At first glance, the Jetour X70 Lightning i-DM has all the makings of a top-of-the-pack hybrid offering: A decent city-friendly 110km of pure EV range, good size, modern styling, and two fold-down seats in the third row. Not bad, right?
As we’ve mentioned before, though, budget is everything these days. And with an asking price of P1,498,000, segment leaders like the BYD Sealion 6 and the Ford Territory will have you asking just how important carrying two extra passengers in the rear is to you.
So, is this lighting in a bottle, or just another addition to an increasingly competitive hybrid crossover market?
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On the last day of the review period, I walked by to the unit in the grocery parking lot and came across a couple admiring it. “Ang ganda niya, o,” the guy whispered as they walked past—and I have to agree with him.
It’s a sharp-looking vehicle, with an aggressive front end that features a massive grill tucked between a pair of sleek LED headlights that vaguely remind me of Dwayne Johnson’s iconic raised eyebrow. The look calms down a bit towards the sides—which feature door panels with a bold angular design—and caps off in bold fashion at the rear with a futuristic unified taillight.
I’m a particular fan of the X70 Lightning’s tapered appearance compared to offerings like the Ford Territory and BYD Sealion 6, which both carry a larger presence on the road. Frankly, you won’t be mistaking this for any other hybrid available.
Long story short? I have a love-hate relationship with this hybrid’s cabin. On one hand, it looks great, albeit kind of typical for a modern crossover, with plenty of angular components and a driver’s side that nicely separated from the rest of the interior. I’m rarely a fan of brightly colored seat materials, but the treatment is subdued enough in here.
But on the other, it simply feels like the cabin’s trying to doo too much—something that ends up hurting its practicality.
The central console, for example, features a large touchscreen display that features a mix of touchscreen controls and tactile dials. While the whole setup looks nice on paper, it takes up a ton of space up front. And we’ll get to just how confusing the vehicle’s control schemes are later on.
And since we’re in the business of dials, they’re simply flimsy—they feel light and rattly, and frankly, don’t feel very solid. Another component with suspect build quality is the speaker grilles, which feel sharp, rough, and could do with much better refinement. Rear passengers also complained of that it felt warm overhead on account of a lack of insulation around the panoramic sunroof.
These are qualities I can forgive in much smaller entry-level models, but not at this price point—especially with how the entire segment is stepping up in this regard.
The Jetour Lightning i-DM comes packing a hybrid setup comprised of a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine and dual electric motors for a combined 267hp and 395Nm. Jetour claims a full tank of gas and 100% battery should be good for up to 1,200km of range—85km of which is purely electric.
Our unit arrived with around 80% of charge and, based on our initial time with the hybrid, that range holds true. We managed about four days running on EV mode in heavy Manila traffic before the Lighting’s battery hit 20%.
Speaking of traffic, the vehicle’s performance in stop-and-go situations did leave a bit to be desired, with occasional delays between pedal input and acceleration. It’s not something that can’t be remedied with a more careful foot on the gas, so no alarm bells here (unless you’re still learning the ropes of city driving).
As I hit the North Luzon Expressway during a weekend drive to Bataan, acceleration suddenly ground to a snail’s pace and the engine began to moan. It came to a point where I had to stop at the side of the road to figure out what was happening.
I had little luck addressing the issue after digging through the vehicle’s confusing settings menu and equally-convoluted manual. But I observed driving performance would return to normal whenever the hybrid’s battery level would climb to the mid-20s. It turns out the Lightning’s regenerative braking gets unnervingly aggressive when the battery level gets low.
I had to deal with this hiccup a handful of times during my stint with the unit, and the experience is not something I’d enjoy dealing with on a regular basis. I recommend charging the battery before long drives to avoid this. Perhaps there’s a way to fine-tune the vehicle to lay off a bit when the battery dwindles down, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly how.
Overall, performance was pretty hit-or-miss. I did end up averaging a decent enough 16.4km/L in mixed driving conditions, and the X70 Lightning could get up to speed pretty quick when conditions permitted—but consistency comes a long way here, and my experience behind the wheel showed anything but.
This vehicle’s steering wheel is definitely on the lighter side, and while the ride can be floaty, it doesn’t wallow to the point of discomfort. In fact, I have to say the X70 Lightning managed itself quite well around corners—provided you aren’t throwing the vehicle around them like a sports car, of course.
Those steering dynamics mean this hybrid is relatively easy to maneuver through tight areas, too. And in case you’re having trouble, there’s an exterior camera available for just about every angle—though their image quality leaves a lot to be desired. Which brings us to…
The Sony sound system isn’t bad at all, with eight speakers scattered throughout the cabin and decent audio quality. USB-C charging ports are available in both the front and second-row passenger area, and the large panoramic sunroof helps give the interior a pretty premium ambiance. And, of course, it comes with seven seats.
Those are the positives. Now on to the less stellar qualities.
Simply put, the instrument cluster is a hassle to control. It isn’t just that the interface is trying to display way too much, it’s that the controls can be a headache as well. You see, instead of normal buttons, the vehicle features tiny navigational touch pads akin to what you’d find on now-extinct Blackberries. Their performance, to put it bluntly, could be pretty frustrating. I kept registering unintended swipes, and when I actually needed to use them, a lot of times they wouldn’t work.
Also, the vehicle’s horn stopped working. At the start of the lend out period, I noticed that it would take a decent amount of effort to get it to sound; by the end, it wasn’t registering anything outside of violent slams on the steering wheel. Oh, and no Apple CarPlay, too. Might be a dealbreaker for some of you.
The Jetour X70 Lightning i-DM is pretty on the eyes and offers decent hybrid performance, but at this price point? Some of its faults can be forgiven with a lower cost, but even then there are just too many question marks. It’s just a very hard sell—especially if you consider what else is available.
Price: P1,498,000
Powertrain: 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine + dual electric motors
Power: 267hp
Torque: 395Nm
Transmission: 2-speed dedicated hybrid
Layout: front-wheel drive
Seating: 7
Score: 6.5/10
