Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P 2026 Review

You’d think a brand barely a year old would struggle for traction within a market as oversaturated and competitive as Australia’s new-car marketplace. Yet, using August 2026 as an example, Omoda Jaecoo as a brand outsold the likes of Nissan, Subaru and Volkswagen individually.

The lion’s share of those sales can be attributed to the J5, but the feat shouldn’t go unnoticed. Neither ought the fact that the newly added 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P offers an economical but powerful plug-in hybrid powertrain, seven seats and brimming spec for $59,990 plus on-road costs (ORCs).

Jaecoo can do this because it’s an exporting offshoot of Chinese parent company Chery. Therefore, the J8 utilises Chery’s modular vehicle architecture but drapes it in different clothes and tailors the cabin to its own tastes.

If the Summit SHS-P isn’t to your liking, two five-seat, non-hybrid options are available, with the $54,990 Ridge AWD and $49,990 Track FWD – both are drive-away prices. And, of course, the Chery Tiggo 9 CSH Ultimate and Omoda 9 Virtue are closely related rivals.

Step outside the Chery sphere and the venerable, albeit plugless, Hyundai Santa Fe is hard to go past, as is the Kia Sorento PHEV. BYD’s Sealion 8 is also worth a look.

The 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P cuts an imposing silhouette. It isn’t a shrinking violet, either, with the marque’s name on show within the signature ‘waterfall grille’. While other brands are opting for sharp, angular lines, the J8 is the opposite.

There’s so much standard kit that it’s hard to list it all. However, the highlights are 20-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin tyres (245/50 R20), automatic projector LED headlights with automatic high-beam, LED taillights, heated, power-folding exterior mirrors, a panoramic sunroof with sunshade, powered tailgate, proximity entry and remote start.

Inside, genuine quilted cowhide is used as a nod to its premium touch. The front seats offer heating, ventilation and a massage function, while the driver gains eight-way power adjustment, including lumbar and memory, with six-way adjustment for the passenger. The outboard pews in the middle row also gain heating and ventilation.

Other features include a powered steering column, dual-zone climate control with built-in fragrance system, colour-selectable ambient lighting, electronic door releases with manual failsafes, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, rear privacy glass, black suede headliner and third-row seating.

Ocean Blue, the colour of our test car, is the only included paint, with Iridium Silver, Arctic White and Carbon Black available for an additional $700.

Placing faith in an emerging brand isn’t always easy, but the J8 Summit SHS-P comes with an eight-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with the high-voltage battery gaining the same coverage. Eight years of roadside assistance is also included if you service with the brand.

Check-ups at the dealership are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first, while eight years of capped-price servicing applies. However, it’s on the pricier side, with a total of $3881.58 for the eight years/120,000km, or $485 on average per annum.

An ANCAP safety rating is yet to be determined for the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P, but with the amount of safety gear included, you’d assume it’ll score highly once tested.

Active systems include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, traffic-jam assist, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning with active lane-keeping, head-up display, safe-exit warning and rear cross-traffic alert. Aiding parking are front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and a 360-degree around-view monitor.

Yes, the J8 Summit SHS-P does use driver-attention monitoring, but it isn’t too intrusive. The road-sign recognition can be permanently silenced, which is a good thing as it often reads speeds incorrectly. Unfortunately, the active lane-keeping is a little too active while using cruise control.

An issue that might rule out the J8 as your seven-seat family SUV is the fact that none of the 10 airbags extends to the third row – not even the curtain airbags. Plus, only the middle pews gain ISOFIX points (two) and top-tether anchorages (three).

In terms of screens, the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P doesn’t offer the oversized 15.6-inch unit found in the Chery Tiggo 9. However, the J8’s dual 12.3-inch displays work well, with clean graphics and day/night modes.

The infotainment is responsive to touch inputs and offers handy drop-down and swipe-up menus. The former houses customisable widgets for quick access to things like safety systems and drive modes (HEV and EV), while the latter docks the climate controls at the bottom.

