Omoda 7 review

Omoda says that the 7 was “developed with UK customers firmly in mind” and that the chassis was engineered by its R&D team in Germany, which all sounds fairly promising. And actually, it’s not that bad.

It’s softly sprung so there’s quite a bit of body roll through corners, but that’s perfectly acceptable in a family crossover and means that the ride is actually quite soft and smooth on our terrible tarmac. Some bigger bumps do send a bit of a crash through the cabin, but otherwise it’s mostly quite serene.

There’s not much feel to the steering and the soft brake pedal takes some getting used to, but while cars like the Qashqai and Tiguan chase a touch of sportiness, the Omoda 7 goes in the opposite direction.

How’s the hybrid system?

This is where Omoda plays its trump card. The PHEV system it uses deploys a 1.5-litre petrol engine and a hefty 18.4kWh battery, which means a claimed 56 miles of all electric range and over 700 miles on a full tank plus charge.

For reference, that e-range is somewhere between what the Tucson PHEV and Tiguan eHybrid are capable of. Unfortunately, we can’t share exactly how efficient the Omoda is in the real world, because it doesn’t feature a standard trip computer with a combined mpg readout. D’oh!

Still, we can say that it prioritises electric power and in its hybrid mode the petrol engine is mostly deployed to charge the battery. Said engine is generally pretty quiet too, although it will make a bit of a racket when it drives the wheels under hard acceleration. Our tip? Avoid Sport mode and stick with Eco or Normal. You’ve also got three different levels of regen braking, although adjustments need to be made in the screen’s menus.

With that electric power on board acceleration is reasonably sprightly, and it often feels quicker than its 201bhp and 0-62mph time of 8.4 seconds suggest. Oh, and while we’re talking speeds, the battery can also be fast charged at up to 40kW, meaning a 30 to 80 per cent top-up at the right plug takes just 20 minutes. Not that many people bother fast charging a PHEV.

Is the active safety tech annoying?

As you might expect, there’s lots of it. Omoda reckons on 19 different systems. Switching off the lane keep assist and speed limit warning requires a deep dive into the menus, but actually neither system is as invasive as we’ve come to expect.

The 7 is also generally pretty refined. Omoda says that ‘acoustic glass’ is standard fit and wind noise is certainly well suppressed. There is a bit more road noise than you’d find in some rivals though, particularly at motorway speeds.