PETALING JAYA: Jaecoo Malaysia, an upmarket arm of Chery Auto Malaysia, is looking to expand its J7 sports utility vehicle (SUV) lineup with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) variant soon.
The company is displaying the J7 PHEV from today to Sunday at the low carbon mobility space at LG2, Orange Wing of Sunway Pyramid shopping mall here for customers to view along with a video presentation.
Although this PHEV has been confirmed to be arriving in Malaysia, Jaecoo Malaysia vice-president Emily Lek said the company would bring in the front-wheel-drive (2WD) and all-wheel-drive (AWD) versions - just like the petrol-powered J7.
The 1.6-litre turbocharged J7 2WD and AWD are priced at RM138,800 and RM148,800 on the road without insurance respectively.
The launch of the J7 PHEV is expected before the end of the year or early 2025.
The J7 PHEV will be made available in four colour options of Carbon Crystal Black, Khaki White and Moonlight Silver with Black Roof while upholstery are Black faux leather.
Sharing the same platform as the Chery Tiggo 7, a PHEV badge now stands as the main visual differentiator along with an additional flap to access the AC/DC charging points.
Power for the J7 PHEV comes from a smaller 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT) with an electric motor at the front axle.
The combined system's output generates a more potent 347PS and 525Nm of torque as opposed to the 1.6-litre turbocharged engine (197PS and 290Nm) that is managed by a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The J7 PHEV can provide up to 105km of all-electric driving range on a full charge while the electric motor consumes a lowly 4.9 litres per 100km at best.
With a 60-litre fuel tank and a fully charged 18.3kWh lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP), hybrid driving range is estimated around 1,300km.
The battery is capable of accepting up to 40kW of DC fast-charging as well as up to 6.6kW of the slower AC charging.
A vehicle-to-load (V2L) function to power external appliances has also been provided.
Although the J7 PHEV's provisions have yet to be yet confirmed, what is known so far is that it will feature a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.
A 14.8-inch portrait-style touchscreen infotainment system (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) as well as the eight-speaker Sony Premium sound system are also expected.
The J7 PHEV gets a gear shifter stalk on the rightside of the steering wheel column compared with the J7 petrol that has its joystick-like shifter at the centre console.
Standard safety kit remains identical with the AWD variant which includes eight airbags, adaptive cruise control, 540-degree camera system, electronic brakeforce distribution, emergency brake assist, traction control, hill-start assist, hill descent control, brake override system and tyre pressure monitoring system.
Further bolstering safety is a slew of Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) such as adaptive cruise control, integrated cruise assist, active speed limit, automatic emergency brake, blind spot monitoring system and curve speed assistance.
There are also Departure Ahead Inform, driver monitoring system, door opening warning, emergency lane keeping assist, front collision warning, intelligent high-beam control and intelligent evasion system.
Rounding off the ADAS list are lane change assist, lane departure warning and prevention, rear cross-traffic warning and braking, rear collision warning and traffic jam assist.
For details, visit https://www.jaecoo.com.my/ or https://www.facebook.com/JaecooMalaysia/.
