Jaecoo 7 Review 2025

The Jaecoo 7 may not be a household name but it's a mightily impressive new entrant into the competitive SUV market that's dominated by the likes of the Nissan Qashqai and popular Kia Sportage. It's the latter which serves as a blueprint for Jaecoo's debut model in the UK. Read on for our full Jaecoo 7 review.

When Kia first launched in the UK in 1991 most people didn't give them a second look. Laughed-off as a novelty, the brand has subsequently grown to be one of the most recognisable brands in the UK. If proof were needed, the Kia Sportage is now the second best selling car on the market.

It's this kind of success that Jaecoo is aiming to emulate. Along with its sister brand Omoda, it's part of the huge Chery Automobile group, the fourth largest car producer in China. For the curious among you the Jaecoo 7 is called the Chery Tansuo 06 in its home market.  

Size-wise, the Jaecoo 7 is pitched right at the heart of the ever popular family SUV market. Think Ford Kuga and Volkswagen Tiguan. And yes, there's more than a hint of Range Rover Evoque in there from the rear light design to the retracting door handles.

Interestingly for a new-to-the-UK Chinese brand there isn't an EV in the range. Instead the Jaecoo 7 comes as either petrol or plug-in hybrid. The latter — badged the Jaecoo 7 SHS — can travel over 50 miles on electric power alone. 

Talking of prices, the Jaecoo 7 starts at less than £30,000 which puts it firmly up against the competition mentioned above. What Jaecoo is hoping is that the extra standard of equipment loaded on will persuade people to make the switch.

For that you get the 1.6T petrol 2WD automatic that comes loaded with kit from a full-length panoramic sunroof, double-glazed side windows and synthetic leather upholstery to a huge central touchscreen, heated seats and an electric tailgate.

Go for the Jaecoo 7 SHS plug-in hybrid and the price rises to £35k but you do get even more kit like a head-up display, heated steering wheel and ventilated seats for those sweaty summer days.

And it's the Jaecoo 7 plug-in hybrid model which makes the most sense. With its 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor, the SHS has a total range of close to 750 miles. Its CO2 emissions are also attractively low for company car drivers at 23g/km.

On the move the Jaecoo 7 is as good as the likes of the Kia Sportage. It handles neatly and feels comfortable and quiet on the move. It's a very easy car to live with. Like the Kia, it also comes with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

What impresses us the most is the interior quality. The Jaecoo 7 feels every inch a match for the best family SUVs around. It's well built and finished, with a quality upmarket feel from behind the wheel.

Put simply, the Jaecoo 7 is an impressive SUV in its own right. The fact it's good value, well equipped and comes with a long warranty are added bonuses. If this is the starting point, the future certainly looks bright for Jaecoo.

With a research and development centre in Germany it's clear that the Jaecoo 7 has been designed with European — and specifically UK — drivers in mind.

The biggest compliment we can give the Jaecoo 7 is that it feels very much like the competition from behind the wheel. That may sound like damning with faint praise but the fact it matches the likes of the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson — two of the most popular SUVs in the UK — is a very good thing.

Overall it's a very smooth, quiet and comfortable car to drive. Nothing especially stands out — neither good nor bad — instead it goes about its business with the minimum of fuss. It's an easy and undemanding car to live with if not particularly engaging or memorable.

Tackle a tight corner and it feels composed with reasonable body control. We found the standard electric power steering set-up overly light but it can be changed to a heavier feel through the touchscreen which we much prefer.

Our only criticism is a firm ride on the 1.6T petrol models but that's not the case with the plug-in hybrid which is notably more forgiving over poor quality roads. Another reason to choose the SHS.

It also seems there’s purpose behind the Jaecoo 7’s rugged styling beyond superficial image bolstering with all versions — not just the all-wheel drive model — quoted as having a wading depth of 600mm.

Where the AWD further benefits is by virtue of seven selectable driving modes for different kinds of terrain, as well as some Bosch-developed electronic trickery to simulate a differential lock by using the brakes.

The entry-level Jaecoo 7 comes with a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. There's no manual gearbox — instead it comes with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic as standard. Your choice here is basically between the Deluxe FWD or the Luxury 4WD model.

