BYD electric ute spotted in the wild, looking more finished

EV sales really took off in 2023 with over 87,000 battery electric vehicles being sold during the year. What was missing from the bulk of these sales were electric utes.

Chinese car maker BYD, which has already unveiled the Atto 3, the Dolphin and the Seal EVs to the Australian market, stepped in with the announcement that they will be bringing a new ute to Australia by the end of 2024.

This ute has been spotted testing in China near a BYD manufacturing plant, located in the city of Hefei, 480 km west of Shanghai.

The photos shared by thinkercar, a Chinese EV influencer on X, show an Atlantis Grey ute being tested on the city’s roads. 

It also appears to have parts of the body panels in a matte-black protective wrap.

The left-hand-drive ute has side steps, roof rails and an aggressive rear end with an LED bar that runs along the width of the tailgate.

From some angles, it looks a lot like the boxier Volkswagen Amarok ICE ute which has been quite popular in the Australian market since it launched in 2010.

No towbar was spotted on this particular vehicle, but is likely to be available as an option. 

From these photos, it’s not quite clear if it is a full-battery electric version or if it incorporates a  plug-in hybrid system with BYD’s DM-i (DualMode-intelligent) technology. 

The DM-i technology from BYD mainly relies on the electric motor and a larger battery than traditional hybrids to power the vehicle over longer distances. There is an internal combustion engine in that is used as a backup when needed.

In April 2023, the BYD electric ute was spotted in various stages of testing and had a heavy camouflage on the pickup. 

The BYD ute is expected will compete with Geely’s Radar RD6, the JAC electric ute, and the Dongfeng Rich 6 EV. 

Here in Australia, the BYD ute will compete with the LDV eT60  which was released in late 2022 and has not had the sales success LDV was hoping for. Just 79 of these electric utes were sold in 2023,  while the Toyota Hilux made up over 60,000 sales.

Given the popularity of the utes in Australia, more options for electric utes will make it easier for EV-ready drivers to make the switch. More details on the BYD ute are likely will be released in the coming months as the ute nears production and sales milestones.