Hongqi EHS7 2024 review | First Drive

Hongqi might not be a brand we’re overly familiar with here in the UK, or at all in Europe really, but it’s far from an upstart. Launched originally in 1958, Hongqi – pronounced ‘Hong-chi’, meaning ‘red flag’ – was originally a lineup of cars designed for high-ranking Chinese government officials. It’s gone through numerous different permutations over the years until 2018, when the marque effectively relaunched with a new vision and new product, growing exponentially since then.

That brings us to Hongqi’s ambitions today. After a strong presence at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, we were given an exclusive opportunity to try a EHS7 prototype, a model from its line of ‘new energy vehicles’ that the marque hopes to offer to UK buyers in 2026. As a medium-sized all-electric crossover with a premium position, it rivals the likes of the Tesla Model Y Performance and Audi Q6 E-Tron.

Representatives from the marque told us they want to do things differently to the way most other marques do. They want to publish ‘real world’ range figures. There’s even talk of a battery swap option in China, though there’s no word yet on whether this will make its way to Europe. Either way, Hongqi knows it needs to do things a little differently and appeal to the real wants and needs of customers if it wants to make waves in a marketplace that’s as packed as it is seemingly alienated from the people it wants to sell to.

What an increasingly impossible task designing a distinctive medium-sized SUV is. There are so many of them, they all tend to blend together after a while. So, for a new-to-us brand like Hongqi, getting the likes of the EHS7 right – making it distinctive, is essential. 

Design is subjective, but I’d say the job at least of making it distinctive, if not beautiful, is largely done. Especially from the rear with that interesting solid width-spanning light design that hooks down into the rear haunches. There’s a premium European flavour to the way this car – and its saloon car sibling the EH7 – looks, which should come as no surprise given the design chief of FAW, Hongqi’s parent company, previously headed up design at Rolls-Royce.

The EHS7 can be had with either a single motor powertrain or the dual-motor we tested, that features a frankly absurd power output of 615PS (452kW) and 757Nm (558lb ft) of torque. That means this mild-mannered, nicely appointed family SUV can get to 62mph in 3.9 seconds. 

And that really is as absolutely insane as it sounds, with perhaps the most profound feeling of incongruity between a car and the performance it delivers that I’ve ever felt. That power isn’t metered out, rather dumped at the wheels in globs as the throttle drops. Truthfully, the car struggles to stay civilised at full punch from a standstill, the traction control light blinking almost in morse code as the steering wheel writhes around in your hands.

Happily, once at speed and making your way up and down the roads next to the Goodwood race course that we were trying this car out on, the chassis, suspension and steering show competence. There’s weight – even the vaguest imitation of actual sensation – to the wheel as you change direction. Meanwhile the car’s mass is controlled remarkably well, thanks to the car’s variable air suspension. 

When not driving in a manner inappropriate for a family car, it’s comfortable and reasonably refined… except for one thing. This version of the car, presumably in its sport mode – our drive was very smash and grab and this among reasons we’ll get into meant we couldn’t explore the full breadth of this car’s personality – the piped-in noise in sport mode is, well… I’ll stop short of saying excruciatingly loud. 

Contrast to the outside where it’s relatively quiet, which lead our photographer and I to wonder whether the outside and inside noises had accidentally been switched. It’s to the point that you can hear the speakers crackle and distort when you press the start button, getting the car to ‘growl’ into life. This is the example that ran on the Hill at Goodwood and is supposedly a prototype, so we expect there are a few kinks to work out.

The EHS7 features either a 111kWh battery or a smaller 85kWh battery. Our car had the larger 111kWh battery, meaning an official range of 329 miles. Due to our limited time in the car, we couldn’t fully verify how it performs in the real world, though as above, Hongqi is aware disparities between claimed and real range do frustrate buyers. 

Hongqi also claims the battery technology is low-temperature resistant, meaning it should deliver near full capacity in temperatures as low as -10°C and up to 90 per cent capacity in temperatures as low as -20°C. With an 800-volt architecture, the EHS7 is also claimed to be able to charge at up to 246kW. That means, according to Hongqi, it can juice up for a drive from Goodwood to London in the time it takes to get a coffee.

The performance was as impressive as it was unnerving, but the dynamics were just as impressive. As was the interior, its design, fit and finish.

There are a few gimmicks – the rotary controller on the centre console didn’t seem to move or really do anything – and the squircle steering wheel will divide opinion, though I happened to quite like that.

But on the whole, the flowing screen design and general cabin architecture and design was really rather pleasant and put together nicely, with quality-feeling materials. All the buttons clicked nicely, all the switches felt durable. It’s really spacious, too, with plenty of room thanks to the skateboard architecture without compromising driving and seating positions.

Speaking of the seats, they’re really quite comfortable, with 528mm seat cushions made of slow-rebound memory foam – cushy!

What we couldn’t test really, was the infotainment system hidden within those screens. Requiring a degree of connectivity, this Chinese market car had to run in the UK with a bare-bones user interface with no access to its features. 

This in concept is somewhat concerning. You’d expect the vast majority of car buyers are hopeful their car will function almost fully without an internet connection. Alas, no. We tried a hotspot and even tried with a VPN, to no avail. Time-limited, we concluded acquaintance with this car’s sprawling digital appointment would have to wait for another time.

What we could see was the EHS7’s quite expansive and adjustable head-up display. The usual appointment of extensive climate controls and the electrically adjustable driving position is present and correct, as is provision for high levels of autonomy with the sensor array at the top of the windscreen.

There’s much still to learn about the Hongqi EHS7, but what we can conclude from this first drive is that this car and this brand really are no joke. In the past, cars from outside the usual European, US and Japanese brands have often caught criticism in the West for being low-quality, primitive and even unsafe.

Not so here. This is a car very much benchmarked against serious European rivals and tailored to European tastes and expectations, with good quality, interesting engineering and plenty of features. If the plan to launch does go ahead, it’ll be another competent Chinese alternative to long-serving established brands and models. There are definitely some rough edges to round off ahead of that 2026 launch, though…

Photography by Pete Summers.