IMOTO: JETOUR T1 I-DM
THINGS are going well at Jetour South Africa since they launched their T-SUVs which are T1 and T2 late last year.
The company introduced itself in the country with Dashing and X70 Plus. Although there were some who paid attention to it, it was T1 and T2 that made it among the top selling companies every month.
More recently they have become known as plug-in hybrids.
The arrival of the T1 DM plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) makes the T1 open and attractive to many, especially those looking to save money.
It is based on the T1 Odyssey which was the top of the family. However, they have changed it in the front of the grille and put bright decorations instead of the name text.
This square-shaped SUV has LED headlights with LED daytime running lights and LED rear lights. On the back there is a text that says it’s DM. The rims are 19-inch and on the sides they also write it as PHEV.
You must definitely use the stairs to climb in because if you are not careful you can find yourself rubbing yourself on the floor.
After all, the agabade left it at 190mm.
When you open the front doors, you will see the text of its name lighting up.
He says that when you enter you are greeted by a large interior as it has a wheelbase of 2,800mm. It is bigger than the new Toyota RAV4 which is also available as a plug in hybrid and Haval H6 HEV.
Boot space is 574l and if that’s not enough they say you can tow a trailer weighing 1,600kg.
For the rear passengers, no one complained about being cramped because it opens up well and has two charging ports.
The front seats are electrically adjustable. It also has a large panoramic sunroof.
Like most cars from its place of origin in China, it packs a big touchscreen infotainment system where you do everything. You don’t just play music with Sony’s great sounding speakers.
I was connecting the mobile via Apple CarPlay wirelessly, it was showing the outside with the cameras on the body and that’s where you program the car. However, it requires you not to rush but read it well so that you can find everything easily when you want it.
It’s good that the buttons for setting the temperatures are visible.
On the road, it runs on a 1.5 liter turbo petrol engine. It works with an electric motor that together produces 250kW of power and 530Nm of torque. The H6 PHEV has more as it spits out 268kW.
When you take off, it is silent until it starts to rumble after a while when you drive it as a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) where it uses petrol and electricity which on downhills or when you brake it charges the battery.
Because of this I ended up not charging it because it was always playing at 70% battery. When it showed that I could go 68km on electricity alone.
If you want, you can change it to go electric only. They say that if the battery is full, you can travel 100km as it is 18.4kWh. Able to charge from DC chargers and AC chargers.
I went down the hill wearing the Polly Shorts of the runners who were holding the Comrades Marathon on Sunday and entered the N3 towards Durban, and it said that it was drinking 3.8 liters per 100km. It wasn’t close to the 1.1l/10m they claimed.
However, I’m driving around town and it’s running at 8.1l/km.
Despite its savings, I like that they have included a lot of safety and driver aids that would run out of ink if I counted them.
Although I didn’t put it in the dirt, it has hill descent control, crawl control mode and XWD intelligent four-wheel drive technology.
In terms of price, Jetour beats the competition as it costs less than the H6 PHEV and RAV4 PHEV.
Price:
Jetour T1 i-DM – R689 900
It comes with a seven-year or 200,000km warranty, a six-year or 75,000km service plan and an eight-year or 160,000km battery warranty.