Meet the Jaecoo J7 SHS, also known as the 7 SHS in Britain. Never heard of Jaecoo? Don’t worry, not many people have. It’s a fairly fresh marque, after all.
Jaecoo is the sister marque to Omoda, a Chery-owned (Chinese) brand; the J7 is marketed as a ‘luxury’ SUV and aims at Land Rover. It’s a cheaper alternative that’s packed with tech as standard, but before you cancel your Range Rover Evoque order, here are five things you should know about the Jaecoo J7.
The Jaecoo J7 SHS Has An Excellent Electric Range
The plug-in-hybrid J7 features Jaecoo’s ‘Super Hybrid System’. The J7 SHS’ 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol engine works alongside an electric motor and an 18.3kWh battery, meaning an impressive electric-only range of 56 miles (45-50 miles in real-world use). That’s 17 miles more than a Range Rover Evoque P300e.
Likewise, this system ensures the battery never depletes. I spent one week with a J7 SHS; the car was dropped off with 17 per cent battery and was handed over with 17 per cent battery at the end of the week—I didn’t charge it once.
The J7 SHS will also charge up to 40kW, meaning 20-80 per cent takes around 20 minutes. Plug it into a 7kW home charger, and it will charge at 3.3kW, delivering a full battery in six to seven hours.
The Jaecoo J7 SHS Is Efficient
Jaecoo claims the J7 will return 403 mpg—that’s a lot, and is somewhat of a slightly overstated figure. My loaner returned highs of 58 mpg and delivered a 47 mpg average over the week. Impressive figures, indeed, but I’m not sure where Jaecoo pulled 400 mpg from.
With a full tank of fuel, the car’s readout showed 600 miles; however, this rapidly dropped to circa 400 miles during my testing.
The Jaecoo J7 SHS Fails To Engage
If your commute involves town and highway driving, you’ll likely be happy with how the J7 SHS performs. Its suspension handles bumps and ruts fairly well, although it’ll still feed heavy thuds through the cabin over drain covers. It’s quiet enough, too. I recorded 66dB at 70 mph, which is comparable to a Mazda CX-80 3.3-liter diesel.
However, if you enjoy occasional spirited driving, buy something else. The J7 SHS handles like a drunk camel on a winding back road, and Silver Cross prams return more tarmac feedback than this does.
Similarly, the lane-keep assist will have you wrestling with the steering wheel through each bend, and its jiggliness over bumpier high-speed corners is terrifying.
The Jaecoo J7 SHS Is Packed With Tech
Alongside efficiency and electric range, the J7 SHS is packed with tech to boot, meaning no silly optional packages—*cough* unlike a Range Rover *cough*. Hop onto the Jaecoo J7 SHS online configurator, and you’ll see eight color choices; I would highly recommend Pearl Silver as it looks gorgeous under sunlight.
A heads-up display, heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, air purifier, a panoramic roof, and an eight-speaker Sony sound system are all standard kit.
Impressive stuff, but the J7 SHS is also packed with frustrating ADAS systems. “YOU’RE DISTRACTED!”, often popped up on the digital instrument screen. Well, sorry, Jaecoo, but I was trying to turn on my heated seat via your labyrinthian touchscreen. Luckily, you can easily turn these systems off by swiping down on the touchscreen, but they’ll come back on again when you restart the car.
And that leads me to the next point—buttons. Like most modern SUVs, almost everything is controlled via a touchscreen, and although the touchscreen is quick to respond, performing simple tasks like changing the radio station is harder than it should be. I also kept getting ‘SIM card error’ whenever I tried to use the car’s onboard sat-nav. But Android Auto saved the day.
The Jaecoo J7 SHS Is A Frugal Family Car
I test lots of cars, but the Jaecoo has piqued the most interest, and the most common question I get asked is: “Is it any good?”. Look at the J7 SHS with an open mind. It does the cheap family car thing well, and its standard tech list is generous. But it’s no Range Rover Evoque.
You’ll comfortably squeeze in a family of five, and get a pram or two in the boot, but its high boot height means four-legged friends will struggle to climb in and out.
If you’re worried about quality, it’s worth noting that Jaecoo offers a seven-year warranty with its J7 SHS. The Jaecoo J7 is priced from £35,165 ($46,680).