BYD promises radical Shark 6 PHEV will be reliable in Aussie conditions

BYD says it has 1.52 million and more than 15 years’ worth of reasons to be confident the new plug-in hybrid Shark 6 dual-cab ute will be reliable in Australia’s tough and varied conditions.

That’s 1.52 million kilometres worth of testing of the Shark 6 platform and BYD experience with PHEV technology dating back to 2008.

The Chinese-developed and built BYD Shark 6 is Australia’s first plug-in hybrid duel-cab. Its pricing will be announced soon and it will officially go on sale October 29. First deliveries will begin in December or January.

With its dual electric motors providing primary motivation it is a radical vehicle that challenges diesel-powered ute orthodoxy and could be off-putting for some of the popular segment’s customers.

But a BYD tech expert told carsales, risk-averse Aussie ute buyers should not be concerned about all this new technology, even those planning an outback trip far from the nearest service centre.

“The car is not going to have a problem in terms of reliability in Australia,” promised a BYD Australia technical spokesman, who remained anonymous due to company policy.

“I know a lot of people haven’t paid attention to BYD before these utes but they need to know this is not the first time we are going to put all this technology in a car,”

“The DMI (dual motor intelligent plug-in hybrid system) goes all the way back to its roots in 2008. This is a proven product and it’s been refined over a decade.,

“It’s the first time in a ute not the first time in a BYD car.”

BYD has tested more than 10 Shark 6s in Australian conditions since at least early 2024. As previously reported, a group of former Holden and Ford engineers have contributed to the development of the Shark 6.

“We’ve sent utes everywhere in Australia apart from Perth. It’s been up to Alice Springs, it’s been up to Queensland, it’s been all the way from Adelaide to Queensland and Alice Springs,” said the spokesman.

Importantly, the ladder frame platform and DMO (dual motor off-road – a DMI spin-off) PHEV system in the Shark 6 is shared with the Bao 5 of BYD luxury subsidiary FangChengBao.

The lessons learned developing the Bao 5 have been funnelled into the Shark 6, the spokesman said.

And as reported here, the Bao 5’s high-performance tech could also find its way into a Shark 6 ‘MEG’ rival for the Ford Ranger Raptor.

“So the Leopard 5 is technically from our Lexus brand, the one above,” confirmed the BYD spokesman.

“It’s a bespoke brand-new chassis designed to be a plug-in hybrid from the ground-up using the latest design techniques and manufacturing.

“So we have borrowed that chassis and essentially extended it.”

The spokesman also attempted to allay fears about the complexities of the Shark 6 powertrain and how prone it might be to failure.

It comes with front and rear-mounted electric motors, a front-mounted turbo-petrol engine and an LFP battery pack that combines to provide a software-controlled all-wheel drive system.

Unlike diesel 4x4 utes, the Shark 6 has no gearbox (the motors are direct drive and the engine uses a single speed reduction gear), no low range gears and no differential locks to help it tackle off-road challenges.

Instead it relies on traction control and hill decent control derived from its two permanent magnet synchronous motors backed up by its orthodox ventilated disc brakes.

“I would also say that luckily it’s an electric vehicle platform,” argued the BYD spokesman.

“Just in general your electric motor is very reliable and we can get away with the internal combustion engine because there is not much load on it. It’s not always running.

“There is not much stress on the engine and that keeps it reliable.

“And it’s very small, and usually the smaller the engine the more reliable they are.

“The peak output of that petrol engine is very low so it is basically under-stressed.”

The Shark 6 also eschews the traditional torsion beam rear axle used by most utes for an independent double wishbone set-up that impacts rear wheel articulation.

The spokesman said that reflected a BYD desire for the Shark 6 to be an off-roader that drove well on-road. He acknowledged the Shark 6 was not the ultimate off-roader.

“On-road was our number one priority,” he said. “Our goal is to have it be capable off-road. We are not advertising it as being the best off-road.”

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