Jaecoo J7 offers power, range and flexibility

I have never been fond of plug-in hybrids - cars which tend to deliver on their promise of efficiency only if their batteries are charged as often as daily.

- Christopher Tan

If you have such access to a charger, why not buy an all-electric car?

But a car like the Jaecoo J7 makes me pause. The mid-sized plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle (SUV) manufactured by China's Chery group averages 5.9 litres/100km over a three-day test drive covering around 270km.

While that is nowhere as rosy as the company's claimed 0.7 litres/100km - a figure presumably attainable when the battery is kept constantly at a high state of charge - it is creditable for a car the size of a BMW X1.

The X1 sDrive16i - the only variant available here - is substantially lighter than the Chinese plug-in hybrid, but its real-life fuel consumption is higher, while its performance is somewhat poorer.

On paper, the J7 hits 100kmh in 8.5 seconds (versus 10.5 seconds by the X1 sDrive16i), but at the wheel, it feels far quicker. Producing a maximum of 342hp and 525Nm of torque, the Chinese car takes off with a briskness and effortlessness you usually associate with a big-capacity multi-cylinder-engined car - not one powered by a 1.5-litre unit.

While torque produced by electric motors usually peaks instantly but tapers off fairly quickly, the sheer abundance of shove in the J7 masks this behaviour. The car's acceleration is stupendous, whether from a standstill or in midstream.