Jaecoo, the newly introduced sub-brand in Australia from the established Chinese automotive manufacturer Chery, has received its inaugural safety assessment result from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) for its J7 medium SUV. However, it is crucial to note that this ANCAP safety rating exclusively applies to the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of the Jaecoo J7. As of this announcement, the petrol-only versions of the J7 remain unrated by the safety authority, meaning their crashworthiness and safety assist performance have not been independently verified under ANCAP's protocols.
The Jaecoo J7 SLS plug-in hybrid variant underwent ANCAP's rigorous testing regime and achieved commendable scores across the four main pillars of assessment. For Adult Occupant Protection, the J7 PHEV secured a rating of 81 per cent. In the category of Child Occupant Protection, it performed slightly better, achieving an 85 per cent score. Its ability to protect Vulnerable Road Users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, was rated at 80 per cent. Finally, for its active Safety Assist systems, the vehicle was awarded an 84 per cent rating.
Delving deeper into the Adult Occupant Protection results, ANCAP's testing revealed some nuances. In the frontal offset crash test, which simulates a head-on collision with another vehicle where only a portion of the front of the car makes impact, the J7 PHEV provided 'adequate' protection for the driver's chest and lower legs. Protection for all other critical body regions for the driver in this scenario was rated as 'good'. During the full-width frontal test, where the entire front of the vehicle impacts a barrier, the J7 was assessed to provide 'adequate' protection for the neck and chest of the rear passengers. Other body areas for rear passengers in this test, along with overall protection for front-seat occupants, received a 'good' rating. The Jaecoo J7 is equipped with a standard centre airbag, designed to prevent front-seat occupants from colliding with each other in a side impact; its performance in testing was rated as 'good'. In evaluations of side impact scenarios, the vehicle demonstrated 'adequate' protection during both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pole impacts.
Regarding Child Occupant Protection, the assessment indicated 'good' protection for all critical body areas of the two child dummies used in the tests, which represent a 10-year-old and a six-year-old child. There was one exception: the neck of the 10-year-old dummy registered an 'adequate' result, suggesting a slightly higher risk in that specific area. The J7 comes standard with a child presence detection system, a feature intended to alert the driver if a child has been inadvertently left in the vehicle after it is locked. However, the system installed in the J7 failed to meet ANCAP's stringent performance requirements, and consequently, no points were awarded for its inclusion.
The J7’s forward-facing Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system, which can automatically apply the brakes to avoid or mitigate a frontal collision, performed well and was rated as 'good'. Conversely, the AEB system's effectiveness in reverse, specifically its 'backover' protection to prevent collisions while reversing, was rated as 'poor'. On a more positive note, the vehicle's lane-support systems designed to protect cyclists and motorcyclists were awarded 'good' ratings. The J7 also features a system intended to prevent occupants from opening their doors into the path of an oncoming cyclist. Unfortunately, this system also failed to meet ANCAP’s performance criteria, as the warnings it provided were issued too late to be effective. As a result, this feature did not contribute any points to ANCAP’s overall safety assist assessment.
It is noteworthy that the safety rating for the Jaecoo J7 was obtained through its own dedicated series of crash tests. This differs from the approach taken with some other Chery models, where ratings have been extended from related models based on technical data and shared structural similarities. The testing for the Jaecoo J7 was conducted by Euro NCAP, ANCAP's counterpart and affiliate in Europe, ensuring a comprehensive and independent evaluation specific to this model.