Talking about Great Wall Motors today or GWM and their small Haval Jolion Ultra
Hybrid SUV – there’s four pure petrol Jolions and two Hybrids, the recently
launched Lux Hybrid and the topflight Ultra Hybrid. I’ve drove the latter at $40,990
drive-away combining a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine with an electric
motor and a two-speed hybrid automatic transmission. Selectable drive modes
allow full electric driving, petrol driving which generates power to the electric
motor and battery, petrol and electric power in tandem and finally a regenerative
braking function which recoups energy under braking. Using 91 regular unleaded
I managed a best economy of 5.2L/100km with a mix of city and country driving.
That aspect of the Jolion Ultra Hybrid works well and is well sorted, not so some
of the driver assist elements like lane keep assist and active cruise control. Far
too reactive and in need of refinement. Overall, however, this is a very easy to
drive small SUV, the build quality a real surprise with very comfortable seating
and its comfort and convenience features extensive – as the Ultra name implies it
has all the fruit including panoramic sunroof, LED headlights, 360-degree camera,
head up display and much more. And it comes with a 7-year/unlimited kilometre
warranty. I’m David Berthon

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