The new Chery Tiggo 7 CSH PHEV has officially touched down in South Africa, arriving as the local market’s most affordable plug-in hybrid. Here’s what it will cost you…
The new Chery Tiggo 7 CSH PHEV has officially launched as South Africa’s most affordable plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), undercutting a likewise freshly launched contender from a fellow Chinese brand.
Seemingly dropping the “Pro” and “Pro Max” suffixes used by purely petrol-powered Tiggo 7 derivatives in Mzansi, Chery’s first PHEV in South Africa is available in 2 grades: Plus and Ultra. Each is powered by a turbocharged 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine mated with an electric motor that draws power from an 18.3 kWh battery pack.
According to Chery, this front-wheel-drive PHEV powertrain’s total system outputs stand at 265 kW and 530 Nm of torque, with the battery pack facilitating a claimed all-electric range of 93 km (which, in turn, ostensibly pushes the total single-tank range to 1 200 km).
The Chinese automaker claims a fuel-consumption figure of 4.9 L/100 km, while suggesting the lithium-iron phosphate battery pack can be fully recharged in as little as 45 minutes when using a DC fast charger (or “between 4 and 8 hours” when plugged into an AC charger).
So, what does it cost? Well, the new Chery Tiggo 7 1.5T CSH PHEV Plus is priced at R619 900, which sees it undercut the recently launched BYD Sealion 6 Comfort (R639 900) by R20 000 to seize the title of South Africa’s most affordable PHEV. In addition, Chery says it will offer this derivative at an “introductory launch price” of R599 900 for the opening 3 months.
Meanwhile, the Chery Tiggo 7 1.5T CSH PHEV Ultra is priced at R679 900, seeing it positioned just below the recently introduced Jaecoo J7 1.5T SHS PHEV (R689 900). As a reminder, Omoda & Jaecoo fall under the Chery Group.
Both the Plus and the Ultra grades feature 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED headlamps, LED taillights, LED daytime running lights, rear foglamps, leather upholstery, a 6-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, push-button start, wireless smartphone charging and dual 12.3-inch displays (comprising a digital instrument cluster and a touchscreen).
Parking sensors (fore and aft) and a 540-degree camera system are also included for both grades. The flagship Ultra specification additionally boasts items like front foglamps, a panoramic sunroof and a power-operated tailgate, along with a memory function, heating and ventilation for the driver’s seat.
The front passenger seat in the Ultra gains 4-way power adjustment, heating and ventilation, while an electro-chromatic rearview mirror and a negative-ion air purification system are also included. Where the Plus grade features a 6-speaker audio system, the Ultra upgrades to an 8-speaker Sony arrangement, while also scoring an ambient lighting system.
Safety features standard on both derivatives include dual-front, side-front, side-curtain, front inter-seat and driver’s knee airbags, along with blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear-collision warning, reverse cross-traffic brake, a driver-monitoring system and a multi-collision braking system.
The Ultra further adds adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, emergency lane keeping, lane-departure prevention, intelligent high-beam control, traffic congestion assist, integrated cruise assist and lane-change assist.
See Our Exclusive Launch PricingSource: Cars.co.za