GWM Tank 500 PHEV: You’ve gotta like a bit of chrome

What is it?

It’s not so long ago that the first Hyundai topped the $70,000 mark.

The 2015 Genesis was good, but would buyers be prepared to pay that much for a Korean car, everyone wondered?

Fast forward and we now have GWM’s first vehicle to pass this milestone — its flagship Tank 500 Ultra PHEV seven-seat off-roader.

And once again we find ourselves pondering whether buyers will stump up this sort of money to buy a Chinese vehicle this time.

In its defence, the large SUV is a substantial offering with plenty to offer those in the market for a large, luxurious wagon with some real off-road capability.

What’s it cost?

Tank 500 shares its body on frame underpinnings with GWM’s Cannon Alpha utility.

There’s two powertrains and three grades from which to choose, all of them hybrids of one sort of another.

The range kicks off with the Ultra HEV, a conventional petrol-electric hybrid priced from $73,990.

It’s followed by the Vanta HEV from $75,990 and finally the plug-in Ultra PHEV, the subject of our review priced from $77,990 — all prices are driveaway.

HEV versions are self-charging hybrids and come with seven seats, while the PHEV is a five-seater that can be plugged in and charged, and operate in fully electric mode to further reduce fuel consumption.

Both of the hybrid setups are based on a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

Also of note, the Tank 500 is a real 4WD, with torque on demand all-wheel drive, dual range transmission and plenty of ground clearance for tackling the rough stuff.

So, while it might sound expensive, it stacks up pretty well against the competition which includes the likes of Toyota’s Prado, the Ford Everest and Pajero Sport etc.

The styling is big, boofy and conservative with chunky tyres and lashings of chrome trim in evidence plus an aggressively styled radiator grille that would not look out of place on the front of a Ram pickup .

The Tank is obviously targeted at the older cashed-up age group who like their shiny toys and are prepared to pay for them.

Ditto the cabin fitout which has a plush, heavily-upholstered look with wood trim and an inset instrument panel, rather than the more common minimalist approach.

The old folks will love it.

They won’t love the heavy tailgate with its spare wheel however which requires quite a bit of effort to operate at times.

Not sure what the tailgate icon on the key fob is either because that sucker ain’t going anywhere, especially if you’re parked on a hill.

The PHEV is exceptionally well-equipped, with three-zone climate air, Nappa leather-accented trim, power-adjust front seats that are heated, cooled and provide massage, plus a second row with its own climate controls and power folding function, a power-adjust heated steering wheel, plus three digital displays including head-up display and a panoramic sunroof.

Highlights include the GWM app which provides remote access, a classy dashboard timepiece that spins to the correct time when the car opens, kid-pleasing side steps that pop-out automatically on approach and touchscreen controls for the little ones to fiddle with that are incorporated in the rear, fold-down centre armrest.

It lets passengers control the radio, climate settings, ambient lighting, and seat comfort features.

Watch out parents.

Other features include LED lights, hands-free auto parking, auto high beam, traffic sign recognition, auto lights and wipers, front and rear parking sensors and an auto-dimming rear view mirror.

Infotainment consists of a 14.6-inch centre touchscreen, with Bluetooth, built-in navigation, AM/FM and DAB+ digital radio, wired and unwired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus 12-speaker Infinity audio with active noise cancellation.

Head-up display is also fitted and comes into view occasionally if you happen to wear polarised sunglasses. Why can’t they spend the time to fix this issue?

There’s USB A and C ports front and back, as well as 12 volt outlets front and back, but no 12 volt outlet in the rear for powering a car fridge.

Wireless phone charging is also provided and another USB port near the rear vision mirror to power a dash cam.

Tank 500 scores a full five stars for safety in crash tests.

A sophisticated safety lineup includes seven airbags, with a centre airbag that provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes, plus a 360-degree camera with overhead transparent mode.

Autonomous emergency braking (Car-to-Car, Vulnerable Road User, Junction & Crossing, Backover and Head-On) as well as a lane support system with lane keep assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDW) and emergency lane keeping (ELK), and an advanced speed assistance system (SAS) are standard.

Tank 500 is covered by a 7-year unlimited kilometre warranty, 7 years roadside assistance and 7 years capped price servicing, plus 8 years on the high voltage battery pack.

What’s it go like?

Just shy of 5.1 metres in length and weighing close to three tonnes (2820kg), the Tank 500 is no shrinking violet.

But it gets moving surprisingly quickly for a big feller, especially the PHEV with a 0-100km/h time of 6.9 seconds.

Providing the motivation is a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, together with a 120kW electric motor and 37kWh battery that delivers a combined 300kW of power and 750Nm of torque, the latter from a low 1750 rpm.

Overseas there’s also a version with two electric motors and a larger 59kWh battery that produces 635kW and a staggering 1195Nm of torque.

Bring it on baby!

The nine-speed transmission with paddle shifters is reported to be China’s first longitudinal nine-speed hydraulic automatic transmission.

A 150kW electric motor is integrated into the 9HAT transmission and sits between the engine and gearbox, which is described as a P2 layout.

A 37.1 kWh battery is placed at the rear of the chassis.

