BYD Shark 6 sets sail for Australia

The first batch of BYD Shark pickup trucks bound for Australia set sail on December 17. They sailed from the Shanghai Haitong shipping terminal aboard the Norwegian-registered Turandot, a Ro-Ro ship. They are expected to arrive at the first port in Australia, Brisbane, on December 28.

- 广告

BYD initially launched the Shark pickup truck in the Mexican market earlier this year. Since then, the number of markets where it is available has been rising rapidly. Known in the Australian market as the Shark 6, the ute launched there at the end of October. BYD initially promised 2000 of the truck for the Australian market, but up until the end of November, the Shark 6 has attracted 4000 orders.

According to Chinese sources, the first batch aboard the M/V Turandot is around 2000 units. The ship has a capacity of up to 5846 cars or a 2,959/485 car/truck mixture. Deliveries of the BYD Shark 6 in Australia are expected to commence on January 15 2025.

- 广告

Prices of the Shark 6 in Australia start from 57,900 AUD ( USD). This is significantly cheaper than was originally expected, and it undercuts ICE Pickup truck competitors. Despite deliveries having not commenced in 2024, News Corp named The BYD Shark 6 Australia’s Car of the Year 2024.

The ute is being sold in Australia by BYD distributor EVDirect. Test drives in Australia have largely been positive about the pickup truck, even when testing it off-road. It has, however, come in for criticism that the fuel economy is nowhere near that claimed by BYD and is actually worse off-road, where there are no charging facilities, than a diesel pickup truck. BYD claims a figure of 2.0 L/100km, but the Carsales Australia website achieved a figure of 14 L/100km.

Although a PHEV, the engine primarily acts as a generator, and it provides up to 170 kW power. There are two electric motors, the front of which provides 170 kW power and 310 Nm peak torque. The rear motor has an output of 150 kW and 340 Nm torque, and the combined output for the system is 320 kW and 650 Nm torque.

- 广告

Being a BYD product, it uses a 29.58 kWh lithium iron phosphate blade battery. According to BYD, this gives the truck a 100 km all-electric range using the NEDC testing cycle along with a combined range of 840 km.

Dimensions of the Shark are 5457,1971, 1925 mm (l/w/h), and the wheelbase is 3260 mm. Towing capacity is 2500 kg, while the payload is up to 835 kg, and the truck bed has a volume of 1450 liters.

The Shark uses BYD’s DMO platform which is also used by the Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5. It is a dedicated body-on-frame platform for PHEVs.

Sources: BYD, Weibo