Jaecoo’s NZ-bound SUVs impress
The Stuff Motoring team drove Jaecoo’s upcoming SUVs, including the stylish J6. Spoiler: it was awesome, according to Nile Bijoux.
Recently, we reported on Jaecoo’s J6 SUV potentially being the third model for the new-to-New Zealand brand. While it’s still officially unconfirmed, it’s seeming more likely as we were offered a brief drive in the retro electric off-roader during an Omoda/ Jaecoo event in its home city of Wuhu, China.
We jumped into a dual-motor J6, which means 208kW combined output. Total torque is unknown. It’s fed by a 69.8kWh CATL-designed battery, good for a claimed 500km of range in the single motor version. Dimensionally, it’s smaller than a Toyota Corolla in width and length but taller.
It looks fantastic, evoking the Land Rover Defender along with a bit of Kia and, interestingly, some Rivian in the headlights. These testers didn’t have it installed but production models get an extra storage box on the rear door to make up for a compromised boot. Perhaps it’ll be an optional extra.
Thankfully, as opposed to the J6 we saw parked earlier, the drive day meant we could see the interior. It looks pretty impressive, with a decently sized landscape touchscreen responsible for most of the controls, a digital dash behind the wheel and Infinity audio dotting the doors. The quality here is pretty outstanding, much more than where it might land price-wise. In China, these sell for less then the BYD Atto 3, and this interior is a healthy step up versus the Atto.
Space in the rear seats is exceptional, with plenty of legroom and headroom for two grown adults. The boot is indeed quite small (though not unusable), seemingly impacted by the second motor and battery, but the extra door box should solve that.
Our drive experience was limited to a short acceleration burst before a roundabout turn, along with a longer drag and brake test. As you might expect, a 208kW EV launches off the line fairly rapidly. Officially it’ll hit 100kph in about 5.4 seconds, which feels about right. That’s plenty quick for an urban/light off-roader.
Brakes are good too, although they hang for half a second after heavy use, probably something that will be ironed out for full production (and after the cars have more than 50km on the clock). The steering is light but not too light, and the ride comfort is superb. These vehicles were under-tyred, meaning they squidged around a bit on the damp tarmac. Hopefully local imports will have better tyres as standard.
Obviously we couldn’t do any off-roading stuff but with all-wheel drive and some specialised drive modes, it should go all right. Time will tell.
Overall, while the limited time behind the wheel meant we couldn’t see how things like active safety and technology fared, the J6 impressed.
Assuming it does actually come here, price will be the kicker. If it’s as close to the BYD Atto 3 as it is in China, Jaecoo will be onto something special.
But before we get the J6, Omoda/Jaecoo in New Zealand have a few models waiting in the wings. Jaecoo is set to kick off its brand assault with the J7 later this year, expected to land in petrol guise first, with a plug-in option to follow.
Following up will be the J8, also set for combustion and PHEV options, then the smaller J5 in 2025, expected in ICE and EV forms. We briefly drove the plug-in J7 on a twisty slalom course, and found the handling to be up to par, though the steering was a bit too much on the numb side.
A Jaecoo representative took us for a quick drive in the J8 as well, showing off its electronics and off-roadability with some offset ramps, a steep incline and an angled back. Those capabilities were certainly impressive and the interior was once again a standout, with plenty of quality-feeling leather, two crisp screens, and lots of space.
On the Omoda side, the large C9 SUV is expected later this year, followed by the C7 in 2025, an attractive stretched version of the C5 coming as a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid with 255kW/525Nm, a huge 1200km of combined range and an awesome 15.6-inch sliding centre screen.
Like the Omoda 5, the 7 has a distinct grille offering a frameless hexagonal pattern along with neat LED patterns just below the headlights, while the cabin features dual wireless charging pads, an “intelligent voice assistant”, a built-in fragrance system, active noise cancellation and a 12+2 speaker system offering premium-quality sound.
Pricing isn’t confirmed yet but it will fight the likes of the Toyota RAV4 for a slice of that lucrative mid-size SUV pie.
Overall, we came away impressed with what we saw from Omoda/Jaecoo. It’ll be interesting to see how the models go on New Zealand roads, but things are certainly looking good.