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Review
2025 BYD Shark 6 Premium first drive review
Bruce Newton
October 29, 2024
The BYD Shark 6 Premium dual-cab ute has reserved a place in local automotive history as the first petrol-electric plug-in hybrid ute to go on sale in Australia. Powered by two electric motors and a petrol engine, the BYD dual-cab 4x4 brings us a step closer to electric motoring in a segment dominated traditionally by diesel engines.
The 2025 BYD Shark 6 takes aim at the hip pocket with a price of just $57,900 before on-road costs combined with a luxurious level of standard equipment.
Our first Australian drive was short, primarily off-road and in pre-production vehicles. But the potential of the Shark 6, from the same brand that brought Australians the BYD Sealion 6 and BYD Atto 3, is obvious.
First deliveries will start in December or January. with pricing shaprer than inital expectations. While the BYD Shark 6 was anticipated to start around $60,000 plus on-road costs, it has been confirmed at $57,900 plus on-road costs.
BYD is launching with a single high-spec model called the Shark 6 Premium. It’s a dual-cab 4x4, so it’s aimed straight at the popular heartland of the ute segment.
Its extensive equipment includes a giant rotating infotainment touchscreen, a configurable digital instrument cluster and head-up display, real leather steering wheel trim, faux leather seat trim, front-seat power adjustment, heating and ventilation, 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging, dual-zone air-conditioning with rear vents and AM/FM and digital radio bands.
As the BYD Shark 6 comes with a big high-voltage battery pack, the ute also offers vehicle-to-load (V2L). A useful feature for tradies, campers and those impacted by blackouts and weather emergencies, V2L means you can plug in and power-up items like tools, laptops and cooking gear. Effectively, it’s a 6.6kW generator on wheels.
The BYD Shark 6 also comes with a bunch of apps including Spotify and Amazon Music, over-the-air (OTA) update capability and a smartphone app that offers features like lock/unlock, air-conditioning on-off and more.
There are few options for the BYD Shark 6: just three exterior colours and only one black interior trim. A host of accessories are available to be ordered alongside the ute including sports wheels, all-terrain tyres, sports bar, bull bar and roof rack.
What does the BYD Shark 6 cost to service?
The BYD Shark 6 carries a six-year/150,000km warranty for the vehicle and an eight-year/200,000km warranty for the battery. Expect long service intervals and capped-price servicing.
The BYD Shark 6 Premium ute’s lavish and high-tech interior is dominated by a giant rotating infotainment touchscreen in the centre of the dash.
BYD Shark 6 exterior design
The 2025 BYD Shark 6 Premium is a big vehicle even by the standards of dual-cab utes such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max.
At 5457mm long, the Shark stretches more than 200mm beyond the Ranger. It’s also wider (1971mm v 1910mm) and taller (1921mm v 1886mm). However, its wheelbase, at 3260mm, is 10mm shorter than the 3270mm Ranger.
The Shark 6 has a distinct face which BYD insists is meant to evoke the open mouth of a shark. Of course, there’s also a shark fin antenna.
Large BYD logos star at both ends of the vehicle. There are also 18-inch alloys, side steps, roof rails and LED headlights. The tub has a spray-in liner, hooks, lights, a soft open-and-close tailgate and three power plugs supporting the vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability.
The BYD Shark 6 strikes an imposing stance from both the front and rear, and has slightly bigger dimensions than the Ford Ranger.
What is the BYD Shark 6 like inside?
BYD models have developed a bit of a reputation for funky interiors. Think of the Atto 3 compact SUV with its marine theme and guitar string door pockets.
Sure, the 2025 BYD Shark 6 Premium has that rotating screen and other digital tech, but the overall presentation is more straight forward.
There are some buttons and dials for some features, although much management is done through the screens. At first taste it seems complex. It is going to take a little while to figure it out and come to terms with it.
The front seats in the BYD Shark 6 are supportive, the rear seat backrests are more reclined than usual for a 4x4 ute and there is generous space in the rear as well. Both passenger compartments offer plenty of storage opportunities.
The Shark 6 has loads of digital tech, but the overall presentation is more conventional than BYD’s other models.
The steering wheel on the BYD Shark 6 has helpful buttons, but drivers will still spend a lot of timing managing settings through the screens.
Red trim highlights on various points around the cabin of the BYD Shark 6 Premium leave a positive impression.
Vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability means the BYD Shark 6 is effectively a generator on wheels, making it great for tradies and campers.
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Is the BYD Shark 6 good to drive?
Because of its powertrain innovation, this is the most fascinating part of the 2025 BYD Shark 6, and its key differentiator compared to other utes sold in Australia.
But before we go on, there are several precautions to note. The sample vehicles were pre-production and were primarily driven off-road on gravel surfaces.
They were also using software and suspension tunes that will be superseded by production. Tunes also varied between vehicles.
The BYD Shark 6 is powered by two electric motors and a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine.
One motor and the engine drive the front wheels together, although the petrol engine’s primary task is to recharge the Shark’s LFP battery pack.
