GWM Cannon Alpha hybrid review and buyer’s guide

There is a flurry of dual-cab utes coming to Australia with plug-in and hybrid powertrains, including the GWM Cannon Alpha. If you’re considering one of these non-diesel models, you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.

The GWM Cannon Alpha is hybrid dual-cab ute spin-off from the Cannon combustion-only dual-cab ute, and it’s promising to carry heavy things in the tray, seat five people, and tow your tool trailer, boat or camper.

But convention tells us that a hybrid ute capable of doing this and going off-road isn’t possible below a $70,000 price ceiling. The new Ford Ranger PHEV alone suggests this isn’t possible.

The Cannon itself is quickly moving from the cheap and cheerful end of the market to the point where you might be seriously considering it instead of the established, mainstream ute models like Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Triton. The main reason why, is the price.

For a starting driveaway price of $60,000 you probably wouldn’t expect the Cannon Alpha hybrid ute to have a reasonably powerful hybrid powertrain, a masculine, American-styled exterior with a modern interior, and decent off-road credentials.

To clarify, there are two flavours of hybrid GWM Cannon. There’s the ‘Alpha Hybrid’ (the one that only recharges itself) and the ‘Alpha PHEV’ (the one you can also recharge at home, as well as while driving). ‘PHEV’ stands for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, if you didn’t already know.

The Cannon Alpha hybrid is currently $60,000 with a 2-litre engine and battery-motor powertrain, which sits $10,000 atop the combustion-only Cannon range (which has a 2.4-litre turbo diesel 4-cylinder engine).

The plug-in hybrid will come in two model grades as of April 2025, the Lux at $64,000 and the top-spec Ultra at $69,000 driveaway. Orders can be placed now with an expect delivery in April, 2025. (There’s a change the price of the hybrid Cannon Alpha could drop significantly once the plug-in arrives. Because why would you spend the same $64K for ‘only’ a hybrid when you could have the PHEV?)

In a simple ascending pricing list, the entire Cannon ute range goes like this (driveaway, approx.):

Combustion-only:

• Cannon Lux | $40,500

• Cannon Ultra | $43,500

• Cannon Vanta | $45,500

• Cannon XSR | $50,000

  …and the hybrids:

• Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid | $60,000

• Cannon Alpha Lux PHEV | $64,000

• Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV | $68,000

Traditionally, utes have been powered primarily by diesel and, to a lesser extent, petrol. But the Cannon Alpha uses a battery-motor combination and a 4-cylinder petrol engine, housed in the chassis, body and cockpit of the GWM Cannon we already know.

If you’re only interested in the GWM Cannon combustion-only ute, the bulk of this report will focus on the hybrid and plug-in hybrid Cannon Also. So click here >> for more on the combustion-only GWM Cannon ute >>

But adding more complexity and weight cannot mean only good things for this debutante dual-cab ute. So let’s find out what it gets right, and where you will need to temper your expectations when it comes to the inherent underlying engineering compromises - before dropping a serious amount of your money on the Cannon Alpha hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

The Cannon Alpha is a direct competitor to the incoming Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid and the already-launched BYD Shark 6, both of which also weigh close to or over 2.4 tonnes, and are over 5 metres in length. But while the Ranger is adapted from its combustion platform to utilise the hybrid powertrain, the Shark and Cannon PHEVs use respective platforms designed to be used as a hybrid from the ground up.

This means the BYD is designed from the beginning to account for the different underlying engineering solutions needed to use a large 27 kilowatt-hour battery mounted between the chassis rails. So is the Cannon Alpha, which has an even bigger 37kWh battery fitted.

Let’s also quickly look at sales performance of the GWM Cannon, because that’s one of the key indicators for whether a brand is one you should avoid due to commercial instability or whether they’re a viable choice with resources to support you long-term.

GWM has slowly but steadily been accruing sales, tempting buyers away from the notionally bigger and more established brands. In fact, GWM is not just a top 10 brand in Australia now with a 17 per cent increase in 2024 sales over ‘23, it’s looking like the Cannon could become a bigger selling ute than Amarok, Navara and LDV T60 having sold over 9000 units in ‘24.

