2024 Chery Tiggo8 Pro e+ PHEV SUV Review
Chery attempts to do-it-all with the Tiggo8 Pro e+ SUV which comes packed with luxury features to keep you pampered, and a plug-in hybrid powertrain to give Sustainability a fighting chance
A few weeks ago, we were at the grand launch of the Chery brand at Atlantis The Royal. A large crowd of invitees were treated to a gala dinner as they watched a very jazzy, tech-forward reveal of the brand. From this, I gathered that either the company truly believes in its products or is strategically pushing for media coverage. Either way, its vehicles, especially the 2024 Chery Tiggo8 Pro e+ deserves a closer look. Why? Well, while you may want to tag the Tiggo8 Pro e+ as “just another Chinese vehicle”, but you should know that it’s got many talents. Firstly, it is a relatively affordable mid-size SUV and is equipped with a multitude of features, some luxury, and secondly, it has a plug-in hybrid powertrain, which means that together, the Pro e+ has the ability to satisfy the many requirements of the discerning modern motorist.
But even at a reasonable AED 135k for the Pro e+, it’s not too small a number that you can take a chance on. So, for your due consideration, here are the highs and lows of the 2024 Chery Tiggo8 Pro e+.
Tiggo: The origins of the name
Chinese manufacturers have the habit of creating names by combining two or more words. The Tiggo, for example, is the portmanteau of the words ‘Tiger’, which emphasizes power and agility, and ‘Go’ which emphasizes athleticism and urgency.
Exterior: Casual chic; details reminiscent of luxury models
In terms of styling, Chery has chosen to go the conservative route with the Tiggo8. The silhouette is an elevated 2-box design with soft-edged surfaces – nothing too fancy to bring you to the edge of your seat nor something too jarring to throw you off your couch. It does capture some attention with the chrome-embellished floating front grille and LED headlamps which are cradled in DRLs (a bit like an Infiniti’s rear lamps). The fancy LED tail lamps too, which stretch the vehicle’s width, look like an Audi Q8’s units. And finally, the dual-tone 18-inch wheels also add a splash of style to scale up the outlook. Overall, it is a design that prioritizes function over form and will leave your neighbors mildly amused, but not necessarily envious.
As you click the unlock button to enter the front logo illuminates and the puddle lamps come on (evident after dark) and as you enter, a voice message welcomes you. It’s unique, the latter especially, but unless they integrate it with AI, the novelty can quickly wear off.
Interior: Luxury look, feel and features
Like many Chinese car interiors, this too exudes a sense of luxury in all parts of the cabin with a clean, modern aesthetic and technological inclusions. The cool dual 12.3-inch screens encapsulated into one, for instrumentation and infotainment, form the primary focal point. While the dashboard’s faux wood trim (underlined by a padded surface), brown diamond quilted seats (with pillowy headrests) and satin finish switchgear elevate the interior further. All of this along with the soft touch plastics at key touch points makes a case for calling it a luxury vehicle. Furthermore, the flat-bottom steering wheel with its tactile controls are a sporty, yet practical touch and so is the toggling shift lever. However, the steering wheel is slightly off centre, meaning it is not aligned with the driver’s seat. Also, the slightly creaking front tray cover is an indication of hidden cost cutting measures. As for storage, besides cupholders there is a very convenient under console area, good for a handbag and a hook near the glove box for grocery bags. The spouses will be very happy.
The room at the rear is good, but not great. The seats are genuinely comfy, but the bottoms could have been higher especially since there’s plenty of head room even for 6 footers. And it does have that functional 3rd row, in case you have family of up to seven; and a panoramic sunroof which can be operated via the ‘Hey Chery’ voice assistant, which is sort of a party piece.
Technology-wise, it is very connected with easy access to an USB-A, USB-C and a 50W wireless phone charger. It also comes equipped with Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The instrument screen is also capable of displaying an fancy graphical representation of the road (like Teslas) which works with ADAS, except we did notice a few ghost cars (non-existent) in the adjacent lanes. The 8-speaker Sony system, with Burmester-like metallic speaker covers performs with clarity and puts out decent decibels and last but not least, the A/C worked well during our test duration, but we noticed that the controls get washed out under the sun.
The boot is a befitting size, optimized for a family of five (but not for 7). It has a tonneau cover and two additional under floor trays for keeping things out of plain sight, which is where the charging connectors can be stowed.
Drivetrain & drive: Adequately potent and frugal with one caveat, traction management
Much like a luxury vehicle, the Tiggo8 has a covered engine bay and under it is a 1.5 TGDI motor. Together with the 2 electric motors it puts down decent sums of 241 PS and 510 Nm of torque, but having it sent to the front wheels only is a bit of a miss. Flooring the throttle pedal gets you going in an impressive manner but with a lot of screechy front tyres, which goes to show the traction control systems need a slight recalibration. On our daily drives, we found that the Pro e+ nicely manages ride and handling for its size and purpose without excelling in either, thanks to the McPherson strut upfront and multi-link rear setup. Even braking (within legal speeds) was observed to be mostly linear and consistent and thanks to having disc brakes all around.
As for fuel economy, which is the main draw for plug-in hybrid vehicles like this, know that it has a claimed electric-only range of 75 kms which sure can come handy. So, if you’re drive involves low-speed city crawling and you can get it charged using the 3-pin home connector, you can go for weeks without refueling. In hybrid mode it did between 12 and 15 km/l.
For safety’s sake, there are some practical features, like the car doesn’t move if the seat belts are not on and when on the move the navigation doesn’t take typed destinations, only voice instructions. It also got 9 airbags and all those blind spot and lane departure-related ADAS features.
Verdict: A versatile mid-size SUV with luxury features that lacks a little finesse, excusable at its price.
The 2024 Chery Tiggo8 Pro e+ is expectedly a proper mid-size SUV, designed for the city, that manages to do a lot, without burning a hole in your pocket. Its causally chic, both inside and out. It’s spacious and equipped like a luxury vehicle. But it lacks a certain finesse, the steering wheel is slightly off centre, ‘ghost cars’ appear on screen and the FWD system struggles to maintain traction under heavy throttle. Also, being new to the market, reliability and residual value are left to the roll of the dice. I’d say, go take it out for a test drive. This will also give you an excuse to check out its all-wheel drive ICE sibling, the Tiggo8 Pro MAX.
GOOD – Casual chic; space & functionality; exceptionally equipped; value; 75 km EV range
BAD – Off-centre steering; ghost cars on ADAS; torque management; questionable reliability and residual value
EDITOR’S RATING – 7/10 stars
SPECIFICATIONS
Body type – 7-seater; 5-door mid-size SUV
Engine – Front-engine; turbo1.5-litre 4-cylinder + 2 electric motors with 19.27 kWh battery; front-wheel drive
Transmission – 3DHT
Peak output – 241 hp (system total); 154 hp @ 5,600 rpm + 74 hp + 94 hp (electric motors)
– 510 Nm (system total); 230 Nm + 160 Nm + 155 Nm
0 to 100km/h – 7.6 seconds (claimed)
Top speed – 180 km/h (drag limited; estimated)
Fuel economy – 62 km/L (claimed); 12 – 15 km/L (estimated)
Price – Starting at AED 98,500; AED 134,500 (Pro e+)
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