As well as the ability to operate in high and low range, driving modes include: Eco, Normal, Sports, Snow, Sand,Rock, Mud, Auto, Expert. Not sure what the last one is about.

There’s also three levels of adjustment for the steering plus adjustable regenerative braking.

With a 70-litre tank, it takes standard unleaded and offers combined fuel consumption of 2.1L/100km if you keep the battery charged (and this one is no tiddler so some commitment is required).

The just-drive-it brigade can expect 8.4L/100km or more.

Energy consumption meanwhile is a heavy 27.2kWh/100km, so it’s going to eat through the charge fairly quickly.

A fully charged battery will deliver a pure electric range of up to 120km (NEDC).

The PHEV can be charged from 30-80 per cent charge with a 50kW DC fast charger in 24 minutes, while 15-100 per cent with an AC charger takes some 6.5 hours.

Remember that’s not a full charge, but if you install a wallbox at home you can expected it to be ready to go again in the morning.

The PHEV also offers Vehicle-to-Load capability which means it can be used to power AC accessories.

Braked towing capacity across the range is 3000kg and as you can see it packs a full-size spare on the swing tailgate (which will be a bugger to get off in the event of a flat).

Cargo capacity is 1400 litres with the rear seats folded or 640 litres with them in use, with an artificially high luggage floor to accommodate the batteries.

On the road the Tank is quick off the mark, but can be difficult to off the line cleanly, with even a dab touch of the accelerator delivering a jerky response.

Ride quality is not bad but could be better, and we are not aware whether this vehicle has been put through GWM’s Australian tuning program.

If it has, it’s nowhere as good as the H6 PHEV that we drove recently.

The weight of the vehicle helps offset jar and rebound and on well formed roads.

Push too hard however and this same weight will lead to oversteer in corners, which causes the back to step out.

In terms of off-road ability, the figures suggest it could be a contender.

There’s under-body protection, dual range four-wheel drive, ground clearance of 224mm and a wading depth of 800mm, which all bode well, along with locking front, centre and rear differentials.

Retaining mechanical linkages allows power to be sent directly to a single wheel if needed, ensuring traction even in the roughest conditions.

Approach angle is 30 degrees, departure angle is 24 degrees and breakover 22 degrees.

Tank Turn Assist allows the vehicle to perform a tight, pivoting turn by locking the rear wheels while the front wheels steer in the opposite direction.

This enables the vehicle to maneuver easily in narrow spaces, enhancing its off-road capabilities.

But the proof is in the pudding, so let’s see Great Wall tackle Beer O’Clock Hill as it did with the smaller Tank 300 — then it will have something to crow about.

Haval H6 PHEV: Dancing to a different tune

In terms of fuel consumption, we covered 750km in our week behind the wheel at a rate of xxL/100km.

You can select between EV, HEV and Intelligent hybrid modes. EV prioritises the battery, HEV sees it operate as a conventional hybrid and Intelligent is described as the ideal option for long distance commutes.

Experimentation showed it favoured the petrol engine.

HEV proved to be the preferred mode.

Sitting at 100km/h on flat motorway for more than 30km saw the vehicle use hardly any fuel or battery.

We clocked up 750km in our week behind the wheel of the Tank 500, with an average 8.8L/100km fuel consumption and 6.0kWh/100km of energy consumption, but no composite figure.

After 515km and with 15 per cent battery and a range of 155km remaining, we opted to recharge the battery using an AC charger which took 4 hours and 40 minutes.

The first time we plugged it in the vehicle failed to start charging and it was necessary to remove and reinsert the plug a couple of times before it got going, confirming it was indeed charging. Good thing we checked.

Once it had finished charging it was reluctant to go into Drive and it was necessary to turn the car off and one a couple of times.

A tab on the scrollable info screen reveals the car had 845km of EV range and 2314km of fuel range, but these figures actually represent the distance travelled by the car in entirety.

Moreover, you have to dive into the centre touchscreen to keep tabs on the remaining combined range.

Other idiosyncrasies include the indicators which often fail to cancel, poor AM radio reception and it took us some time to work out how to activate blind spot warnings, which turns out to be associated with something called Smart Dodge.

And we never did discover how to reduce the distance to the car in front with the adaptive cruise control engaged.

Finally, if you plan to go bush, you might want to consider the availability of parts and service in the Top End where Toyota remains king and Rangers are rarely seen to this day.

What we like?

Pretty comfy
Plenty or rear legroom
Central transmission lever
Doesn’t use much fuel

What we don’t like?

Jerky throttle response
Difficult to get in and out of
Boot could be bigger
Seatbelt must be fastened before it will move off
Big heavy tailgate with no power assistance

The bottom line?

The Tank 500 PHEV is surprisingly likeable, offering a heady mix of luxury and off-road ability in a hi-tech package.

It’s good buying now but we’d opt to watch and act, to wait and see where GWM takes this model which probably won’t take long given the rapid evolution of Chinese vehicles.

Once upon a time it took car makers years to test and evaluate new models, but these days it seems to have contracted to mere months.

Buyers themselves appear to have become part of the test phase. Don’t you think?