2026 Jaecoo J8 SHS Summit (PHEV) review: Australian first drive

Jaecoo is yet another relatively new brand to arrive in Australia to grab a slice of the right-hand-drive market. I have things in my pantry older than Jaecoo Australia, which first started delivering its SUVs in late 2024.

But, for those who don’t know, it’s a luxurious subsidiary of Chery, which has been in Australia for some time now.

New to the line-up is a plug-in hybrid version of the J8 large SUV, which joins the internal-combustion version with an extra two seats and some electric driving range.

Those with a real keen eye for the latest in Chinese SUVs would notice that this is the equivalent of the Chery Tiggo 9, even sharing the same price as the top-specification Ultimate, with extra gear added.

Still, it offers some pretty neat changes to make it one of the most affordable entries into the premium space, paired with an incredibly powerful drivetrain.

The Jaecoo J8 SHS is offered in just one trim level (Summit) from $59,990 plus on-road costs (around $63,366 drive-away in NSW).

The specification is the same as the petrol Ridge trim, starting at $54,990, with the addition of three electric motors, an electric 'locking' rear differential, DAB radio, a third row, and no spare wheel.

The J8 SHS is powered by the same engine, electric motor, and battery pack found in the Chery Tiggo 9, which is a 1.5-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder, paired to three electric motors and a 34kWh battery pack for an output of 315kW/580Nm.

A lot of the standard equipment is also shared with the Chery Tiggo 9 Ultimate, which is also priced at $59,990 plus on-road costs, such as: leather interior, 50W wireless charging pads, 12.3-inch instrument cluster, head-up display, electrically adjustable front row with heating, ventilation and massage functions, ambient interior lighting, 20-inch alloys, panoramic sunroof, electric tailgate and full suite of ADAS functions.

Over the Tiggo 9 top specification, the J8 SHS receives different styling, Michelin tyres, adaptive suspension, a suede-like headliner, a smaller 12.3-inch infotainment screen, and a “fragrance mode” that makes the inside smell nice.

Aside from the aforementioned competitors from the same family, you don’t really have that much in the way of a seven-seat large SUV PHEV – a BYD Sealion 8 from $56,990 plus on-road costs is about all you have in this price range.

For non-Chinese rivals, you have the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV from $66,790 plus on-roads, the Kia Sorento PHEV from $71,130 plus on-roads, and the Mazda CX-80 from $75,750 plus on-roads.

Jumping into the J8, then looking at the price tag, is certainly a bit of a shock – for a car that rivals the top-spec Toyota RAV4 price-wise, it has some excellent showroom appeal.

It's not for those after something 'low-key', because there are design elements throughout that draw inspiration from European brands of higher calibre, such as rotary dials near the armrest and the seat controls on the door.

You’ll notice a smaller 12.3-inch screen compared to the Tiggo 9 to make way for a split woodgrain dash with metal accents and flowing lines down to the centre console.

Leather-like material adorns the seating and some of the door cards, while the suede-like headliner and A-pillar trims really do wrap the interior up nicely. The standard-fit panoramic sunroof opens up the interior massively.

There are some obvious signs that you are in an affordable car when you look at the material closely on the seats, which doesn’t have as much flex in it as you’d expect from genuine leather, and the door cards not lining up properly with the dashboard in some of the examples.

The overall front-row space genuinely does make you feel like you’re driving a big car, thanks to plenty of seat adjustment for a wide range of body shapes and a wide-open view around you. Though, you can blast the heating/ventilation for the front row and pair it with a variety of massaging functions.

The second row is relatively spacious for what it is, though the majority of the luxury features are reserved for the front row. Still, you get some USB ports and your own control panel for things such as heating/ventilation for the outboard seats.

Further build quirks arrive with the second row, though. Driving through country stretches saw the second row visibly vibrate as it made an annoying buzzing noise. First thought was that it wasn’t clicked in properly, but stopping to adjust this just saw the same thing; it was also found in other launch cars there.

