2026 Jaecoo J8 SHS review

The Jaecoo J8 just got a whole lot more buyable.

In the past, the Chinese Chery offshoot had a choice of five-seat petrol J8 models with front- or all-wheel drive, while this one meets demands of the large SUV segment much better.

With a familiar plug-in hybrid powertrain offering well over 100km of EV driving range, all-wheel drive traction and seven seats spread over three rows, it makes a much stronger argument as a potential family SUV than its stablemates.

It costs more, sure – but it’s still keenly priced considering the amount of standard equipment fitted to the sole Summit specification.

But it’s not perfect. And for some, the added third row won’t be anywhere near as practical as some alternatives in this segment.

How much does the Jaecoo J8 cost?

Previously, the five-seat petrol-powered J8 models kicked things off at a low price for a large SUV with a lot of stuff.

Now, the range-topping Summit plug-in hybrid (or SHS, for Super Hybrid System) pushes this machine into new territory, but it’s still cheaper than plenty of its competitors.

You might be cross-shopping it against the BYD Sealion 8, which is a PHEV seven-seater starting at $56,990 plus on-roads, but it’s front-drive in that base spec, while the mid-tier AWD version will be closer to $70K in your driveway.

A basic version of the Kia Sorento PHEV ($69,990 drive-away, at the time of writing) would do it for similar , if you’re okay with a lower level of standard kit.

Or, of course, you could look at the related Chery Tiggo 9 SHS (from $52,990), or if three rows aren’t necessary, the also-related Omoda 9 SHS (from $61,990).

Plug-free alternatives include the excellent Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid (from $60,650 with AWD), as well as the Toyota Kluger HEV (from $62,410).

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What is the Jaecoo J8 like on the inside?

The J8’s cabin feels genuinely premium, and if you’re trading up from a 10-year-old seven-seater, it might feel like a revelation.

There are twin 12.3-inch screens in this model – which makes it feel a bit more old-school than the related Tiggo 9, which has a bigger 15.9-inch centre display.

Even so, the media system is easy enough to work with, and has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the expected stuff like Bluetooth, AM/FM/DAB radio, sat nav, and plenty of screens that will take a bit of acclimation. The menus in the media screen are easy to learn, plus the configurable shortcut pull-down box means you can bring frequently used functions to the surface.

For instance, if you want to have quick switches for the driver monitoring camera system (DMS) or lane-keeping assistance (LKA), you can have them there, ready to be deactivated (each time you restart the car – and there is no button for that, just sit to start, provided you’ve got the key).

The climate control system is built into the infotainment screen, but thankfully it is pretty easy to use, and when you have CarPlay operating you can simply swipe up from the bottom to get into the menus, where you’ll find dual-zone temperature adjustment, a fan-speed slider, airflow controls, recirc, and demisters front and rear (and there are buttons for those between the front seats, too). Occasionally, the touch elements can be a bit fiddly, but once you’re used to them, you’ll be fine.

The front seats offer heating, ventilation and massage functions, with options like Wave, Catwalk Cross, Relieve and Jump, and they are pretty effective.

The surround-view camera is terrific for busy parents who just need the peace of mind to park easily, including a 3D exterior view. There’s also an electronic owner’s manual onboard (saves space in the glovebox), and while it’s a lot of tech, most of it works well once you learn the menus.

Ahead of the driver is a digital instrument cluster that can display separate EV and petrol ranges and even tell you your odometer reading for the different modes, and it has a few other view modes, including a map view.

A head-up display is also included, and on the right side of the electrically adjustable steering column is a gear selector (push the end for Park), with wipers/blinkers on the left stalk, and a traditional dial for headlights down near the driver’s right knee.

Just one 50W wireless phone charger is fitted, but there’s a second storage dock next to it.
The material quality on the dash and doors is impressive, with stitched finishes and real leather seat trim, too.

Here and there though, there are some shiny piano-black finishes which bring down the ambience, and they’re very fingerprint-prone – especially between the seats where there are controls and a drive mode dial, and on the steering wheel where you’re always using your fingers and thumbs.

Storage in the cabin is plentiful, with large door bins, a deep, ventilated centre console bin, a large storage area under the dash (which is where the fragrance bottles are housed), and there are sizeable cupholders, too.

The Sony stereo includes headrest speakers for phone calls, great for privacy, and it’s a meaty-sounding system too.

A large retractable sunroof with a thick electrically adjustable shade is a very nice feature, and it even has extendable sun visors with large illuminated vanity mirrors.
A digital rear-view mirror would be very welcome, as the view back for the driver is blocked by the bulky rear headrests.

The second row space is very impressive.

