Volvo and Polestar owner ships first batch of low-priced electric utes

Last year Geely Group, the owner of Volvo cars and Polestar, unveiled a new brand offering electric utes. It is called the Radar RD6, with a price tag of under $A40,000. 

Now Geely has announced on Twitter/X that the first batch of the RD6 has been shipped from its Zibo Smart factory.

Dimension-wise the RD6 is only slightly shorter than the popular Ford Ranger, Australia’s second best selling ute:

• 5,260 mm in length
• 1,900 mm in width
• 1,830 mm in height

When it comes to the drivetrain, the Radar RD6 has a 200 kW motor which offers plenty of power and can accelerate the ute from 0 – 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds. That’s much quicker than many ICE utes on the market.

The Radar RD6 is powered by two battery packs, starting with a smaller 63 kWh battery. This can provide up to 400 km of NEDC range, which in real-world conditions, would be more like 300km. That is plenty for an average daily commute to work and back for most drivers.

There is also a top-of-the-range variant that comes with a 100 kWh battery pack. This can deliver up to 632 km of NEDC range. Based on that, it’s expected to have a WLTP range of around 500 km when unloaded.

For some comparison, the LDV ute available in Australia has an 89 kWh battery pack. In the US, the 2023 Ford F150 Lightning has a 98 kWh battery pack in its standard range model while the extended range battery pack tops out at 131 kWh. 

On the safety front, this electric ute also offers driver assistance and safety features which include:

• Autonomous Emergency Braking
• Rear Collision Warning
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert

The cross-traffic alert system is helpful given the length that comes with the ute tray. To top that off, vehicle-to-load technology is also on offer for camping or operating power tools (could even charge a laptop) on site.

The Radar RD6 is offered in 4 variants and starts at the equivalent of $A36,890 for the entry-level model. That’s cheaper than many ICE dual-cab utes available post-Covid ute market. 

The next variant in the lineup has a bigger battery with a greater range and is priced at $A41,010. There is also a premium version of this variant which is priced at the equivalent of $A48,070.

The top-of-the-range RD6 is offered with the biggest battery and comes in at the equivalent of $A55,480 in its local market.

At this stage, it’s unclear where the first market to receive this electric ute is, but we will keep a close eye on it given Australia’s affinity with utes which also need to go electric for a cleaner future.