, the plug-in Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs have been built to rival the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Mitsubishi Outlander, as well as the latest BYD Sealion 6 PHEV.
In the Jaecoo J7, the system uses an 18.3kWh battery that is claimed to provide it with 90km of range on the WLTP test cycle.
Once depleted of charge, the J7’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine kicks in to extend the range to a very respectable 1200km.
Chery has confirmed the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 will get the plug-in hybrid powertrain, while the smaller Tiggo 4 Pro will get the option of hybrid power.
The Chinese car-maker has not disclosed how important the introduction of the new PHEVs will be but in other markets, like the UK, they now account for the majority of all sales.
Promised to come with a ‘compelling price point’, the PHEVs no longer receive the fringe benefits tax exemption with Chery hoping to sell is new tech on its ultra-low running costs.
Just last month Chery celebrated its 20,000th sale in Australia following its April 2023 return.
Chery sales grew 114 per cent in 2024, rising from 5890 in its first year to 12,603 last year, with bosses keen to continue the brand’s storming sales performance with the introduction of additional variants.
Well let’s hope all these new PHEVs, BEVs, HEVs etc do away with the stupidity of trying to pump 200KW+/500nm+ through just the front wheels; as per every review you read and personal experience every FWD with these sort of power figures suffers from torque steer once the go pedal is pushed hard which in itself can be dangerous but add in slipperry conditions and you’ve got a visit to probably both the smash repairer and the hospital booked in. It’s beyond me that ANCAP is worried about a warning if you yawn in a new car but has no interest in the danger possed by excessive power for the size of the car and its drive.