With the driver’s seat set for me at 6’0”/182cm, there is ample knee and foot room, not to mention very good headroom. The bench slides forward and has a 60:40 split layout, and as you’d expect, this row has the requisite ISOFIX mounts on the outboard seats and three top tethers for child-seat fitment. You should fit three across, too, as it’s a broad cabin.

There are integrated window shades in the back doors, overhead grab handles, large door pockets and storage on the front seatbacks, and both B-pillar and central directional air vents.

The centre console area includes controls for the outboard seats – a toggle switch for heating or cooling, and three-level adjustment for each mode and seat position. Luxury features for those who don’t get to sit up front, eh? Maybe the kids won’t fight over the front-passenger spot anymore.

One thing’s for sure, they won’t be fighting over the back-row spots.

Firstly, third-row access is not great.

The larger passenger side portion of the middle-row seat doesn’t have a tilt-slide system; it just folds down flat. The smaller portion on the driver’s side has a level of sliding/tilting, but it’s nowhere near usable enough to make stepping into the back row easy.

It’s not pleasant for someone my size once you’re back there, either. There’s minimal leg, foot and headroom, and anyone over about 10 years of age will struggle. But there’s a problem – it isn’t set up to host youngsters.

In the third row, there are no child-seat anchor points, nor air vents, and it feels very cramped and dark, without much of a view and a low ceiling limiting the practicality. There are cupholders and small storage pockets, but that’s it.

This is very much an occasional-use third row. You could squish a couple of malleable munchkins in the very back for a shorter occasional trip, but it is not really suitable for regular back-row bandit duty.

As a seven-seater, the boot space is okay – big enough for some backpacks or upright cabin baggage, at 200 litres measured to the ceiling.

Drop the back row down, and you will have a much more usable 738L (to the ceiling), which is much more family-friendly. Speaking of, there are no shopping bag hooks, but there are lights, and the load floor is relatively flat.

The SHS doesn’t carry a spare wheel of any form, though. In more affordable petrol models you get a full-size spare, but in the PHEV it’s just a tyre repair kit.

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

Electric power for the daily grind, and petrol for those longer trips. It makes so much sense, and the reality is that it works pretty damn well in this SUV. Long-distance commuters will will appreciate the EV range, and family road trips shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, considering the ongoing efficiency as a hybrid.

This powertrain pairs up the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with three electric motors, and all told, the system can generate more power than most 2000s supercars.

Managing progress is a three-speed dedicated hybrid transmission (3DHT) and all-wheel drive. If you’re curious about where those three electric motors fit into the mix, there’s a 175kW unit on the rear axle, and two more e-motors – one at the front axle producing 75kW and another 90kW unit integrated into the transmission.

There’s a sizeable NMC battery pack with a claimed 169km of NEDC-rated range, which can be recharged at a rapid charger if you prefer to drive fully electric rather than use the hybrid side of things.

Don’t go thinking that kind of range will be easy to achieve. During my testing, I saw 124km from a full charge.

As with most PHEVs, the official fuel economy claim is only realistic with a full charge and over the first 100-200km, but I can tell you that once the battery is at a point where it kicks the engine into life to run as a hybrid, it will still be very fuel efficient.

I did more than 100km of extra driving in hybrid mode, and saw a return of 6.6L/100km, but it was hovering closer to 10L/100km when driven in stop-start city environments.

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How does the Jaecoo J8 drive?

If you’re after a seven-seater plug-in hybrid that’s still engaging and fun to drive, this one mightn’t be the pick – but honestly, that’s a bit of a niche within a niche…

But this Jaecoo offers a comfortable companion for daily driving, and while it’s not a handling and dynamics masterclass, its priorities are arguably in the right place.

The continuous damping control system works to alleviate bad behaviour over bumps and lumps, letting the body settle quickly and also helping it hold flatter in twisty bends. There’s still some body roll, and the heavy 20-inch rims foul over sharper edges and hard bumps, but it is cushy enough in daily driving to feel agreeable for this type of SUV.

The steering isn’t particularly engaging, but it is accurate enough and light at low speeds, making parking moves a smidge simpler than its size might suggest. The excellent surround-view camera system assists in that, with an array of views that allow you to pinpoint which part of the car you’d like to see at a touch of the screen.

With all-wheel drive traction, you can rest assured you have the tenacity and roadholding that you’d hope for in a family SUV, and it puts its power down effectively to propel you away. The standard Michelin tyres are a welcome inclusion, too.

As for the powertrain? Well, obviously the idea with a plug-in hybrid like this is to drive electric as much as you can, but then you’ve got a petrol engine to back you up when you need it – for those longer drives at the school holidays, for instance.

