Freelander 8 News

Freelander, a new joint-venture brand between Land Rover and Chery, has detailed its upcoming debut model thanks to regulatory filings in China.The Freelander 8 was previously confirmed to be a large SUV, measuring 5118, 2050mm wide, and 1890mm long, with an enormous wheelbase of 3040mm, featuring a luxurious six-seat layout, as is popular in China.This makes the new Freelander-branded SUV about the opposite of the original Land Rover Freelander, where it played a role as the company’s smallest and most affordable vehicle.It was also known that the Freelander 8 would exclusively be a range-extender hybrid at launch, meaning it will drive the wheels only via electric motors, keeping a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine on board to serve only as a generator for its battery.New technical filings, which are required for vehicles to apply for tax exemptions in China, confirm the Freelander 8 will use an EV-sized circa-60kWh battery, allowing it a 221km pure electric driving range (seemingly a preliminary CLTC figure, more lenient than the WLTP standard more widely used in Australia), built by CATL, the world’s biggest battery manufacturer.Its 1.5-litre engine has a power output of 115kW, although no torque figure or combined outputs from its dual-motor set-up is available yet.In addition, the Freelander 8 will have a new all-terrain software system and will also feature a front mechanical differential lock, and a simulated electronic centre differential (with no mechanical linkage between the front and rear motors), and a rear electronic limited slip differential.As previously reported, the Freelander 8 will also feature dual-chamber air suspension. In addition, the large SUV will feature the latest Huawei-developed active safety and self-driving system in its Chinese home market. It will also feature a towing capability, with its capacity for the Chinese market set to 2000kg.Other new details include a battery-drained average fuel consumption of 8.18L/100km, and an apparent overall weight of 2980kg. The battery alone weighs 372kg.A full battery electric version of the car is expected to follow at a later date.The Freelander 8 is the first in a range of new Freelander vehicles, and the brand is expected to expand globally after its launch in China in the second half of 2026.According to Chery's local operation, the Freelander brand is confirmed for Australia, although it won’t be distributed by the local Chery factory-backed arm and will operate independently. It has said the same about its off-road focused own brand, Jetour, which has a similar range of boxy hybrid SUVs.Chery will need to work hard to separate its array of brands which are on the way with the ones it already offers in Australia. Currently it offers products under the Chery brand, and has a separate operation which sells cars under the Omoda/Jaecoo brands.Lepas, another passenger car marque which will use the same platforms and technology as Chery and Omoda/Jaecoo vehicles is set for an imminent launch, while Jetour is expected to follow at a later stage.Stay tuned for more information on the Freelander brand including its Chinese launch as well as its launch plans for Australia imminently.