Here it is: BYD hybrid ute design revealed before Rivian R1T rival comes to Australia

While BYD’s yet-to-be-named ute won’t be the first heavily electrified pick-up to land on Aussie shores, it could be the first to do so in significant numbers, especially if BYD’s local boss is right about its suitability for Australia.

Now with its design confirmed thanks to patent design drawings published by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), details of the BYD ute are becoming clearer as the vehicle’s reveal approaches.

Importantly, the hybrid ute will have plenty of Aussie input according to Luke Todd, the head of local BYD distributor EV Direct.

“There will be Australians working on the team to develop the vehicle,” Mr Todd told CarsGuide in December 2022.

“I’d go so far as to say it is a co-developed vehicle. It will be built for the world but have an Australian pulse.

“It will be developed for Australian use. It will be able to tow your boat or caravan. I can’t give you an exact number but, rest assured, it will be higher than 1000kg.”

Since then, the brand’s ute has been developed further to the point where we now know from overseas reports like one from CarNewsChina it will use a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol along with its twin electric motors to make 365kW.

This fits within early estimates from Chinese media that the ute would be available with variants ranging from 134kW to 373kW.

“An Australian engineering team is working hand-in-hand with the BYD engineers to ensure that the product is not just Australian tough but that it’s best in class,” Todd more recently told CarsGuide.

“We know that’s going to be really well received when it comes to Australia.”

BYD’s got form when it comes to going from a relative unknown to a sales powerhouse, with 2113 sales of the Atto 3 electric car in 2022, its debut year.