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And finally, a new media system features a CPU which Hyundai says delivers four times the computing grunt and 15 times the graphical processing power of the previous ‘Gen5 Wide’ system. It is indeed quick and easy to navigate.

At more than $60K with the N Line Package the Premium Hybrid will be a modest, niche seller but for around 10 grand less, even without the N Line pack, the Elite Hybrid is an attractive sweet spot in the line-up.

Has to be said the Tucson’s 11.8m turning circle is large, to the point where what you expect to be a U-turn becomes a three-pointer.

Plus the Hyundai emblem has been integrated into the rear glass which allows a larger sweep of the tailgate wiper (the rear arm is 75mm longer).

Result? BYD claims the Shark 6 is faster than a Ranger Raptor in that it can scoot from zero to 100 in 5.7 seconds flat. That's pretty impressive stuff.

Being a pre-production example, we were only allowed to drive the Shark 6 on private roads, though a few kilometres of highway driving was necessary to get to a 4x4 track.

The tub, meanwhile, is slightly larger overall than a Ranger proportionally, though isn't quite as wide or deep. The ruler says 1520mm (length), 1500mm (width) and 517mm (depth). Volume is 1200L.

But the steering seems laggy and remote, and lacks sufficient feedback and feel. We feel it definitely needs some more local dynamic tuning.

Off road, the BYD continues to largely impress, being an easy thing to drive along on rough terrain in. It's got all the 4X4 capabilities in terms of going up and down hills and crawling over ruts and that sort of thing.

Does this car have what it takes to take a bite out of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid that dominates the mid-size SUV category? Let’s find out.

But using the similarly-powered Sealion 6 SUV, it should offer a six-year/150,000km warranty, while the latter's service intervals are every 20,000km or every 12 months, whichever comes first.

But don’t expect a neck-snapping response as per a pure EV. This hybrid’s acceleration isn’t immediate but it still builds rapidly with 172kW and 367Nm at your disposal.

Big windows, a commanding view out and lots of space means that the BYD concedes nothing to most rivals in terms of interior room.

Clearly, much thought has gone into the packaging inside the cabin, and that's obvious from the very easy entry and egress due to wide apertures.

Hyundai covers the Tucson Hybrid with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, which is still the norm in the mainstream market, although the likes of GWM, Kia, MG, Skoda and others are at seven years, unlimited km with Mitsubishi offering conditional 10-year, 200,000km cover.

There’s also adjustable ventilation - thumbs up - and lots of storage including door bins, again with enough room for bottles, stretchy map pockets and two cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest.

And you can opt for an N Line package on all of them adding an extra $4100 on the entry model, $2500 on the Elite and $1500 on the Premium. More on the N Line pack shortly.

That’s supported by bins in the doors with room for bottles and a decent glove box with an open shelf in the dash above it.

A great driving position awaits, with plenty of adjustability; that large, 15.6-inch rotatable touchscreen is clear and surprisingly easy to navigate; and the general ambience is one of quality.

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That's some stiff competition for all the other utes, particularly considering that this is around the same price as the lowish-spec Ranger XLS 4x4 2.0-litre BiTurbo.

Meanwhile, when the 29.6kWh LFP battery is at full charge, the petrol engine’s fuel consumption averages as low as just 2.0-litres per 100km, or as high as 7.9L/100km when it’s on low charge.

At close to 4.7m long, nearly 1.9m wide and a bit less than 1.7m tall, with a more than 2.7m wheelbase the Tucson is a ‘large’ medium SUV.

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Roadside Assist is complimentary for the first year, renewed for another 12 months each time you have the car serviced at an authorised Hyundai dealer.

In pure EV mode, the Shark 6's combined EV consumption: 21.2kWh/100km, and should achieve up to 100km of pure EV range, though these figures are "to be confirmed".

The main service interval is 12 months/10,000km, which is a little shorter on distance than the more usual 12 months/15,000km period. Average cost for the first five years is $408 per workshop visit, which isn’t outrageous but well north of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid at $260 per service for the same period.

Back there are the bare essentials: a damped tailgate (that's still a bit heavy to lift compared to others), LED lighting, a spray-on tub-liner and tie-down hooks. A sports bar is optional.

That peak torque number is on stream from 1000-4100rpm, which is just where you want it for healthy mid-range punch and easy highway overtaking. That said, ‘Sport’ mode makes a noticeable difference over ‘Normal’ and ‘Eco’ in terms of urgency.

Tip for car-spotters. The entry Tucson’s grille is silver, the Elite’s is dark chrome and the Premium’s is dark chrome with ‘hidden’ DRLs.