Similarly, further development cost-cutting is assumed when you note the main access point to the third row being on the driver's side – meaning parallel parks will require third-row occupants to get in from the roadside instead of from the footpath, likely something left over from left-hand-drive markets.

The third row would be a good pick for small children, but as is the case with just about every seven-seat SUV on the market, once they get into the teenage years, the chances of a comfortable ride back here start to thin out.

Clicking the button for the electric tailgate opens up to 200 litres with the third row up, which isn’t big, but still trumps other three-row SUVs, and 738L with the third row folded down, which trumps large SUVs like the Hyundai Palisade.

As we turn towards electrification over the coming years, I don’t doubt we will see an immense jump in what we consider to be a 'normal' power figure for regular SUVs. The Jaecoo J8 is an obvious example of that, somehow squeezing out 315kW/580Nm.

If those figures mean nothing to you, then I don’t blame you, but putting it into perspective – it’s about 2.5 times the power found in a base-variant Mitsubishi Outlander, which is a car of a similar size.

The unfortunate thing is how these vehicles often manage their tremendous power. The J8 is one of the better vehicles in the affordable segment, but there’s still a lag when you touch the throttle, as the 5.8-second 0–100km/h time creeps up on you; something I can see getting out of hand for the uninitiated.

That being said, the point of separation between the Tiggo 9 and this offering is the adaptive suspension, which can firm the dampers as needed.

The J8 can feel cumbersome in turns, as you do have to muscle a 2.3-tonne vehicle around them, but there is a surprising lack of understeer, likely helped by the choice to use quality Michelin tyres.

Dynamics are not helped by what feels like an unnatural steering input – almost vague in the sense that you can't really tell what the front tyres are doing.

The electronic locking differential, which you’d probably find on performance cars, does offer a 'playful' sense, letting the rear rotate around to steady the car through faster turns.

It really does feel a bit silly to mention these things in a large SUV review. Still, the truth is that all of these handling properties need to be considered when it comes to doing something like a swerve-and-avoid.  

Through daily life, the J8 feels to be one of the more settled large SUVs over undulations thanks to a firmer and more intelligent suspension setup. It can wallow up and down on country roads, but you don’t feel out of control.

The powertrain is your typical PHEV: electric-first, petrol-second setup, which sees a quiet experience around town and really doesn't seem to work itself too hard until you get up to freeway speeds and your battery is depleted, but it really doesn't kick up a stink about needing to work.

Most of the ADAS was well behaved during the few hours I spent in the car, with only major annoyances coming from the fact that the forward-collision and lane-departure warning were sensitive, but the lane-centring seemed only to want to work when it felt like it, and when it did, there was a bit of a ping-pong effect as it darted from one side of the lane to the other.

From a pure liveability perspective, the only major nuisance is the shift-by-wire stalk on the steering wheel, which requires the driver to clamp down hard on the brake to change direction. Otherwise, you end up in neutral, making three-point turns take twice as long.

No doubt the J8 SHS will show its true colours when we eventually spend an extended period in it. For now, it has given us glimpses of what could make or break it.

Still, first impressions show just how far SUVs have come, with models now offered at the same price as some legacy brands' entry-specification large SUVs. Not to mention that the Chery group has really seemed to take on board some of the issues people had with the Tiggo 9 and has somewhat fixed them in this offering.

I do think that the Chery group as a whole does have some way to go when it comes to car handling, but the tide is slowly changing.

Had this car been fitted with a normal power and torque figure, the handling would make sense, but there’s a duty of care to ensure that when you unleash everything it has to offer, on purpose or not, it needs to be able to grapple with that in a handling sense.

I think this is a solid option, but nothing that completely blows the competition out of the water. It’s worth a look at the dealership, but maybe check out the BYD Sealion 8 and some more expensive seven-seat PHEVs such as the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Kia Sorento.