2023 GWM Haval Jolion Ultra Hybrid review

Can I make a candid admission? I'd seen a few GWM Haval Jolions knocking about. Every time I've pulled up alongside one I had much the same thought and that was “What the heck has gone so badly wrong in your life that you find yourself behind the wheel of a Haval Jolion?”

I'd then concoct scenarios of car-crash divorces, crypto investment disasters and inept no-win, no-fee lawyers who never won. In short, the Jolion seemed to me a particularly distressing distress purchase. Then I drove a Jolion Ultra Hybrid and realised I'd not so much rushed to judgment than torn the space-time continuum a new one in my haste.

I'm not here to tell you that this is the greatest compact SUV to ever turn a wheel. But it's far from the worst and if, like me, your views were perhaps a little behind the curve, it's one that has the capacity to deliver a very pleasant, albeit chastening, surprise.

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• Warranty and running costs
• VERDICT

How much is it and what do I get?

The asking price for the privilege is the princely sum of $40,990. I'm sure many of you were expecting that number to begin with a three rather than a four, but that is a drive-away price, so compare it to rivals with an RRP in the $35,000 ballpark and you'll be comparing eggs with eggs.

Slotting into the Haval range below the larger H6 Hybrid, the Jolion replaces the little-lamented H2 and is $5000 cheaper than its weightier sibling.

In case you're trying to get a handle on size, the Jolion measures 4472mm in length and 1841mm in width. It sits on a 2700mm wheelbase, which means it sits midway between, say, a Mazda CX-30 and a CX-5 or a Toyota C-HR and a RAV4. Think Kia Niro, Subaru XV or Nissan Qashqai and you're in the right ballpark.

The Ultra Hybrid is the range-topping Jolion model, sitting above the non-hybridised Premium, Lux and Ultra versions. It's also the most powerful, thanks to the assistance of a compact 1.8kWh battery that drives a BorgWarner DHT115 permanent magnet synchronous electric motor.

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As befits the flagship model, GWM has ransacked the toy cupboard and emptied virtually everything into the Jolion Ultra Hybrid. With no fewer than 14 radars and six cameras, it even claims to deliver Level 2+ autonomous driving.

There are also 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, a 12.3-inch colour infotainment touchscreen, a head-up display, wireless charging (but no wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay functionality) electric windows and tailgate and a suite of safety systems that includes traffic sign recognition, auto parallel parking and adaptive cruise control. And breathe.

It's worth noting that the only standard non-cost paint finish is Hamilton White. If you'd rather have Smoke Grey, Glacier Blue, Mars Red, Azure Blue or Golden Black, you'll need to rustle up another $495. This is the only optional extra available on the Ultra Hybrid.

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How do rivals compare on value?

If you want a hybrid SUV that's much the same size, comes with an identical-length seven-year warranty, is fitted with less standard equipment and develops less power and torque, feel free to shell out an additional $15K for a Kia Niro HEV GT-Line.

And there in a nutshell is the Jolion's value proposition. It's not too hard to figure out, is it?

Alternatively, there's the Subaru XV, which in range-topping Hybrid S trim will cost over $47K to drive away and is also down on equipment, space and its mild hybrid set-up lacks grunt compared to the Jolion. One advantage the Subaru does have, and which will endear it to many, is all-wheel drive.

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Like the baby Kia, the Jolion's hybrid drive system can perform all sorts of tricks, but sending drive to the rear treads as well isn't one of them. Yep, this is purely a front-drive vehicle so forget about beating a path into the wild red yonder.

In truth, there's little in the hybrid-powered market that can directly compare with this Jolion and retails at around $35,000 before on-road costs. Mazda MX-30? Nope, the hybrid system's too feeble.

The Toyota Yaris Cross and C-HR hybrids are too small. A Honda HR-V e-HEV L, as good as it is, is another 10 grand down the road. Hyundai has nothing comparable. Nor Nissan, even with its all-new Qashqai.

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Interior comfort, space and storage

The Haval Jolion is a relatively generously cut thing, for passengers at least. Its wheelbase is a few centimetres longer than the likes of the Subaru XV or the Nissan Qashqai and this, coupled with the panoramic glass sunroof, gives the Jolion's cabin a pleasantly airy feel.

