Overview

BYD recently expanded its Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute range to include Dynamic cab-chassis and Performance dual cab pick-up flagship variants.

The duo joins the immensely popular Premium dual-cab variant that has been on sale since October 2024, giving BYD both a more trade-friendly and more powerful alternative with which to take on Australia’s best-selling light commercial models.

The new cab-chassis model – available in Dynamic trim level and priced at $55,900 plus on-road costs – slots into the range below the existing Premium model ($57,900 + ORCs).

Pricing for the Dynamic does not include the Ironman Australian-designed alloy tray which will be announced shortly.

The BYD Shark 6 Dynamic utilises the same powertrain as its Premium counterpart, which consists of a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and front and rear electric motors sourcing power from a 29.58kWh lithium iron phosphate blade battery.

This is good for a combined system output of 321kW/650Nm, a 0-100km/h time of 5.7 seconds, and a braked towing capacity figure of 2500kg.

Meanwhile, the new Performance model ($62,900 + ORCs) uses a larger 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, with power and torque figures pushed out to 350kW/700Nm.

Its 0-100km/h time improves to 5.5 seconds, so too does its towing capacity to 3500kg. Fuel economy when the state of charge (SoC) is greater than 25 per cent is 1.3 litres per 100km on the WLTP cycle.

Worth noting, however, is that payload for the Performance grade drops from 825kg to just 762kg.

A new Crawl mode debuts on the Performance model – which will also be made available via an over-the-air update for the Dynamic and Premium models later this year – joins Mountain mode in the Shark 6’s suite of off-road modes.

The new mode is designed to tackle off-road obstacles at slow speeds, limiting the Shark 6 to 20km/h, while making continuous torque adjustments to counter wheel slip.

Equipment highlights include a 12.8-inch infotainment touchscreen on the Dynamic (compared with a 15.6-inch display in the Premium and Performance grades) equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, 6.6kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, and a full ADAS safety suite including a 360-degree camera are listed among the standard equipment.

The BYD Shark 6 PHEV range is backed by a six-year/150,000km warranty with eight years or 160,000km coverage over the high-voltage battery.

Roadside assistance is offered for the first 12 months of ownerships, while service intervals are set at 12 months or 20,000km (whichever comes first) with maintenance prices tallying $2489 over a typical five-year ownership period.

Driving Impressions

The Dynamic and Premium versions of the Shark 6 offer a different dashboard, steering column, and centre console layout to the Performance variant, showing a progression in development of the model across its 18-odd months in market.

Our preference is toward the older arrangement and its console-mounted gear selector, standard wiper and indicator wands, and standard headlight switch. Using a touchscreen to switch on the headlights is a step too far in our opinion (assuming you prefer to not rely on the Auto setting).

But there are other human-machine interface (HMI) issues as well. The console features buttons that would be better set on the dashboard itself, while the infotainment screen is too fussy for our liking, with many settings taking two or three menu sets to locate and activate (or deactivate, as is more often the case).

That said, the cabin of Shark 6 is a vast improvement when viewed against its closest rivals. The material qualities are hard to question, the ergonomics are sound, and outward visibility quite good.

The Shark 6 is almost car-like in terms of its on-road quietness, and in the way it rides… but more on that in a moment.

We appreciated the sculpted seats – both front and back – and found the leg- and headroom excellent. The rear seat feels as good as any SUV we can recall, though the B pillar intrudes when exiting the vehicle, perhaps showing where packaging compromises have been made.

It’s also nice to find ventilation outlets, a central armrest, cupholders, charging powers and even a 230-volt outlet in the second row – this really is a family-friendly dual-cab ute.

Of course, like many new vehicles on the market, the Shark 6 falls well short of the “didn’t need to turn the ADAS off” scenario. In fact, trying to drive with everything switched on is an absolute pain in the proverbial.

The lane keeping is tense, the driver monitoring too stringent, and the speed sign monitoring quite often incorrect. There are also the usual bings and bongs for doing things ‘wrong’, most of which we found necessary to silence.

Indeed, the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems can be diminished or turned off, but this needs to be done at each ignition cycle via a thoroughly complex set of touchscreen menus. Given these systems are meant to be of benefit to safer driving, it makes you question why the car is not better calibrated to begin with.

On the dynamic front, we found the Shark 6 pretty easy to enjoy. The absence of rear leaf springs (the Shark 6 runs coils all-round) means there’s no untidy ‘jitter’ over surface imperfections, the chassis tune instead highlighting favourable handling qualities, sensible steering, and excellent body control.

Testing the vehicle (on a closed course) with 400kg of payload in one instance, and with up to 2770kg in tow on another, we were surprised to note how well the Shark 6 handled a sudden lane change and emergency stop. This is a vehicle that carries itself well, with little pitching under brakes, and little observable body flex when challenged.

Of course, it’s worth remember the Shark 6 weighs almost 2800kg before you put anything in it, and in concert with larger diameter wheels, is a vehicle better suited to paved surfaces than beaten bush tracks. Here, the vehicle is quite stiff and unforgiving, perhaps showing that more could be done to soften the blows of rural roads.

In even tougher going, it is evident the Shark 6 is a clever all-wheel drive with electronic smarts in place of mechanical gearing. The on-board drive modes work well to counter most scenarios and prevent wheel slip when traction is lost on one or more corners.

But there’s always a feeling that the Shark 6 is a front-wheel drive with rear-wheel assist, the system never truly cooperating to offer the same drive to both axles at once. On very steep grades, crossed up, and without a differential lock, the Shark 6 struggles to find grip, relying instead on a little more throttle to clear what ought to have been a low-speed crawl.

Still, a little more power is something the Shark 6 certainly has in spades. Over the 1.5-litre unit offered previously, the 2.0-litre unit offers an additional 29kW/50Nm. It feels more considerable in practice, the 700Nm available from standstill delivering prompt acceleration and impressive 0-100km/h times – even with a load up back.

The combination of electric and petrol propulsion work well in cooperation and deliver quite effortless performance. When viewed against more familiar turbo-diesel powertrains, BYD’s PHEV system is quite simply other worldly, with no lag, no hesitation, and no ‘hunting’ for the correct gear ratio.

Even the 1.5-litre unit is stronger than most turbo-diesels I have sampled. It might work a touch harder to deliver the same results as the 2.0-litre unit, but it is certainly no slouch. Most of my time with the Dynamic was spent with 400kg in the bed, and I have to say, it wasn’t noticed.

As for fuel economy/energy efficiency, it’s obvious the Shark 6 prefers to be charged. Once the battery is depleted to its self-regulated lowest state of charge (Soc), fuel use compensates, raising the average to turbo-diesel levels.

On test, with 400kg in the bed, the 1.5-litre Dynamic returned 7.3 litres per 100km while the 2.0-litre Performance managed 18.5L/100km with the hefty 2770kg in tow. Assuming both vehicles were run without payload/trailer, and with diligent charging of the battery, we see no reason these figures would not improve significantly.

As a more rounded offering than before, we feel the updated Shark 6 PHEV dual-cab is an even more attractive –and useful – proposition to Australian buyers.

The Dynamic is certain to appeal to commercial buyers or adventurous types who’ll use the tray for work and play, while the Performance – a vehicle BYD says will account for more than half of Shark 6 sales moving forward – is a clear winner for those who wish to tow, or who simply want to win the traffic-light Olympics.

Now, if only BYD would offer a Shark 6 Performance Cab-Chassis…