The Malaysian media have just done what Chery’s marketing has been promising on paper.
In a real-world economy run around Peninsular Malaysia, a Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) managed 1,227km on a single tank of petrol and a full battery, edging past the brand’s headline 1,200km figure.
The test, held in late November, brought together 18 journalists in six cars on a loop from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu, then westward across to Prai, down to Ipoh and back to the capital.
Heavy monsoon rain threatened to derail the exercise, but the convoy largely skirted the worst of the flooding and completed the route without drama.
Chery fielded both of its new plug-in hybrid SUVs for Malaysia, the 7-seat Tiggo 8 PHEV and the smaller 5-seat Tiggo 7 PHEV.
Both use the Chery Super Hybrid (CSH) powertrain and were launched together as CKD models in October. They join the petrol-only Tiggo 8 Pro, introduced in July 2023, and Tiggo 7 Pro, launched in June 2024, which are also locally assembled.
At the results announcement in Kuala Lumpur this evening, the standout number came from a Tiggo 8 PHEV that covered 1,227km while sipping just 44.4 litres of RON95 petrol. That works out to 27.65km per litre, or 3.6 l/100km, the best of the four Tiggo 8s in the six-car convoy.
In the process, the larger and heavier 7-seater narrowly beat its Tiggo 7 PHEV sibling, which should be the more frugal model on paper.
There is an important asterisk. Chery’s quoted 1,200km combined range and 90km pure-electric figure are based on the older, more optimistic NEDC test cycle.
Using a typical conversion factor, that translates to roughly 1,200km NEDC (about 1,020km, WLTP) for combined driving and 90km NEDC (about 75km, WLTP) for electric-only use. In that light, a carefully driven 1,227km loop looks entirely plausible in hypermiling mode, but it also underlines how much discipline was involved.
Eco drive mode was the mainstay for the trip and drivers were instructed not to exceed 100kph for the entire journey.
Normal owners will not drive this way. In a typical Malaysian urban or suburban pattern, you are more likely to see 50–70km of electric running per charge, assuming you plug in at home every night.
Once the 18.3kWh pack is depleted, the Tiggo 8 PHEV behaves like a very efficient hybrid running mainly on its 1.5-litre turbo engine.
Factor in hot weather and heavy air-conditioning, which studies show can shave a mid-teens percentage off EV range, and a realistic expectation for most families on a mixed long trip is closer to 900–1,000km from a full tank and full battery rather than the full 1,200km figure.
Even so, the Malaysian run slots neatly into a wider plug-in hybrid “range race” coming out of China.
At the top end sits the Hongqi HS6 PHEV, which recently set a Guinness World Record by travelling 2,327.343km in China on a single tank and full charge without refuelling or recharging.
That was a tightly controlled endurance drive, not something owners will replicate day-to-day, but it shows where the technology is heading.
For Chery, the takeaway is straightforward.
The Tiggo 8 PHEV’s NEDC numbers now have backing from a tough, real-world Malaysian loop, even if the feat required hypermiling levels of restraint.
For buyers, the more practical message is that with a full tank and a charged battery, this 7-seat family SUV should comfortably cut fuel stops on the kind of long trips Malaysians actually do, while still handling the daily grind mostly on electrons.
