The market waits for pure EVs to conquer all. Then Changan shows up with gas. But smarter gas. On May 23 the company rolled out the CS75 Plus Bluecore HEV and the fourth-generation Eado HEV.
This isn’t a pivot. It’s a widening net.
Changan is stacking hybrids alongside its plug-in and battery-electric lines. Why? Because China’s car market is messy. Complex. Real people want options. And Changan sees them.
The specs are boring. The prices are loud
Eado HEV starts at 79,900 yuan (11,757 USD) on promotion. That’s cheap. Dirt cheap. For a hybrid.
CS75 Plus HEV sits at 109,900 yuan (16,173 USD). Still a punch in the arm for the competition.
Under the hood the architecture is nearly identical. A shared 1.7 kWh lithium-ion battery handles both. Not huge capacity. It doesn’t need to be.
The battery isn’t the differentiator. The tuning is.
Here’s how they split:
- Eado: 1.5-liter naturally aspirated engine (72 kW ). Paired with a 160 kW motor.
- CS75 Plus: 1.5-liter turbo engine (110 kW ). Mated to an 180 kW motor that spins to 20.000 RPM.
Different flavors of power. Same underlying logic. Both run Changan’s Bluecore control architecture. Regenerative braking. Dedicated hybrid transmissions. The engineering is clean. Efficient.
Eado claims urban consumption of 2.98 L per 100 km. You read that right. Under 3 liters in the city? If you drive nicely yes. It narrows the gap to EVs without the charger dependency.
Screens everywhere
The interior game has changed. Changan knows it.
The CS75 Plus throws three screens at you.
- 10.25 instrument cluster.
- 14.6 center display.
- 12.3 passenger screen.
The Eado stays simpler. Just dual screens. 10.25 instruments plus the 14.6 infotainment unit.
Software matters. Both ride Tianshu OS. Integrated Deepseek -based voice AI. It speaks to you. Helps you drive. Highway assist works. Automated parking helps if you’re tight on space.
Is this tech luxury? For these prices no. It’s standard expectation.
The bigger picture
Why launch hybrids in 2025 and 2026 when EVs dominate the headlines?
Because transition is slow. Real. Changan unveiled its next-gen Bluecore hybrid engine back in March 2026 with a 44.28% peak thermal efficiency claim. Plus an industry-first 500-bar direct injection for production hybrids.
It uses a P1+P3 layout. AI manages the energy. That same 1.7-kWh battery lives in the new models today.
Policy in China favors a “multi-pathway” approach. BEVs? Yes. PHEVs? Definitely. HEVs? Still in play. They serve the combustion-efficiency phase while grids adapt and costs drop.
Manufacturers are pouring R&D into thermal efficiency. Cutting fuel use. Proving ICE can still breathe.
Changan isn’t retreating from electric. It’s filling the gap. The CS75 and Eado hybrids offer a bridge for buyers who aren’t ready for pure electric yet. Or won’t be.
Maybe they just like the sound of the motor spinning at 20.000. Or the fact they never need to plug in.
We’ll see. The road ahead is paved with choices. And prices are only getting starker.
