Cheapest vs most expensive Jaecoo 7: which is the best value for money?

The Jaecoo 7 essentially came out of nowhere and shot straight to the top of the UK car sales charts. OK, so that didn’t happen overnight, and given that Jaecoo is a brand that’s part of one of China’s biggest car makers – the Chery Group – it didn’t strictly speaking come out of nowhere, but for a brand new brand to see that kind of success, so quickly, is really something.

Much of the appeal of the Jaecoo 7 for UK buyers is the fact that it’s both well-priced and well-equipped – we love nothing more than a good motoring bargain. However, while the Jaecoo 7 model lineup was originally quite small and simple, it’s now a bit more complicated, encompassing three engine options, and three trim levels.

So, which is the right Jaecoo for you? Should you go for the most basic one possible, to maximise its value for money proposition? Or should you use the financial flex of its affordable pricing to step up in spec and grab yourself some nice options?

To help with this decision, we’re going to take a look at the most affordable Jaecoo 7 model – that’ll be the Jaecoo 7 HEV SHS-H Pure hybrid – and compare it to the most expensive one – that’s the Jaecoo 7 Black Luxury 1.5 SHS plug-in hybrid.

There’s a significant £7,000 separating these two (still pretty affordable) cars, so which one comes out on top?

Prices and deals

With a price tag of £29,195, the Jaecoo 7 HEV Pure 1.5 SHS-H model is the most affordable car in the Jaecoo 7 lineup. Curiously, even though it has a technically more sophisticated hybrid engine, it’s actually around £1,000 cheaper than the basic 1.6-litre turbo petrol version, which doesn’t get any hybrid assistance at all.

At the top of the range is the Jaecoo 7 Black Luxury 1.5 SHS, which in spite of losing a letter (the -H bit) is actually far more technologically advanced, as it has a bigger battery, a plug-in function, and a useful electric-only range. In this Black Luxury spec, it costs £36,500 on the road.

Can you get either for less? Partly, yes. We were unable to track down any deals on the Pure hybrid model – it’s only been around for a few weeks though, so some discounts should start trickling through soon – but if you want that Black Luxury plug-in hybrid, there’s certainly some wiggle room.

At least if you’re prepared to forego the ‘Black’ bit (which is really just exterior styling stuff) as a Luxury-spec Jaecoo 7 SHS can be had for as little as £29,995 — it’s a pre-reg, so there’ll already be one name in the logbook (the dealer’s) but that’s close to being a match for the basic hybrid model. What a bargain.

Interior and standard equipment

The interiors of both the Jaecoo 7 Pure and the Black Luxury are broadly similar of course, but there is a difference in the big touchscreen in the centre of the dash — Pure models get a 13.2-inch screen, whereas Black Luxury versions get a bigger 14.8-inch screen, but both get the same ‘portrait’ style orientation, meaning that they stretch up and down, rather than side to side.

Space in the back and the front are the same, but the boot space differs with the SHS-H hybrid offering up to 500 litres of luggage space, while the SHS plug-in hybrid has to sacrifice some room for its bigger battery, dropping to a mere 412 litres of space (only about the same as a Vauxhall Astra hatch, for comparison’s sake).

The Pure version of the Jaecoo 7 is well-equipped, and comes with adaptive cruise control, a multi-function steering wheel, a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connections, four USB-C sockets (two in the front and two in the back), and keyless entry.

Not bad, but nothing compared to the spec highlights of the Black Luxury. Quite apart from the black exterior styling pack (no chrome, black alloy wheels, black badging, black bodykit) there’s an eight-speaker Sony stereo, a heated steering wheel to go with the heated seats, which are also ventilated, a power tailgate, a surround camera system with ‘transparent bonnet’ view, and a head-up display.

Engines, performance and running costs

Differences in equipment are to be expected, but these two Jaecoo models are very different in their engines. The basic core 1.5-litre petrol unit is the same, but the SHS-H hybrid uses a small 1.83kWh battery pack, and it’s a so-called ‘self-charging’ hybrid, with no need to plug it in. Interestingly, it actually has more power than the plug-in hybrid, 224hp compared to 204hp, and so it’s fractionally faster (8.3 seconds compared to 8.5) to get to 62mph from rest.

Both are better options, incidentally, than the 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine that’s also available — it’s coarse and thirsty, so best avoided.

Speaking of thirsty, there’s a clear on-paper winner when it comes to fuel economy here and it’s the SHS plug-in hybrid in the Black Luxury model. The official claim is that it will do a whopping 403mpg. Of course, that assumes that you’re regularly charging up the 18.3kWh battery pack and making maximal use of the potential 56 mile electric only range. The reality is that you’re more likely to get around 45mpg in real-world driving, if you’re on a long run with a flat main battery. Not bad, but not 403mpg.

At which point the SHS-H hybrid seems to come back into the running costs picture. It can potentially hit 50mpg in real-world driving, so unless you’re committed to regularly charging up the plug-in hybrid, it might actually be the better all-round option.

That said, when it comes to official CO2 emissions figures — and therefore your tax bill — there’s only one winner, with the SHS plug-in hybrid, even in loaded-up Black Luxury form, recording 23g/km compared to the SHS hybrid’s 123g/km. No contest.

Final verdict

There’s a case to be made for both cars here. On one hand, there’s the temptation to just get the cheapest version and enjoy a good bargain. Conversely, there’s a certain joy in buying a fully-stacked car, using its inherent cheapness to get you more in the way of toys.

And it’s that second option that wins the day here. The Black Luxury model has a bit more swagger and class about it and has the extra flexibility and potential fuel economy of the plug-in hybrid setup. Plus, if you shop around for pre-registered cars, you’ll probably not have to pay all that much extra for one.

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