And, aided by a completely flat floor with no hump to negotiate, there's lots of space for longer legs, knees and feet as well. The general amenity count is high, with face level vents, two types of USB ports, the obligatory rear centre armrest with cup holders, grab handles, reading lights, and that sort of thing. And the interior seems quiet and well insulated.

Beating the much-heralded 2025 Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) to market by more than half a year, the Chinese brand's first entrant into this segment is a significant one.

Blink and you’ll miss the exterior changes to the updated Tucson which are limited to a new grille insert, revised bumper shape and tweaked LED lighting at the front as well as a similarly reworked bumper, inclusion of LED tail-lights and a fresh arrangement of the lower light clusters at the rear.

There are three plugs for powering equipment, appliances, generators and that sort of thing, while Australian accessories specialists Ironman can provide soft and hard tonneaus, as well as a canopy. More info on that is coming soon.

On the basis of the launch drive I couldn’t feel a significant dynamic difference between the FWD and AWD hybrid in cornering, both feeling balanced and drama free thanks in part to electric torque vectoring.

Combined outputs are 172kW (at 5600rpm) and 367Nm (at 1000-4100rpm) which means, in a significant shot across the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid’s bow, the Tucson sees off the 160kW category hero in terms of power.

On top of that, multi-collision brake minimises the chances of subsequent collisions following an initial impact and there are three top tethers and two ISOFIX anchors for baby capsules and/or child seats across the second row.

For storage up front, there’s a large lidded bin between the seats, which doubles as a centre armrest as well as a pair of cupholders and a wireless charging pad, plus a big tray underneath.

Standard across the Tucson line-up are AEB (with car, pedestrian and cyclist detection, plus ‘Junction Turning’ function), ‘Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance’, driver attention warning, rear cross-traffic alert and rear AEB, ‘Safe Exit Warning’, smart cruise control (with stop and go), a reversing camera (with on-command wide view function) and tyre pressure monitoring.

Inside there are leather and suede-appointed sports seats with red contrast stitching, gloss black and dark metal finishes, alloy scuff plates, alloy covered pedals and a steering wheel with perforated leather grips.

And do keep in mind that the BYD’s maximum braked towing capacity is limited to 2500kg – that's 1000kg shy of most rival diesel-powered dual-cab 4x4 utes. Payload is 790kg. Ground clearance is 200mm and wading depth is 700mm.

It helps make the body-on-frame structure stronger and stiffer, and it liberates more space for the interior. And, unlike any other ute currently on sale in Australia, the each axle boasts double wishbone suspension. Most instead use hardy but old-fashioned leaf springs.

Even though the wait time for a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has come down from two years to four months, steering this car before you sign on that dotted line is a must.

The Tucson Hybrid is powered by a 1.6-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder engine driving the front or all four wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission with a 37kW/264Nm synchronous electric motor attached to it, powered by a compact 1.49kWh lithium-ion battery.

Power and connectivity runs to two USB-C sockets in the front - one of them for streaming and or power - as well as the wireless charging pad with another two USB-Cs in the rear. There’s also a 12-volt outlet in the dash and another in the boot.

There are six tie-down anchors, a retractable load cover, a space-saver spare sits under the floor and braked trailer towing capacity is a useful 1900kg for front and AWD hybrids which is 250kg up on non-hybrid Tucsons. Trailer stability assist is standard.

Under the heading of miscellaneous and ergonomic observations, the upgraded Tucson is the first current Hyundai to feature a shortcut to disable the audible ('bing-bong’) overspeed warning.

While the Premium tips in with 12-speaker Bose sound, a panoramic glass sunroof, a 12-inch head-up display, a surround view monitor, customisable ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated (outboard) rear seats and 19-inch rims.

The Hyundai Tucson scored a maximum five ANCAP stars from assessment in 2021 and on-board active, crash-avoidance tech is extensive.

Note, though, that the latter figure is NEDC. Keep in mind, too, that you’ll need to pump in 95 RON premium unleaded petrol into that 60L tank.

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Dubbed ‘cell to chassis’ technology, the Shark 6's platform has an integrated Blade Battery (which is BYD-speak for a Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, rated at a large-ish 29.6 kilowatt hours, and sat low and wide under the cabin and front part of the tub.

There's virtually no storage under the rear bench, unfortunately, but instead, BYD has provided a well-padded cushion and generously angled backrest, to maximise comfort. Three people can fit across fairly easily.

Overall, while the Shark 6 is pretty good first attempt at a ute, Ford's engineers at least do not have too much to worry about in terms of the Chinese dual-cab PHEV's dynamic capability.