Let's break with convention by jumping into the back first. Park yourself behind a tall driver in most compact SUVs and you'd normally be considering the possibility of some sort of deep vein thrombosis after a few minutes. Failing that, coupe-like roof profiles would have you looking like you were auditioning for a part as Quasimodo after any sort of lengthy drive. The Jolion is surprisingly accommodating here.

All but the tallest adults and gangly teens will be able to get comfortable in the back, with plenty of knee room and enough space beneath the front seats to slide feet comfortably. Headroom is also pretty good, with the glass roof stopping shy of the head pocket at the back.

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The Haval Jolion is a relatively generously cut thing, for passengers at least, with a wheelbase a few centimetres longer than the likes of the Subaru XV or the Nissan Qashqai

Rear occupants get a pair of low-mounted central air vents, electric windows and a pair of USB ports to plug their mobile antisocialities into, there are respectably sized door bins and a map pocket on the front seat backs.

All three seating positions in the rear get proper three-point seat belts although the centre row cushioning is a bit unfriendly. There are child seat top tether anchors on all three positions and ISOFIX attachments on the outer seats.

Up front, the biggest black mark is a steering column that adjusts for tilt but not for reach, which means that some may be sitting a little closer to the wheel than is ideal. There are also a couple of ergonomic issues that suggest a less than comprehensive consideration of the car's right-hand drive markets.

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Author is 190cm (6'3")

The USB slots are virtually on the floor, on the passenger side of the centre console. And having a home button on the widescreen infotainment system is great, but put it in the corner near the driver rather than opposite side out of arm's reach.

Otherwise, the cabin gets a lot right for this particular price point. The seats look like leather but Haval calls the material Comfort-Tek and it does a fairly good facsimile of hide. The contrast stitching quality is decent and there are four monogrammed Haval logos on the seats. The Harman-branded door speakers look a bit plasticky, but the audio quality is respectable from the six-speaker installation.

The overall aesthetic design of the dash architecture is also a good deal better than you might be expecting, with a sensible layering of technical finishes, soft-touch items and harder plastics. It's quite minimalist, with a small smattering of physical buttons and much of the interaction running through the central touchscreen.

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This is hampered by the fact that the Jolion is ported with no built-in satellite navigation. Okay, so it's fine to assume that users will be mirroring their phones either through Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, but this comes with a bit of a caveat. Firstly, as mentioned previously, there's no wireless functionality, so you may well find yourself groping around in the passenger footwell for your cable every time you get into the vehicle. Not ideal.

Secondly, Android Auto takes up the whole screen. There's no home or escape or back button that takes you to the car's other functions.

If you wanted to, say, change the drive mode, you'd first need to press one of the physical air-conditioning buttons, then the vehicle button, scroll up and then select 'New Energy', scroll the right-hand screen up and then select 'Driving Mode' and then choose whether you need to be in Normal, Sport, Economy or Snowfield. By which time you've probably changed your mind or worse.

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Haval has packed a tonne of functionality into the centre display but unless it can get on top of the user experience, it's just exacerbating a problem. At present, there are too many functions that are buried elbow-deep in menus, often with tiny buttons that need to be jabbed at on the move. A few more physical buttons or an always-on Home or Back function would work wonders here.

As indeed would a bit of thoroughness when translating to that little-known and obscure language, English. Activating the reversing camera only to see “Please watch out your surroundings” flash onto the screen doesn't fill you with confidence in the Jolion's interface.

Neither does seeing the warning that “The fuel in the mailbox should be prevented from aging.” In case you were wondering, the Jolion's mailbox holds 55 litres of the stuff and it can run on anything with a RON rating of 91 or better.

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Moving aft, the boot has a strong latching mechanism that sometimes requires a good slam, setting the cheap number plate holder on this car clanging. Overall space is a little down compared to the other Jolion models due to the higher floor beneath which is the battery pack.

Instead of the 430 litres with the seats in place and 1133 litres with the 60:40 split rear bench folded, the hybrid manages 390 and 1069 litres respectively.

