Jaguar Land Rover's Freelander name is back -- not as a compact crossover, but as a standalone Chinese brand built with Chery, and its first model is a nearly 3-tonne, three-row EREV SUV with 818 hp. The Freelander 8 launched in China on September 3, 2026, and a dealership walkaround from partner reviewer Sergey Gilevich gives a rare hands-on look at a car that surprised even a skeptical reviewer with how it drives -- and that just set a Guinness World Record for altitude.
A Land Rover Name, Reborn as a Chinese Brand
Freelander isn't a new Land Rover model -- it's a new standalone brand, built through Chery and Jaguar Land Rover's existing joint venture but operated independently, with its own dealer network rather than Land Rover showrooms. The brand debuted with the Concept 97 show car in Shanghai on March 31, 2026 (a name referencing 1997, the year the original Freelander launched), followed by a production-ready reveal at Beijing's Auto China in April and an official global launch event on September 3, 2026. JLR and Chery have stated a plan to launch a new Freelander model roughly every six months over the next five years, eventually across around 90 markets including Europe and the UK -- with the Freelander 8 as the opening act. Chery handles engineering and production at a modernized plant in Changshu, while JLR contributes design and brand positioning; British designer Phil Simmons, whose past work includes the Range Rover Velar and Evoque, led the Freelander brand's visual identity.
Tech Highlights
- 610 kW (818 hp) combined output from a dual-motor EREV setup -- a 360 kW (483 hp) front motor plus a 250 kW (335 hp) rear motor, backed by a 115 kW (154 hp) 1.5-litre turbo range extender that only generates electricity, never drives the wheels directly.
- 800V, 6C CATL battery architecture -- a 60.3 kWh pack supports up to 350 kW DC charging, adding 20-80% in as little as 12 minutes, with 310 km of CLTC-rated pure-electric range before the range extender engages.
- Guinness World Record altitude climb -- in August 2026 a Freelander 8 reached 6,002.33 metres in Tibet's Xizang region, the highest altitude ever achieved by a hybrid vehicle, beating the previous record (set by a BYD Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5) by just over 22 metres.
- Rear-wheel steering and air suspension standard across the range -- Gilevich specifically called out the suspension tuning as the biggest surprise of the walkaround, describing it as noticeably better balanced than rivals at a similar price.
Design and Dimensions
At 5,118 mm long, 2,050 mm wide, and 1,898 mm tall on a 3,040 mm wheelbase (per Chinese regulatory filings), the Freelander 8 is a genuinely enormous vehicle -- longer, wider, and taller than a Land Rover Defender 110, and closer in footprint to a full-size body-on-frame SUV than to a typical three-row crossover. Curb weight runs to roughly 2,980 kg, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 3,495 kg. The boxy, round-headlight face is a deliberate callback to classic Land Rover proportions -- Gilevich noted the dashboard design shares a family resemblance with several other recent Chinese SUVs riding on related underpinnings, though the Freelander's specific suspension tuning, done jointly with JLR engineers, is what he singled out as genuinely different from the pack.
| Layout | Dual motor + range-extender generator |
| Drive | All-wheel drive |
| Power | 818 hp combined |
| Torque | 813 Nm |
| Length | 5,118 mm (201.5 in) |
| Width | 2,050 mm (80.7 in) |
| Height | 1,898 mm (74.7 in) |
| Wheelbase | 3,040 mm (119.7 in) |
Performance and Specs
Every Freelander 8 trim -- from the entry Pro to the range-topping First Edition -- shares the same core powertrain: a 360 kW (483 hp) front motor and 250 kW (335 hp) rear motor for 610 kW (818 hp) combined and 813 Nm of torque, good for a claimed 4.6-second 0-100 km/h in a vehicle that weighs nearly three tonnes. A 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder range extender adds roughly 115 kW (154 hp) purely as a generator, refilling the 60.3 kWh CATL battery once its 310 km CLTC electric range is used up. Gilevich confirmed on camera that the powertrain, battery, rear-wheel steering, and air suspension are identical across the base and top trims he drove -- the price gap between them comes down entirely to interior materials, tech features, and wheel/tyre specification, not mechanical hardware. Top trims ride on 22-inch wheels with 285/45 Pirelli P Zero tyres; the entry trim drops to 21-inch wheels with 275/50 Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain-leaning rubber, which Gilevich recommended specifically for rough roads.
| Spec | All Trims |
|---|---|
| Front Motor | 360 kW (483 hp) |
| Rear Motor | 250 kW (335 hp) |
| Combined Output | 610 kW (818 hp) |
| Torque | 813 Nm |
| Range Extender | 1.5L turbo-4, ~115 kW (154 hp) generator only |
| Battery | 60.3 kWh (CATL, 800V/6C) |
| Electric Range (CLTC) | 310 km |
| DC Charging | Up to 350 kW (20-80% in ~12 min) |
| 0-100 km/h | 4.6 sec |
| Drive | AWD, rear-wheel steering, air suspension |
Pricing and Trims
Official Chinese launch pricing runs from 339,900 yuan (about $50,000) for the Pro 5-seat, 349,900 yuan (about $51,500) for the Pro 6-seat, up through Max and Max+ trims, with a First Edition limited to 1,000 units priced at 449,900 yuan (about $67,600), sold at a promotional 449,900 yuan ($66,200) at launch. In his dealership walkaround, Gilevich cited real-world showroom figures closer to $43,000 for the base trim and $57,000 for the top trim he tested -- broadly consistent with official pricing once regional dealer variation and configuration differences are accounted for. The Freelander 8 posted over 5,000 firm orders within 12 hours of its September 3 launch, on top of more than 10,000 pre-orders during the earlier presale phase. JLR has signaled Freelander models will reach roughly 90 global markets over the next five years, with European pricing floated in the €45,000-€55,000 range once the brand arrives there, likely around 2027.
