Leading the charge in Jaecoo South Africa’s new-energy vehicle (NEV) offensive, the J7 SHS (Super Hybrid System) impressed in our initial drive earlier this year. So, we were keen to strap our equipment to the newcomer for an SA-first road test.
Save for the J7 SHS’s striking aero-styled alloy wheels, not much distinguishes the PHEV’s exterior styling from its petrol-engined stablemates. And that’s a good thing. We’ve previously commended the J7’s rakish design, and dressed in the press car’s ‘Olive Grey’ body hue it cuts an especially handsome figure.
However, those with a keen eye may have noticed a few subtle model-specific touches, including unique graphics on the gloss-black strips spanning the doors and shimmering blue finish — the colour adopted by many automakers to indicate the employment of a new-energy drivetrain — applied the ‘7’ of the ‘J7’ badge at the rear. Sited opposite side the latter item, the ‘PHEV’ lettering features a little ‘Easter egg’: the ‘V’ incorporates a lightning bolt.
Whereas some Chinese cars make liberal use of flashy chrome trim inside and out, the Jaecoo takes an appreciably more considered approach to its fitment, lending it an altogether more sophisticated appearance.
2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS Specifications
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- Price: R689 900
- Powertrain: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbopetrol + electric motor
- Transmission: DHT
- Driven wheels: front
- Power: 255 kW @ 6 300 r/min
- Torque: 525 N.m @ 4 775 r/min
The interior feels premium, with swathes of synthetic leather upholstery and soft-touch materials abound. Perceived build quality is good, and the cabin is well insulated from road noise.
The ‘floating’ portrait-oriented, touch-enabled infotainment display remains a highlight of the J7 package. The 14.8-inch LCD item is crisp, feature-rich and considerably easier to navigate than some of the units found in its Chinese contemporaries. The (wireless) Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-enabled setup is intuitive and seamlessly connected with smartphones.
Road Test: 2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS
Posted August 21, 2025
By: CAR magazine
Jaecoo enters the local new-energy arena with the J7 SHS…and it looks promising. We evaluate the plug-in hybrid J7 for a comprehensive road test.
Leading the charge in Jaecoo South Africa’s new-energy vehicle (NEV) offensive, the J7 SHS (Super Hybrid System) impressed in our initial drive earlier this year. So, we were keen to strap our equipment to the newcomer for an SA-first road test.
Save for the J7 SHS’s striking aero-styled alloy wheels, not much distinguishes the PHEV’s exterior styling from its petrol-engined stablemates. And that’s a good thing. We’ve previously commended the J7’s rakish design, and dressed in the press car’s ‘Olive Grey’ body hue it cuts an especially handsome figure.
However, those with a keen eye may have noticed a few subtle model-specific touches, including unique graphics on the gloss-black strips spanning the doors and shimmering blue finish — the colour adopted by many automakers to indicate the employment of a new-energy drivetrain — applied the ‘7’ of the ‘J7’ badge at the rear. Sited opposite side the latter item, the ‘PHEV’ lettering features a little ‘Easter egg’: the ‘V’ incorporates a lightning bolt.
Whereas some Chinese cars make liberal use of flashy chrome trim inside and out, the Jaecoo takes an appreciably more considered approach to its fitment, lending it an altogether more sophisticated appearance.
2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS Specifications
-
- Price: R689 900
- Powertrain: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbopetrol + electric motor
- Transmission: DHT
- Driven wheels: front
- Power: 255 kW @ 6 300 r/min
- Torque: 525 N.m @ 4 775 r/min
The interior feels premium, with swathes of synthetic leather upholstery and soft-touch materials abound. Perceived build quality is good, and the cabin is well insulated from road noise.
The ‘floating’ portrait-oriented, touch-enabled infotainment display remains a highlight of the J7 package. The 14.8-inch LCD item is crisp, feature-rich and considerably easier to navigate than some of the units found in its Chinese contemporaries. The (wireless) Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-enabled setup is intuitive and seamlessly connected with smartphones.
In addition to the aforementioned features, the firm’s new J7 flagship is equipped with 10.25-inch digital instrumentation, a head-up display, electrically adjustable heated/ventilated front seats, dual-zone climate control with air vents for rear occupants, a 50 W wireless smartphone charging bay, an eight-speaker Sony audio system, a 360-degree surround-view camera array supplemented by fore and aft park distance sensors, keyless entry and ignition, ambient lighting, and a panoramic sunroof.
Safety items include eight airbags, Isofix child-seat anchorages and a suite of driver assistance systems. The latter includes adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, fore and aft collision warning, and autonomous emergency braking. We’ve had our grievances with ADAS; the systems in some cars proving overly intrusive. However, over its test tenure, the J7’s proved unobtrusive and didn’t encroach unnecessarily on the overall driving experience.
2025 Jaecoo J7 SHS Interior Dimensions
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- Front headroom: 860-900 mm
- Rear headroom/kneeroom: 840/575 mm
- Boot/utility space: 240/896 L
Dialling in a commanding driving position is a cinch and outward visibility is good. The cabin is spacious, too; fore and aft occupants are afforded 900 and 840 mm of headroom, with the latter offered a respectable 575 mm of kneeroom. The J7’s (240-litre) boot is small by segment standards, though.
The J7 SHS employs a 105 kW/215 N.m 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbopetrol and 150 kW/310 N.m permanent synchronous electric motor fed by an 18.3 kWh lithium-ion battery.
Although the total system output of 255 kW/525 N.m overshadows the non-electrified, 1.6-litre turbopetrol models’ 145 kW/290 N.m, it was slightly slower in our 0-100 km/h and in-gear acceleration testing owing to its 191 kg weight penalty.
CAR Magazine Test Results
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- 0-100 km/h acceleration: 8.55 seconds
- 100-0 km/h braking: 2.67 seconds/37.10 metres
- Fuel route: 4.60 L/100 km
On our test strip, the SHS completed the 0-100 km/h dash in 8.55 seconds, and in the overtaking acceleration stakes, 80-100 and 100-120 km/h times of 2.24 and 2.98 seconds, respectively. Emergency baking performance was excellent. The SHS bested the front-wheel-drive 1.6T model’s (August 2024) 2.90-second average by 0.23 seconds, over a distance of 37.1 metres.
On-road refinement was commendable. Power delivery to the front axle via the DHT transmission is impressively smooth, the switchover from EV driving to ICE propulsion is near imperceptible and the McPherson strut front/multilink rear suspension soaked up road imperfections with aplomb. The handling is composed and predictable, feeling planted at motorway speeds.
Perhaps the only black mark against the J7 SHS is its oddly geared electric power steering. The team felt that a touch more assistance would have been welcomed, to improve handling during low-speed manoeuvring and motorway driving. It’s curious, as we found the opposite with the FWD 1.6T derivative.
On our mixed-use fuel route, the test car returned an impressive 4.6 L/100 km average fuel consumption. Matching this figure allows for an operating range of just over 1 300 km from a single, 60-litre tank.
Test Summary
We’ve lauded the J7 1.6T FWD Glacier as our derivative of choice. However, following our evaluation of the SHS, we’d argue the SHS is the J7 to have.
The firm’s new flagship J7 impressed with its generous amount of standard convenience and safety kit, solid interior build quality, on-road refinement, remarkable fuel economy and electric-only operating range. Meatier steering and a more generous boot would have been welcomed, though.
However, considering the SHS’s pricing, which undercuts its rivals’ by a considerable margin, these two shortcomings don’t overshadow what is an otherwise commendable package.
