2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid launch review

Chery Australia can add another tick to the win column with its new 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid assuming the spot of cheapest seven-seat plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) available in our market.

Despite riding on the same platform as the slightly smaller five-seat Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid (also recently taking the crown of Australia’s cheapest PHEV outright), the step up to the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid provides a lot more than simply a third row of seating.

We had a steer of the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid recently to see just how much car can be packed into such a lean price tag.

How much does the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid cost?

Sharp pricing underwrites the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid’s two-grade line-up.

Base Urban grade starts from $45,990 drive-away, with top Ultimate trim at $49,990 drive-away. This places the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid at $6000 dearer than its smaller Tiggo 7 counterpart.

Seven-seat PHEVs aren’t too common in our market, but for comparison’s sake, the Chinese-made Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid significantly undercuts the Kia Sorento PHEV ($84,660 before on-roads) and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (from $57,290 plus on-roads).

A seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty covers the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid, with a capped-price servicing package available covering the same duration and 105,000km for $3174.15.

What is the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid like inside?

The 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid isn’t simply an upscaled, seven-seat version of the Tiggo 7, with the larger model scoring its own interior styling and design language.

A centre console-mounted gear selector is done away with, replaced with a shifter stalk on the steering column. The newfound centre console space liberates real estate for two phone holders, one providing 50 watts of wireless charging.

All remaining touch points on the centre console are driver-centric, giving access to hybrid modes and other settings. Having no physical volume control in all the freed-up space is a strange decision, meaning front passengers have to dive into the screen to make adjustments.

While on the subject, the large 15.6-inch centre screen’s native interface is not the most intuitive we’ve used, however does provide good clarity and response while wirelessly mirroring Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Chery’s voice assistant also comes as standard equipment on both grades.

Unfortunately, the screen protrudes from the dash, meaning there is nowhere to anchor the hand while accessing inputs on the lower part of the screen, such as climate. This, combined with the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid’s floaty ride – which we’ll get to later – often requires a sniper’s accuracy to hit the correct button while the car is on the move.

Chery says nearly 80 per cent of surfaces inside the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid are clad in soft-touch materials. The result is an interior that feels more premium than its price might suggest, albeit lacking some character.

All three rows are upholstered in synthetic leather. The Ultimate grade adds six-way electric adjustability for front passengers (only fitted for driver’s seat on base Urban), with heating and ventilation added to both. Front-seated passengers also score a massage function.

Front seats provide decent comfort; however support is somewhat lacking. Second-row comfort is adequate and, thanks to rails allowing the seats to slide up to 49cm fore-aft, third-row legroom is also sound.

Our biggest gripe with the Tiggo 8’s interior is that only the right-hand section of the second row pivots to allow access to the third row. All fine and dandy were Australian footpaths and kerbs on that side of a parked car, but they’re not.

The result here is third-row occupants having to either enter and exit on the traffic-facing side of the Tiggo 8, or fight their way past a section of the second row that doesn’t move enough. This is all likely a remnant of the model’s left-hand-drive market origins and an engineering oversight for right-hand-drive markets, but still hard to find an excuse for.

Further adding to confusion about the intended usability of the rear row is the absence of any top tethers. While there are curtain airbags that extend to the third row, they don’t cover the area entirely.

What equipment does the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid come with?

The 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid further distinguishes itself from its smaller Tiggo 7 counterpart with additional standard-fit equipment.

Both Urban and Ultimate trims ride on 19-inch alloy wheels, with LED headlights, taillights and daytime running lights, puddle lights and 10-speaker sound systems, a 10.25-inch driver display, and 360-degree surround camera fitted.

Ultimate grade additionally receives a head-up display, privacy glass on its rear windows and hatch, illuminated scuff panels and a panoramic sunroof (with slide and tilt).

How safe is the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid?

The 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid, at the time of writing, was untested by ANCAP.

The pure-petrol Tiggo 8 on which it’s based, however, carries a five-star score awarded in 2023. It’s likely Super Hybrid variants will score similarly when testing is conducted.

Sharing the same safety suite as the five-star-scoring Tiggo 8, the Super Hybrid variant gets nine airbags, intelligent cruise assist (combining lane-centering and adaptive cruise with stop-go functionality), autonomous emergency braking (with pedestrian and cyclist detection), lane-keep assist and a driver monitoring system.

What powers the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid?

Despite its name, Chery’s ‘Super Hybrid’ is ultimately a conventional PHEV in its bones, able to be powered by petrol, electricity, or a combination of both.

The Super Hybrid’s 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine produces 105kW and 215Nm, and is aided by a single electric motor able to output 150kW and 310Nm. Chery doesn’t cite a combined power or torque figure from the system.

An 18.3kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack can provide up to 95km of electric-only range (via the NEDC protocol) and can run without petrol assistance at speeds up to 120km/h when above 30 per cent of charge. We weren’t able to obtain a reliable real-world electric-only range on launch, but will return a verdict with later drives of the car.

Power is sent to the front wheels via as single-speed ‘dedicated hybrid transmission’, designed to switch between four drive modes to smoothly and efficiently deploy or recoup energy depending on the driving conditions.

Able to receive DC power at up to 40kW, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid charges from 30 to 80 per cent in as little as 20 minutes according to Chery.

What is the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid like to drive?

As was the case when we drove the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid’s PHEV platform proved impressive.

The system shows smoothness that wouldn’t feel out of place in a car much more expensive, with a consumption figure of 4.3L/100km seen on the onboard computer during our testing. Acceleration isn’t what you’d define as rapid, but push in the seat is adequate for normal duties.

It’s in interior comfort where the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid really differentiates itself most from its smaller, more affordable Tiggo 7 sibling, despite having a shared architecture.

Less jittering and jarring over imperfections translates into an overall improved cabin experience, with less noise and vibration making its way to occupants. The Tiggo 8 is the more comfortable long-distance tourer, especially noticeable in rearward seats.

However, this improved comfort comes at the expense of an overly soft and ‘floaty’ ride which, at best, creates a sense of disconnection from the road, and, at worse, is almost nausea-inducing on the wrong road type.

Driver assists work decently given the price point, though an overzealous driver distraction monitor had our blood pressure up a tad by the conclusion of our testing.

The Open Road’s take on the 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid

The 2026 Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid does enough to differentiate itself from the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid to not be considered simply a larger, third-row-equipped version of it.

Superior ride comfort and more standard kit make a higher cost of entry feel justified - mostly.

Unfortunately, some attributes – such as the bizarre configuration of the second row and top tether-less third row – can’t be looked past simply because of how affordable the car is. These may be dealbreakers for some buyers.

Pros: good standard kit; refined and efficient powertrain; good aftersales credentials.

Cons: rearward seating row configuration; unintuitive infotainment; unresolved ride.