Lepas L8 2026 review | Good value, roomy and surprisingly upmarket SUV

What is the Lepas L8?

The Lepas L8 is the first model from another new Chinese brand launching in the UK. If Jaecoo is 4x4-like, Omoda is plush and Chery family-oriented, then Lepas is the design-led offering from the giant Chery Group: all four brands are part of the same family. They may even be sold by the same dealer – if you haven’t heard of Lepas yet, you soon will do.

Lepas – the name draws from ‘leopard’ – is planning a range of models and has sensibly decided its launch L8 model will compete at the larger end of the family-sized SUV sector, which is one of the most popular in the UK. It’s also a plug-in hybrid, rather than a pure electric car, which should ensure it appeals to a broad cross-section of buyers.

The Lepas L8 is a good-looking machine, with smooth, purposeful lines that give it a clean, premium look. The ‘Lepas’ lettering and full-width light bar at the rear pay more than a passing nod to a Porsche Cayenne, helped further by a cultured choice of colours and either 19-inch or 20-inch alloys.

The plug-in hybrid drivetrain comprises a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, electric motor and 18.4kWh battery. Lepas says it has a pure electric range of up to 56 miles, and an overall range of more than 700 miles. The petrol-EV combination also gives a very healthy 275bhp power output.

As with many Chinese models, surprising value for money is one of the Lepas L8’s key draws. Prices start from just £34,900, and even this Essence grade has plenty of standard equipment. There’s just one other version, the even more lavishly-equipped Elevate, for £37,900. Notably, this top-spec Lepas L8 is almost exactly the same price as the entry-level Volkswagen Tiguan.

The Lepas L8 has no end of rivals, including the Volkswagen Tiguan, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, BYD Sealion 5 and MG HS. As mentioned, it also has in-house Chery Group rivals including the top-selling Jaecoo 7, plus the Omoda 7 and Chery Tiggo 8.

How practical is it?

The Lepas L8 is on the larger end of the family SUV sector. At almost 4.7 metres long, it’s longer than a Volkswagen Tiguan, and notably longer than a Jaecoo 7. You sense this right away, as it feels like a commanding car to sit in, with lots of metal around you and a good view across the bonnet.

The leather-effect upholstery in the top-spec Elevate we tested is beautifully smooth to the touch, and rather successfully imitates posh nappa leather. Electric seat adjustment is standard on Elevate, although it’s a shame the seat cushions are a bit flat, with limited under-thigh support; there’s a bit of a sensation of ‘sliding out’ of them during cornering. Choose Elevate and you not only get heated and ventilated front seats, but will also enjoy an in-car massage.

Quality inside generally feels a cut above the mainstream norm. The upholstery helps here, as does generous use of soft-touch materials and posh-looking trim inlays for the upper dashboard. Plastics are harder lower down, but that’s the case in most cars these days, even premium Audis and Mercedes-Benz.

Interior stowage space is excellent. The ‘floating’ centre console has a roomy stowage area beneath, and the cupholders mounted within it are deep and useful. The wireless charging pad is handily-located – and its 50W power output is useful. It’s cooled too, so your phone shouldn’t overheat when taking on such power.

The squared-off steering wheel is nice to hold, and if you choose the contrast cognac upholstery (it’s a no-cost option on Elevate), it’s colour-matched to the seats. There’s a handy driver display behind it, while the waterfall centre touchscreen is impressive-looking. Pleasingly, there’s a row of physical buttons for the climate control, although if your passenger wants their own temperature, they’ll have to adjust it on the touchscreen.

As for rear seat space, it’s vast back there. You really can see the benefits of the Lepas L8’s relatively long wheelbase, with acres of legroom and plentiful headroom too. Lepas has even fitted a beautifully-engineered fold-out table on the back of the passenger seat – the sort of fitting you’d expect to find on a Bentley or a Rolls-Royce. There’s a centre armrest too, with built-in cupholders, plus rear air con vents and USB sockets.

The Lepas L8 has a large panoramic glass roof (which opens), and Elevate models have an automatic fragrance dispenser that cycles every half an hour – another Rolls-Royce-like feature (it’s something that’s only just coming to the posh Range Rover Electric).

Boot space is decent too, with Lepas quoting 507 litres, making it more than a match for most models in its class. There’s a retractable tonneau cover, and underfloor stowage for the plug-in hybrid charging cables. Fold the rear seats and boot space expands to 1314 litres. Of course, there’s no frunk; there’s an engine up front instead.

What's it like to drive?

The Lepas L8 defaults to electric drive most of the time – even when battery charge is low, it retains enough capacity for low-speed EV driving. This gives a premium experience, with plentiful refinement, which makes it feel sophisticated.

It remains smooth even when the engine kicks in, too. It’s very smooth, quiet and unobtrusive, with little of the engine ‘roar’ that afflicts some other plug-in hybrids. The four-cylinder turbo petrol engine’s praiseworthy smoothness is behind this – as is the active noise cancelling that’s fitted as standard on Elevate models.

The electric motor is fairly punchy as well; arguably perhaps too punchy at lower speeds, where flooring the accelerator pedal can cause the front wheels to scrabble for traction. If you’re eager, you’ll regularly hear a chirrup from the front tyres.

With that total system power output of 275bhp, the Lepas L8 is not short on power. This helps serve up 0-62mph acceleration in 7.9 seconds, while the top speed is limited to a more-than-adequate 111mph. The 18.4kWh battery has a 40kW DC rapid-charge speed, which will take it from 30-80% charge in 20 minutes.

