BYD Shark PHEV review: A £47k Ford Ranger rival with 435bhp

That the Shark wants to compete head-on with the Ranger is obvious from the size and stance of its Wolfgang Egger-designed body, its colours and wheel designs and the fact that it has the same kind of monumental wordmark set into a similarly huge front grille.

Under the skin, it sits on a steel ladder-frame chassis like every one of its main competitors: the Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Volkswagen Amarok and Isuzu D-Max. Of those only the Ford is available as a PHEV, but you can now buy a fully electric version of the Hilux if you want.

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Otherwise, the Shark goes its own sweet way. Unusually, it has four-wheel independent suspension with double wishbones front and rear. Its powertrain uses what BYD calls a Dual Mode Offroad (DMO) system that consists of a front-mounted 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that works mainly as a generator for the 32.2kWh traction battery, whose job is to power two electric motors – a 231bhp unit for the front wheels and a 204bhp one for the rears. At speed, the engine can provide drive for the front wheels via a single-speed gearbox.

There’s no mechanical link between the front and rear axles, so there’s no need for transfer cases or differential locks. Electronics handle traction control and the front-to-rear torque split, although the driver can choose off-road driving modes (Mud, Snow and Gravel) from the cockpit.

The Shark’s wading depth (700mm) and ground clearance (230mm) are class-leading.

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It’s just as well there’s no need for a central driveshaft, because the Shark’s battery occupies the centre of the chassis. What BYD calls cell-to-chassis construction is used here to minimise its size and improve chassis rigidity.

The combined engine and motor outputs are 435bhp and 479lb ft of torque, which is why the Shark can turn a 0-62mph acceleration time of 5.7sec (and easily claim to be the market’s fastest double-cab pick-up) despite its 5457mm overall length and 2710kg kerb weight.