Jetour T2 i-DM first drive in Malaysia: 610 Nm boxy plug-in hybrid worth waiting for

KUALA LUMPUR: The T2 i-DM was always part of the plan. We had spent the day with the Jetour T1 on its media drive, and for the run home Jetour had a T2 i-DM waiting for us to sample, a car that is not yet on sale in Malaysia but will be soon.

A short drive is a short drive and there is only so much you can claim from one. But some things announce themselves in the first ten minutes, and with the T2 i-DM the change is immediate.

This is the same boxy, Defender-adjacent SUV that has been selling well for Jetour in Malaysia, except the powertrain underneath it has been swapped for something that actually suits it better. 

Also Read: Only 69 units: Jetour T2 Dark Warrior limited edition now on sale in Malaysia

To be fair to the petrol T2, it gets a lot right. It looks the part, it is generously equipped, and the booking numbers show plenty of Malaysian buyers have made their peace with it - where it asks a little patience of you is in the low-speed calibration.

The 2.0-litre turbo and its seven-speed wet dual-clutch take a moment to agree on what your right foot is asking for, so pull-away can vary from gentle to eager depending on the day, and the gearbox occasionally thinks twice in stop-start traffic.

None of it is a dealbreaker. It is simply the sort of thing you notice.

The i-DM makes that whole conversation disappear.

This is a pattern we keep noticing across the newer Chinese SUVs. Getting a turbo engine and a dual-clutch to talk to each other smoothly is genuinely difficult engineering, and it is usually the last thing to be perfected.

Electrification sidesteps the problem entirely, because an electric motor does not need to be persuaded into good manners. It simply responds.

In the T2 i-DM, the initial take-up is clean, there is no pause while a clutch pack makes up its mind, and the three-speed dedicated hybrid transmission goes about its work without ever announcing itself in normal driving. You drive it the way you would drive an EV, which is to say without thinking about it.

The result is a car that feels considerably more resolved and, more importantly, more complete. The petrol T2 asks you to forgive it. This one does not.

It pulls like a train

The second thing you notice is the shove. Jetour quotes a combined 610 Nm for the T2 i-DM, and unlike a lot of quoted figures on Chinese SUVs, this one is immediately obvious from the driver's seat.

What impressed us was not the launch off the line. Anything with an electric motor does that. It was the mid-range and beyond. Roll onto the throttle at highway speed, the sort of overtake where a turbocharged 2.0-litre would need a downshift and a moment to gather itself, and the T2 i-DM just leans into it and goes.

There is no gap, no pause, no drama. It builds and keeps building, with the relentless, unbothered feel of something very heavy being pushed by something very strong. Like a train.

For a two-tonne-ish boxy SUV that is a genuinely useful trait on Malaysian highways, and it is the single biggest character change from the petrol car.

What is actually in it

The i-DM setup, which stands for intelligent dual mode, pairs a 1.5-litre TGDi dedicated hybrid engine with a dual-motor electric system and a three-speed dedicated hybrid transmission, with drive going to the front wheels only.

Jetour Malaysia quotes a combined 360 PS and 610 Nm, against 245 PS and 375 Nm for the 2.0-litre petrol T2. The local variant is designated T2 1.5TD i-DM.

Energy comes from an 18.4 kWh battery, which is a smaller pack than the T2 i-DM uses in China. Jetour claims up to 100 km of pure electric range and up to 1,200 km combined, with the test cycle unspecified.

It also quotes three hours or less on an AC wallbox to take the battery from 30 to 100 percent. Even so, for most Klang Valley commutes that means the engine stays off during the week and earns its keep on the balik kampung run.

The i-DM also brings vehicle-to-load, so the car can run external power for camping, and Jetour quotes 700 mm of wading depth.

What sets it apart from the petrol T2

More than we expected, actually. The i-DM gets its own Trailblazer 20-inch alloys wearing ultra high-performance tyres, which is a meaningful change of character from the petrol car's 19-inch wheels and all-terrain rubber.

It leans more road-biased as a result, which is probably the honest reflection of how these get used here, especially now that it only has power transferred to the front wheels only.

Visually, the giveaways are the JT, T2 i-DM and PHEV emblems, and there is a door mirror reversing mode that tilts both mirrors down when you select reverse.

Inside, exclusive touches include cosmic multicolour ambient lighting, an auto-dimming rear view mirror and an illuminated crystal gear knob, plus a dedicated hybrid interface on the touchscreen for managing EV and hybrid modes and battery status, and parking air conditioning to keep the cabin cool with the engine off.

That last one is quietly one of the better arguments for a plug-in hybrid in this climate.

The rest of the kit list is generous. Front memory seats with welcome function, front ventilated seats, six airbags, Level 2 ADAS, tyre pressure monitoring, panoramic view monitoring, auto LED headlamps, the Jetour wordlight signature, panoramic sunroof, rear-mounted spare tyre, electric suction back door, the 15.6-inch multimedia screen with voice assistant, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Sony 12-speaker audio, a 50W wireless charger, six USB ports and an integrated DVR camera.

One colour combination at launch: Highway Grey in matte, with a black interior and red accents.

Price and where it sits

Bookings are open at an estimated RM168,888, which is roughly RM12,000 above the RM156,800 petrol T2. For Malaysian buyers that is not a large premium for what is a fundamentally better car to drive.

The competitive picture is interesting. Nothing else at this money is a boxy PHEV. The Jaecoo J7 PHEV at RM158,800 and the Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV cover the plug-in hybrid brief in more conventional bodywork, while the GWM Tank 300, the obvious rival on looks and attitude, sits far higher at around RM250,000 and is a very different, ladder-frame proposition.

Early verdict

Caveats first. This was a brief drive in a pre-launch car, on public roads, with no measured consumption and no chance to see how the T2 i-DM behaves once the battery is properly depleted, which is where plug-in hybrids either hold together or fall apart.

Pricing and warranty terms for the PHEV are still to be confirmed at launch.

But on first acquaintance, the T2 i-DM is the version of this car that should have arrived first. It is smooth where the petrol car was awkward, quick in a way that is genuinely useful, and it turns a car you buy with your eyes into one you can also live with. When it goes on sale in Malaysia, it deserves to be the one people wait for.

Also Read: Jetour T1 launched in Malaysia, priced from RM129,800