A quota, not a tariff cut — and what 49,000 cars a year really means
The mechanics matter more than the headline. Canada cut its 100% surtax on Chinese-built EVs to 6.1% in January, but only inside a quota of 49,000 electrified vehicles a year. That ceiling rises to 70,000 by 2030. Sell one car above the line and you are back to paying double at the border. As Electrek reported, the new Omoda & Jaecoo Canada site is a teaser with a sign-up form and a note that cars shown are intended for other markets.
Our maths: Canada registers roughly 1.8 million new vehicles a year, and plug-ins have been running in the mid-teens of that — call it 270,000 cars. Divide 49,000 by that and you land close to one in five. Treat it as an estimate, not a verdict: nobody knows how quickly the Canadian plug-in market grows once the wall comes down, which is precisely why a quota exists.
One detail decides which Chinese brands actually win here. The quota covers electrified vehicles — hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars alike. For Chery, which sells far more plug-in hybrids than pure EVs, that is the whole game.
Five of the seven electrified models are plug-in hybrids
Here is the current line-up in markets such as the UK, Australia and Indonesia, with UK prices converted at roughly €1.16 to the pound:
| Model | Type | Battery | Electric range | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaecoo E5 | BEV | 60.9 kWh | 399 km WLTP | £27,505 (≈ €32,000) |
| Omoda E5 | BEV | 61 kWh | 430 km WLTP | £33,065 (≈ €38,400) |
| Omoda 4 | BEV | 65.05 kWh LFP | 553 km NEDC | TBA |
| Jaecoo 7 SHS-P | PHEV | 18.3 kWh | 90 km WLTP | £35,170 (≈ €40,800) |
| Omoda 7 SHS-P | PHEV | n/a | 90 km WLTP | £32,005 (≈ €37,100) |
| Jaecoo 8 SHS-P | PHEV, 7 seats | 34.46 kWh | 134 km WLTP | £45,500 (≈ €52,800) |
| Omoda 9 SHS-P | PHEV | 34.46 kWh | 145 km WLTP | £44,995 (≈ €52,200) |
That is five plug-in hybrids out of seven electrified models — 71%. And in the UK, the cheapest pure EV in the range, the Jaecoo E5 at £27,505, undercuts even the cheapest plug-in hybrid, the Omoda 7 at £32,005, by £4,500. In other words: Chery's electric cars are not its cheap cars, which is worth remembering when Canadian prices finally appear.
Charging: the number that decides a family trip
The Jaecoo E5 lists an 80 kW DC peak, with 30–80% taking 27 minutes. Slow by 2026 standards — but the curve is flat, and that matters more than the peak.
Our maths: 60.9 kWh × 50% = 30.45 kWh delivered in 0.45 hours, an average of about 68 kW. That is 85% of the quoted peak. At a realistic 18 kWh/100 km for a compact family SUV, a 27-minute stop adds roughly 170 km. For a 600 km summer holiday run you would leave full and make two such stops — around 55 minutes of charging in total, plus the buffer you always build in for a busy or broken charger.
The Omoda 4 does better on paper: 65.05 kWh × 60% = 39 kWh in 22 minutes, an average of 106 kW against a 119 kW peak — 89% of peak. Compare that with the five-minute charging claim attached to the new BYD Dolphin Surf, and an 80 kW car looks like last-generation hardware.
The seven-seat option is a plug-in — and that suits some families
The Jaecoo 8 is a three-row, six- or seven-seat PHEV with a 34.46 kWh battery and 134 km of WLTP electric range at £45,500 (≈ €52,800). The Omoda 9 uses the same battery for 145 km. Running our usual rule of thumb — WLTP minus 15–25%, and another bite on a Czech winter morning — that is realistically about 100 km in summer and 80 km in January from the Jaecoo 8. Still more than most households drive in a day.
But be clear about who the PHEVs are for. Without a home charger, a plug-in hybrid spends its life hauling a petrol engine and a nearly empty battery, and it will drink more than a plain hybrid. With a driveway and a cheap overnight tariff, a 34 kWh pack covers the school run all week. Check first whether the car can DC charge at all — plenty of 18 kWh plug-ins cannot, or crawl along at 3–7 kW. Our charging cost calculator will show you what a week of each actually costs.
Europe already knows these cars
In the UK alone, Omoda & Jaecoo registered 6,238 vehicles in August for a 6.62% market share, according to the company — in a month when Europe's EV share hit 29.2% and electric cars outsold petrol and diesel combined. The UK sits outside the EU's countervailing duties, which apply to Chinese-built battery-electric cars and have so far left plug-in hybrids out of the net. That is a big part of why a PHEV-heavy brand has found it easier to grow in Europe than a BEV-only one. Canada's quota, which explicitly includes hybrids, follows the same logic.
What to check before you sign
- Average, not peak, charging speed. Ask for the 10–80% time and do the division yourself — our range calculator built on Bjørn Nyland's real-world data helps you turn that into kilometres.
- Battery chemistry and warranty. The Omoda 4 uses an LFP pack, the type that has aged remarkably well — our maths on 14-year-old CATL cells came out at 1.1 percentage points of capacity loss a year. Remanufactured packs are becoming a real repair option too. Read the terms, not the badge.
- Who fixes it. A launch page with an empty dealer locator is a promise. For a family car you want a workshop within reasonable towing distance.
For now, both brands say only that Canada comes "late 2026". BYD is targeting 20 Canadian dealerships from Toronto outwards, and Tesla is already selling a Shanghai-built Model 3 through the same quota at C$39,490. The interesting part starts when the prices appear — and when the first Canadian families discover whether an 80 kW charger is fast enough for a holiday. You can compare the whole field in our EV catalogue.
Source: https://electrek.co/2026/09/28/omoda-jaecoo-canada-launch-late-2026-ev-lineup/
