Chery Tiggo 9 review – first UK drive 2026

11 minutes reading

Monday, 24 Aug 2026 13:28 0 5 autotech

Make and model: Chery Tiggo 9 CSH
Description: Seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV
Price range: £43,105

Summary: The Chery Tiggo 9 is roomy, comfortable and exceptionally well equipped for the money, although it still lacks some of the polish of more established rivals.

Price and equipment

The Chery Tiggo 9 keeps things simple. There is one trim level, called Summit, priced at £43,105.

The only options are paint colours. White is standard, while black, green and grey cost £500. Nightfall Ice Grey costs £750.

Standard equipment is extensive, as we have come to expect from the newer Chinese brands. The Tiggo 9 gets heated and massaging synthetic leather front seats, with 12-way electric adjustment and memory for the driver. Both front seats can fully recline, just in case you need a quick rest while the car is charging.

The second-row seats are also generously equipped, with adjustment, heating and ventilation. Rear passengers also get their own climate control panel, which is a welcome touch in a family SUV.

The Sony sound system has 14 speakers, including speakers in the front headrests. Satnav instructions coming from behind your head can be a bit unnerving at first, but it does underline how much equipment Chery is bundling into the car.

Other standard features include a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, 540-degree camera system, automatic parking, powered tailgate, vehicle-to-load capability and a powered fuel filler door. The list goes on for quite a while.

The touchscreen measures 16 inches, while the driver display is just over ten inches. There is also voice control, badged as “Hello Chery”, which can adjust functions such as the climate control, windows and sunroof.

As a value proposition, the Tiggo 9 is very strong. Plenty of rivals cost a lot more once you add similar equipment, and some do not offer plug-in hybrid power at all.

Inside the car

Space is one of the Tiggo 9’s biggest strengths. There is plenty of room in the front and middle rows, but the more unusual bit is that the third row is usable for more than just small children. Adults should be able to travel reasonable distances in the back without feeling like they have been folded into the boot.

There is a compromise, as usual with seven-seat SUVs. With all seats in place, boot space drops to just 143 litres. Fold the third row away and that rises to 819 litres, while folding the second and third rows gives you more than 2,000 litres.

Build quality is also good. The cabin feels well screwed together, the wood-effect trim looks more convincing than it might sound, and hard plastics are kept away from most of the places you regularly touch. It is not quite at the level of the best premium-brand SUVs, but it does not feel cheap.

The dashboard follows the familiar modern layout of a large central touchscreen and a digital driver display. The screen reacts quickly and is reasonably easy to use, which is fortunate because Chery has put too many functions inside it.

That is still one of the car’s weaker areas. There are not enough proper physical controls, and some touchscreen functions are partly obscured by the left-hand side of the steering wheel. It is not as frustrating as some recent cars, but it would still be better with a few more buttons.

The voice control system is also hit and miss. “Hello Chery” does not always produce the result you asked for, so you quickly find yourself going back to the touchscreen. Voice control can be useful, but it should not be used as an excuse for removing simple physical switches.

Overall, though, the Tiggo 9 cabin makes a strong impression. It is roomy, comfortable and better finished than many buyers may expect from a new brand.

*The Chery Tiggo 9 cabin is spacious and well equipped, although too many functions still rely on the central touchscreen*

Driving range and charging

The Tiggo 9 uses Chery’s Super Hybrid plug-in hybrid system, combining a 1.5-litre petrol engine with electric motors and a 34.4kWh battery. It is a large battery for a plug-in hybrid, and gives the car an official electric range of up to 87 miles.

That is the useful figure. If you can charge regularly, the Tiggo 9 should be able to cover many commutes, school runs and local trips without the petrol engine doing much work. For longer journeys, the petrol engine means you are not relying on public charging.

The official fuel economy figure is 470mpg, but that needs the usual plug-in hybrid warning. You will only get anything close to that if you keep the battery charged and use the car mainly for shorter electric journeys. If you rarely plug it in, you will simply be driving a large petrol SUV carrying a heavy battery.

Charging is more flexible than in many plug-in hybrids. The Tiggo 9 can rapid charge at up to 71kW, with a 30-80% charge taking about 20 minutes in ideal conditions. A full charge from a 7kW home wallbox takes a little over five hours.

Vehicle-to-load capability is also included, allowing the car to power external electrical equipment at up to 6.6kW.

