First Drive: Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV CSH – 1,200 km Around Peninsular Malaysia!

The Chery Tiggo 7 (left) & Tiggo 8 (right) PHEV duo debuted earlier this year as two of the most affordable new PHEVs on the market.

Since its debut back in Oct this year, the Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 PHEV duo marks a few firsts. Not only are they the first two plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models launched by Chery Malaysia, but the duo are also the two most affordable new PHEVs on the market, retailing at RM129,800 for the Tiggo 7 and RM159,800 for the Tiggo 8.

Apart from their affordable prices, Chery also puts out a huge claim for the PHEV tech primed in these two SUVs, with claimed figures including a combined travel range of up to 1,200 km from a single full tank and full charge, a fuel economy rate as low as 4.9 litres per 100 km, and more.

We tested the new Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV in a 1,200 km-long drive from KL to Terengganu, Penang, and back to KL!

To put these claims to the test, we were invited by Chery Malaysia to a special long drive challenge, where we were tasked to drive the Tiggo 8 PHEV around the Peninsular Malaysia, starting from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu, Penang, and back to Kuala Lumpur again. Our mission? To get over the claimed 1,200 km mark throughout this three-day journey, and here’s how it all went…

THE CAR

Before we get to the nitty-gritty details regarding our cross-country journey, let’s recap some of the bits and pieces featured in this electrified SUV.

Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV CSH previewed at the Malaysia Autoshow 2025.

First previewed in May at the Malaysia Autoshow 2025, the Tiggo 8 PHEV is part of Chery’s Super Hybrid (CSH) product lineup. Besides being positioned as the electrified twin of the ongoing Tiggo 8 Pro, the PHEV model gets some minor design changes, including new LED headlights, redesigned front and rear bumpers, flushed door handles, as well as new 19-inch rolling stock.

Some changes also take place inside, where the T8 PHEV gets a new 15.6-inch central infotainment screen, a cleaner central console stack, a column-mounted gear selector, a 10-speaker Sony audio system, and many more. That said, the PHEV does lack some cabin equipment over its combustion twin, including both the panoramic sunroof and a powered tailgate.

But perhaps the more important upgrade lies under its hood, where the SUV adopts Chery’s proprietary CSH PHEV powertrain setup, featuring a 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbocharged petrol mill that boasts thermal efficiency of up to 44.5%. Said petrol lump is then mated to an e-motor that is integrated into its single-speed dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT), delivering a combined output of 279 PS and 365 Nm to the front wheels (FWD).

Battery-wise, this setup harnesses an 18.3 kWh LFP battery pack that grants it up to 90 km of pure electric range. As for charging, said LFP pack can accept both AC 6.6 kW and DC 40 kW charging methods, with the latter enabling it to be charged from 30% to 80% in just 19 minutes.

Combined with its sizable 60-litre fuel tank, Chery claims the whole CSH PHEV setup can deliver up to 1,200 km of comprehensive travel range, plus a decent fuel economy rate of 5.0 litres per 100 km.

All in all, the Tiggo 8 PHEV’s specs are pretty decent, as it offers superior fuel efficiency while at the same time not compromising on performance—both of which make it a better proposition than its full combustion twin, at least on paper. But how does it fare in our cross-country journey?

THE DRIVE

The journey started from Kuala Lumpur, where the first leg took us all the way to Kuala Terengganu via Kuantan in a 463 km-long drive. No rules were set on the minimum speeds, so most of us in the convoy kept the car well below the speed limit—for obvious reasons.

With the first leg mostly involving us driving through the mostly flat and straight dual carriageway of the East Coast Expressway (LPT), it gave us an opportunity to not only test out the noise, vibrations, and harshness (NVH) level of the car, but also a chance to save up on the fuel for the more crucial legs afterwards.

One thing we immediately noticed about the Tiggo 8 PHEV was how smooth and relatively quiet the whole car felt. The former was credited to the CSH PHEV system, where most of the driving, especially in low-stress conditions, is being done by the electric motor, with the engine only kicking in to fill in the gaps or during hard accelerations.

Another notable thing to highlight is the decent NVH level of the car, as we managed to record a relatively low noise level of 60 decibels inside the car. This stellar NVH suppression can be attributed to both the double-glazed acoustic windows and the Continental PremiumContact C tyres the Tiggo 8 PHEV comes standard with.

After an overnight stay in Kuala Terengganu, the second leg was perhaps the most challenging one of the three, as we were tasked with driving from the east coast all the way to Penang via the mountainous B-roads via Kelantan and the Titiwangsa mountain range—covering a total distance of 427 km.

To make matters worse, it was raining all the way from Terengganu to Kelantan, which further affected the fuel economy of our car. That said, this mountainous stretch also allowed us to test out the ride and handling quality of the Tiggo 8 PHEV, and to our surprise, this PHEV SUV handled all the corners and twisties in a pretty decent manner.

Despite its size and heavy weight, the T8 PHEV was quite stable and agile around the corners, while at the same time pretty composed in long straights and at higher speeds. We’ve been told that the Tiggo 8 PHEV did get some localised tuning for its damper setup, with Chery engineers running some real-road tests and using a certain premium European SUV as their benchmark.

As for the range, our decision to save up the fuel on the first leg was proven fruitful, as the car consumed a noticeably higher amount of fuel and battery during the second leg—again, both the rainy and hilly road conditions contributed to this result.

With almost 900 km clocked in and roughly 390 km of range left in our tank, we proceed to the final leg of the journey from Butterworth, Penang, all the way to our original starting point in Bamboo Hills, KL, at 348 km.

What was supposed to be a pretty straightforward highway cruise turned out to be a rather challenging one, as again, the weather was not on our side. As we approached Ipoh for our lunch break, rain started to fall, and traffic was also building up around the uphill section of the PLUS highway near the Menora tunnel.

As we were stuck in a traffic jam during the downhill section, we didn’t manage to recover much of the energy used during the hill climb part, thus again affecting our overall fuel consumption rate.

After three days of driving across the Peninsular Malaysia, we managed to clock in a total of 1,227.6 km, thus exceeding the targeted 1,200 km range.

But after persevering through the rainy conditions, we finally managed to reach and break the 1,200 km mark somewhere near Rawang, thus marking a success for our three-day adventure. As we arrived at the final destination, we managed to clock in a total of 1,227.6 km, which was above the minimum claimed figure set by Chery.

CONCLUSION

Our three-day journey proved that despite the bad weather conditions and multiple road surfaces, the Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV managed to clock in over 1,200 km of travel range from a single full tank and charge.

Aside from achieving the target, this drive also showcased the versatility of the Tiggo 8 PHEV as a family-friendly SUV, thanks to its three-row, seven-seat configuration, decent list of cabin amenities, and both comfortable and quiet drive.

At just RM159,800, the Tiggo 8 PHEV also showed that plug-in hybrid technologies aren’t exclusive to premium European brands anymore, thus allowing more Malaysians to enjoy and try them out. And from our experience, it has shown that the Chery Super Hybrid system is one of the most efficient and versatile PHEV setups available on the market.

To further sweeten the deal, Chery Malaysia is now offering both the Tiggo 7 and 8 PHEV with a special RM5,000 rebate, plus an extended battery warranty package valued at RM3,000, which now covers up to 10 years or 200,000 km compared to the original 8-year or 160,000 km coverage given at launch.