2024 GWM Tank 300 Ultra Hybrid review

2024-06-05 09:57:04

cars from China are shaking up the world of electric vehicles, and now they’re disrupting segments such as the retro-styled, off-road SUV.

At $60,990 drive-away for the range topping Ultra Hybrid, the Great wall motors tank 300 undercuts vehicles in the same vein by tens of thousands of dollars. To get a five-door Jeep Wrangler, you’ll need at least $81,450 (before on-roads), while an Ineos Grenadier starts from $97,000 and the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, well, you know what they say – if you have to ask.

A Suzuki Jimny, meanwhile, is a three-door option for now and could probably fit in the Tank’s glovebox.

That’s not to mention Great Wall has offered a hybrid, petrol-electric powertrain before any of the above – Jeep’s plug-in Wrangler 4xe especially is still nowhere to be seen.

Built on a ladder chassis and with a solid rear axle – the same platform as the GWM Cannon dual-cab ute – the Tank 300 combines ruggedness with cuteness, this white example channelling a bit of Giant Panda in its front styling, as if it would be just as happy having bamboo crammed down its fuel filler neck as it would regular unleaded.

While the Tank 300 range starts with the $49,990 (drive-away) Lux, at $60,990 (also drive-away), today’s range-topping new Ultra Hybrid mates a 180kW/380Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-4 with a 78kW/268Nm electric motor for a very headline-grabbing total combined output of 255kW/648Nm.

That’s more than an HSV Clubsport from yesteryear, even if the Clubbie weighed somewhat less than the GWM’s 2313kg, itself 158kg more than the non-hybrid model – the figure on the scales very much keeping true to the vehicle’s name.

The hybrid gets a nine-speed auto (versus the non-hybrid’s eight) with all-wheel-drive and rear differential lock.

The range-topping Ultra Hybrid adds a front differential lock, while all Tanks offer 33-degree approach and 34-degree departure angles, 224mm of ground clearance, and low range, making for some serious off-roading promise. (We aren’t testing it off-road today – but you can read what our dirt-loving 4x4 Australia colleagues had to say about the petrol-powered Tank 300 here.