On the road

Although the Tiggo 9 is a plug-in hybrid, it often feels more like an electric car in normal driving. Chery’s system prioritises electric drive wherever possible, with the petrol engine playing more of a supporting role until higher speeds or heavier acceleration demand more from it.

Around town and on typical everyday journeys, that gives the car the smooth, quiet feel buyers increasingly expect from electrified models. When the petrol engine does join in, it is generally smooth and unobtrusive.

Performance is strong. The total system output is about 422hp, with 580Nm of torque and all-wheel drive. Chery quotes a 0-62mph time of 5.4 seconds, which is quick for a large seven-seat SUV and more than most families will ever need.

The steering is light and not especially communicative, so the Tiggo 9 is not a car for anyone who enjoys driving for its own sake. That said, most buyers looking at a large seven-seat plug-in hybrid are likely to care far more about comfort, space and easy progress than steering feel.

The Tiggo 9 does feel large on narrower roads. On our launch route through Kent villages, with cars parked on both sides, it was never difficult to drive but it was always obvious that you were in something big.

The chassis does a decent job of keeping everything comfortable, with less of the wallowing you might expect from a car of this size. It is not sharp or engaging, but it is composed enough and well suited to relaxed family use.

There are six driving modes: Eco, Normal, Sport, Snow, Sand and Off-Road. We only had the chance to try the first three on the road, and there is a difference between them, although not a dramatic one. Proper brake regeneration paddles would have been useful, given the size of the battery.

One of the more welcome surprises is that the driver assistance alerts are less intrusive than in many rivals. The Tiggo 9 has the usual lane, speed limit and driver attention warnings, but they are audible without being constantly irritating. It feels like Chery may have been reading reviews of other new cars and learning from their mistakes.

*The Chery Tiggo 9 is smooth, quick and comfortable, but its light steering means it is better suited to relaxed family driving than enthusiastic use*

Ownership

The Chery Tiggo 9 currently holds a B-grade New Car Expert Rating in our unique Expert Rating Index, with a score of 66%. That rating is helped by excellent warranty cover and low official emissions, although review scores are average and running costs are held back by high insurance costs.

The Tiggo 9 has not yet been tested by Euro NCAP, so there is no independent safety rating. Standard safety equipment is extensive, with ten airbags and a long list of driver assistance systems, but we will need to wait for an independent crash test before judging safety properly.

Chery’s new car warranty lasts seven years or 100,000 miles, which is better than most rival brands offer. The high-voltage battery is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles.

The review score reflects the driving experience. Our Chery Tiggo 9 Expert Rating tells a broader story, combining the subjective opinions of car reviews with objective safety data, running costs, warranty information and more – which means the Expert Rating often arrives at a notably different conclusion. It’s worth reading both before making any buying decision.

Verdict

The Chery Tiggo 9 makes a strong case for itself. It is roomy, comfortable, well equipped and very quick for a large family SUV. It also has a long electric driving range for a plug-in hybrid, provided you charge it regularly.

The value argument is hard to ignore. A seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV with this much space and equipment for just over £43K will be tempting for plenty of families, especially when many established rivals cost far more once you start adding options.

It’s not perfect. The styling is fairly bland, the steering is light, and (like most Chinese cars) the cabin relies too heavily on the touchscreen. The Tiggo 9 also feels big on narrower roads, and Chery still has work to do in building UK brand trust against longer-established rivals.

But the basics are sound. The Tiggo 9 feels well made, comfortable and easy to live with, while the plug-in hybrid system is smooth and powerful. For buyers who want maximum family SUV for the money, it deserves serious consideration.

We like:

Excellent value for money
Lots of standard equipment
Usable third-row space
Smooth and powerful plug-in hybrid system
Driver alerts less annoying than in many cars

We don’t like:

Bland exterior styling
Too much reliance on the touchscreen
Voice control is inconsistent
Feels big on narrower roads
No Euro NCAP safety rating yet

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Key specifications

Models tested: Chery Tiggo 9
Price as tested: £43,105
Powertrain: 1.5-litre petrol engine and single electric motor
Gearbox: Three-speed auto, all-wheel-drive

Power: 428 hp
Torque: 580 Nm
Top speed: 112 mph
0-62mph: 5.4 seconds

Fuel economy (combined): 40.9 mpg (WLTP)
CO₂ emissions: 38 g/km
Euro NCAP safety rating: Not yet tested (August 2025)
TCE Expert rating: B, 66% (August 2026)