GAC S9 Hybrid Crossover Launches in Chelyabinsk

Hybrid owners look like people who knew something in advance. Nowadays, the 60-liter tank of this GAC S9 can only be filled in two goes, spending about three to four hours. But you can also not fill it. Its 44 kWh battery, by my estimates, provides up to 200 km of city trips without any refueling, in winter — about 120 km. That is, the battery mode covers the daily needs of most of us, and for some this range is enough for a week of daily driving. Isn’t that happiness? No wonder hybrid car owners look at other drivers like wine connoisseurs look at beer drinkers — also drinkers, but choosy.

Ideally, of course, it’s better to have a home charger so that every morning the hybrid is fully charged and ready to deliver the full 340 hp of its two electric motors. You can install a special 6–7 kW station, but given the moderate battery capacity, a regular 16-amp outlet is enough — then recharging the battery from 10% to «full tank» can be done in about 14–16 hours, roughly speaking, overnight. And, by the way, you won’t arouse neighbors’ suspicions, as in the story with the Rox 01: 3 kW is the power of an induction cooktop, so a regular power grid won’t notice the load.

However, my plan for the day was a trip through the Ural hinterland, and here you can’t do without the internal combustion engine. Like the younger brother S7, the flagship S9 for the Russian market has been converted from a series-parallel to a purely series scheme, meaning its 1.5-liter turbo engine (156 hp) is not directly connected to the wheels: the clutch and reduction gear unit remains, but this capability is disabled by software. Therefore, the internal combustion engine only drives the generator and digests AI-92 gasoline, which seems strange at first glance given the «diesel» compression ratio of 14.4 units. Actually, nothing strange — the engine operates on the Miller cycle, meaning the intake valves remain open at the start of the compression stroke. This scheme makes it less powerful but provides high fuel efficiency. The GAC itself claims an efficiency of 44%, which some diesels would envy.

By the way, why doesn’t GAC offer Russians series-parallel versions, since their power exceeds 500 hp? That would be good for marketing and for acceleration to 100 km/h, which improves by a second, but bad for taxes, which in this case are calculated from the total output. Otherwise, only the 30-minute power of the electric motors counts, which is 147 hp. Compared to the series-parallel scheme, a Chelyabinsk resident would pay 4,000 rubles ($47 at current rates) per year in transport tax instead of 45,000 rubles ($529 at current rates). The savings on auto insurance (OSAGO) are smaller, but also exist.

As for acceleration dynamics, there are no questions there. By hybrid standards, the GAC S9 is not the most powerful and accelerates to 100 km/h in 7+ seconds. For comparison: the Lixiang L7 is two seconds faster. But the question is, how often do you need to be fast if you are already seasoned enough to buy such a car? The dynamics of the GAC are practical: the electric motors provide quick and proportional response to the gas pedal (or current?), and the torque in the overtaking speed range is on the level of about five-liter gasoline V8s. Only without the gasoline.

The hybrid has three modes: electric, priority internal combustion engine (battery charge remains constant), and smart, in which the electronics themselves juggle the energy sources, gradually draining the battery. After leaving the city, I switched from pure electric to «intelligent», additionally tapping a slider that promised some crazy fuel efficiency. The electronics do not allow the battery charge to drop below 20–25%, and this is good: in my experience, at these charge levels, the GAC S9 may lose some acceleration dynamics, but not critically. Meanwhile, the internal combustion engine runs almost constantly, although it’s hard to hear it while driving. The car generally seemed quite quiet.

The average fuel consumption in «smart» mode turned out to be 7–8 l/100 km on the highway in «limit + 20 km/h» mode, roughly like a diesel car of this class. The claimed 1000+ km range on a full tank and charge could probably be achieved with careful driving at 90 km/h: given the 200 electric kilometers, it would work out about like that. But in my case, I would probably stretch about 800 km, which is also good. At such a distance, you’ll eventually find a gas station with AI-92, so the GAC is quite ready for long-distance driving even in these lean times. However, there are a couple of doubts about long-distance travel.

The hybrid scheme has its own costs. For example, the GAC S9 has no spare tire, and here the recent adventure with the gasoline GAC GS8 comes to mind, which at least had a space-saver spare. Here, you cut a tire — call a tow truck. The second downside is that the car is strictly five-seater, while more compact GS8 or Tenet T8 offer three rows of seats. Not surprising: the all-wheel-drive hybrid requires space for the rear electric motor with reduction gear and inverter, so it’s problematic to fit an additional row (although examples exist). Finally, ground clearance is 188 mm, which is good for a compact crossover, but in the case of a long-wheelbase hybrid, it means moderate off-road capabilities. The hybrid’s plus in difficult conditions is the smooth and dense torque of the electric motors, synchronized on both axles, so it is ready to handle mud or snow on proper tires.