Lepas has gone for a tauter suspension setup than some other Chinese SUVs. This certainly gives it better body control on British roads (if still not a match for a Tiguan), but does result in a ride that’s a touch firmer and lumpier than others. It’s busier than it could be over rough roads, never quite feeling fully settled. There’s noticeable road and tyre noise at motorway speeds, too. In fairness, this was in the top-spec Elevate version, which runs extra-large 20-inch wheels. The Essence model, with 19-inch wheels, might be better here.

The steering is solid and well-weighted, but lacks any real feedback or precision. It’s a little artificial and loose on-centre as well. We also noticed a touch of rear axle sway when changing direction quickly – it felt as if the rear springs weren’t quite firm enough. You’ll probably rarely notice this other than during enthusiastic cornering, though.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

The Lepas L8 comes as standard with a striking 13.2-inch ‘waterfall’ centre infotainment screen. It’s powered by a high-spec Qualcomm 8155 processor, promising snappy responses (our test car was occasionally a bit laggy, but it was a very early UK model) and, via over-the-air updates, plenty of potential to develop further. Online sat nav is standard, as is a ‘hello Lepas’ voice assistant that’s powered by AI to theoretically make it more intuitive.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard too. The Lepas L8 offers a full-screen experience when linked to your device, which is impressive – less pleasing is the fiddly process to switch between CarPlay or Android Auto and the ‘native’ car setup. This needs several presses on the screen, which is a bit tiresome. A Lepas exec promised us a shortcut is coming to make this easier. Turning off the irritating ADAS safety assist tech is easy, though. And, unlike many Chinese new entrants (and Tesla), the Lepas L8 retains proper physical controls for adjusting the door mirrors.

The ‘entry-level’ Lepas L8 Essence hardly has an entry-level spec. It comes with 19-inch diamond-cut alloys, rear privacy glass, panoramic roof, fabric and leather-effect upholstery, dual-zone climate control, the 13.2-inch centre touchscreen and a 50W wireless charging pad with active cooling.

What more could you possibly add on the top-spec Elevate? Plenty, it turns out: the wheels grow to 20-inch diamond-cut rims for starters, while the Essence’s acoustic windscreen is joined by acoustic side windows. The Elevate also gets full leather-effect upholstery, and the front seats are heated, ventilated and equipped with a massage function. Lepas fits a premium Sony eight-speaker sound system too.

Then there’s the real luxury items fitted to the Lepas L8 Elevate – such as an in-car fragrance system, nano-aqua ion air purification, 256-colour ambient interior lighting and active engine noise cancellation. There’s also a heated front windscreen, that rear seat fold-out table and, a feature that everyone loves, a power tailgate.

The Lepas L8 Elevate also features advanced parking assist tech. The rear parking camera is upgraded to a 540-degree panoramic system – it includes ‘transparent bonnet’ tech – while the advanced parking assistant lets you select spaces on the touchscreen for the car to autonomously drive into. There’s even a remote parking assistant, so you can park your Lepas L8 Elevate while standing outside – great for making tight parking bays easier.

We did notice one irritation with the parking camera on our test Elevate model, though: its eagerness to pop up and take over the centre display at lower speeds. If you’re using navigation via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, this will disappear when the surround-view camera takes over – just when you need it most. Do you really need to see the 540-degree camera when you’re trying to find the right exit on a roundabout? Maybe Lepas can fix this via an over-the-air update, too.

The Lepas L8 is currently available in five colours, with Instinct White and Expressive Emerald as the two ‘free’ choices. Legend Black and the Mystic Purple seen here are £500, with matt-finish Stoic Grey costing £750. There’s a single grey interior on Essence, with Elevate offering the choice of black or cognac-coloured ‘Desert Clay’.

Lepas L8 running costs

Lepas may be a new brand, but it’s based on technology that’s already on the road in the UK. This will help car insurers quickly build up a picture of what it’s like to repair a Lepas, and the sort of anti-theft security it offers, which should mean car insurance premiums soon start to be competitive. This was a process that took longer for the first wave of new Chinese brands in the UK.

The Lepas L8 has a group 30E car insurance rating, which is only a couple of groups higher than a comparable Volkswagen Tiguan, which should help keep insurance costs reasonably in check.

The 56-mile EV range means plenty of potential for pure electric everyday driving. A large 60-litre fuel tank extends the range yet further, to a theoretical total of a whopping 745 miles. Interestingly, Lepas also quotes a WLTP fuel economy figure of 47.1mpg for when you’re reliant on the engine, which isn’t bad for a vehicle this size, with this sort of power output. Company car drivers will also save courtesy of the 21g/km CO2 emissions.

Service intervals are a bit less impressive; it needs to go back to the dealer every 12 months or 10,000 miles. There’s not yet any option to have variable service intervals. However, Lepas does take away some of the sting by offering up to seven years (or 100,000 miles) of RAC breakdown cover, if you have your Lepas L8 serviced annually. The battery, meanwhile, has the standard eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

Lepas L8 reliability

To boost confidence in this new brand, Lepas L8 has the backup of a strong new car warranty – it matches Kia with a seven-year, 100,000-mile overall package.

It’s too soon to say how it will fare in terms of reliability, but early evidence indicates build quality is up to scratch, which is encouraging. It feels solid and very well-built. The underpinnings are shared with Jaecoo, Chery and Omoda models too – which are sold all over the world – so there’s plenty of production experience there too. We’ll find out how it stacks up in the coming years.