Omoda 7 review

We'd forgive you for struggling to keep up with the onslaught of Chinese cars arriving in the UK. Omoda is sister company to Jaecoo and Chery, and this Omoda 7 sits right between the smaller Omoda 5 and larger Omoda 9. At the time of writing, the Omoda 7 is available as either an efficient plug-in hybrid, or a pure turbocharged petrol car.

It's perhaps odd that Omoda's Germany-based design team has given it the blanked-off face of an EV, but there's enough space around the 7's hexagon-dotted grille to sufficiently cool whichever engine you pick. Slim LED headlights flow neatly into the bodywork, but save for a few interesting colours (we'll take turquoise, ta) it's not the most memorable looking thing. The back-end suffers the same anonymity, save for a lightning-bolt zig-zag through the tail lights.

Inside, the Omoda 7 showcases an all-new design from the brand, but it features screens and charging pads that we've seen in most other Chinese cars. The showstopping 16-inch infotainment screen is quicker and slightly easier to use than in rivals such as the Jaecoo 7, with a bit less menu-diving required for most features. You'll still need to delve into menus to adjust the door mirrors, sadly.

Storage is good, and you also get generous levels of back-seat space – plenty even for tall adults. The boot's a whopper at 639 litres, rivalling that in the Volkswagen Tiguan.

We drove the 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid version of the Omoda 7, and it impresses with punchy acceleration and easy 45mpg fuel economy. It offers up to 56 miles of electric-driving range, and apart from a slightly firm ride and occasionally aggressive lane-keeping assistance, it's a relaxing car to drive.

The Omoda 7's cabin follows the current trend of slapping large screens in the centre of the car to control most of the vehicle's functions. In this case it's a whopping 16-inch item that'll have you wondering if you accidentally superglued your Macbook Pro to the dashboard. The screen is bright, sharp and fast to respond to prods and pokes – and you'll need to get used to using it for many of the 7's functions.

You use the screen for adjusting all the climate control settings and the door mirror positions, as well as the usual stuff such as using the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for your navigation and music apps. Thankfully it's easy to flick between the various menus and find the settings you're looking for, though turning off the speed-limit-warning chime does take about five taps each time you start the car.

Want more screens? You got it. You look through the Omoda 7's wheel at a thin driver's display, which shows you your speed, the cruise control settings, fuel and battery range, plus the status of the myriad advanced driver assistance settings. It's easy to read this screen at a glance, and you can't befuddle things by showing maps or any distracting graphics on it.

The steering wheel controls in the Omoda 7 are straightforward. On the left and right of the wheel you have silver scroll wheels which can also be clicked in and also nudged sideways to change radio stations or switch between driving data on the dash screen. There are then four other buttons which click in properly rather than offering mysteriously unresponsive haptic feedback – as in certain Audi and Volkswagen models.

The rest of the cabin is fairly restrained in terms of tech. You get a fan-cooled 50-watt wireless charger which fast-charges your phone without turning it into a lava-hot memorial to Steve Jobs' ambitions, while there are a couple of USB slots in the storage space under the centre console. 

Poke around in this central cavern on top-spec Knight models and you'll find two silver-capped tubes – these form the basis of the Omoda 7's fragrance system. Yep, you can tap into the screen and select one of three scents for the interior – we like dark temptation, although forest bath and charming air aren't far behind. Perhaps there'll be an aftermarket Lynx Africa upgrade, although that wouldn't quite sit well with the wood-textured trims dotted about the cabin.

The Omoda 7 is a very practical car. There are plenty of cubbies in the cabin – there's the aforementioned storage/scent cave, plus a decent-size glovebox and a funky sunglasses holder on the ceiling where you'd normally find the driver's grab handle.

Back-seat space is strong, with plenty of space even for tall adults. Headroom is good even with the top-spec Knight model's long panoramic sunroof, which stretches all the way back over your rear-seat passengers' heads. There's also plenty of knee room and a flat floor in the back, so kids can clamber through to escape your attempts to corral them.

You also get acres of boot space – well, 639 litres to be precise. It is slightly pinched by protruding wheelarch mouldings halfway into the depth of the boot, but you'll find the usual 12-volt socket, and some polystyrene trays under the boot floor for storing your hopes and dreams. 

The Omoda 7 comes with either a plug-in hybrid drivetrain or a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol. 

The 1.6-litre petrol version has 147hp and gets from 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds, and in our experience in other cars, hovers around the 40mpg mark.

A better bet is the PHEV – using parent brand Chery's Super Hybrid System (SHS). The SHS uses a 1.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor to give a total of 204hp. The 0-62mph dash is covered in 8.4 seconds, and the 56 miles of electric range can be topped up using a fast-charging CCS connector at speeds of up to 40kW.

The Omoda 7 is pretty straightforward to drive. You put it into gear using a column shifter on the right-hand-side of the steering wheel, and then you pull away quietly with the PHEV's electric motor doing the bulk of the work. 

We're always impressed by the Super Hybrid System, despite its awful name. Even when you ask for full acceleration the petrol engine barely makes itself heard in the cabin, unlike some rival systems that switch from electric silence to gnashing mechanical horror in the blink of an eye. Not so here. It's also very easy to get 45 or even 50mpg out of the Omoda 7.

While the Omoda 7's steering isn't the sharpest or most direct, it's an easy car to thread down a country road, save for the occasional ham-fisted intrusion from the lane-centering system. The system copes far better with UK roads than the software in the last Jaecoo 7 we drove, but you'll still feel the odd tug despite being firmly in your lane.

The Omoda 7's suspension setup does occasionally feel firmer than it needs to be, but it's mostly well judged and you don't feel the car lean too much in corners. We did find ourselves wishing for more support in the seats though – any enthusiastic roundabout action did result in sliding towards the doors or centre consoles more than we'd like.

For normal family duties, however, it's engineered well enough to not be annoying. Refinement is also perfectly good at motorway speeds.