Another point to consider is that other Jolion models also package a space-saver spare beneath the boot floor whereas the hybrid driver has to cross their fingers and hope that a can of mobility foam will be enough to limp them to assistance.

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What's it like to drive?

Haval's marketing material talks at length about the hybrid drive system's ability to work as a parallel hybrid (where the electric motor works to assist the petrol engine), or in series mode (where the petrol engine is used to charge up the hybrid battery) as well as a full EV mode.

I'd looked forward to playing with each of these drive modes in turn, but the Jolion's not really configured like that. It prefers that you just drive the thing and it decides which mode works best. And after driving one for a while, I had no real issue with that. It does a great job of figuring out which drive mode you need to be in and when.

At low speeds, the Jolion switches between full EV mode and series mode, effectively in its most economical mode when schlepping about town. On suburban roads (typically between 35km/h and 80km/h) it then switches to parallel mode under acceleration or when travelling uphill.

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At speeds above 40km/h, the engine drives the front wheels directly, delivering a five per cent efficiency boost compared to series mode. At speeds greater than 80km/h, the engine and the electric motor again work in parallel, providing a handy torque boost when accelerating.

In practice, this means that you're not always 100 per cent certain what exactly the Jolion is up to beneath you.

The two-speed automatic transmission features D1 and D2 ratios alongside the usual Park, Reverse and Neutral, and there are times when the engine seems to murmur along happily and others where it can get a bit thrashy and raucous.

The rotary gear selector is okay once you get used to it. It has no stop function, spinning freely, and the indicator lights for the gears are so dim that you often need to shade them with your hand if you're unsure. Once you get more familiar with it, you know that a couple of clicks clockwise will put it into gear and a couple of clicks anti-clockwise will put it into reverse.

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Let the Jolion do its own thing and it's a decidedly amenable thing to amble about in

Three regenerative braking modes enable you to vary the degree of off-throttle deceleration and therefore the amount of kinetic energy harvested into the lithium-ion battery as the car slows.

You can also enable a one-pedal mode that is decidedly mild in its operation. Yes, it will eventually bring the Jolion to a halt should you step off the throttle, but it feels a little too gentle to inspire a great deal of faith in typical stop-and-start city traffic.

The conventional brakes are respectable enough but more impressive is the way that GWM has finessed the transition from regen to old-school friction. It's way more impressive than many far more expensive rivals in this regard. I recently drove a sixty-grand Cupra Formentor hybrid and the pedal feel was nowhere near as faithful as this humble Haval.

Let the Jolion do its own thing and it's a decidedly amenable thing to amble about in. It's not hugely rapid, packing 139kW and 375Nm, but we timed it at 8.9 seconds to 100km/h, so it's got enough herbs about it to hustle if you're intent on that.

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Its body control is softish but never slovenly. Ride quality is also very good, with power take-up being nicely polished, transitioning between drive modes and up and down its binary transmission very cleanly. At 2.7 turns lock to lock, the steering is benign, but there's never anything in the way of nasty surprises from it.

Although the 225/55 R18 Kumho Solus HS63 tyres aren't the last word in dynamic focus, that generous sidewall does at least deliver enough squish to burnish away typical Aussie B-road battle scars. They're not quite so great when trying to ascend a steep dirt road, with a little axle tramp entering the fray.

The all-seeing eye of the driver monitoring system peers at you balefully from the A-pillar, the camera attempting to detect whether you're about to nod off or are otherwise distracted. It looks a bit Orwellian when you first get into the car but it did nothing to interject while I was driving so I had no issue with it.

Also of note is the power of the LED headlights. There's ample illumination on dipped beam, but flick to main beam and you unleash a scarcely credible barrage of photons.

One poor pedestrian I managed to pick out looked like one of those guys on the deck of a ship who was told specifically not to look at the nuclear test. His retinas probably now have the surface consistency of Pringles.

Ride quality is also very good, with power take-up being nicely polished, transitioning between drive modes and up and down its binary transmission very cleanly

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How is it on fuel?

None of our testers drove the wheels off the Jolion while it was on test, instead leaning into its relaxed personality.

After 250km on mixed roads, the fuel consumption figure was 7.6L/100km against a claimed economy figure of 5.0L/100km.