The 1.6T is quiet enough on start-up but even when worked hard, it's not the most pleasant. Power peaks at 145PS with a maximum 275Nm of torque from 2000rpm but the 2WD can struggle for traction in wet conditions.

It's quick enough when needed but as with most engines of this ilk, it's happiest in everyday 'runabout' driving. Acceleration from 0-62mph takes 10.3 seconds in the front-wheel drive while that opting for the four-wheel drive drops that to 11.8 seconds. 

For most buyers, we'd suggest the 2WD model is the better choice here if you want to save money. In everyday driving, there's little noticeable difference between the two.

The standout model in the range is the plug-in hybrid. Known as the Jaecoo 7 SHS (for Super Hybrid System apparently), it uses a 1.5-litre petrol engine along with a dual electric motor to produce 204PS and a healthy 310Nm of torque. Getting from 0-62mph takes 8.5 seconds if you're counting.

Thanks to an 18.3 kWh lithium-ion battery, it can cover a claimed 56 miles on electric power alone. And Jaecoo is keen to trumpet its self-charging tech which means the plug-in hybrid never actually reaches zero miles of EV charge as it sets its own self charging level.

The Jaecoo 7 SHS can also be rapid-charged at up to 40 kW, where it can go from 30-80% in 20 minutes.

As you'd expect, there's a huge list of safety kit in the Jaceoo 7 with initialisms left right and centre. From AEB (autonomous emergency braking) to LDP (lane departure prevention) and RCTB (rear crossing traffic braking) there are no fewer than 16 driver assistance systems on board. No surprise that Euro NCAP awarded it the maximum five star rating.

Fortunately, the most intrusive and annoying ones can be switched off — although as is the norm now, they will reset to on when you restart the car.

More usefully, it does come with 10 airbags including side airbags (front and rear), a front middle airbag and a knee airbag. The plug-in hybrid has a battery pack that features a triple-layer design to maximise impact resistance. 

Both of the Jaecoo 7 1.6T models are rated for towing up to 1865kg, with the 1.5 PHEV notably lower at 1500kg.

Unusually, you get a slightly different interior, depending on whether you choose a petrol or the plug-in hybrid version of the Jaecoo 7. The petrol gets chunkier door handles and a central gear lever giving it a bit more of an off-roader feel.

The SHS model has a column-mounted gear lever and more slender door handles. We're not sure why but Jaecoo claims it's to give it more of an EV appearance. Whatever that means. It's this interior you see in the photos above. We prefer the interior of the petrol versions.

At 4.5 metres long, the Jaecoo 7 is similar in size to everyone's favourite SUV, the Nissan Qashqai. Thanks to the boxy design, it feels spacious inside for both those sat in the front and the back. You can happily fit a family of five in, helped by the fact there's pretty much a flat floor in the back, with only a slightly raised centre section.

There's no seven-seat Jaecoo 7 — all models are conventional five-seaters. You get the usual pair of Isofix mounting points in the back with proper plastic guides rather than being annoyingly tucked away, so fitting car seats is straightforward. There are also three top tether points.

Go for the Luxury model and you get heated rear seats as well as heated and ventilated front seats and even a heated steering wheel. One of those features that's worth it's weight in gold on a cold winter morning.

There's good legroom in the back and although there's nothing especially clever — the seats just fold down in a usual 60/40 split — it feels more than roomy enough, even for adults. 

All Jaecoo 7 models get a standard fit panoramic sunroof with an opening front section. It makes for a very light interior and is a feature most kids love. There is a built in shade for the summer thankfully.

The boot is decent enough with 500 litres of carrying space in the 1.6T petrol models, although this drops to 412 litres in the SHS. The boot in a Kia Sportage is larger — the Jaecoo has also a bit of a boot lip and it's not the widest of load spaces, but nonetheless more than good enough for the weekly shop. 

If there's one area where the Jaecoo 7 surpassed our expectations it's the quality of the interior. It's well finished and despite the fact there are synthetic rather than real leather seats and steering wheel, you still feel like you're sitting in a good quality car.