It isn’t an immediately familiar operating system, so it does take time to learn. Yet, it’s one of the easier Chinese infotainment suites to master. It’s also handy having the energy-flow meter and access to the various battery/charge options, including vehicle-to-load (V2L).

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, while a ventilated 50W wireless charging pad keeps your devices powered up. Navigation is also included, as are an AM/FM tuner, DAB+ digital radio, Bluetooth, head-up display and intelligent voice command (Hello Jaecoo).

A highlight of the package is the Sony sound system. It comprises 12 speakers, including two in the driver’s head restraint for phone calls, and produces acoustics to please most audiophiles.

It’s a complex set-up. So, for those who only care about the important bit, the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P is endowed with 315kW and 580Nm – which is a lot.

A turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine uses its 105kW/215Nm to both power the front wheels and recharge the sizeable, for a PHEV, 34kWh lithium-ion NCM battery pack. And then there are three electric motors.

The two up front produce 75kW/170Nm and 90kW/220Nm apiece, while the e-motor mounted on the rear axle is rated at 175kW/310Nm. That third e-motor essentially creates all-wheel drive, while a three-speed dedicated hybrid transmission, branded 3DHT, is called upon.

With so many different power sources, it can take a minute for them to catch up to your throttle inputs. And there’s a constant little jig just on take-off. However, when the SHS-P powertrain has sufficient charge and gets up to speed, it hauls in a way a 2275kg SUV has no right to.

The 0-100km/h time of 5.8 seconds is believable. Yet, it feels most robust at overtaking speeds, with plenty of torque to pull the seven-seater out of corners and up inclines as if they weren’t even there. With electric assistance, the days of asthmatic SUVs are well and truly over.

Refinement is also appreciably good, as you rarely hear the petrol engine working away as a generator or providing drive to the front wheels.

The 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P is notably efficient. Yet, while the headline total range of more than 1000km is realistic, the NEDC-quoted EV range of 169km and average fuel consumption of 1.2L/100km aren’t quite as feasible.

Drawing power from a sizeable 34kWh lithium-ion NCM battery pack, we couldn’t manage more than 129km before the Jaecoo flicked out of its dedicated EV mode and into HEV. Our average energy consumption number hovered around 20.5kWh/100km, which is close to the brand’s NEDC claim of 19.3kWh/100km.

Unless you’re heavily relying on keeping the NCM battery charged, achieving 1.2L/100km is a pipe dream. Our realistic average using HEV mode came to 5.6L/100km, which is still impressive for an SUV of this size and weight.

However, the SHS-P system can perform a few tricks, like recharging the battery up to 80 per cent on the run. This sees fuel use skyrocket to about 12.0L/100km, though, meaning you’ll drain the 70L tank of 95RON premium unleaded faster. Still, it’s useful to be able to hold or gain charge for certain driving situations.

If you hook up to a DC public station, the J8 Summit SHS-P will replenish at a rate of 70kW – going from 30–80 per cent takes 25 minutes. The maximum AC rate is 6.6kW, meaning 10–100 per cent occurs in 5.5 hours. There are three levels of regenerative braking.

This is where the ‘but’ hits.

Look, it’s comfortable and workable for most buyers, but the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P displays an acute lack of body control. However, it depends on which driving mode you’re in, with the Continuous Damping Control (CDC) providing vastly different responses.

In both Eco and Normal modes, the adaptive shock absorbers are underdamped, meaning there’s too much rebound through both mid-corner and straight-line undulations. For example, if you go over a speed bump, it takes longer for the car to regain composure.

The MacPherson-strut front and multi-link rear suspension is also quite soft, with noticeable roll through corners. To counter this, you can swivel the drive-mode selector into Sport. This automatically firms the dampers and increases body control – it’s more in line with the passive set-up used by the Chery Tiggo 9 CSH Ultimate.

However, that’s only if you can deal with the stiffer response to sharp potholes on unkempt surfaces – the J8’s on 20-inch wheels, remember. It would also be handy to have an Individual mode to manipulate the suspension separately from the steering and powertrain, because both are best left out of Sport for everyday driving comfort.