As a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), you can also recharge the Shark's battery by plugging in, something an orthodox hybrid like a Toyota RAV4 cannot do. The DC fast-charge rate is a modest 55kW but the battery is only 29.58kWh.
The other electric motor is mounted on the rear axle and drives the rear wheels at all times except when shut down in energy-saving eco mode.
The combined power and torque outputs shame most diesels and it’s claimed to be faster to 100 kilometres an hour than the Ford Ranger Raptor.
BYD says the Shark 6 can travel up to 80 kilometres on electricity alone and 800km combined.
Running as a hybrid rather than EV, the fuel consumption rate is claimed to be 2.0L/100km. But once the battery drops below 25 per cent full, this escalates to a claimed 7.9L/100km, which is around the same as a diesel ute.
There is no gearbox as you know it – everything drives off a single gear.
Our first drive experience was across about 50km and what absolutely stood out was the ease of access and strong, quiet response of the BYD Shark 6 when operating as an electric ute.
The BYD Shark 6 instantly makes every diesel powertrain obsolete as an everyday drive for tradies and families if they’re moving around in urban and exurban environments.
No lag, no noise, no diesel refuelling. And if you’re driving within its electric-only range, it does not emit tailpipe emissions either.
When the BYD Shark 6’s petrol engine does kick in to aid acceleration or recharge the battery, it is quiet and in the background.
It helps that BYD has set up the steering in the Shark 6 to be light in the normal mode. It works with the powertrain to make it easy to drive and manoeuvre. Hopefully that’s retained for production. In its sporting mode it’s too heavy – hopefully that gets retuned.
For such a big and heavy (2710kg!) vehicle, the BYD Shark 6 is very easy to drive. And that reflects BYD’s focus for this vehicle – an off-roader that’s good to drive on-road.
Seems they’re getting it right. But as stated earlier, these are first impressions only.
BYD claims the plug-in hybrid powertrain allows the Shark 6 to travel up to 80km on electricity alone and 800km combined with the petrol engine.
What is the BYD Shark 6 like off-road?
There are reasons to be sceptical about the 2025 BYD Shark 6 Premium’s off-road capability. Sure, it rides on a ladder frame like other utes do, but there are no low-range reduction gears because BYD says electric motor torque negates that.
Nor are there differential locks. BYD believes its traction control system can handle off-road challenges.
There is only 200mm ground clearance, the standard tyres are road-oriented and the rear suspension is independent rather than a torsion beam. Most utes use a live rear axle for increased wheel travel and therefore grip.
Subjected to some moderate cross-axling on test, the BYD Shark 6’s wheels did lose contact with the ground. Then the smart traction control system clamped wheels and reshuffled torque to keep moving forward.
But it wasn’t a performance to allay all doubts. The challenges weren’t tough enough.
There are other concerns owners of a Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux may have about the Shark 6.
The braked towing capacity is 1000kg shy of the class standard at 2500kg and the maximum payload is 790kg when many rivals can carry one tonne.
A bigger BYD Shark 6 ute expected as soon as 2025 is likely to address those concerns, but it is also likely to be more expensive.
The BYD Shark 6 is built on a ladder-frame chassis but does not have traditional 4x4 low-range gearing or a live-axle rear suspension.
What safety features does the BYD Shark 6 have?
The 2025 BYD Shark 6 is yet to collect an ANCAP rating but the expectation within BYD is five stars.
Standard safety gear includes auto-braking and adaptive cruise control, lane keeping and following, driver and surrounds-monitoring assistance. There are also seven airbags including front-centre, an array of high-clarity camera views and front and rear parking sensors.
The BYD Shark 6 has many audible driver alerts, advising you to put on your seatbelt, and keep your eyes on the road. It also comes with the usual plethora of bings, bongs and self-steering driver assistance technology. How well calibrated they are remains to be seen.
The BYD Shark 6 has a high level of driver assist safety features, but our first drive was limited to pre-production vehicles on primarily dirt and gravel roads.
How does the BYD Shark 6 compare?
On pricing, the 2025 BYD Shark 6 lines up with mid-spec orthodox diesel rivals like the Ford Ranger XLT and Toyota HiLux SR5, but it’s more like the much more expensive Ranger Platinum or HiLux Rogue on gear.
The Shark 6 won’t be Australia’s only PHEV ute for long. Fellow Chinese brand GWM will launch the Cannon Alpha Hi4T in early 2025 and the Ford Ranger PHEV arrives around mid-year.
Should I buy a BYD Shark 6?
It’s too soon to be definitive about the 2025 BYD Shark 6 Premium and say it’s a 'must buy' in the 4x4 ute category.
The most important thing our first drive proved was just how user-friendly the BYD’s PHEV powertrain is. As a concept, it undoubtedly represents the future of the ute segment until battery-electric can sort out its range and recharging issues.
But how reliable the BYD Shark 6’s powertrain is, as well as the rest of the package is going to be, remains to be seen.
No matter how tempting the price and equipment package, it might be worth waiting for a while to see how things go when BYD Shark 6s start being released into the wild.
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