China’s answer to Hummer EV pick-up coming
Upcoming Dongfeng M18 to join electric off-road pick-up onslaught from 2023It looks like a battle-ready machine straight off a movie set, but this Chinese pick-up will soon go head to head with the new breed of hard-core off-road electric pick-up trucks coming from North America.
These include the sold-out GMC Hummer EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T.
According to Car News China, a pure-electric version of Dongfeng’s big, brutish Warrior M50 ute is set to be built in a new facility from 2023.
The M50 Warrior is the civilian version of the EQ2020 military vehicle, which is itself based on AM General’s Humvee used by America’s military and emergency services for years, and has been rolling off the Wuhan-based car-maker’s production line since mid-2022.
Swapping out the 4.0-litre Cummins turbo-diesel that powers the combustion-engined Dongfeng Warrior M50, the M18 is said to use a single 800kW electric motor paired to a 140kWh battery that will offer 500km of range and the ability to be fast-charged in 27 minutes.
For reference, the Hummer EV Edition 1 boats a total output of 765kW courtesy of three 255kW electric motors, and will come with up to 560km of driving range.
Said to measure 5.2 metres long and weigh 3100kg – less than its combustion-powered sibling (3480kg) – the electric M18 is claimed to cover the 0-100km/h sprint in less than five seconds.
While that’s a fairly decent performance figure for a big off-road ute, the Hummer EV’s circa-3.0sec dash to triple digits will leave the Dongfeng M18 in the dust.
It’s also unknown at this stage just how capable the Chinese off-roader will be, but it’s unlikely we’ll see many of the same high-tech systems set to debut on the Hummer EV pick-up, including an 18-camera set-up to help manoeuvre tricky off-road scenarios.
However, Dongfeng says the M18 will be equipped with ‘Level 2.5’ autonomous driving capability and pricing will start around 600,000 yuan ($A133,500).
Car News China says Dongfeng is actually planning a trio of M18 electric off-roaders – codenamed M18-1, M18-2 and M18-3 – including a six-seat SUV, all based on a new ‘MORV electric off-road vehicle platform’ as part of a new “high-end electric off-road brand” codenamed ‘M’.
According to Chinese media outlet, construction for the M18 project started on January 18 on a 485-acres site that will house a 96,000 square-metre facility comprising a new HQ, manufacturing plant, on- and off-road test tracks and a user experience centre.
In the first phase, annual production capacity for the M18-1 and M18-2 models will reportedly be 20,000 vehicles, followed in the second phase by 38,000 units plus 12,000 M18-3 vehicles, for a total of 50,000.
Dongfeng says it aims to sell 4160 examples of the M18, whose most direct competitor will be the GMC Hummer EV, followed by GWM’s upcoming Tank 500 and a high-end electric off-road SUV coming from BYD.
Related: Dongfeng Warrior M50 ute will smash its rivals
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