Great Wall Ute 2020 to score electric variant
Chinese manufacturer Great Wall has confirmed its new-generation pick-up will score an electrified variant when the current Steed's replacement is revealed at the Shanghai motor show.
Although the lifestyle-focused 'Adventure' is its only variant to be revealed so far, Great Wall has promised an electric version with 500km of driving range, while an 'urban-spec' variant will complete the range.
Few other concrete details on the electric ute remain, but there is a possibility it could employ a hydrogen fuel-cell (FCEV) powertrain instead of a battery-electric set-up, which would likely put it off the table for Australia given the current lack of refuelling infrastructure.
According to reports, Great Wall has recently invested one billion yuan ($A2,095,34,913) into research and development for FCEVs, with the desire to have a fleet ready for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Haval and Great Wall Motors Australia and NZ national marketing manager Bill Soo said it is making strides towards moving away from internal-combustion powertrains.
"Thinking about what's on the horizon over the next five to 10 years, and the company takes the view that existing technologies will change dramatically, and as a company, we have to move into hydrogen EV, which is where the company sees interest," he said.
The next-gen ute will also reportedly share a ladder-frame platform with the Haval H9 large SUV, which is expected to be released globally around 2021.
It is expected the platform will spawn a ute-based seven-seat SUV to match other ute/SUV combinations, such as the Toyota HiLux/Fortuner, Ford Ranger/Everest and Isuzu D-Max/MU-X.
Mr Soo said the platform-sharing means the ute will pick up all the safety and refinement features from the H9.
Aside from the EV, the new pick-up is expected to also score internal-combustion powertrains including 2.0-litre 180kW/350Nm turbo-petrol and 140kW/440Nm turbo-diesel units.
The next-gen Great Wall ute will be revealed in full at the Shanghai motor show on April 16.
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