Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban 2026 Review

As far as five-seat, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUVs go, the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban is one of the cheapest in the market at $39,990 drive away. Regardless of the Chery Super Hybrid’s (CSH) proclaimed attributes, that alone will lure punters into the showroom.

If you’ve got a little more in the piggy bank to spend, the PHEV range tops out at $43,990 d/a with the Ultimate. The Chery is technically undercut by the $37,490 Geely Starray EM-i Complete. However, that figure is before on-road costs, meaning unless you haggle hard, it’s going to be more expensive to park in your driveway.

Other options include the BYD Sealion 6, GWM Haval H6, Leapmotor C10 REEV, MG HS Super Hybrid and the Jaecoo J7 SHS – which is a spinoff brand within the Chery group. Speaking of, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid offers the same powertrain, just in a bigger and more luxe form if you can stretch to $46k.

Ultimately, the value-for-money equation is strong with the CSH when comparing it against PHEV rivals from other Chinese brands. And it only grows compared to legacy marques with the likes of the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. However, it’s $10k more expensive than the equivalent non-hybrid Tiggo 7 variants on which they’re based.

So, it worth the spend?

Design is subjective, but the style of the 18-inch alloys fitted to the lower-grade is polarising. In fact, in our time with the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban, some punters even mistook them for hubcaps. As for the rest of the aesthetic, there are slight changes over the petrol variants front and rear, while a gloss-black C-pillar features.

Sweetening the sub-$40k deal is the Urban’s list of standard kit which is highlighted by those 18-inch alloys as well as projector-type LED headlights, LED daytime running lights and rear LED brake lights. There’s also keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control and synthetic leather upholstery.

In terms of seating, the driver’s pew offers six-way power adjustment (manual for the passenger), while there’s also dual-zone climate control, auto headlights and wipers, a shark fin antenna and roof rails as standard. Seat heating/ventilation and a panoramic sunroof are part of the goodies added in the Ultimate grade.

There are five paint colours to choose from, with only one being offered at no cost. The rest, like our Turquoise Blue metallic tester, come at a $600 premium.

In terms of warranty, Chery’s offering is more than competitive at seven years and unlimited kilometres. The high-voltage battery is covered by an eight-year/unlimited kilometre plan and seven years of roadside assistance is thrown in, too – if you service your Tiggo 7 with a certified dealer.

Those visits are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km, with pricing working out to be $3174.15 across seven years ($453.45 on average). That’s on the pricier side, primarily due to service six at 90,000km being $1291.31, so saving up for that one is advised.

While the petrol-only variants are covered by a five-star ANCAP safety rating, the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid models are yet to be tested. Still, they are fitted with the same safety suite, including eight airbags, ISOFIX points and top-tether anchorages.

Active tech includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB), active cruise control with stop/go functionality, lane departure warning with steering intervention, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert with AEB, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

Not all the safety tech is standard, however, the Urban missing out on a 360-degree camera and front parking sensors.

Yet, Chery must be commended for the 180-degree flip it’s made on the calibration of items like road sign recognition, driver monitoring and lane keeping. For starters, if you turn certain systems off, they stay off. Amazing. And you can glance away from the straight ahead without the driver monitoring instantly admonishing you.

It makes a huge, positive difference to how you exist with the Tiggo 7 CHS.

Dual 12.3-inch screens fill the dash of the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban – the same as you get in the top spec.

The digital instrument cluster offers clear information, but a lack of customisation will frustrate some buyers. As will the intuitiveness of the central touchscreen, which isn’t as responsive as some. Other than that, the operating system is relatively easy to use with drop-down menus and clean graphics.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, as is voice control (simply say, ‘Hey Chery’), Bluetooth, DAB+ digital radio, USB ports and a six-speaker stereo – the Ultimate upgrades to an eight-speaker Sony system. Unfortunately, the Urban doesn’t gain a wireless charge pad and neither Tiggo 7 grade is fitted with native sat-nav.

There’s some genuine tech nous going on underneath the bonnet of the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Ultimate. Not only is economy boosted by the hybrid assistance, so is the performance.

Taking care of the traditional internal combustion is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with 105kW and 215Nm. That might not sound like much, but it’s paired with significant electric assistance totalling 150kW and 310Nm. Both power sources send drive through a single speed ‘dedicated hybrid transmission’ to the front wheels only.

Primarily set up as a parallel hybrid system, meaning the petrol engine and e-motor can motivate the wheels directly, solely or in collaboration, it can also transfer to mimic a series hybrid’s behaviour. That’s because it tries to rely on EV propulsion as much as possible, with the petrol engine also acting as a generator for the e-motor.

When it isn’t relying on that, there’s a hefty 18.4kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery pack to supply current. At any price point it’s a relatively sophisticated and refined arrangement, which makes it even more impressive that it resides in a sub-$40 grand SUV.

It works rather seamlessly, too… most of the time. There’s only some vocal protest from the 1.5-litre engine when the system is tasked with heavy acceleration. Select EV mode and it will vehemently adhere to that up to 120km/h, while HEV mode is a mixture of both power sources.

While Chery doesn’t supply combined outputs, there’s more than a pep in the Tiggo 7’s step, making nipping in and out of traffic easy and highway overtakes less stressful given the reassuring shove underfoot. Although sometimes it’s a little too much, which we'll get to in a moment.

Given the Chinese marque proclaims a 1200km range, you could literally drive ‘out the back o’ Bourke’ and across the border to Queensland from Melbourne on a single tank – hypothetically.

