New Lepas L8 2026 review: needs to undercut the VW Tiguan to have any appeal

Verdict

View it in isolation and the new Lepas L8 PHEV is a spacious, attractive and efficient family hauler that comes with a touch of premium feel inside and out. However, this specific model – like all of the brand’s cars – struggles to stand out from the Chery/Omoda/Jaecoo cars on which it’s based. We’ll have a better idea of how it fits into the UK market when pricing is announced later this year, but it may find success harder to come by if it matches the price point of established rivals such as the VW Tiguan. 

This is the Lepas L8, the first of many new models that’ll be coming to the UK between now and January 2027 from Chery’s premium brand. Fundamentally, the newcomer borrows much of its technical hardware from existing Chery models, and the plan is for it to rival models from upper-mainstream brands such as Volkswagen, Cupra, Peugeot and even Volvo. To get a lay of the land, we’ve come out to China for a go in an early pre-production model to see if this ambition is well founded. 

At nearly 4.7 metres long, the Lepas L8 is within 2mm of a Volkswagen Tiguan, which gives you an idea of where the L8 will sit within the SUV-crazed UK market. The launch is scheduled for September, and it’ll come exclusively with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, powering the front wheels; there’s no plan yet for a fully electric or simpler hybrid models – although never say never. 

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The plug-in hybrid system is shared with other Chery products and combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor and 18kWh battery pack. Unlike the systems found in rival SUVs such as those from VW or Cupra, the Lepas’ powertrain operates less like a traditional plug-in system and more like a range-extender, taking the onus of driving the wheels away from the petrol engine, and instead mostly using the electric motor instead. 

This results in a smooth driving experience, because there’s very little jerkiness to the system thanks to seamless drive coming from the electric motors. Peak power is 279bhp, so initial performance is good, but as we’ll come to, this is somewhat short-lived.  

Final homologation is still yet to be signed off, but Lepas says the car should achieve around 55 miles of range on a charge and achieve around 120mpg on the WLTP cycle. It also comes with DC fast charging to quickly top up the battery on the go.

These figures put the Lepas on the back foot compared with cars such as the VW Tiguan e-Hybrid in some regards, because the VW’s larger battery pack is capable of up to 70 miles of all-electric driving. But the Lepas fights back with better efficiency once the petrol motor kicks in, when we expect to see around 45-50mpg. However, if you prefer a more direct connection between the engine and your driving dynamics, the Lepas’ system isn’t ideal. 

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Drive with a lower state of charge or ask for more performance and the petrol engine will lift the revs regardless of your road speed. It’s generally quite refined, though, so not too intrusive, but the distant hum is a little disconcerting. The L8 is also a pretty hefty car, so performance is relatively blunt after the initial burst of acceleration. 

Because the car still has lots of elements that need to be finalised before this car arrives in the UK, we’ll forgive some of these shortcomings. However, at this point, the calibration of the chassis and powertrain systems in terms of feel, feedback and consistency shows there’s still a little way to go. As in many PHEV cars, the regenerative braking integration is quite clumsy, making it challenging to drive smoothly. 

The car can also wander in its lane at high speeds, because the steering is a little imprecise. The ride and handling balance needs work too, because the Lepas feels a little cumbersome to drive. To be honest, most PHEV models in this class can feel a little compromised, but brands such as Volkswagen and Cupra have gone a long way to making their plug-in models drive just as sweetly as the pure ICE variants. In this regard, Lepas still needs to catch up. 

On the other hand, if you consider the elements that will impress in a showroom, Lepas does very well. All models feature the same 14.8-inch waterfall screen seen in some Jaecoo products, and it works generally well, with quick responses and just enough shortcuts to not be annoying to use on the move. Lepas has also integrated a row of physical controls for the air-conditioning at its base, although the large dial at the centre isn’t for volume, but drive modes. Let’s see which of those two functions your average Lepas driver will use more often.

General build quality and materials feel strong too; there are few rattles and general road noise and wind noise is well contained. Most of the materials in use are also softly padded, and feature lots of stitching and brightwork to lift the cabin’s overall ambience. However, we couldn’t help but spot more than a few nods to modern Mercedes design, whether it be elements such the door cards or the interior trim elements. In fact, if there were three round air-vents on the dashtop, you could convince yourself you were looking at a Mercedes GLC. 

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Space inside is where the L8 really shines, though. There’s acres of legroom in the second row, and while the boot isn’t huge for the class, it’s still very versatile and well shaped. There’s not a huge amount of under-floor storage, though – blame the battery for that – but there should still be a shallow section big enough for cable storage on UK cars. 

While standard equipment or final trim specifications are a way off being confirmed, we have some questions about the tech on offer. All models will no doubt be well equipped with things including ventilated and massaging seats, a glass roof, branded stereo systems and an excellent 360-degree camera system, but these are now also largely seen on all key legacy-branded competitors. And there is still some useful tech that has yet to translate to these mainstream Chinese brands, such as matrix LED headlights, adaptive dampers and integrated Google-based route planning. 

Which all leaves us in a bit of a quandary over a final verdict on the car until Lepas announces its pricing. During our time in China, it was clear that the firm wanted our feedback about how well its cars might compete with European and Japanese competition – and by extension how they should be priced. My initial feeling, at this stage, is that the L8 will need to significantly undercut cars like the Volkswagen Tiguan or Cupra Tavascan to be of great appeal.