Freelander Enters Final Phase of Testing, Ready for Debut in China Next Year

JAKARTA - The production version of the Freelander SUV developed by a joint venture between Chery and Jaguar Land Rover, has successfully completed extreme cold temperature testing. This marks an important milestone ahead of its planned launch in the second half of 2026.

Quoting from the Carnewschina website, Tuesday, April 14, Freelander global CEO Wen Fei stated that the new vehicle had entered the winter testing phase. The brand then confirmed that the production model had successfully passed all extreme cold temperature validation tests.

In the shared image, the SUV is covered in thick but thorough camouflage and is very similar to the previously introduced Concept 97 design. The vehicle adopts a boxy silhouette, with upright proportions and a flat roofline, reflecting the style cues associated with previous Land Rover models.

Launch is getting closer.

With the above news, the production model is certainly getting closer and the production version is expected to debut first in China before expanding to the global market. According to previous disclosures, Freelander plans to launch six new models over the next five years, approximately one every six months.

As is known, Freelander was officially introduced on March 31 as a global new energy vehicle brand jointly developed by Chery and Jaguar Land Rover.

Later, Freelander will integrate various Chinese technology partners. The first model will come standard with Huawei's ADS 4.1 intelligent drive system, with the option to upgrade to a future version. It will also be equipped with an 896-line lidar sensor, which is positioned as the first for a global all-terrain SUV.

This vehicle is one of the first to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8397 automotive chip. Compared to the previous 8295 platform, this new chip provides 3 times higher CPU and GPU performance, as well as 12 times higher AI computing power.

The battery technology was developed jointly with CATL. The system supports a peak charging rate of 6C and a peak charging power of up to 350 kW, which aims for faster energy charging under high load conditions.