The big news inside is a single curved instrument and media screen display on the top of the dash and the move to a ‘shift-by-wire’ controller on the steering column which frees up space for a floating centre console with extra storage and an upgraded wireless charging pad.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear and ride comfort is excellent. Tyres on the N-Line we drove most often on the launch are 235/55 x19 Nexen Roadian GTX. Road rumble, even on coarse chip B-roads, is modest as is wind noise on the highway.

Dimensionally, the newcomer is slightly larger than the Ford, measuring in at 5457mm (length), 1971mm (width), 1925 (height) and 3260mm (wheelbase). Track widths are 1660mm.

Then the Elite adds leather-appointed seats (heated in the front), a larger 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, built-in sat nav, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, auto rain-sensing wipers, rear privacy glass and a hands-free power tailgate.

Braking is by discs all around, ventilated at the front, and they feel strong. But the most useful day-to-day feature is smart regen braking which adjusts automatically to win back some energy when coasting using inputs from the gradient the car’s on, nav (where fitted), the forward camera and more inputs.

Select Sport and the wheel-mounted paddles morph from adjusters for regenerative braking strength to manual shifters for the auto. Changes from this torque-converter unit aren’t immediate, as you might expect from a dual-clutch auto, but still help you get more involved in the whole process.

Speaking of which, the Tucson’s boot offers 582 litres of storage space with the second row upright and 1903L with the 60/40 split-folding rear seats lowered (able to be done via remote release handles in the cargo area).

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Dubbed the Dual Motor Super Hybrid system, BYD reckons this is an EV-first/hybrid-second powertrain, with the petrol engine only kicking in as required, due to the relatively big size of BYD’s Blade battery.

Aggressively priced, equipped and marketed, the Shark 6 is set to become an apex predator amongst dual-cab 4x4 utes of any and every powertrain persuation.

Next, ‘Baby Mode’ is a hybrid-only feature that decreases initial acceleration and limits maximum acceleration, also managing torque during reverse parking to reduce things like an impact from parking blocks to help keep the peace with babies and little kids.

The mainstream medium SUV segment sees more than 20 competitors cage-fighting for market share and non-plug-in hybrid options within range of the Tucson include the GWM Haval H6 (from $42,490 drive-away), Honda ZR-V e:HEV LX ($54,900), Kia Sportage SX HEV ($45,950), Nissan X-Trail e-Power (from $49,990) and, of course, the all-conquering Toyota RAV4 (From $42,260).

Other observations? The artificial leather upholstery is one of the supplest yet experienced; lots of storage is provided; ventilation is ample and vision out is fine.

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Hyundai’s official combined cycle fuel-economy figure for the Tucson Hybrid is 5.3L/100km, which is miserly but can’t quite match the RAV4 Hybrid at 4.8L/100km.

Numerous Hyundai (and Kia) models suffer from the need to work through multiple screens to turn off the intensely annoying, incessant warnings. But now a single, long press on the steering wheel-mounted audio mute button will disable the function immediately.

Even under load the 1.6 turbo four is commendably quiet and the transition between combustion and electric propulsion is seamless at speed.

Worth noting the minimum fuel requirement is the cheaper 91 RON ‘standard’ unleaded and you’ll need 52 litres of it to fill the tank which translates to a theoretical range of around 980km and roughly 850km using our real-world number.

Steering is accurate with nice road feel helped by the Tucson Hybrid’s reasonable weight (around 1600kg for the 2WD and 1700kg for the AWD).

That said, It didn’t seem as fast as BYD’s acceleration figures claim. And though seamless when it kicked in, the petrol engine sounded a bit tinny.

We’re focused on the new Tucson Hybrid for this review, and as with the pure internal combustion models, there are three grades to choose from, the FWD-only Tucson Hybrid kicks things off at a fraction over $45,100, before on-road costs, followed by the Elite in FWD at $50,100 and AWD for $2500 more. Then, at the top of the Tucson Hybrid pyramid, the Premium AWD comes in at $59,600.

Though brief, it revealed how smooth and integrated the powertrain felt, with instant throttle response and plenty of muscle in reserve, like most EVs.

‘Highway Driving Assist’ (lane centering) features on Elite and Premium models and if a crash is unavoidable the airbag count runs to seven, front and side airbags for the driver and front passenger, full-length curtains and a front centre bag to minimise head clash injuries in a side-on impact.

Standard on the entry-level Tucson are a 12.3-inch multimedia screen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, six-speaker audio (with digital radio), keyless entry and start (plus ‘Remote Start’), a leather-trimmed steering wheel, a 4.0-inch central colour instrument display (with analogue gauges), 18-inch alloys, heated exterior mirrors and all LED exterior lights.