FEATURES & PRICING

There is one model grade of the hybrid Cannon Alpha called the ‘Ultra Hybrid’, and sits atop the range at $60,000 driveaway.

The plug-in hybrid is going to be two model grades, the ‘PHEV Lux’ and the ‘PHEV Ultra ’. The naming convention is a bit of a buzzword salad, but the pricing is dead simple. It’s $65,000 for the Lux PHEV and $68,000 for the PHEV Ultra . That’s still quite affordable compared with the rest of the diesel dual-cab ute competitors, but it is $15,000 more for the PHEV Lux over the diesel XSR.

All three hybrids, the ‘Ultra Hybrid’, the PHEV Lux and PHEV Ultra have a 2-litre petrol engine in their powertrains, but the batteries between the series-parallel hybrid and the plug-in hybrid are different.

The Ultra Hybrid gets a decent 1.76kWh battery (10 per cent bigger than a Toyota RAV4) to drive an AC motor making 78kW of power which, with the 2-litre petrol unit, makes a 255 kilowatts of combined power. That’s pretty punchy for a hybrid ute and even achieves a power-weight ratio of 101kW per tonne.

The PHEV has an even bigger capacity 37kWh battery and 120kW AC electric motor output. It also uses the 2-litre turbo-petrol 4-cylinder engine in conjunction with the plug-in rechargeable battery-motor side of the powertrain.

All you need to do is think about your budget and which features you need, then make compromises where it suits best.

Here’s all the highlight equipment you get in the Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid:

Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid | $50,000 driveaway approx. | 2L turbo-petrol + 1.76kWh battery

Has the same equipment as the PHEV Ultra (just a different battery-motor):

EXTERIOR

• 18-inch alloy wheels 265/60 R18 tyres (full size spare)

• Front & rear differential lock (electric)

• Door mirrors: position memory, auto folding, electric adjustment, integrated indicator

• Roof rails

• Side steps (fixed)

• Split (60:40) tailgate w/ electronic lock

• Paddleshifters

• C pillar storage

• Electronic park brake

• Panoramic sunroof

• Type pressure monitoring

• Rear privacy glass and electric sliding window

• LED headlights (auto, self-levelling), daytime running light, taillights, front fog lights (steering/cornering); auto high beam, follow home timer function, rear fog light

  INTERIOR

• Rear outboard seats: electric 2-way adjustment with welcome function

• Heated front + rear outboard seats

• Cooled rear outboard seats

• 360-degree camera system, auto parking assist

• Leather accented seats

• Driver seat: 8-way electric adjustment

• Front passenger Seat: 6-way electric adjustment

• Heated/ventilated/massage front seats

• Heated/ventilated rear outer seats with recline

• Rear seat: 2-way electric adjustment

• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

• Heated steering wheel

• 6 x front & 6 x rear parking sensors

• Head-up display

• Dual zone climate control (incl. row 2 vents)

• Wireless phone charger (front and rear)

• 10-speaker Infinity stereo with amplifier

• Ambient cabin lighting

Here is all the equipment already standard on the entry-level PHEV, which is derived from the entry-level combustion-only Cannon.

Cannon Alpha PHEV Lux | $60,000 driveaway approx. | 2L turbo-petrol + 37kWh battery

Starts with:

EXTERIOR

• 18-inch alloy wheels (full-size spare)

• Electronic centre and rear locking differential

• LED headlamps, daytime running lamps and taillights; auto high beams

• Automatic wipers

• Front and rear parking sensors

• High-mounted tub light

  INTERNAL

• Dual-zone climate control

• Keyless entry with push-button start

• 360-degree camera

• 12.3-inch driver display

• 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen

• Wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto

• Front and rear USB outlets

• Leatherette seats, faux leather steering wheel

• Driver seat: 6-way electric adjustment

• Front passenger seat: 4-way electric adjustment

• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

• Rear privacy glass

• Auto emergency braking (AEB), incl. junction assist

• Lane change assist & lane keeping assist

• Rear collision warning

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And then on top of the Lux, the Ultra Hybrid gets the same level of equipment as the combustion-only Ultra, but with the addition of the hybrid side of the powertrain.