You could easily put a Volvo badge on the steering wheel and we doubt anyone would be surprised. There are some neat details like the nicely designed air vents and the metal trim that sits across the dash to help raise things above the ordinary.

There are some rather more durable plastics lower down, the glovebox for instance, feels a little low rent. But overall, the bits you touch the most such as the steering wheel, door handles and the like all feel pleasantly upmarket.

We were also impressed by how quiet the Jaecoo 7 is on the road, helped in no small part by the double-glazing that's standard fit.

You'd be forgiven for mistaking the touchscreen in the Jaecoo 7 with a huge iPad that someone has plonked on the dash — other tablet things are available we're told. Subtle it ain't. 

It's 14.8-inches in Luxury models — for some reason people seem obsessed by the size of screens in cars — but importantly for us, it does actually work well. True, there's a lot to play with with various settings and the like but it's clearly laid out and intuitive.

It's responsive to inputs and quick too. We didn't have any performance issues with it during our time with the car and no need to do a hard reset either. Our only issue is that almost everything is controlled through the screen — including the climate settings. This is becoming more common but we still prefer separate controls which are often quicker and still work even if the system crashes.

It comes with the usual tech you'd expect including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which are thankfully wireless (hurrah!) plus there's a 50W wireless phone charger as standard in the centre console which has integrated cooling so your phone won't get as hot as the sun.

Elsewhere there are four USB chargers including two in the back — a Type A and a Type C — which should keep the kids happy and their devices topped-up.

Other tech includes a proper head-up display on Luxury models which we prefered to the main instrument display.

With the Jaecoo 7 priced from £29,435 for the 1.6 FWD Deluxe from launch in January 2025, it's very competitive. Rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage and Skoda Karoq all have list prices that hover around the £30k mark, although these are all manual while the Jaecoo 7 comes with an automatic gearbox as standard. The impressive MG HS is cheaper though, starting at £25k.

The 4WD petrol is listed at £32,850 while going for the plug-in hybrid version, which we'd recommend, sees that price jump to £35,065. Both of these are in Luxury trim with all the bells and whistles. 

As ever, look for pre-registered or early demonstrator models from dealers and you should be able to make a decent saving. We've already seen models with 2500 miles for sale at £27,500. 

While there's no EV in the Jaecoo 7 range, the plug-in hybrid model with its over 50-mile range is the one to go for to keep running costs down. 

The official figures show a claimed 400mpg, proof if needed that PHEVs make a mockery of the WLTP testing regime. Still, it's electric range is impressive and means many drivers will rarely have to utilise the petrol engine.  

The 1.6T 2WD returns a claimed 37.7mpg with the 4WD at 35.3mpg, which is below what we'd expect. For comparison, a Kia Sportage 1.6T 2WD automatic returns a claimed 43.5mpg.

While the brand is somewhat of an unknown quantity in the UK, the fact the Jaecoo 7 comes with a Kia-rivalling seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, with no mileage limit in the first three years, should give buyers confidence in the product. 

The Jaecoo 7 comes in two trim levels — Deluxe and Luxury.

The Jaecoo 7 Deluxe is fitted with 19-inch alloy wheels, a full-length panoramic sunroof with opening front section, roof rails, electrically heated and folding door mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, front fog lights, LED daytime-running lights, LED rear lights, auto full beam LED headlights, an electric tailgate, darkened rear privacy windows and Silent Glass which is Jaecoo's name for the double-glazed front side windows.

Inside you'll find multi-coloured ambient lighting, synthetic leather steering wheel and seat upholstery, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, an integrated navigation system, DAB radio, wireless mobile phone charging, a 10.25-inch LCD instrument display, a 13.2-inch portrait multimedia touchscreen, Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, front and rear USB sockets adaptive cruise control, dual-zone air-conditioning with second row vents, keyless starting and an electronic parking brake

Upgrade to the Jaecoo 7 Luxury for a Head-Up Display (HUD) system, a 14.8-inch multimedia touchscreen, a Sony eight-speaker sound system, an air purification system, a heated steering wheel, heated rear outer seats, ventilated front seats, driver's seat lumbar adjustment and front welcome seats that glide back when the doors are opened.