That's pretty much on par with the more efficient cars in the class, with the hybrid version of the Kia Niro returning a claimed 4.9L/100km. By contrast, a Subaru XV hybrid is said to do 6.5L/100km on the combined cycle.

Interestingly, the Jolion's data screen for fuel efficiency is a tangled web of weirdness, logging every single aspect of the car's energy usage. At one point it showed fuel usage of 49L/100km, which provoked a moment of panic before it was apparent that this had been for a mere seven-second boost.

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How safe is it?

The Jolion has yet to be ANCAP tested and we can't presume a five-star rating, but it's reassuring to know that its bigger sibling, the H6, aced the 2022 testing.

A massive stack of safety kit is included as standard with the Jolion Ultra Hybrid. Indeed it's hard to know where to start. Rather than try to wade in and categorise the features, here's a list of them instead:

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In practice, the safety systems seem to work very well, with little in the way of false interventions, on the highway at least. The lane-keep assist can be a bit intrusive if you're hustling along a quiet country road, often tugging annoyingly at the steering wheel.

It takes quite a delve into the menus to switch it off, but it's worth the effort for a more faithful steering feel. On major roads, the adaptive cruise control is a boon and is one of the better examples of its ilk.

One slight oddity is the Jolion's propensity to flash its hazard lights. It'll do this if you switch into Sport mode and will also give a flash if traffic passes close to its rear end. It'll even do it if it detects a jolt to the vehicle, such as if you drive over an abrupt lateral seam in the road surface or hit a bump.

Halfway through our time with the vehicle, it also took to sounding a faint bleep whenever the speed limit was exceeded by 7km/h.

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Warranty and running costs

The GWM Haval Jolion Ultra Hybrid is sold with a seven-year / unlimited-kilometre warranty, along with five years of roadside assist and capped-price servicing, which help bolster confidence in what is to many still a relatively new brand.

GWM's roadside assist deal covers all of Australia and aside from the usual roadside repairs and towing, also includes locksmith services if you've lost a key, fuel top-up if you've taken your eye off the gauge and emergency taxi service of up to $50 if you're really in a rush.

The servicing schedule and pricing are pretty transparent, with details listed below.

The prices are the maximum payable for standard scheduled servicing under normal operating conditions for the nominated months/kilometres (whichever occurs first) up to a maximum of five services.

You may be expected to pay for normal wear and tear items such as tyres and brake pads, with possible extras for maintenance for vehicles that have been treated to what GWM Haval calls 'severe driving conditions'.

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VERDICT

The Jolion hybrid vastly exceeds the expectations of its price point and that alone may be reason enough to buy

In order to underline the achievements of the GWM Haval Jolion Ultra Hybrid, it's first worth focusing on its place in the market. It's the cheapest hybrid SUV of this size and therefore it stands to reason that it ought to be the least competent car in that particular class.

The fact that it delivers not only a huge slug of equipment, plenty of space for adults front and rear, a slick and technically intriguing hybrid drivetrain and respectable dynamics isn't what we were expecting.

In that regard, the Jolion hybrid vastly exceeds the expectations of its price point and that alone may be reason enough to buy.

Yes, some ergonomic issues need addressing, but none of them are absolute deal breakers. Despite the fact that the infotainment system isn't the easiest to operate, for the most part, you can just leave the vehicle in its default setting and it works very well.

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You think you'll want to play around with drive modes and regen settings, but the fact is that the calibrations are good enough to leave to their own devices.

What you're left with is a vehicle that looks reasonably handsome, drives well, is stacked with safety gear and other kit, and comes with an unlimited-kilometre seven-year warranty for $41K on your driveway. That's hard to beat.

In fact, it's not much more than you'd pay for an absolute bottom-drawer, entry-level VW Golf hatch.

There are some fairly obvious ways that GWM can improve the Jolion, but a huge majority of the engineering decisions have gone the right way with this quietly impressive vehicle.

It's like pitching up at Maccas and discovering they're selling a perfectly serviceable filet steak for six bucks. Of course, there will be some who'd still find reasons not to partake, and that's up to them.

But don't rush to judge until you've tried it.

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2023 Haval Jolion Ultra Hybrid specifications