Chery Tiggo 8 vs Peugeot Expert

What's the difference?

A bargain price, clever hybrid system, and a spacious interior with useful third row is a rare and potent combination which should continue to catapult Chery into a successful future.

Sure, the dull driving dynamics, sometimes befuddling software, and over reliance on touchscreens could and should be addressed, but at this price and with these ownership terms, the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is a tough proposition to argue with.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

Positives are higher payload and tow ratings than the Toyota HiAce along with superior fuel economy. Negatives are inferior safety, evidence of questionable build quality and a list price more than $3000 above a HiAce equivalent. So, whether the positives outweigh the negatives to justify its higher price, only a potential buyer can decide.

Unlike some of its rivals in this space, the Tiggo 8 has a fairly generic boxy SUV design. It’s not as interesting as many of its rivals, but it also strays away from being controversial.

The derivative grille design and light signatures make it blend into traffic nicely, making it an ideal SUV for someone who intentionally doesn’t want to stand out, at least not in quite the same way as something like the BYD Sealion 6.

There’s also nothing that looks proportionally off about it, and the strong lines and spoiler piece over the rear give it a (very) faint air of toughness.

Inside this plug-in hybrid version gets a significantly different interior compared to the combustion Tiggo 8 that launched in 2024. The design is much more contemporary, dominated by the huge central touchscreen which is much bigger than the one in both the Tiggo 7 and the combustion Tiggo 8, and there’s new switchgear for the indicator stalk and for the steering wheel buttons, too.

Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of the climate shortcut panel which remains in the Tiggo 7. Instead, you’re forced to navigate through new software which has a dedicated climate zone.

Still, it’s a glitzy looking interior with big screens and interesting material choices, particularly at this price. The Tiggo 8 even manages to avoid some of the blatant Mercedes-Benz worship as seen in the smaller Tiggo 7, and the synthetic seat trim is also distinct from the rest of the Chery range. In this plug-in Tiggo 8 it’s a kind of sturdy-feeling neoprene finish which looks a little bit like suede. It’s weird, but I don’t hate it.

Our 'Long' example rides on a 3275mm wheelbase with 5309mm overall length, 1920mm width and 1948mm height, so compared to the HiAce it's slightly longer in wheelbase and overall length but narrower and not as tall. It’s also significantly lighter with a kerb weight that’s almost 500kg (or half a tonne) less than the Toyota; a big factor in its spirited performance and superior payload rating.

The Peugeot’s front-wheel drive underpinnings include MacPherson strut front suspension, coil spring semi-trailing arm rear suspension, rack and pinion steering and four-wheel disc brakes. Its 12.4-metre turning circle is also more than a metre larger than the HiAce.

The Pro’s work focus can be seen in its black plastic front and rear bumpers and side mouldings where most scrapes and dents occur in hard-working vans. There’s matching black on other high-wear surfaces like the door mirrors, door handles, hubcaps, rear wipers and rego plate shroud.

The cabin has seating for three with a driver’s bucket seat and separate two-passenger bench seat. Although all occupants have ample headroom, the dashboard’s protruding centre console leaves little legroom. In fact, the centre passenger must travel with both knees skewed to the left of this extension, which then encroaches on the outer passenger’s legroom. So, for a crew of three we’d recommend short trips. Our only other criticism was the lower dash panel on the passenger’s side, which kept popping loose despite repeated attempts to click it back into place.

The Tiggo 8’s cabin is enormous and has had various upgrades since the combustion car launched that make it both easier and less easy to use.

For example, the centre console redesign is more contemporary, offering pride of place to the wireless phone charging bay, offering two larger bottle holders off to one side. Some key driver functions appear on the right-hand side, including a drive mode selector dial and a handful of shortcuts for the most basic climate functions, like an auto AC button and front and rear defoggers.

This means the shifter has moved to the column on the right-hand side, with a multifunction stalk for the indicators and wipers on the left instead.

The armrest console box is an overcomplicated split opening design, but offers plenty of room inside. There are two large bottle holders and pockets in each front door, too, and there’s a large pass-through area underneath the bridge-style console which will be great for a handbag or something.

The seating position is quite adjustable, but you sit unusually high in the car, which makes it feel as though you’re peering down on the instruments.

As already mentioned, the full array of climate functions can only be controlled through the touchscreen, with no physical buttons outside of the handful on the centre console. Would it be so hard just to have a temperature and fan speed dial you don’t have to take your eyes off the road?

The software itself is typical of many Chinese cars at the moment. It looks good, but isn’t as functional or easy to use as you’d like. Some core functions are still buried in confusingly labelled sub-menus, particularly things like active safety features. It’s not the worst I’ve used (the Leapmotor C10 springs to mind), but it should be better given the massive screen is such a focal point of the cabin.

At least the Tiggo 8 doesn’t feel cheap in other areas, with generous soft-touch materials throughout the cabin. It might be fake leather and suede, but it does a good enough job of making the cabin feel plush and comfortable for longer journeys.

