Changan Auto Philippines seems to be all over the place when it comes to its product line-up. Despite having a seven-vehicle-line-up with a wide price range (P 654,000 to P 2,719,000)—they can never seem to stick the landing with any of them. All of them pretty much fade into obscurity. They’re certainly hoping for a change of luck with the Hunter pickup truck.
Poised to join the pickup truck segment, itself known as a cutthroat and fiercely competitive segment (just ask Mazda), Changan thinks they’ve got an ace up their sleeve: a serial hybrid system.
Based on specs, sure, the Hunter does have a turbocharged 2.0-liter motor, but this isn’t connected to the drive wheels in anyway. Instead, it acts as a generator to the 31.8-kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery. The battery can also be charged directly by plugging in.
Traction is provided either by a single or dual electric motor setup. In the RWD guise, it makes 174 horsepower and 320 Nm; in the AWD, it makes 268 horsepower and 470 Nm of torque. All in all, Changan says it should enable the Hunter REEV (Range Extended Electric Vehicle) to go 1,031 kilometers with a full charge and a full tank of gas (180 kilometers on battery power alone).
Other specs found on the Hunter REEV AWD include electronic locking diffs and ten driving modes.
Changan is positioning the Hunter REEV as a lifestyle truck and it shows in its design features such as the unique tailgate. The top half can be opened separately allowing it to accommodate long loads like poles or pieces of timber, without having to drop the entire tailgate altogether. Sadly, it won’t be able to carry much load as payload’s limited to a paltry 495 kilograms—about half that of any of the current crop of pickup trucks—and about two motoring journalists less (about 200 kilos) less than the Ranger Raptor.
So, while the Hunter REEV won’t be enticing fleet-oriented buyers (or even private buyers who actually use their pickups for hauling), at least in terms of luxury features, it scores pretty high. Leather seats with power adjustment for the driver are there; so too is a digital instrument cluster, a touchscreen infotainment screen, an electronic column shift, a wireless charging pad, and a 360-degree camera.
Price? Changan Auto Philippines says their targeting a starting price of “less than P 2-million” for the truck.
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