Chery Australia has announced that new plug-in hybrid versions of the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs will land locally in July, marking the first hybrids that the company has sold here.

The new Super Hybrid system uses a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, a single electric motor, a dedicated hybrid transmission and an 18.3kWh lithium iron phosphate blade battery.

Outputs are yet to be detailed, but the related Jaecoo J7 SHS with the same drivetrain makes a combined 255kW/525Nm. Chery claims that its petrol engine offers industry-leading thermal efficiency of 44.5 per cent and its transmission has 98.5 per cent thermal efficiency.

According to Chery, the hybrid system will enable the Tiggo SUVs to travel over 90km on electric power alone and give a total range of over 1200km. While exactly charging ability is yet to be confirmed, Chery says that it will be able to be DC fast charged for a 30 to 80 per cent charge in as little as 19 minutes.

Aside from the new drivetrain, the company debuted a revised look for the Tiggo 8 with new bumper and headlights and both the ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Max’ part of the Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max names have been shelved, like the recently updated Tiggo 4.

Further Australian pricing and specification details for the Chery Super Hybrid range will be announced closer to its local arrival in July.