With its straight sides and squared off edges, the Jaecoo J6, despite being an all-new car, looks somewhat familiar.

But that’s sort of the point. It was conceived not as Jaecoo product, but as the iCAR 03 in its native China. As iCAR wasn’t destined to be an export brand, it was rebadged as a Jaecoo J6 for overseas markets.

It was first unveiled at the 2025 Singapore Motorshow, and builds on the success and momentum laid down by its J7 sibling. As it is distinct from its elder sibling, it helps to expand the brand’s appeal to a wider audience.

And it does so in two ways. Firstly, it is more affordable than the J7, and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it fills a niche currently untouched by electrification – the mass market EV off-roader.

Rugged and Outgoing

There’s no skirting the fact that it looks like an amalgamation of several off-road icons. And yet somehow said cues have been neatly integrated into the overall design, creating a car that still has some unique design touches.

Up front, the car wears its ‘I’ emblem proudly – a sign of its iCAR heritage. You’ll find ‘I’ motifs through the vehicle, including in its head and taillight clusters. There’s a dog bone-esque shape to its front panel, and a robust-looking unpainted front bumper.

Clearly, there’s sufficient space in the front fascia for Jaecoo scripture. And there’s actually a Jaecoo-specific grille too, which has curiously been omitted for Singapore-bound J6es. The side profile is stereotypically that of an off-roader, with flush handles adding some additional sophistication.

A side-hinged tailgate drives home the point that this is a no-nonsense off-road machine. However, there are some drawbacks to this configuration – the biggest being the inability to open it when parked rear-in at a HDB MSCP. No spare wheel here though – Jaecoo has thoughtfully fitted a rectangular box in its place, which they claim can be used to stow away your muddy shoes.

An Interior Surprise

Looking at its design and its price point, you’d automatically assume that the J6 would have a barebones basic interior. But that could not be further from the truth. There are soft-touch materials literally everywhere, and you’d have to actively seek out hard scratchy plastics in the cabin.

As is the case with most modern Chinese EVs, Jaecoo has taken the simplistic approach in the design of the J6. There is a distinct lack of any physical switches in the cabin, with the exception of the essentials (think the signal stalks, gear lever and the window switches).

All of your functions are controlled through its central touchscreen. It is snazzy and fairly responsive, though the UI could really do with some usability enhancements. There’s also no option for you to track your trip or consumption, though these are issues that can probably be fixed via a simple OTA update down the line.

Space in the cabin is excellent. Then again, you’d expect it to be. With no sloping roofline, there’s no issue with headroom overall, and knee space is generous in all seats too. The seats themselves are supportive yet still comfortable, with the synthetic leather feeling fairly premium to the touch.

All Show AND Go?

Jaecoo, and parent Chery, aren’t companies that you’d associate with having off-road pedigree. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t found some degree of success on the rough stuff. In fact, the Chery Tiggo 8 won the T2 Production Vehicle class of the Taklimakan Rally last year.

The J6 enjoys some of this heritage, with a smart IWD system that comes with no less than NINE drive mode settings. This allows the driver to put the car in precisely the mode that he/she’d need to achieve maximum traction regardless of the surface they might be on.

There aren’t very many places you could properly test an off-roader in Singapore. Luckily for us, we found a slippery mud bog post thunderstorm to drive into. It managed to pull itself out of said mud bog with relative ease. On a gravel track, the IWD and suspension systems work in almost perfect harmony to provide a comfortable yet controllable experience even as we carried some proper momentum.

Two electric motors and a 69.77kWh battery pack allows all of these to happen. Jaecoo claims a range of 342 kilometres, with an output of 275 bhp. In the real world, we achieve slightly more than the homologated range, managing to return about 345 kilometres.

The Off-Roader Lives On

Electrification doesn’t mean the end of the 4×4. In fact, EVs can, in theory at least, make for more competent off-road machines. There’s no need for low range transmissions and fancy traction control systems, as electric motors on each axle can independently produce the necessary drive to the car out of a precarious situation.

There are familiar traits to the overall driving experience in the J6 too. Whilst it is supremely comfortable, and not at all similar to the almost-agricultural feeling that you’d get in its closest, combustion-powered rival, it too has a vague-feeling steering rack. But that isn’t a bad thing in an off-roader, as you’d need a certain degree of compliance in the rack to absorb big bumps on the rough stuff.

There’s really no other option for the eco-friendly off-road enthusiast, so if that’s what you are looking for, the Jaecoo J6 is pretty much your only bet for an electric 4×4 that can properly take on all kinds of terrain!

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