What's the difference?
Electrified utes are growing in popularity in Australia and carmakers have been paying attention.
While the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute is by far the best-selling as it stands, there hasn’t really been any electric ute to go up against the poorly received LDV eT60, until now.
South Korea’s KGM (formerly known as SsangYong) has just launched the Musso EV, which is a purely electric dual-cab ute. It’s unrelated to the existing, turbo-diesel Musso and is more closely related to the current car-based Actyon and Torres SUVs.
Read along to see how this ute stacks up against its growing set of competitors.
There’s another ute in town, and this time it’s from MG. The new MG U9 is offered in three grades, and we’re family-testing the flagship Explore Pro.
It lands with a seriously impressive list of standard equipment and the promise of genuine off-road ability. But it’s clear MG isn’t just dipping a toe into the dual-cab market, it’s diving right in.
Does this newcomer have what it takes to challenge the segment heavyweights, or does it need to prove its toughness before earning the trust of Aussie ute fans?
Despite having the Musso name, this electric ute is a completely different beast which is much more lifestyle-oriented than the older and unrelated turbo-diesel Musso workhorse.
There really isn’t much competition out there right now in the electric ute space but this makes a compelling case, especially for those looking in the fleet space. It has an appealing price, adequate range, SUV-like comfort and decent payload capacity.
The MG U9 Explore Pro has genuinely surprised us. It’s not without quirks as some safety tech can be annoying, and it’s a bit thirstier than expected but it’s a solid, practical family ute with great features, and capable 4x4 performance. Stylish, comfortable, and still relatively affordable, I like this one a lot.