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Cannon Alpha PHEV Ultra | $60,000 driveaway approx. | 2L turbo-petrol + 37kWh battery

An extra $10,000 over the Ultra, and $10,000 on top of the Lux gets you:

EXTERIOR

• Electronic front differential lock

• 60/40 split tailgate

• Panoramic sunroof

• Auto-folding exterior mirrors with memory

• Rear privacy glass

• Rear sliding window

• LED headlights (auto, self-levelling), daytime running light, taillights, front fog lights (steering/cornering); auto high beam, follow home timer function, rear fog light

  INTERIOR

• 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen

• 10-speaker Infinity stereo with amplifier

• Wireless phone charger (front and rear)

• Head-up display (HUD)

• Leather accented seats

• Driver seat: 8-way electric adjustment

• Front passenger Seat: 6-way electric adjustment

• Heated/ventilated/massage front seats

• Heated/ventilated rear outer seats with recline

• Rear seat: 2-way electric adjustment

• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

• Heated steering wheel

• Ambient lighting

• Automatic park assist with reverse assist

INTERIOR

The interior quality of most dual-cab utes has improved dramatically in the last generation or two of the most popular utes. Actually, even some of the cheaper, lesser-known utes have had an admirable uptick in the finish of their interiors, models like the SsangYong Musso, the LDV T60, and the GWM Cannon.

The latest Cannon absolutely knocks it out of the park in terms of giving you a swish, modernised cockpit. But much like hitting the ball outside of the stadium, it might be a little over-the-top to some. Things like the enormous touchscreen aren’t for everyone (but that could simply be a case of getting with the times… because most modern cars have a big touchscreen and they’re not going away in a hurry).

To balance this point, the hands-on cockpit functionality of the driver’s controls are all as you’d expect, buttons located in relatively normal places, decent driver positioning and fairly good headroom for taller individuals. Although, nobody has really found out how it goes for toe room in the driver’s position wearing a size 13 Colorado-type workboot. (Having said that, nobody checks this stuff in any of the other dual-cab utes either.)

The seats themselves are reasonably comfortable, although your subjective determination might differ here. Exactly how comfortable they are on long-distance drives into the bush remains to be seen, but take solace in the fact most new car interior and their seats especially today are designed to suit the 90th percentile person - generally speaking.

If you intend to spend a lot of time behind the wheel, which is typical of dual-cab utes buyers in Australia, then it might be a good idea to ask for a weekend test drive at the dealership.

It’s up to you to love or hate the faux woodgrain interior trim which the Nissan Patrol copped flack for going back years, but it has to be said the analogue clock is a nice touch in the Ultra model grade.

There are also plenty of buttons to operate the critical operations like HVAC, and the transmission shifter feels like its was designed by someone who knows the difference between an air force pilot and a naval aviator.

Nice to see GWM hasn’t wasted the opportunity to put storage cubbies in the side of the transmission tunnel and then gone to the effort to put their row-2 seats on rails to slide them forward.

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ENGINE

Powering the Cannon Alpha hybrid is a 2-litre turbo-petrol 4-cylinder engine that makes 180kW of peak power at 5500 RPM and 350Nm of peak torque. That’s an engine spinning very fast to make a lot of power from such a small capacity.

Working in conjunction with the petrol engine is a pair of AC electric motors producing 120kW of power, offering a total of 300kW of peak power and 750Nm of peak torque. The traction battery providing that 120kW has a 37kWh capacity using the nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn) chemistry.

The wildly optimistic (or completely unrealistic) driving range claim GWM makes is 880km (based on the antiquated NEDC test protocol), which means you should expect more like 500-600km once you account for any kind of light payload and whatever other real-life scenarios typically present. Obviously rh more payload you’re carrying the lower that range will be.

GWM suggests a DC fast-charge time of as little as 26 minutes from 30-80 per cent, but good luck find a 50kW DC fast-charger unoccupied and in-service - that’s the big issue facing public charging at the moment. If you plug in to charge at home, GWM claims a maximum AC charge rate of 6.6kW is possible within a 6.5-hour timeframe.

