The Freelander 8 () is a full-size SUV, it will be the first vehicle sold under the Freelander marque. It is developed by Chery and produced at the Chery Jaguar Land Rover plant in Changshu. It is available with battery electric, range-extended, and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
History On 19 June 2024, Jaguar Land Rover partnered with Chery to build new vehicles on the latter's E0X platform under the Freelander brand. Prior to this announcement JLR had said it would use the E0X and M3X platforms for plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles. A letter of intent for building vehicles under the Freelander brand was signed on the same day.
The Freelander 8 was originally developed for Chery's Exeed marque under the codename E0V. An early design was revealed on November 12, 2024, before the project was transferred to the Freelander brand.
On 29 April 2025, it was revealed that a trademark for Freelander was filed in Australia. On 14 May 2025, it was confirmed that it would arrive as a plug-in hybrid initially and that it would be styled by Gerry McGovern, then-chief creative officer of Jaguar Land Rover.
The first spyshots of the Freelander 8 were released on 1 August 2025, when a prototype was spotted testing in Suzhou. By November 2025, 150 Freelander 8 prototypes were built by JLR and Chery.
On 21 January 2026, it was confirmed that the brand would first launch in the Middle East due to a shift in the Freelander marque's strategy. On 24 March 2026, it was announced that the Freelander brand would be revealed in Shanghai on 31 March. The Freelander 8 was accidentally unveiled via crash test photos on 26 March 2026. Official teasers for the Freelander Concept 97 were shown on the same day that the reveal date was announced.
The Freelander Concept 97 was unveiled on 31 March 2026, alongside the Freelander marque itself. The Concept 97 serves as a preview of the Freelander 8, featuring a design influenced by the original Land Rover Freelander. Its hood, grille, and skid plate are finished in aluminium.
On 25 April 2026, the production version was unveiled as the Freelander 8.
Overview The Freelander 8 serves as the first model of the Freelander marque. It is a full-size SUV.
Design The exterior design of the Freelander 8 is largely carried over from the Concept 97. It features an inclined D-pillar that was also used for the 3-door version of the original Freelander. That design element, combined with the triangular quarter window, serves as the basis for the Freelander logo design. It also takes inspiration from the structures of the letters F and L. The black trim on the front end and the headlights were influenced by the Freelander's 2003 facelift. Five regular exterior options are available. The First Edition, which is exclusively available at launch, features three exclusive paint options, including a "Flowing Silver" matte paint with a nano-ceramic varnish.
Interior The Freelander 8's interior features a cinematic "Human-Machine Interface" (HMI), consisting of a 46.3 inch "Panoramic Intelligent Display" and a 15.6-inch Mini-LED central infotainment touchscreen. The former has a width of , an 8K resolution and a peak brightness of 1000 nits. Below the central display, there are a row of physical buttons crafted using a "Clous de Paris" technique, as well as dual K9-grade optical crystal dials with 144 facets each. It is also equipped with 256-color dual aperture ambient lighting, a 23-speaker Harman Kardon sound system with a 7.1.4-channel layout, dual-layer acoustic glass and active noise cancellation.
Either a 2-row five seat or 3-row six seat configuration is available. In the case of the latter, the second row consists of two individual zero-gravity seats with a four-way adjustable legrest, heating, ventilation and 16-point massage. Specifically, the second-row seat on the passenger side can recline up to 145 degrees. Meanwhile, the third row is also heated and ventilated, and features a wide sunroof known as the Skylight Corridor. All models offer front seat-back tray tables, a refrigerator operating between and , as well as a ceiling mounted rear entertainment display.
Features The Freelander 8 uses a roof-mounted LiDAR sensor at the front and a solid-state LiDAR at the rear. The Freelander will come with Huawei's Qiankun advanced driver-assistance system and an 896-line LiDAR system. Its architecture utilizes the i-ATS (intelligent all terrain system) tuned with software assets from Huawei. Traction is regulated through a mechanical differential lock at the front, an electronic rear limited-slip differential and a virtual centre differential lock. A closed dual-chamber air suspension system regulates damping and ground clearance. All vehicle technologies are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8397 chipset.
Powertrain The Freelander 8 was launched exclusively as a range-extender electric vehicle. It uses a Chery 1.5-litre turbocharged inline-4 in Miller cycle which outputs ( gross power) and of torque and is not mechanically connected to the wheels; it has a peak thermal efficiency of 45.79%. It is driven by a front motor and a rear motor, which has a 2-speed transmission with the low gear acting as a low range gear to achieve a maximum wheel torque of , for a total of .
It is powered by a 60.331kWh NMC Freevoy (Xiaoyao) battery pack supplied by CATL, providing and of WLTP and CLTC electric range respectively. It supports a peak charging rate of 6C and 350 kW, charging from 2080% in 12 minutes with the help of its 800-volt architecture.
+SpecificationsBatteryMotorPowerTorqueElectric range0Top speedKerb weightTypeWeightFrontRearFrontRearTotalFrontRearTotalWLTPCLTC60.331kWh NMC CATLTZ18XYA0 PMSMYD60TZ22A0 PMSM4.6 s
Sales The Freelander 8 received over 10,000 pre-orders within 48 hours of pre-sales opening on 14 August 2026. Within 12 hours of its launch on 3 September 2026, the Freelander 8 received over 5,000 locked-in pre-orders.
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