The second row is impressive. I had leagues of room in all dimensions behind my front seat position at 182cm tall. The generous amount of soft trims continue and the seat bases are comfortable enough, too. Storage comes in the form of seat-back pockets and large bottle holders in each door.

Maybe the most impressive feature is the third row. While I felt squashed into the rear row of the Mitsubishi Outlander, the Tiggo 8 offers just enough space for an adult to travel in some form of comfort. Access isn’t the easiest, but there’s so much space in the second row the the seat can slide forward to allow sufficient room for my legs. My head touches the roof, however.

There’s not much in the way of amenities back there, with a bottle holder and storage tray for third-row occupants, as well as a 12-volt outlet in the boot.

The boot itself seems large enough, although at the time of writing there was no official boot figure. For context, the combustion version offers 479 litres with the third row down, or 117 litres with it up, and this plug-in doesn’t seem significantly different to my eye.

Unfortunately though, the placement of the battery and DC inverter under the boot floor leaves no room for a spare. There’s only an inflator kit.

Its relatively light 1743kg kerb weight combined with a 3100kg GVM allows for a sizeable 1357kg payload that’s almost 300kg more than the HiAce. It’s rated to tow up to 1800kg of braked trailer, which is also 300kg more than the Toyota. And with its 4900kg GCM, the Expert can legally tow its maximum trailer weight while carrying its maximum payload. These are excellent numbers for a multitude of working roles.

The cargo bay and cabin are separated by a stout steel bulkhead, which insulates the cabin from tyre noise emanating from the rear wheel housings and doubles as a cargo barrier. Its central window provides vision for the rear-view mirror and the ability to check on loads.

Lined to mid-height, the Expert’s cargo bay is accessed through large sliding doors on each side with handy 935mm-wide openings, while rear access is through glazed barn-doors which open to 180-degrees to aid forklift access. Each is equipped with its own windscreen wiper and demister.

The load floor is 2780mm long and 1628mm wide with 1258mm between the wheel housings, so it can carry up to three 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets or two 1165mm-square Aussie pallets, held in place by a total of eight floor-mounted load anchorage points. The 6.1 cubic metres of load volume splits hairs with the HiAce’s 6.2 cubic metres.

Cabin storage starts with a cavernous bin in the base of each front door that can easily hold a big 1.5-litre bottle and lots more. Each door also has two other compartments for smaller items. The dash-pad has a cup holder at each end and there’s a shrouded storage compartment in the centre. There are also two small storage nooks near the gearshift dial, plus on the passenger side is a glovebox and additional storage compartment (with 12V accessory plug inside).

The bench seat’s hinged base cushion also tilts forward to reveal two large storage bins below, with one thoughtfully lined with polystyrene foam to keep items either hot or cold.

Our test vehicle is the Pro Long Auto variant. ‘Pro’ means it’s the lower-priced and more work-focused of two Expert model grades. ‘Long’ means it has the longer of two wheelbases and ‘Auto’ denotes auto transmission as opposed to the manual alternative.

Powered by the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel shared by all Experts, it has a list price of $50,075 plus ORCs which is significantly more than its LWB HiAce auto equivalent at $46,760. And our example is finished in Artense Grey metallic, which is one of several premium colours available at extra cost.

The Pro Long Auto is built for work with 16-inch steel wheels and 215/65 R16C Michelin tyres plus a full-size spare. Useful workhorse features include rear parking sensors, 12-volt accessory socket, automatic headlights and wipers, front fog lights, cruise control and a multimedia system with 7.0-inch colour touchscreen and multiple connectivity including Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

Chery’s Super Hybrid system is a little different from other plug-ins on the market. It pairs a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine (105kW/215Nm) with a ‘dedicated hybrid transmission’ (DHT). This is a transaxle which contains a large electric motor (150kW/310Nm) and uses a set of clutches and gears to blend the power sources.

The end result of this is a drivetrain that feels a bit like a CVT but isn’t the much derided rubber-band-on-a-cone set-up. To Chery’s credit, it almost feels like driving an electric vehicle, such is the relatively smooth power delivery and seamless blending of the power sources depending on speed.

Just don’t expect to tow much more than a tinny as capacity is limited to just 750kg.

The Expert’s punchy 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel is one of its strengths. Turbocharged and intercooled, it has Euro 5 emissions compliance and produces 110kW at 4000rpm and 370Nm at 2000rpm. The eight-speed torque converter automatic has near-seamless shifting and offers the choice of sequential manual-shifting using steering wheel paddle-shifters.

The Tiggo 8 has a headline electric driving range of 95km, although this is rated to the more lenient NEDC cycle. Usually you can expect more like 75km in the real world, but these plug-ins tend to vary greatly from their official figures for better or worse, so stay tuned for a longer test to see what the real-world figure is.

