The Jaecoo name might not have been around in Singapore for long so far, but the Chery sub-brand has enjoyed some success in their short time here so far.

There’s the hot-selling J6, which you can find in every corner of our little island at this point, and the J7 PHEV, which made a name for itself for being a true efficiency hero (Jaecoo knows the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so they allowed us to drive one from Singapore to Thailand without refuelling or recharging).

Not wanting to rest on their laurels, Jaecoo recently unveiled two new additions to their local line-up. There’s the smaller Jaecoo J5, and their new flagship, the Jaecoo J8 PHEV. If you know anything about automotive naming nomenclature, you’d immediately know each new model’s position in the Jaecoo food chain.

But does the Jaecoo J8 really have what it takes to become the brand’s new top dog? Or is the step up from the smaller J7 simply not big enough to convince buyers to make the jump?

Brother From Another Mother?

The Jaecoo J8 is clearly very visually different from the rest of its siblings. That’s because it wasn’t originally badged as a Jaecoo – in its native China, it is sold as the Chery Tiggo 9, a design/platform that was also used to create the Exeed RX and the Omoda C9.

Which is why it doesn’t look like it was inspired by cars built by a certain British 4×4 manufacturer. And that is no bad thing — the J8 looks far less derivative (and far more distinctive) than the rest of its siblings.

It also shows that you don’t need vast, expansive slabs of flat steel to create a car with an imposing road presence. With its much softer front fascia, but equally large grille with vertical slats, it still looks fairly menacing in the rear-view mirror of smaller cars.

Instead, it makes up for the lack of sharpness with its vast size. Having said that, with large windows and a general good view out, it is surprisingly easy to place on the road. And the smooth and soft styling adds an air of sophistication to the overall package.

Space for More

The growth in overall footprint isn’t solely for show. Jaecoo managed to squeeze one additional row of seats into the car, so you can now shuttle six other passengers around. We’d say in relative comfort, but that’s really only true for the first two rows.

Think of this then as a 5+2, rather than a true seven-seater. Still, this is no mean feat, as most other SUV seven seaters have third rows that are more decorative than functional. It may not be the most comfortable place to find yourself in, but it’d still work in a pinch.

The only other negative in the cabin is the slight misalignment of the dashboard trim panels, which means the copper-coloured accent trim isn’t aligned onto either of the door cards. Otherwise, the general build is very good, with thick glass windows in the second row to dull out road noise, and double-glazed units in front to serve that same purpose.

The infotainment system in the J8 may be smaller than the one in the J7, but it feels as though it is one full generation ahead. The UX still isn’t perfect when compared to the Europeans, but it is 90% of the way there, and much further ahead than any of the Omoda/Jaecoo cars that have come before.

A True Range Monster

And now for the biggest improvement over the Jaecoo J7 – its overall efficiency. Yes, because being able to achieve over 1,400 kilometres (in the real world across three countries – don’t see other Chinese manufacturers being able to come close) isn’t a high enough benchmark for our Wuhu-based friends.

The J8 demolishes the mechanical yardstick set by the J7 – by quite some margin. It packs a 34.46 kWh battery, which Jaecoo claims is good for about 134km of all-electric range. In our hands, we regularly achieved consumption averages, as a pure EV, of over 200 kilometres.

With a combined 422bhp, the car rockets to 100km/h in just 5.8 seconds. It isn’t just in the ‘go’ department that Jaecoo has refined and improved over the J7 – the ‘stop’ department hasn’t been neglected too. We’re sure part of the range improvements come from a greater ease in which you can coast the car (i.e balance the throttle at a range where it is neither accelerating nor regenerating), allowing you to better utilise existing momentum. Which, of course, reduces overall energy consumption.

Jaecoo has also fitted the car with its Continuous Damping Control (CDC) suspension system. It doesn’t threaten or rival the ride of Bonafide luxury vehicles, with Jaecoo instead focusing on ensuring passengers don’t feel any residual oscillations once strike a bump or a pothole. We’ve attached a video below so you can see the suspension in action!

Worthy Flagship with Unreal Range

The J8 PHEV is one truly worthy flagship. If you thought Chinese PHEVs couldn’t get more efficient, you really have to think again. It doesn’t just beat existing benchmarks; it absolutely shatters them. We actually put the J8 through some fairly rigourous testing, and it exceeded the 200km pure EV mark in every single one of them.

And it manages to do so whilst being unique and distinctive. At least when compared to the rest of its Jaecoo brethren. This isn’t another derivative Chinese SUV, rather one that has been properly thought through and designed, and one that is also worthy of fighting in the premium, sophisticated family SUV territory.

Granted, these early J8s may come with some minor fit-and-finish flaws, but we’re confident in Jaecoo’s ability to refine them as they continue to build them. An ultra-efficient, ridiculously powerful and properly quick seven-seater SUV – the J8 PHEV blends pretty much all automotive positives into one large cohesive package. If you can afford the difference, the J8 PHEV proves that the step up from the J7 is well worth making!

Want to know how the J7 PHEV handles our streets? Read this!