It’s a sexy SUV that tugs at the heartstrings of many onlookers. Supposedly headed for the Malaysia market in Q4 this year, the Jaecoo J8 PHEV here are some of the first pictures of the high-end SUV, the J8 PHEV, which has made its premiere in China recently. And it’s on its way to Malaysia too.
It is anticipated to reach Malaysia in 2024’s fourth quarter. Few media have a fully completed test drive and evaluation set up for Monday.
A 1.5-litre engine powers the J8 PHEV, which is coupled with two electric motors—one for each of the front and rear wheels—and a special hybrid gearbox to power the wheels. The J8 can produce a total of 605 horsepower and 915 Nm of torque, and can go from 0 to 100 km/h in as healthy 5.4 seconds.
You have two options for charging: AC or DC. As we’ve noted, you can even use the Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) feature to have your electronic devices charged while driving.
The car’s details have not been widely disclosed, but here are the things we observed about the car. It offers six-seats with two captain chairs in the second row, unlike the five-seater one that was shown off in Malaysia earlier this year. Sunshades, seat heating and ventilation, air conditioning vents on the B-pillar, lumbar support with electronic adjustments for the second row, and sunshades all contribute to increased comfort.
Two seats and some storage on either side are included in the third row. There’s enough legroom, but if you’re taller than 175–180 cm, you might want to consider seats in the second row. The J8 has numerous elements that scream “Mercedes-Benz,” such as the switch that opens and closes the doors in place of a door pull.
Speaker perforations in the headrests provide for additional seat ventilation in the front seat. In addition, the J8 PHEV has two 12.3-inch screens, wireless charging, USB-A and USB-C charging connectors, and a head-up display.
CARLIST TH()UGHTS
Choose to challenge the norm….It seems logical (on hot days, that I’m pretty sure we all had reservations.) Offering two lap-of-luxury style captain chairs, the J8 can generate power that enables lightning-fast acceleration. This is a mega-wagon that is hard to ignore.