By KBC Associate 
Chery already offers petrol and electric vehicles in Australia, and now it’s introducing a pair of SUVs that offer both simultaneously.
The mid-size Tiggo 7 and large Tiggo 8 will receive the Chery Super Hybrid system in July 2025 as part of a refresh for the two SUVs, giving the Chery brand its first plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in Australia.
The Chery Super Hybrid (CSH) system features a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine mated with a stepless dedicated hybrid transmission and an 18.3kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery.
Claimed electric range is over 90km on an unspecified test cycle, with total driving range said to exceed 1200km.
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Unlike many PHEVs, Chery vehicles fitted with the CSH system also support DC fast-charging, with a battery recharge from 30 to 80 per cent taking a claimed 19 minutes.
Chery claims its petrol engine has industry-leading 44.5 per cent thermal efficiency and its transmission has 98.5 per cent efficiency.
The company has shared exterior images of the updated Tiggo 8, which differs from the model currently sold here with a revised grille insert, front bumper and headlights.
The seven-seat Tiggo 8 is marketed by Chery as a large SUV here despite being almost identical in size to the mid-size Mitsubishi Outlander – and despite an even larger Tiggo 9 being due to arrive this year.
Notably, Chery refers to its mid-size SUVs as the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 in its press release, and not Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max.
After launching as the Tiggo 4 Pro, Chery’s entry-level SUV was renamed Tiggo 4 for model year 2026.
While the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 will be the first models from the Chery brand to offer PHEV power in Australia, they won’t be the first from Chery as an automaker.
Its Jaecoo brand is launching its J7 this month, which features the CSH system but in this model it’s marketed as the Super Hybrid System.
This mates a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine with a Dedicated Hybrid Transmission and 18.3kWh LFP battery, as the upcoming Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 PHEVs do.
The engine produces 105kW of power and 215Nm of torque and the electric motor produces 150kW and 310Nm, giving the J7 SHS (pictured above) total system outputs of 255kW and 525Nm.
Electric-only range is a claimed 90km on the WLTP cycle or 106km under the more lenient NEDC cycle, with claimed fuel economy of 1.0L/100km.
With its new PHEV SUVs, Chery will have an answer for a growing range of electrified models – including, in the case of the Leapmotor C10, one with an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrain.
The BYD Sealion 6 mid-size SUV is Australia’s best-selling PHEV with 2358 units delivered this year to the end of April, more than the petrol-powered Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max combined.
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