There are some hurdles with achieving that kind of charging scenario however, such as you’ll need a Level 2 AC charger box professionally installed to achieve 6.6kW. That’s not going to work if you don’t have off-street parking like a dedicated garage.

Secondly, your home’s wiring needs to be able to supply that amount of electricity, requiring a dedicated isolate 32-amp circuit.

Fuel economy is an equally ludicrously unrealistic claim of 1.7 litres per 100km, again using the absurd NEDC test protocols.

Ultimately, the hybrid’s additional 245kg of mass (the battery and motor) does actually offer a tangible performance benefit over the diesel XSR with all the off-road kit. You get a 101kw per tonne power-to-weight ratio which is about 40 per cent better than the XSR, and even the Vanta (which is basically the same without the off-road accessories).

The point here is the extra cost, and the extra mass, actually have a substantial benefit to performance - and you get to keep the notional claimed towing capability.

The Cannon Alpha PHEVs get a 37kWh battery powering an AC electric motor that puts out 120kW which, together with the 180kW from the 2-litre turbo-petrol 4-cylinder engine makes a combined 300kW of total power. That’s good for a power-to-weight ratio of 107kW per tonne.

That’s just 9 per cent shy of the 118kW-per-tonne power-weight ratio in the BYD Shark 6, which itself bests the Ford Ranger PHEV as well. The Ranger PHEV can only manage an 83kW-per-tonne power-weight ratio and its pricing starts at $72,000.

Based on performance and practicality, balanced against the overall price, the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV is the best value of these three plug-in hybrid utes, because the Shark 6 might have more grunt, but it’s not as good off-road and nor can it carry as much payload.

You’re limited to 735kg in the Ultra Hybrid, and 735kg in the Ultra PHEV and 790kg in the lower-spec Lux PHEV. Those are impressive figures when you consider the price compared with the additional $20,000 to have a Ranger PHEV XLT with cloth seats and a claimed 973kg payload.

The 2-litre petrol engine takes 91 RON, by the way, and gets a decent 81-litre tank.

TRANSMISSION

All Cannon utes, including the hybrid and plug-in hybrid, use an in-house designed and built 9-speed epicyclic automatic transmission with a torque converter.

The four-wheel drive system on the Cannon Alpha is a conventional 2H-4H-4L driveline that dictates two-wheel drive on sealed high-traction surfaces and good quality gravel roads, with 4H reserved for soft-roading dirt roads where traction is compromised. Then there’s 4L (4-Low range) for difficult terrain where traction is limited.

This is a system like you would find in a Toyota Hilux, Mazda BT-50, Isuzu D-Max or LDV T60, meaning if you’re towing a trailer and/or have some kind of heavy payload while driving in heavy rain, you cannot engage the 4-wheel drive system for additional dynamic stability for risk of driveline component damage.

In terms of how this transmission drives, nine speeds could prove too many in some highway situations where the lack of opportunities to top up the battery might see the need to kick down one or two gears to overtake while under towing or heavy payload conditions.

But on balance, it’s also going to offer the powertrain plenty of choice when it comes to finding the ideal gear for the demands you impose on it. And more gears doesn’t necessarily have to mean it’s a bad thing as long as the software can make the right decisions.

GWM used a BorgWarner transmission on the previous Cannon models but has chosen to go in-house in the same way Mazda has done with its eight-speed auto in the CX-60. This could be an area to watch with the new GWM transmission in regards to long-term reliability, but there’s no obvious evidence thus far to support that notion - yet.

TOWING

While GWM Australia says the Cannon Alpha and PHEV are capable of 3.5 tonnes of braked towing capacity, it’s a bad idea to start even entertaining such a prospect in this vehicle. It’s not a guaranteed death sentence, but caution needs to be taken before getting yourself all hitched up but in trouble at the first set of challenging driving conditions.

This is the inevitable problem with marketing. It doesn’t highlight the downsides of attached 3.5 tonnes of trailer, with its high centre of gravity, its fundamental instability (by design) and the unpredictable nature of driving on the public roads in sketchy situations and the wrong level of driver skill and/or attention.

Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid weighs 2575kg, which is okay from the perspective of its comparable weight to the hypothetical boat or caravan in our scenario. But let’s attach it anyway, putting 350kg of download on the towball. Take that 350kg from the 735kg payload and you’re left with just 385kg of remaining payload.

Now let’s change the word “payload” to ‘Safe Working Limit’. We’re just 480kg away from the gross combination mass limit of the Cannon Alpha hybrid, or to put it another way: we’re within about 7 per cent of the vehicle’s ultimate combination limit.

Let’s now also remember that we’re running on no-name highway terrain tyres which are there for their cost-effectiveness, not ultimate road-holding prowess - and you’re stuck in two-wheel drive. No all-wheel drive as you navigate through all the twisty, wet, dusty, broken, icy, oily, hilly and derelict (or busy) backroads Australia has to offer.

Keep the towing assignments to a maximum of 2.5 tonnes on a regular basis, or 3 tonnes for shorter or occasional driving. Drive conservatively, and keep plenty of distance from everyone.

How the Cannon Alpha hybrid and plug-in behave while heavy towing (at roughly 2.5 tonnes or more), this remains to be seen in practice owing to their relative newness to our market, the poor quality roads and the harsh climate. But the 2-litre petrol engine is going to be working hard whenever that small hybrid battery is depleted or simply unable to offer much assistance.

The hybrid’s small traction battery will help get the entourage going from the lights, but don’t expect it to do the majority of the heavy haulage. Hybrids don’t get a much opportunity to recharge on freeways do to the infrequent kinetic energy recovery from slowing down, but there are plenty of long downhill sections of Australian highways that will offer chunks to regen time. Just keep in mind that it’s a trickle going back into the battery in these situations. Still, every bit helps. (Don’t expect the fuel economy to be anywhere near the claims, though.)

In the case of the PHEV, you’ve absolutely got a big-enough battery with enough grunt to actually work alongside the combustion engine for a significant period of the driving time. Being able to recharge that 37kWh battery is helpful when you pull into the servo, but you will have to stop twice to fill up on both petrol and electrons.

FUNCTIONALITY

The tray of the Cannon Alpha is 1500 mm deep (or length, if you will), with 1100mm between the wheel arches and this remains probably the one shortfall. Don’t be surprised if these are the same dimensions that carry over into the PHEV.

Having said that, keep in mind the battery in the PHEV is over 30 times bigger than the one in the hybrid. But making that battery fit into the Cannon Alpha’s underbody architecture is relatively simple thanks to the big generous chassis rails, meaning it can be mounted high and against the rear of the cabin, using space that would otherwise go unutilised.

This means you don’t have some enormous slab of potentially dangerous toxic chemicals sharing the cockpit - unlike the appalling design in some utter shitbox like the Jeep Wrangler hybrid which ahs it directly under the back seat.

The point of this fundamental design execution is that it doesn’t impact the size of the tray or the fact you get a full-size spare wheel. Meaning, you gain the performance and the hybrid system without having to compromise on functionality.

Where the tray does take a hit in terms of operational proficiency is that you won’t be fitting a Euro sized pallet between those wheelarches because the 1200mm wide pallet doesn’t go into an 1100mm hole. You could ask the forklift drive to slide the pallet in sideways, fitting the 800mm side of the pallet into that 100mm hole. That might work.

In order to do that, you’ll need to open the tailgate the old fashioned way, but if you ever need to lift in a piece of heavy equipment, for example, and the forklift needs to get that little bit closer to the tray, you can open the tailgate in its 60:40 split. It’s kinda handy to have, but hard to see many situations where it would be a specific advantage. Maybe if you need to get closer to the bed for packing tubs and bags and gear for camping, perhaps.

The rear sliding window is useful for flinging things into the cabin, or indeed asking for a tool to be passed out to you in the tray.

SAFETY

Overall, the Cannon Alpha was crash tested in 2024 and scored a five-star rating which includes both the combustion variants and the hybrids.