The GAC S9 is an upscaled version of the GAC S7 hybrid, which we compared with the Lixiang L6. The «nine» is 160 mm longer, of which 50 mm is a wheelbase increase (2930 mm). It has a larger battery (44.5 vs 36.3 kWh) and of a different type: not lithium iron phosphate, but a more capacious NMC battery, like in top electric cars. With the same peak output of the electric motors, the S9 has higher 30-minute power (147 vs 122 hp), although this barely affects the transport tax. There are also differences in equipment, for example, the older model gets adaptive suspension.

And the presence of a soft mode is needed by this car: it is generally more about comfort and relaxation. That’s its credo. Electric traction allows you to turn up the heat, but you don’t want to tease its motors too often — both to save charge and because the GAC S9 itself does not feel sporty even in sport mode: large, with a detached steering wheel, prone to body roll. The difference in modes affects more the level of sway, and in any case it tends to the comfort end of the spectrum. It is easy and pleasant to eat up kilometers in a state of almost meditative carefreeness. On this trip, my mother was with me, and somewhere along the way she said, «Finally you took a comfortable car» (last time I drove her in a Hyundai Creta, if you’re curious).

I also liked the absence of irritating Chinese traits in the GAC, for example, specially for Russia the pop-out door handles were replaced with conventional handles. Yes, it has a non-locking turn signal and a complete absence of physical buttons, but either I’m starting to get used to it, or it’s all done more humanely. The GAC S9 does not disturb the neighborhood with spontaneous horn honks, and in active cruise control mode, it does not shy away from lane markings.

Or here’s a little thing: at low speeds, it allows driving without a seatbelt. You may ask — why? For example, when positioning the car for photos, constantly plugging and unplugging the seatbelt is annoying. I also like the typical hybrid absence of an engine start button: sit down, flick the steering column switch — and you’re already on your way. Against the background of a large list of competing hybrids, the S9 does not stand out radically, but you can put ergonomics in its plus, whether we talk about driving position, visibility, or second-row comfort.

The GAC S9 is offered in a single all-inclusive version with a price of 6.8 million rubles ($80,000 at current rates). The most obvious competitor is the once-popular Lixiang L7. But its days of glory seem behind it: it «exploded» the market as gray imports, and now, after «whitening» sales, the price has risen to 10.6 million rubles ($124,700 at current rates) for 2025 model year cars. Although the «Lixiang» is more powerful and dynamic than the GAC, justifying such a price difference is not easy.

Closer in price is the hybrid Esteo ET8 (Exlantix ET8), which also surpasses the GAC in power (469 hp) and has a three-row six-seat interior. Although the model is represented in Russia by the mysterious «AGR Holding», which bought three large car plants, localization is not yet planned, and the price starts from 7.49 million rubles ($88,100 at current rates).

Among the «Russified» cars, the most serious competitor appears to be the Deepal G318, assembled in Kaliningrad: its price starts from 5.65 million rubles ($66,500 at current rates), but in credit with state subsidies, it drops by 925,000 rubles — of course, imported models have nothing to answer such generosity. On the other hand, GAC is a fairly familiar brand, while Deepal, a subsidiary of Changan, is taking its first steps in Russia.

Let’s not forget the leader of the hybrid segment — the Voyah Free, which is slightly more compact but comparable in most parameters to the GAC S9 and costs almost the same, from 6.6 million rubles ($77,600 at current rates) without discounts.

Another distraction is comparable gasoline crossovers, for example, the Hongqi HS7, which is similar in size. After hybrids, its dynamics will seem sleepy, but it has a seven-seat interior and a price from 5.2 million rubles ($61,200 at current rates).

But GAC has its own path. In past years, the brand tried to bring the relatively affordable GS3 crossover to Russia and considered local assembly, but now sales of the «three» have been discontinued (localized competitors are too strong), and GAC itself has focused on large crossovers, where last year the GS8 crossover took first place in sales in its segment. As for the S7 and S9 hybrids, non-poor Russians most likely need to get a taste for them. However, the gasoline crisis that threatens to drag on sharpens the taste for cars that can drive without regularly standing in lines at gas stations, so today you look at the GAC S9 with different eyes: forget fuel savings. The main thing is that you can generally drive.

Earlier, we compared the GAC GS8 with the future «Volga» and Kia Sportage. And here’s how the «Chinese» performed against the Toyota RAV4.

We thank the company GAC Center na Kashirinykh for help in preparing the material.