BYD has just started deliveries of its plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute, but don’t count on a fully electric load-hauler in its showrooms anytime soon.
“A full electric ute for Australia is not on the horizon. The infrastructure just isn’t there to support that product,” Luke Todd, the managing director and executive chairman of EVDirect, told CarExpert.
“At the moment, there is no forecasted time for an electric Shark ute.
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BYD Shark 6
“Eventually we will have one, but I would prioritise six or seven models over a fully electric Shark 6, a full electric Shark, because I think Australia still doesn’t have the infrastructure needed for that type of vehicle.
“For all the other EVs we’ve got, definitely the infrastructure is satisfactory, but we need more rural infrastructure and highway infrastructure.”
While an electric version of the Shark had been rumoured, it hasn’t eventuated.
“So far, we don’t have a plan for [an electric ute], but we do believe that with the current model of Shark 6 we can already meet the needs for most of the customers,” Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia Pacific, told CarExpert.
While Mr Todd noted “BYD clearly has the capability to build” an electric ute, he said buyers are well-served by the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Shark 6.
That’s despite BYD being the second largest EV brand in Australia by volume, and rival LDV getting ready to launch the eTerron 9 – a ute that cuts a similar boxy silhouette to the Shark 6, but which features a dual electric motor, all-wheel drive powertrain.
The eTerron 9 is a more sophisticated attempt at an electric ute than the outgoing eT60, thus far the only electric ute to be offered in Australia.
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LDV eTerron 9
You need to head over to North America to find a wider range of electric utes. This includes the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Sierra EV and GMC Hummer EV.
But after strong initial popularity, F-150 Lightning demand has tapered off and appears to be doing the same for the Cybertruck, which suggests electric utes have failed to fire with the wider ute-buying clientele.
Given only one electric ute has been sold here, with a high price and unpopular rear-wheel drive configuration, it’s harder to draw conclusions about the Australian market.
However, LDV sold just 28 eT60s here last year.