| Trim | Seats | Price (China) |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | 5 or 6 | ¥339,900-349,900 (~$50,000-51,500) |
| Max / Max+ | 5 or 6 | Between Pro and First Edition |
| First Edition (1,000 units) | 6 | ¥449,900-459,900 (~$66,200-67,600) |
Interior and Technology
The cabin Gilevich walked through uses a 2+2+2 six-seat layout on the top trim, with individual second-row captain's chairs the brand markets internally as a "living room" -- long, adjustable seat cushions, extendable thigh support, and (on higher trims) massage functions for the front two rows only, not the third. A 46.3-inch panoramic display runs across the dashboard alongside a separate central touchscreen powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8397 chip and what Gilevich identified as Huawei-sourced display hardware, plus Apple CarPlay support; he rated the graphics "8 out of 10" but praised its responsiveness. Two panoramic glass roof sections cover the first two rows, each with its own manually-retracting shade (front row only powered), and third-row passengers get their own overhead glass panel, individual entertainment screens, seat-back tray tables, and heated-and-ventilated seats. Material quality drew mixed marks -- door panels and armrests use padded Alcantara-like trim in contact areas but cheaper plastic and thinner leatherette lower down and in the third row, which Gilevich felt fell short of the price point in a few specific spots, especially compared to some BYD Tang L trims. Huawei's Qiankun ADS 5.0 driver-assistance system with lidar is standard on higher trims; the base trim drops the lidar entirely and offers only basic lane-keeping. A built-in cabin fragrance system and 23-speaker Harman Kardon audio round out the top-trim feature list.
The Guinness World Record Climb
Beyond the walkaround, the Freelander 8's biggest headline of the past month has nothing to do with a dealership floor: in August 2026, a production Freelander 8 climbed to an altitude of 6,002.33 metres in China's Xizang (Tibet) autonomous region, earning a Guinness World Records title for the highest altitude reached by a hybrid vehicle. The route covered roughly 1,480 metres of loose scree and unpaved shale with a 200-metre vertical rise, and Chery-JLR reported the range extender retained about 80% of its rated generating capacity despite the thin air and extreme cold. The climb beat the previous hybrid altitude record -- 5,980.05 metres, set by a modified BYD Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5 in 2024 -- by just over 22 metres; notably, some record attempts by other extended-range vehicles have reached higher altitudes on lighter, more heavily modified vehicles, but the Freelander 8 is reportedly the first three-row SUV over 5 metres long to hold this specific record in stock configuration.
How It Compares
ZEEKR 9X REV
$59,026 | 646 hp | 1,200 km combined range
A similarly large luxury EREV SUV with less raw power but a longer combined range once the range extender is counted -- both target buyers who want three-row space with electrified running costs rather than a pure BEV's charging dependency.
Li Auto L9
$63,423 | 563 hp | 1,315 km combined range
China's default answer to "large luxury EREV SUV" for several years running -- more expensive and less powerful than the Freelander 8, but with a longer track record and a more mature dealer/service network, the kind of advantage a brand-new marque like Freelander doesn't have yet.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- 818 hp and a genuinely well-sorted suspension tune that a skeptical reviewer specifically praised against pricier rivals like the Tank 700 and Leopard 8
- Identical powertrain, suspension, and rear-wheel steering across every trim -- the cheaper version isn't mechanically compromised
- Guinness World Record altitude climb (6,002.33 m) backs up genuine off-road engineering, not just marketing
- 310 km CLTC electric range and 350 kW DC charging bring real EV usability to a nearly 3-tonne off-roader
Cons
- Brand-new standalone dealer network with no track record -- unlike Li Auto or established Land Rover dealers, service and resale support are unproven
- Interior material quality is inconsistent -- nice where your elbow rests, noticeably cheaper in several lower and third-row touchpoints
- Reviewer found the claimed high-speed active side-bolster support did not activate during testing -- flagged as unresolved, not yet explained by the brand
- Not yet sold outside China -- European and UK arrival isn't expected until around 2027
FAQs
Verdict
The Freelander 8 is an unusually confident debut for a brand-new marque -- 818 hp, a genuinely praised suspension tune from a reviewer who went in skeptical, and a Guinness World Record climb that backs up the off-road engineering claims rather than just marketing them. It isn't polished everywhere; interior materials vary by touchpoint, and a brand this new carries real service-network risk that established rivals like Li Auto don't. But at roughly $50,000 for a nearly 3-tonne, three-row EREV SUV with real all-terrain ability, it's a genuinely compelling opening statement from the Chery-JLR joint venture, and worth watching closely as Freelander expands toward Europe.