And the reality is that, given it has AC and DC charging capability, you should be running this as an EV as much as you can, because it’s a seamless and likeable drive when that mode is engaged. You can essentially top up overnight at home for just a few dollars to get the next day(s) commutes on the cheap.

If you do call the engine into action though, you’ll find you have access to all of the J8’s performance potential, and it really is frenetically fast. The powertrain can feel as though it’s overwhelming the chassis a little, because when everything hooks up in Sport mode, it hustles faster than most other family cars on the market.

And when it comes to arresting the momentum, thankfully the braking is decent – but it does depend which regenerative braking mode you’re in as to what kind of sensation you’ll experience.

The Low mode is pretty free-flowing, akin to a regular petrol SUV, while the most assertive mode isn’t full single-pedal driving, but it does allow you to drive using just the right pedal in some situations.

You will just need to get used to the response of the throttle and the brakes, because it can take a bit of learning to get smoothness into your behaviour.

The junction between the powertrain elements is managed nicely by the three-speed hybrid transmission, which ensures that – in most instances – the engine and electrics play nicely together.

Largely, this is a fairly complete experience, and even the safety technology isn’t too frustrating. Compared to earlier examples of Chery Group products, the driver monitoring system is far more lenient in letting you actually look away from the straight-ahead.

Even the lane-keeping system isn’t too bad, if you’re okay with the steering wheel jostling in your hands a bit. I don’t like the intelligent cruise system with steering assist, though, as it is overly assertive in its behaviour.

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What do you get?

The Jaecoo J8 SHS Summit is basically a burger with ‘the lot’, save for the omission of a digital rear-view camera which might have proved helpful with all seats occupied.

2026 Jaecoo J8 Track equipment highlights:

• 20-inch alloy wheels in 245/50 R20 tyres
• Full-size spare
• Automatic projector LED headlights
• Automatic high-beam
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• Panoramic sunroof with power sunshade
• Power tailgate
• Eco, Normal and Sport drive modes
• Proximity entry and start
• Remote start
• Head-up display
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Satellite navigation
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Built-in dashcam
• 50W wireless phone charger
• 12-speaker Sony sound system incl. driver’s headrest speakers
• Quilted leather upholstery
• 8-way power driver’s seat with thigh support extension, memory
• 6-way power passenger seat with 2-way leg rest
• Heated, ventilated and massaging front seats
• 60:40-split/folding rear seats
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents (centre console and B-pillar) and fan controls
• Tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment
• Retractable cargo blind
• Power windows with auto up/down
• Second-row window shades
• 1 x front USB-A outlet (charge and data transmission)
• 1 x front USB-C outlet
• 2 x rear charge outlets (1 x USB-A, 1 x USB-C)
• 2 x 12V outlets (front and boot)

J8 Ridge adds:

• Michelin tyres
• Continuous Damping Control
• Additional drive modes – Snow, Mud, Sand and Offroad
• Rear privacy glass
• Semi-autonomous parking assist
• Second-row heated and ventilated outboard seats
• Fragrance system
• Colour-adjustable ambient lighting
• Black suede headliner
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

J8 SHS Summit does without a rear cargo blind, but adds:

• Third-row seating
• Electronic locking rear differential

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Is the Jaecoo J8 safe?

You won’t find an ANCAP or Euro NCAP rating for this family SUV just yet. However, as with almost all of the new cars coming out of China, there’s a massive list of tech and equipment that would, in theory, achieve a high (maximum) score.

Standard safety equipment includes:

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver monitoring system
• Lane-keep assist
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Safe exit warning
• Traffic Jam Assist
• Surround-view camera
• Front, rear and side parking sensors

It even has 10 airbags, including driver, passenger, front-centre, driver’s knee, front side, middle-row side, and curtain coverage.

However, for family buyers, you should note that the curtain airbags do not cover third-row occupants.

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How much does the Jaecoo J8 cost to run?

Jaecoo backs the J8 with a strong ownership promise.

There is up to eight years of roadside assistance if you service with Omoda-Jaecoo’s network of workshops – otherwise, it’s just 12 months free.

There’s is an eight-year capped-price servicing program, with visits required every 12 months or 15,000km.

For context, here are the costs across the different models in the J8 range:

To see how the Jaecoo J8 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Jaecoo J8

If you are okay with the back row just being bonus seats, then this one should be ruled in. If you need permanent third-row accommodation for kids or adults, buy a Kia Carnival Hybrid instead.

But the reality is that this is a brilliantly executed and luxe-feeling large SUV, and as a five-seater, it makes a heap of sense for a big-boot bus.

The EV range, efficiency and equipment list are enticing, and so is the pricing.

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Jaecoo J8. Click here to get a great deal.

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MORE: Explore the Jaecoo J8 showroom