Regardless, it draws this range from a 18.3kWh battery pack, that is capable of charging up on both DC and AC, which is rare for a plug-in. On the faster DC chargers, it is capable of topping up at a maximum rate of 40kW for a claimed 30 to 80 per cent charge in 20 minutes. Combined range, using a full tank of fuel and full charge can have the vehicle travel up to a claimed 1200km.

The overall fuel efficiency is 1.3L/100km, a somewhat useless figure. The actual figure will depend entirely on how you use the car. Have a short commute and charge at least at one end of it? It may as well be zero.

What’s particularly clever though is how Chery has put significant work into the software map of the hybrid transmission to keep it as efficient as possible, even when the battery is drained. 

The vehicles we tested on the launch were all hovering around the mid-5.0L/100km mark, even with the batteries long drained to their reserve level. The brand’s engineering people say the software map is specifically designed to achieve less than 6.0L/100km even when the battery is dead.

Again, not every plug-in hybrid can claim the same.

Peugeot claims a combined average consumption of 6.3L/100km and the dash display was close to that at 7.6L after 386km of testing, which included about one third of that distance carrying a full payload. Our own figure calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings came in higher again at 8.3L/100km, which is still outstanding economy for a vehicle of this size. So, based on our numbers, you could expect an extensive driving range from its 70-litre tank of around 840km.

The Tiggo 8 leans into the traits on display in the smaller Tiggo 7. This means a too-high seating position trading driver ergonomics for visibility, a vague steering tune defined far too much by software, and an overly soft ride quality.

There are various trade-offs here, but it’s about the opposite of a driver’s car. The steering lends hardly any feel to what’s going on at the wheels, and the floaty ride conspires with the tall seat base to feel a bit disconcerting when cornering at high speed.

However, the positives include ease of use and relative comfort. The steering is light enough to make the Tiggo 8 pretty manoeuvrable at low speeds, and the soft ride has the Tiggo 8 floating over road imperfections with relative ease.

It’s also quick, with the electric motor providing urgent acceleration, but this is somehow not very engaging or fun regardless. Plus, slamming the accelerator down, particularly in Sport mode, will overwhelm the front tyres.

This car maintains over 20 per cent of its total battery capacity in reserve, in order to have a large buffer to draw from in hybrid mode to facilitate the smooth electric driving, but this also allows more room to store regenerated energy from idle time or braking compared to a plugless hybrid.

It seems to drive as an EV most of the time, although it lacks a true one-pedal driving mode despite having three levels of regenerative braking.

The cabin is impressively quiet, particularly at lower speeds. It’s genuinely hard to tell when the combustion engine is on to assist the electric driving functions, and the standard acoustic glass keeps most of the nasty ambient noise out. However, at speeds above 80km/h, road noise eventually finds its way into the cabin.

There are many rivals that provide an overall better balance of driving dynamics and handling with comfort, but this Tiggo 8 shoots for a more comfort-oriented family buyer who just wants a quiet and fuel-efficient SUV.

It has a comfortable driving position as the steering wheel is adjustable for height and reach, the bucket seat has a fold-down inboard armrest and there’s a prominent left footrest. Although the driver’s seat base has no rake adjustment, it’s long enough to provide good under-thigh support with enough rake to avoid sliding towards the front of it like some rivals.

The steering is responsive and nicely weighted, which combined with competent handling and braking makes the Expert feel sure-footed. The supple four-coil suspension provides a smooth unladen ride quality.

The energetic drivetrain with its 370Nm of torque has spirited acceleration and good agility in traffic. Although peak torque is at 2000rpm, the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel pulls cleanly from 1500rpm which showcases its flexibility.

The eight-speed automatic gets good results from this engine, but sequential manual-shifting using the paddle-shifters is handy when more driver input is required. The cabin is acceptably quiet at highway speeds, thanks to the cabin bulkhead and low tyre, engine and wind noise.

Our only major criticism is the absence of blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. In our opinion every van, particularly with solid side-walls and doors like this one, should at least have these active safety features as standard (like the HiAce which also has standard front parking sensors).

The Expert’s relatively small mirror on the passenger door is not sufficient in eliminating the large and potentially hazardous blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder, particularly in heavy traffic and when reversing from driveways into busy streets.

No ANCAP rating and although it’s equipped with AEB, emergency brake assist and forward collision warning there are only front airbags for driver and passenger, which looks threadbare compared to the HiAce’s seven airbags. It also misses out on important active safety features previously mentioned.

The Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is covered by seven years and unlimited kilometres of warranty, seven years of roadside assist, and seven years of capped-price servicing, following the successful formula of once-underdog Kia.

The servicing price varies year on year according to the capped-price schedule, between $299 and a particularly expensive service at the 90,000km mark which costs $1291.31.

The average yearly cost works out to $453.45 if you keep the car for the full seven-year duration. Not the cheapest we’ve ever seen, but all things considered, it’s pretty good.

The Expert is covered by a five years/200,000km warranty. Scheduled servicing every 12 months/20,000km whichever occurs first. Five years of capped-price servicing totals $3049 or an average of $609.80 per year.