The other theoretical is the claimed average consumption of 1.4L/100km. That’s based on the assumption you always have full battery percentage for each 100km. Chery also projects that the CSH will drive 93km on EV power alone, although that’s based on the less stringent NEDC rating.

So, we did exactly 100km after starting with a full charge. The route comprised 29.5km of city/urban driving, with the rest a combination of freeways and highways at the national limit of 110km/h. The result was 1.9L/100km, which is extraordinary. A little less so was the 71.9km covered using the e-motor alone.

By the time the trip odo stopped at slightly less than 250km, the average rose to 4.1L/100km, which is still impressive for a 1788kg SUV. For context, the battery retained 25 per cent charge, which it dropped down to within the first 100km, and we didn’t force the petrol engine to recharge the battery pack during the run.

However, even when choosing to do that on a subsequent drive, the average marker doesn’t creep to more than 6.0L/100km – which is a noteworthy achievement given what we’ve achieved with a Hyundai Tucson and Subaru Forester in previous testing.

DC ‘fast’ charging handles a rate of 40kW, which results in a 30-80 per cent charge in about 20 minutes. Otherwise, a 6.6kW AC connection requires around 2.5 hours for full replenishment, while there’s also three levels of regenerative braking.

Another bonus is the 60-litre tank accepts cheaper 91RON unleaded petrol, while the Tiggo 7 CSH also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability of up to 3.3kW.

The first thing you’ll have to wrap your head around when hopping in the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban is the fact that you don’t turn it on. Yep, there’s no key barrel or starter button. Being seated with your foot on the brake pedal gets things going.

Within city limits the Chery drives normally and is quite pleasant to live with. Vision out is good and for the most part, noise, vibration and harshness levels are reasonably suppressed. The light steering and manageable dimensions will also make it easy to handle for most drivers.

However, there are some limitations to enjoying time behind the wheel. Riding on a conventional independent suspension setup (MacPherson struts up front and multi-links at the rear), the ride quality is firm at any speed. It isn’t crashy, but the stiff springs result in the Tiggo 7 skipping over road imperfections rather than absorbing them.

The CSH’s front axle and Maxxis Victra Sport 5 rubber also can’t handle the combined hybrid grunt. Take off swiftly and the tyres will chirp, sending a bit of torque steer through the steering, too. The lack of confident traction only increases on a wet surface. It would benefit from all-wheel drive, but that would also jack up the price.

The steering itself returns odd sensations, with some kickback over bumps as well. It’s very vague on-centre, which never really improves, despite the weight changing through the Eco, Normal and Sport modes. The regeneration system also results in a stiff, inconsistent brake pedal.

Although, it’s great to be able to decide how you use the battery – you can even save a certain percentage of charge through the three settings (Initial, Smart and Power) withing the Power Management function.

The gear selector can also be finicky – making it easy to select Neutral. And while there’s 184mm of ground clearance, this isn’t an off-roading SUV. The CSH has a braked towing capacity of 750kg.

While there’s nothing groundbreaking about the interior design of the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban, it is a clean style. There’s also a level of quality, in terms of build and materials, that belies its price point.

If you’re stepping up from an SUV of a noughties or teens ilk, you’ll think it’s Christmas on every drive. Only the fake leather and some scratchier plastics point to the cost cutting required at this price point.

The sleek visuals also extend to there being few physical dials and controls. Still, the cabin ergonomics are largely sound, save for the haptic style ‘buttons’ on the centre console for the climate settings. They’re fiddly to use and demand as much of your attention away from the road as a screen would. The multi-function steering wheel gains the same treatment.

Storage is well catered for with provisions for bigger bottles in the doors, while the lack of a wireless charging pad opens space for a phone and the open section below the centre console is handy, too. The vanity mirrors also have two stages of lighting, while the cubby between the front seats can be cooled.

Dimensionally, the Tiggo 7 CSH is appropriately sized for a medium SUV at 4535mm long, 1864mm wide and 1702mm tall. Headroom is abundant, especially without the Ultimate’s sunroof, and the 2653mm wheelbase affords plenty of legroom. Rear amenity is catered for with air vents, a single USB-A port, map pockets, bottle holders and a fold-down centre armrest.

Cargo capacity is relatively generous for the segment with 365 litres (or 549L to the roof) available, which expands with the 60/40-split folding rear seats stowed. There’s a roller cover, 12V port, bag hooks and lighting to make life easier. However, there’s no spare tyre of any kind due to the placement of the battery pack and there’s no back-row release in the boot.

If you’re in the market for an intelligent hybrid that affords you more options with how you use it, then the 2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban checks off a lot of boxes. The deal is made sweater by the sub-$40k entry point. That makes it very hard to beat.

So, the short answer is yes, but not just because of monetary matters. It is genuinely frugal at the bowser, yet you also never have to plug it in if you don’t want to in order to glean benefits from the electric assistance. In the world of plugs versus no plugs, this is getting your cake and eating it, too.

Is there still room for improvement? Yes, for sure. However, unlike some boldly named things, the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid largely lives up to its badge. 

2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban at a glance:
Price: $39,990 (drive away)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol electric
Output: 105kW/215Nm (electric motor: 150kW/310Nm)
Combined output: Not specified
Transmission: Single-speed dedicated hybrid
Battery: 18.4kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate
Range: 93km (NEDC)
Energy consumption: 16.3kWh/100km (NEDC)
Fuel: 1.4L/100km (NEDC)
CO2: 33g/km (NEDC)

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