It scored very well in all four key criteria, with a very high score of 93 per cent in child protection in particular.

The most significant markdowns in the destructive tests was to the rear passenger dummy in the full width test at 50km/h where a ‘marginal’ rating was given for chest deflection that resulted in a 2-point penalty. But that’s still a result in which the occupant survives. The driver dummy also received an ‘adequate’ result with just over 1 point deducted for chest deflection.

Less than a point was deducted for the driver dummy’s chest deflection in the oblique pole test at 32km/h.

The Cannon Alpha was marked down a point (out of 2) for its performance in the AEB (auto emergency braking) “backover” test which should just be called reverse because that’s what the vehicle calls it - reverse gear. The overall mark was ‘marginal’ for reverse AEB.

It faired worse in 3 or the 4 tests conducted at 8km/h, but good in 3 of the 4 tests at 4km/h. And yet it did quite well in the 50 per cent offset test at 8km/h. You can see the perverse nature of this R-AEB and the test results here:

Considering the huge inherent blindspots in dual-cab utes, this graphic should be a bittersweet message to anybody flooring it out their driveway first thing in the morning… Don’t trust the car to stop every time.

This was only one of the three significant markdowns, the others of which were the head protection tests for adult, child and cyclist (which saw a 9.6 out of 18 score) and the junction-turning pedestrian AEB activation.

The last two areas where the Cannon Alpha trips up is in the higher set speeds in the T-bone path-crossing tests between about 40km/h to 60km/h, and the lane change into oncoming traffic at 50 and 70km/h respectively.

These tests are challenging for the onboard AEB systems to quickly calculate the relative speeds and trajectories early enough inside the vehicle’s field of view to have sufficient time to apply the brakes long enough to avoid the impact.

For the lane change into the direct path of oncoming traffic, the Cannon Alpha scored a ‘poor’ result, which gave the overall result of ‘marginal’ when balanced against the vehicle’s ‘good’ result for the direct oncoming traffic AEB test at those same test speeds.

Cannon Alpha also copped a markdown for its poor integration ‘driver monitoring’ system which failed to both issue a warning and intervene at the sign of distraction.

DRAWBACKS

As time has gone on and the GWM brand has grown bigger in Australia, there are increasingly fewer problems with the Cannon platform. But it’s far from perfect.

The software niggles are the biggest negative of GWM vehicles in general. The screens tend to lag when you swipe, scroll or push an icon, and the safety tech has been, historically speaking, lacklustre at best and downright stupid at worst. But for much needed context here, plenty of other carmakers are also forced to implement this pseudo-safety equipment with glitchy, poorly developed driver stalking and dumbing-down tech with plenty of negative feedback.

Even the mainstream brands get this stuff wrong with false positives that lull you into ignoring the warning altogether, so it’s no surprise that such a historically young (in our market) carmaker has gotten these systems as refined as our market would prefer. Having said all this, the systems in the Cannon Alpha aren’t the greatest, but they’re far from the worst. They’re not Jeep.

In terms of Cannon Alpha-specific drawbacks, the long-term reliability of the Alpha Hybrid’s battery in Australian hard yakka working environments remains to be seen. But that’s not any kind of snide remark about Chinese build quality; in fact there’s a good argument to suggest that a Cannon would be a better long-term workhorse than the likes of Navara, Ranger or LDV T60.

What question there is about the hybrid is actually in relation to the Australian market and how we use utes in our conditions: hot days, heavy traffic, often towing or hauling payloads, off-roading etc. And of course doing all of these things at the same time. Aussies love to punish the equipment and then blame the equipment when it fails.

Fuel economy, it needs to be said, will not be anything close to what GWM claims. More so than is typical of most carmakers’ published official laboratory tests. Don’t be surprised to see at least 30-40 per cent higher than the 9.8 litres per 100km laboratory bench tests concluded.

GWM Australia has had to make a few running tech updates to sort out glitchy software and over-zealous/distracting driver monitoring systems that constantly beep and bong. On that note, the steering wheel controls are extremely clunky. Having to push “ok” to go into the various settings is absurd. This might’ve changed as the media have pointed this issue out.

