A new car from Chinese manufacturer BYD will take on Toyota’s Hilux and the Ford Ranger later this year.
The Shark 6 will be Australia’s first plug-in hybrid 4×4 vehicle and will be launched just ahead of Ford’s Ranger PHEV, which will go on sale in 2025.
The Shark 6 combines a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine with two electric motors and a 29.6 kWh battery.
This setup offers an all-electric driving range of up to 100 km and an overall hybrid range of approximately 800 km.
The ute is expected to be priced competitively to take on its rivals, with a starting price of under $60,000, excluding on-road costs.
“If you drive this vehicle between the Blue Mountains and Sydney every day like I do, you don’t need to put any fuel in the vehicle,” explains David Smitherman, CEO of Australian importer EVDirect.
‘And what does that do to the average Australian family? It probably saves them $150 a week, because people are pretty thirsty and pretty loud, too.
“There will be a lot of people who just drive this as a pure EV, the average Australian drives 33km a day, this will eat that up.”
The new Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) from Chinese manufacturer BYD (pictured) is expected to cost under $60,000
The BYD Shark 6 has a combined range of approximately 800 km, with an all-electric range of approximately 100 km
The 1.5 liter turbo petrol engine mainly functions as a generator to drive the electric motors
The Shark 6’s towing capacity is 2500 kg, which is lower compared to its diesel rivals.
“We drove from Melbourne to Broken Hill yesterday, covering about 1,000km on one tank of fuel,” Mr Smitherman said.
‘With four big boys in the car, he performed impressively. The car has great technology, including a huge touchscreen, and is whisper quiet and super fast: it goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds.’
Mr Smitheran hit back at concerns that Australians who drive a traditional diesel car would disapprove of the vehicle.
“This is great – much better than your noisy old diesel,” he said.
“This vehicle is going to change Australia. Now we finally have a choice. It has all the features you need.
‘What’s also great are the four sockets, so you can charge your batteries at the workplace or go camping with the kids at the weekend.’
Orders can be placed from October 29 via the BYD website and the dealer network.
In 2023, BYD sold more new energy vehicles (including electric and hybrid models) worldwide than Tesla.