Haval H6 GT PHEV review: SA’s cut-price Lambo Urus

· The South African

Somewhere in Baoding, China, a design team pens the Haval H6 GT PHEV. A coupe roofline, aggressive haunches, big wheels, smatterings of carbon fibre – an SUV on steroids. Moan all you want in the comments, but clearly the Chinese designers drew particular inspiration from a certain performance SUV hailing from Sant’Agata Bolognese.

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Of course, the Haval H6 GT PHEV won’t fool anyone up close. But squint at it in a parking lot, and there’s definitely a familiar resemblance. The other key difference is one costs about R6 million after being fully imported. While the other can be parked in your driveway for an eighth of the price, just R799 900.

HAVAL H6 GT PHEV

Wow, this baby really goes like the clappers, with a full battery pack. Image: Ray Leathern

And it’s not even like the Haval H6 GT PHEV leaves you shortchanged under the bonnet. Quite the contrary, because its technical and performance figures are pretty eye-watering. This top-of-the-range plug-in hybrid (PHEV) pairs a 110 kW/230 Nm 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with two electric motors. Yup, we did say two! The first makes 130 kW up front and the other makes 135 kW on the rear axle.

So, what you get is a high-tech four-wheel-drive powertrain like a Honda NSX supercar. Ok, too many similes. Basically, a 35.4 kWh battery feeds the two electric motors, combined through a 2-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission, meeting the ICE power. And total system output lands up at 321 kW and 762 Nm. Bonkers! Zero to 100 km/h comes and goes in a verified 4.9 seconds. The next batch of figures should be consumed with a smidge of salt. Electric-only range of 180 km, combined range of 1 000 km from full. And a claimed fuel economy of 0.8 l/100 km.

DOES IT GO LIKE PROMISED?

Batteries, two electric motors, ICE and a fuel tank … where do they find the space? Image: Ray Leathern

Here’s the best bit about the Haval H6 GT PHEV – it does go as well as the numbers suggest. Firstly, it does weigh over two tons, most of that battery and electric motors. But it doesn’t feel cumbersome. In fact, it plays a clever trick, because an SUV with three quarters of a ton of torque, should feel like a handful on the daily commute, surely? All edgy throttle and unnecessary drama, except the GT doesn’t. Left in Normal or EV mode, it’s quiet, comfortable and linear.

Flick it into Sport mode – with the battery full – and you unleash the nuclear weapon hiding deep beneath the metal. It is stupendously fast and very composed while doing its thing. As we’ve reported on Chinese hybrid EVs before, the shelf life of all that instant torque is pretty short lived though. Once the battery is depleted to about less than half, the drop in performance is noticeable. The only solution is to keep the battery topped-up at every opportunity, which is no hardship with home/AC/DC plug-in compatibility.

ANYTHING ELSE TO KNOW ABOUT THE HAVAL H6 GT PHEV?

Cabin architecture straddles old- and new-school approaches to Chinese vehicles, which we’re not opposed to. Image: Ray Leathern

Interestingly, this particular demo unit had clocked over 25 000 km by the time it landed with us. Therefore, it had survived two services and a rotation of media drives with varying degrees of mechanical sympathy. Impressive considering it felt as tight as a drum. No creaks from the cabin, no jerkiness in the drivetrain, nothing to suggest it had lived as hard a life as it no doubt had. The ADAS suite is pretty comprehensive, too. Adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring and automatic emergency braking all worked seemlesly.

Of course, it’s not all perfect. The vehicle’s infotainment feels like it’s a generation old now. The central screen and driver’s display are good but fairly small (by the standards of some newcomers). It also buries many every day and driving functions too deep in its menus, including the climate control. When you’re in a vehicle this quick and powerful you want to switch between modes at the touch of a button. And even if you get your button pushes exactly right, the screen can still hesitate just long enough to be annoying and take you out of the moment.

THE VERDICT

The tall rear boot line does make seeing behind you trickier than you might imagine. Image: Ray Leathern

On South African roads, the Haval H6 GT PHEV impresses. Sure, it won’t fool a Lambo owner, but you can take solace in the fact it does undercut the aforementioned by seven digits, not six. Priced as competitively as it is at R799 900, it kind of doesn’t have any other performance-SUV competition. Many of the closest hybrid rivals, while very good, are plusher, wallowy luxury conveyances. You won’t get the silhouette and the genuinely thrilling turn of speed. Speed up the touchscreen or, better still, fit some quick-touch buttons, and this becomes the easiest recommendation in its segment.

FIGURES: HAVAL H6 GT PHEV

  • Powertrain: 1.5-litre turbo petrol + 35.4 kWh battery/electric motor
  • Transmission: 2-speed dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT)
  • Power: 321 kW
  • Torque: 762 Nm
  • Consumption: unknown
  • Price: R799 900

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