There’s no true one-pedal driving with the regenerative braking. Although, depending on which of the three levels of recuperation you choose, the response is quite different. In the strongest setting, the pedal is ultra-eager and takes time to adjust to. Otherwise, the laxest level returns a more natural feel and progression.

Ultimately, what the J8 Summit SHS-P does best will suit a range of buyers by favouring softness over control. Additionally, the 4.8-metre Jaecoo is easy to manoeuvre within city limits, while the well-suppressed noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels and yielding suspension make long journeys less taxing.

Plus, it has all-wheel drive to harness most of the prodigious power, and the premium Michelin tyres provide positive purchase in all weather conditions.

Interestingly, the SHS-P also receives an electronic locking rear differential and off-road driving modes (Snow, Sand and Off-road). However, we assume most owners won’t venture off tarmac. The 1600kg braked towing capacity will be of more use.

There’s so much monetary chatter, but the price of the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P shouldn’t be its only defining aspect because the cabin is a very nice place to be.

If you were to do the badge test by covering the scant Jaecoo branding inside, we think most punters would be hard-pressed to pinpoint the J8 Summit’s origins. The design is removed from the generic, minimalist aesthetic usually used by Chinese marques.

It’s very much inspired by Mercedes-Benz. Jaecoo has its own version of the famous turbine air vents, while the switchgear for the powered front seats looks as though it’s come straight out of Stuttgart. Oh well, imitation is the highest form of flattery and all…

Although, that’s doing the J8 Summit SHS-P’s styling a bit of a disservice, as it is a genuinely swish place to be. And it looks amazing at night with the ambient lighting. The only quality issues are a few misaligned panels, while vision out the back is massively impeded by the second-row head restraints.

The built-in fragrance system offers three preloaded scent cartridges across a trio of profiles through the HVAC system – although, we’re not sure what ‘Sport’ is supposed to smell like…

Dimensionally, the J8 isn’t the biggest seven-seat SUV, being 4820mm long, 1930mm wide and 1715mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2820mm. This means the rear two rows must accommodate each other. The sliding and reclining middle seats make this easier.

The central and B-pillar-mounted air vents are appreciated, while amenities are covered by dedicated fan-speed controls, USB ports, map pockets and bottle holders. It’s a spacious place to be, too, with plenty of headroom and legroom.

That changes with the third row occupied. Merely getting back there requires some gymnastics, as the second row doesn’t quite slide and tilt forward enough – and it’s only available on the driver’s side, which opens up to traffic. Once seated, there isn’t a lot of headroom on offer, while the high floor leads to a knees-up position. Essentially, the J8 Summit SHS-P is more of a 5+2 seating arrangement.

Manually stow the 50/50-split back seats flat and the boot capacity is a generous 738 litres. With them in place, there’s still 200L of cargo capacity, which is workable. There is underfloor storage, but no frunk or space-saver spare.

It’s hard to argue against the metal for your money here. Although, the 2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P goes further than that with a brimming list of equipment, perceived luxury and efficient plug-in hybrid performance.

It seems facetious to quibble when the $60K asking price is so agreeable, but the J8 isn’t perfect. Body control is lacking at times, and the curtain airbags don’t extend to the rearmost seats – which are also hard to access and tight on space.

Still, the J8 Summit SHS-P’s attributes outweigh its detractions. Jaecoo has crafted an upmarket product at a price legacy brands can’t match. And to think Jaecoo made its official debut Down Under on May 6, 2025.

2026 Jaecoo J8 Summit SHS-P at a glance:
Price: $59,990 plus on-road costs
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 105kW/215Nm (front electric motor: 150kW/310Nm; rear electric motor: 175kW/310Nm)
Combined output: 315kW/580Nm
Transmission: Three-speed dedicated hybrid (3DHT)
Battery: 34kWh lithium-ion NCM
Range: 169km (NEDC)
Energy consumption: 19.3kWh/100km (NEDC)
Fuel: 1.2L/100km (ADR)
CO2: 28g/km
Safety rating: Not tested

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