More than a new paint chart: inside Chery-JLR's Huawei-powered Freelander 8

Chery and Jaguar Land Rover add five body colors to the Freelander 8, but the real story is the 800V EREV powertrain, CATL battery and Huawei ADS 5.

Author: Дмитрий Новиков

23:12 02-07-2026

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Chery and Jaguar Land Rover have revealed five more body colors for the new Freelander 8, yet this news is about far more than the palette. Behind calm names like Cloud Top White and Polar Night Black hides a crossover that tries to fuse Land Rover image, Chinese electric architecture and Huawei technology — a rare combination even for China's fast-moving market.

The new shades are called Flowing Silver in a high-gloss finish, Fjord Blue, Overflowing Copper, Polar Night Black and Cloud Top White. The model was previously shown in the limited colors Hot Lemon, Twilight Purple and a matte Flowing Silver. Chery-JLR intends the palette to underline the design's nature theme, from a «cloud» white to an almost light-absorbing black.

The Freelander 8's hardware matters far more than its paint. The model uses a series-hybrid (EREV) layout: a 1.5-litre petrol engine rated at 115 kW works as a generator, while a 60.331 kWh CATL battery delivers up to 221 km of electric range. There is an 800V architecture, charging at up to 6C and a peak intake power of 350 kW — figures that place the car closer to China's new NEV flagships than to classic SUVs with a British badge.

A separate emphasis falls on the electronics. The Freelander 8 received an 896-line LiDAR, Huawei Qiankun ADS 5, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8397 chip, dual-chamber air suspension and the i-ATS system developed together with Huawei. Traction is handled by a front mechanical lock, a rear electronic limited-slip differential and a virtual center lock. This is already a bid not merely for a family hybrid, but for rivalry with Tank, Li Auto, Aito and the pricier Exeed versions.

Chery Group's sales in June 2026 reached 256,612 vehicles, while exports grew to 191,062 cars. That is why the Freelander 8 looks less like an experiment for the sake of a badge and more like part of a bigger export strategy: the Chinese already know how to sell volume, and now they need a more expensive, more emotional product.