There is also a glaring lack of binnacle surrounding the driver’s display from afternoon/morning sun glare and reflections. Same goes, obviously, for the enormous central touchscreen which you might also find to be far too bright, even on its dimmest settings, at night time.

Also, watch for a potentially sticky throttle which tends to continue revving the powertrain when you promptly lift-off the accelerator, which could become problematic (maybe even dangerous) in driveways or carparks. Same story goes for an overzealous brake pedal, so watch for that. See if you hate the pulse-type self-centring indicator stalk as well.

The last key drawback to a Cannon Alpha ownership experience is the dealer network of just 107. While this is an impressive growth figure compared with pre-2020, it’s still a bit less than half of the national coverage of Toyota and Ford at roughly 200.

MAIN COMPETITORS

FORD RANGER PHEV | $72,000 - $87,000 before on-road costs | 2.3L turbo-petrol 4-cyl

BATTERY: 11.8kWh | AC MOTOR: 75kW | ENGINE: 138kW at 4600rpm, 411Nm at 2700rpm

TOTAL OUTPUT: 207kW at 4600rpm, 697Nm at 2500rpm | TRANSMISSION: 10-Speed auto “Modular Hybrid”

WEIGHT: 2692kg (Stormtrak) | PAYLOAD: 808kg (Stormtrak) | GVM: 3500kg | GCM: 6580kg

2 x power outlets in tray (230V, 15-amp, max total 3450 Watts)

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BYD SHARK 6 PHEV | $60,000 driveaway approx. | 1.5L turbocharged petrol engine

BATTERY: 37kWh | AC MOTORS: 170kW (front), 150kW (rear) | ENGINE: 113kW @ 5500rpm (only drive wheels above 70km/h)

TOTAL OUTPUT: 320kW, 660Nm at 2,500-3,000rpm | POWER-WEIGHT RATIO: 118 kW/t | TRANSMISSION: 1-speed reduction

WEIGHT: 2710kg | PAYLOAD: 790kg | TOWING: 2500kg (max. braked) | GVM: 3500kg | GCM: 5210kg UNCONFIRMED

3 x power outlets in tray (230V at 10A, max total output 6600 Watts)

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MITSUBISHI TRITON GSR | $65,000 driveaway approx. | bi-turbo 2.4L 4-cyl turbo-diesel

ENGINE: 150kW at 1750rpm, 470Nm at 1500rpm | POWER-WEIGHT RATIO: 70.8 kW/t | TRANSMISSION: 6-speed epicyclic auto

WEIGHT: 2170 kg | PAYLOAD: 910 kg | TOWING: 3500kg (max. braked) | GVM: 3080 kg | GCM: 6250 kg

0 x power outlets in tray

CONCLUSION

In terms of outright flat-line performance, the Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid is a modest performer. But the incoming new plug-in hybrid is going to be a bit of a beast, especially in the context of the much publicised and hyped-up BYD Shark 6 plug-in.

Considering GWM can offer the Ultra Hybrid at roughly the same price as a Triton GSR suggests that big brands with their long histories of making dependable, reliable dual-cab utes is under threat. Especially if you cast your mind back a few years and remember the constant steady increases in pricing from the likes of Ford, Toyota, Isuzu and Mitsubishi.

The payload is reasonable, the tray is functional enough like any other dual-cab ute and even the off-road system is pretty good for the price. If you want proper performance (for a ute) you might want to wait for the PHEV which arrives in the middle of 2025.

Overall, there are imperfections typical of both a budding brand like GWM in our market, as well as being typical of a use that is very close to its established brand rivals - but isn’t quite there in terms of polish and execution. The hybrid isn’t quite as good as a modern turbo-diesel from the main rivals who’ve been making smooth, grunty oil-burners for decades now, but that’s the compromise.

But honestly, it’s astounding how well executed the Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid is in its first generation. And for the price, if your daily duties are within a stone’s throw of a major metro city, it’s going to serve a multitude of work, family, farm and trade related roles. And it’s entirely up to whether you stick some duct tape over the driver monitoring camera.

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