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At the ‘around $45K’ mark it’s fair to expect a lengthy standard features list and aside from the safety and performance tech we’ll cover shortly, the base Tucson does well.

That said, Hyundai’s been on the hybrid train since 2019 and it’s all over battery electric vehicles, but it’s cars like this new Tucson Hybrid variant the South Korean giant is hoping will help it bridge the gap to the market leader.

But the ride can feel very stiff – at least in the example we tested initially. Another was slightly better, but still far from matching the class best (Ranger). It feels like the suspension needs to be a little bit softer, a little bit more supple out here on gravel roads and on rough tracks.

It arrives at the same time as a cosmetic refresh as well as a safety and tech upgrade across the Tucson line-up and we slipped behind the wheel for a first local drive.

The N Line option pack brings unique 19-inch alloy wheels, a specific grille, skid plates front and rear, revised bumpers, side skirts, gloss black elements, tinted tail-light lenses and twin exhaust outlets.

On the launch drive program covering a mix of rural B-roads and some highway running, we recorded an average of 6.1L/100km. Still pretty handy and not too far off the official number.

Well, our first taster reveals a hugely impressive first effort from BYD, especially in its technology, presentation, accommodation, ease of operation and - not least of all - promised efficiency.

A favourite item is the Child Presence Detection feature, that honks the horn, then sends text and/or email alerts if a person or animal has been locked inside the cabin; left as it, the climate-control is then activated for life support.

The Sealion 6 also has capped-price servicing available as published on the BYD website, with prices starting from $265. Again, consider this information as a guide only for the Shark 6.

It's fine, and no better or worse than most other dual cabs of this ilk. We never had a chance to get into really treacherous terrain, though. That may have to wait.

But, we hear that it will be comfortably under $60,000, when sales commence in late October, ahead of deliveries scheduled from about February 2025.

Nose on, the Shark 6 has obvious influences from the Ford F series truck, even down to the C-shaped LEDs that spread across the top of the grille. And of course, that giant BYD badge lets the whole world know that BYD is gatecrashing the Ranger's party.

The Shark 6 handled the few faster corners we encountered better than you might expect, with a sense of composure and control. The double wishbone suspension all-round feels really well tied down.

Plus, it's priced to appeal to a far-broader buyer base than just those consumers seeking an electrified ute experience.

Anyway, there's a 170kW/310Nm electric motor underneath the engine over the front axle as well, and a second, 150kW/340Nm electric motor over the back axle, and together they make 321kW and 650Nm.

At 183cm I’ve got lots of breathing room up front with the new widescreen instrument and media display creating a spacious feel.

Hyundai, like a lot of mainstream brands, is playing hybrid catch up because in terms of sales in the Aussie new-car market it’s a case of Toyota first, daylight second.

Under the bonnet is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine delivering 135kW of power and 260Nm of torque; though it drives the front wheels when extra power is needed, essentially, its main job is to charge the Blade battery.

All Tucsons are also equipped with ‘Bluelink’ connected car services (transferable and free of charge for the first five years) which brings features like ‘Automatic Collision Notification’ an emergency call (SOS) function, geo-fencing, valet, speed and time alerts and more.

And in the back, sitting behind the driver’s seat, set to my position, I’ve got lots of head and legroom as well as a backrest recline function.

The Tucson’s available AWD system uses a multi-plate wet clutch pack on the rear diff with myriad sensors allowing it to go from its default FWD-only mode to as much as a 50/50 drive split between front and rear axles.

Yet the Shark 6 is fitted out to almost top-line Ranger Platinum luxury levels of standard equipment, including surround-view cameras, a 15.6-inch central touchscreen with portrait/landscape viewing options, Wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a smartphone charger, a head-up display, powered/heated and vented front seats, artificial leather upholstery, an eight-speaker premium audio system, fixed side steps, soundproofed privacy glass and a full suite of advanced driver-assist safety tech including adaptive cruise control.

This means the Shark 6 undercuts the other hybrid ute currently available here, and that, of course, is the GWM Cannon Alpha also from China.

The ‘shift-by-wire’ transmission controller on the steering column takes some getting used to but once you are it’s handy and the six-speed transmission is smooth.

To that end, the ute features a wide suite of advanced driver assist safety systems, including autonomous emergency braking, Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Lane Departure Warning/Prevention/Assist, adaptive cruise control, rear-collision warning, front/rear cross-traffic alerts with braking and trailer stability control.