First-of-its kind ute's details leaked: 2025 KGM SsangYong Musso EV specs leaked ahead of mid-year launch but will it usher in an era for rivals like the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz?

Details of KGM SsangYong’s incoming small Musso electric ute have been leaked in a certification filing to the Korean Ministry of Environment.

The Musso EV is the next in a slew of re-booted vehicles under SsangYong’s new ownership, following the Torres mid-size SUV, and its larger Actyon sibling.

Unlike the turbo diesel ladder-frame Musso ute currently sold in Australia, the Musso EV is a purely electric offering based on the same monocoque underpinnings as the new Torres SUV.

New details confirmed in the Musso EV’s certification documents indicate a 401km electric driving range and an 80.6kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery pack sourced from BYD as part of KGM’s recent tie-up with the Chinese giant. The filing initially describes a front-wheel drive version, which will be the variant that launches into the Korean domestic market in March.

According to Korean media, an all-wheel drive version will be offered at a later date.

Additional features for the launch 'MX' grade confirmed by the filing includes a standard heat pump, a vehicle-to-load discharge function, 17-inch wheels, dual 12.3-inch screens for the digital instruments and multimedia, power adjustable seats with heating and ventilation, as well as an active safety suite which includes auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, auto high beams and driver attention warning. In other words, the spec seems to closely mirror that of the Torres SUV.

The front-wheel drive version could use the same 152kW/339Nm electric motor from the Torres EVX.

Korean media speculated a domestic launch price, which equates to the equivalent of A$44,000, although this includes local subsidies. Meanwhile KGM SsangYong has confirmed the small ute will arrive in Australia during the course of 2025.

It will not only be the brand’s first small ute, it will also be its first electric vehicle with the Torres EVX yet to be confirmed for Australia, despite being available in right-hand drive form in the United Kingdom. The Musso EV will launch into a space currently unoccupied in Australia, sitting below our market’s wildly-popular dual-cabs.

It is a space once occupied by the now-cult-classic Subaru Brumby and Proton Jumbuck, but since left abandoned by the likes of Hyundai and Ford who offer the car-based Santa Cruz and Maverick respectively over in the US.

Expect to learn more details about the Musso EV as its Korean and local launches approach. It will be the first in an emerging Musso sub-brand (translating to ‘Rhino’ in Korean) which KGM is spinning off to include a range of off-road pick-up trucks. One potential imminent rival is Geely's Radar - or Riddara RD6 which has recently launched in right-hand drive in Thailand.

Expect to see a successor to the current diesel Musso in due course, with the brand already having revealed concept sketches for the model’s tough next-gen version.