2024 Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ | Car Review | All-in-one package

It may have seemed far-fetched a few years ago, but the Philippine automotive market has reached a point where fully-electric vehicles are becoming a normal sight, especially those from Chinese brands as they are more accessible with affordable pricing while still providing a feature-packed package.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on where you stand, going the EV route is still not for everyone. That’s where hybrid electric vehicles come in. 

One kind is the plug-in hybrid or PHEV which further bridges the gap between full EVs and hybrids. You still fill-up on fuel, but you can also recharge like an EV. Not only that, you get even more range. One such vehicle is the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ which we recently had for a week. 

Let’s start talking about it with its design as this is an area that the Tiggo 8 Pro in general shines in, whether ICE or PHEV. 

On the outside, it wears a very premium and aggressive looking front fascia, characterized by the brand’s signature Diamond Galaxy front grille and LED headlights with L-shaped DRLs. The rear is also set apart from the rest of the lineup with its LED taillights with clear lenses. It rides on 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels wrapped in Cooper tires.

Overall, the exterior is very understated. It looks good, it looks premium, but without catching too much unwanted attention.

Open the doors and the Tiggo 8 Pro e+ greets you with a very premium looking cabin. The dashboard is sleek with horizontal lines and curves, and is covered in soft-touch surfaces. Everything feels solid and well-built which is common with pretty much every Chery vehicle we’ve tried-outs.

The only thing we don’t like? The piano black plastics which are just a bit too much…no…too much.

For those who like screens, this has plenty. There’s a single panel that houses the 12.3-inch digital driver’s display and 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system (which comes with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity), as well as a separate 8-inch climate control touchscreen. I’m not a fan but it is easier to use than I expected. 

Everyone will also enjoy the eight-speaker Sony audio system which is probably the best sound system you can get from any Chinese car in our market today.

Space and comfort will never be an issue here as there is enough space for seven occupants (including the driver). The seats are wrapped in leatherette upholstery with a fancy-feeling quilted pattern (Nappa leather is oddly reserved for the base variant), while front and outer rear seat occupants will enjoy the butterfly headrests which are similar to what you would find in an airplane. 

I do think that the front seats may be a bit too wide for someone my size, but I guess that helps it cater to a wider (hehe) range of body sizes. Also, we’ve taken the Tiggo 8 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro e+ on a good amount of road trips and never had any issues with comfort.

And in case you’re wondering what else you can get, other standard features here are a wireless phone charger, a power tailgate with hands-free function, ventilated and heated seats, and a panoramic sunroof. Is there anything else you want?

Just something to note, there is already a facelifted version in China, featuring a slightly redesigned exterior with a new front grille and new Chery logos, new alloy wheel designs, and a new set of LED taillights that form a lightbar. The interior has also been redesigned with a completely new dashboard and center console.

Powering the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ and hidden underneath some plastic covers is the combination of a 1.5-liter Inline 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine and dual electric motors with 55 and 70 kW of power (respectively), as well as a 19.27 kWh lithium-ion battery. All-in-all, this combination produces a total of 320 horsepower and 545 Nm of torque, mated to a dedicated hybrid transmission or DHT.

Once you get on the road, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ will perform depending on what driving mode you’re on. It can drive in full electric power, or with both ICE and electric power combined depending on what’s needed.

Power and torque delivery will not be an issue at all as the combined force of the internal combustion engine and the electric motors will give you EV-like performance. 

I’ve tried doing a 0 to 100 kph acceleration run a couple years back when we tested this out with Chery Auto Philippines. That returned about seven to eight seconds, give or take, which is really good for a vehicle in this size category. You will also find the front tires spinning when pushed hard thanks to the large amounts of torque.

As for NVH insulation, Chery has done a seemingly good job here. First, you can barely feel the engine coming to life when it turns on making it feel very seamless. You’ll only find out through a faint vibration which most occupants will not notice. Road and wind noise is also well insulated.

Ride quality on the other hand, is a tad on the firm side. I don’t really mind this as it helps keep the vehicle from bouncing around and wallowing on bumpier sections of road, something that won’t be very comfortable. After all, it’s able to soak up most road imperfections with no issue.

No car is perfect though as there are a few things about the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ that I noticed. For instance, the vehicle seems to have some squeaks while driving. Also noticeable is the sound of chassis flex when moving up ramps while turning.

Also when pushed hard, the vehicle tends to have a bit of jerkiness which reminds us of the dual-clutch transmission of its ICE-powered variants. It’s not bad but it is noticeable. Smoother inputs to the accelerator will help eliminate this.

I also think that this crossover can improve on the handling aspect. Granted that this isn’t a sports car, the steering feels a bit too artificial for me. This is made apparent by its self-centering tendencies after taking a turn. It is a given though that body roll is noticeable in a vehicle of this size so I won’t be complaining about that.

And while generally excellent in terms of visibility, drivers will have to get used to the panoramic rear-view mirror which shows more of the vehicle occupants rather than the vehicle or view behind.

But going back to the good stuff, fuel economy is the strongest suit of the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+. In mixed driving conditions, we were able to achieve as much as 40 km/l. Pure highway driving did bring that figure down to just 20 km/l because of the engine running more. On electricity consumption, we saw a figure of 3.0 kWh/100 km for the battery in HEV mode and 14.0 kWh/100 km in full EV mode. 

Do note though that you’ll have to manage the vehicle’s electronics if you want to make the most of full EV driving. For instance, just reversing out of an outdoor charging station took out one kilometer of range. At that time, I had the air conditioning in full blast thanks to the extreme heat at the time. Its EV driving range is estimated at 75 kilometers, by the way. Combining both hybrid and EV modes brings this up to an estimated 950 kilometers.

As for charging the battery, that shouldn’t be a problem as the Tiggo 8 Pro e+ is compatible with most of the country’s charging network with its Type 2 charging port and capability of taking in 7.0 kW of power. I charged it from 50% to a full 100% in less than an hour, time I spent working out in the gym.

Now when it comes to safety, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ is equipped with a laundry list of driver aids. Just to name a few, we have adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist, and blind spot monitoring. 

These are the most commonly used and I’ll just say that they work fine. They can definitely be better, especially the lane keep assist, but after all, these features are here to assist the driver and not to drive the vehicle autonomously.

Priced at Php 2,698,000, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ may seem to cost an arm and a leg. But if you take a deep dive into what it is and what it provides you, plus the savings you can achieve in the long run, then this is actually an excellent choice.

Minor gripes aside, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ gives you everything you can ever ask for in a vehicle, provides you with tons of performance, and brings you around in utmost comfort and style. All these things are hard to get in one single package, and this midsize crossover makes it an all-in-one.

Not only that, it also serves as a perfect bridge to electrified ownership for those who are still hesitant, or simply cannot go full electric due to lifestyle or location–to experience the benefits of such kind of vehicle ownership.

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2024 Chery Tiggo 8 Pro e+ | Key Information

Engine	1.5-liter Inline 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine + dual electric motors + 19.27 kWh lithium-ion battery
Output	320 horsepower, 545 Nm of torque
Transmission	Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT)
Drivetrain	Front-wheel drive
Seating Capacity	7 (including driver)
Driver Assistance	Adaptive Cruise Control, Front Collision Warning, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Door Opening Warning, Blind Spot Detection, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Intelligent High-Beam Control, Rear Cross Traffic Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, Traffic Jam Assist, Integrated Cruise Assist
Price	Php 2,698,000 (as of September 2024)
Pros	Feature-packed, very premium and comfortable interior, fuel-efficient
Cons	Steering feel could be improved, Ride is a bit firm, Too much piano black plastics