We’ve been given exclusive first access to the GWM Cannon Alpha plug-in hybrid - which is a competitor to the BYD Shark and the upcoming Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid. Is it any good? Paul Maric tests its performance, acceleration, towing and its abilities off-road on our light off-road course to see if it stacks up.
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 01:12
Interior: 06:27
Infotainment: 07:56
Safety Tech: 10:08
Practicality: 11:07
Charging: 14:28
Underbody: 15:11
On the Road: 21:12
Accel. & Braking: 33:16
Off the Road 35:08
Verdict: 42:53
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
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#gwm #cannon #review #hybrid
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior: 01:12
Interior: 06:27
Infotainment: 07:56
Safety Tech: 10:08
Practicality: 11:07
Charging: 14:28
Underbody: 15:11
On the Road: 21:12
Accel. & Braking: 33:16
Off the Road 35:08
Verdict: 42:53
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#gwm #cannon #review #hybrid
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00This is where everything changes between Shark and Canon, and also Ranger.
00:08Look at this!
00:10Come on!
00:13Now, we are stuck just there.
00:15G'day, I'm Paul.
00:17So, plug-in hybrid dual-cab utes.
00:18The segment is heating up in Australia.
00:20We've seen the BYD Shark, we've tested it,
00:22but now it's the turn of the GWM Canon Alpha plug-in hybrid.
00:27Now, this is a very different machine to the BYD Shark,
00:31and similar to the Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid that's about to be launched.
00:34So, really excited to have a drive of this.
00:36Now, this is more expensive than the BYD Shark.
00:38This top-spec version here, the Ultra, is priced at just under $70,000 drive away.
00:44If that is too expensive, the entire range kicks off at just under $64,000 drive away,
00:47which is about $2,000 more than the Shark, after you include all the on-road costs.
00:52So, it's close enough there, but this is, like I said, very different.
00:55So, today we're going to do a detailed review of this.
00:57It is going to be a pretty feature-packed video.
01:00We're going to then do a separate towing video as well
01:02to replicate some of the tests that we did with the BYD Shark.
01:05If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this video,
01:07you can use the time codes that are on the screen,
01:09or if you're on YouTube, you can scroll down and use the chapters below.
01:13So, visually, on the outside, Canon Alpha plug-in hybrid
01:16looks pretty much the same as a standard Canon Alpha.
01:19Big difference, though, is beneath the skin and the way that it works,
01:23the way that it charges, the size of the battery.
01:25There's quite a bit of stuff there.
01:26And later on, what we're going to do is get this up on a hoist
01:28so that we can have a look underneath the vehicle.
01:31And what I think is probably a bit of a flaw here
01:32compared to the other competitors that will be in this segment.
01:35Just a reminder as well, this car is a pre-production car,
01:39like an engineering evaluation car.
01:41So, it's got a lot of damage and stuff to it already,
01:42but I'll walk you through it.
01:44So, on the design front, you've got different colours to choose from,
01:47but the optional colours are around that $700 mark.
01:50Full LED headlights, big GWM logo down the front there.
01:54Look at the size of that thing.
01:55It is absolutely enormous.
01:56A 360 camera.
01:58And around the side here,
02:00it comes standard with a set of these highway terrain tyres.
02:04They're on an 18-inch yellow wheel,
02:05so just a machined finish on the outside there.
02:07Nothing sort of too crazy.
02:09Wheel arch cladding here.
02:10They actually do like a pumped-up off-road version of this
02:13with a snorkel.
02:14All-terrain tyres.
02:15It actually looks really cool.
02:16So, hopefully, we will get that variant here in Australia.
02:19It will push that price up, though.
02:20I suspect it'll be more expensive than this.
02:23Sidesteps.
02:24If you have a look at this from an off-roading perspective,
02:26we've now seen a few off-road videos with the Shark,
02:30where these sidesteps and the height of them
02:32becomes a little bit of an issue
02:33because of the big wheelbase, lower break-over angle.
02:37It means that you're going to be resting the vehicle
02:38on these sidesteps.
02:39So, if you are going to do any more serious off-roading,
02:42there's something that I'd look at replacing.
02:43Or you just wait for that top-spec model,
02:45which will hopefully eventually come out
02:47with some proper sort of off-road equipment.
02:49Got roof rails up the top there.
02:50Privacy glass.
02:51I like this brushed aluminium strip.
02:53That looks pretty cool.
02:54Behind this strip,
02:55you've also got like a little garage door
02:57for storing odds and ends.
02:59Disc brakes at the rear.
03:00Now, around the back here,
03:01LED taillights.
03:02I like this.
03:03So, top-spec version gets this sort of barn door arrangement
03:06with the tailgate that sort of opens two ways.
03:09You can either open it as a sort of standard tailgate,
03:12just like that.
03:14I'll explain that in a second as well.
03:16Or what you can do is open it as a barn door.
03:20So, kind of gives you a bit of versatility there
03:22in terms of what you can work with,
03:24which is pretty good.
03:25A GWM badge,
03:26that big GWM logo,
03:284x4 HI4T,
03:30which is basically a plug-in hybrid technology.
03:34Now, big difference here between this
03:35and something like the Shark,
03:37three and a half tonne brake towing capacity.
03:39So, a tonne up on the Shark.
03:41BYD is working on a meatier version of the Shark
03:44with better towing capacity.
03:46What you can see here as well
03:47is kind of a bit of a downside
03:49to how this is integrated
03:50because this car, unfortunately,
03:53doesn't really have a factory solution
03:55for the tow bar.
03:56With the Shark, for example,
03:57or the Ranger,
03:58they've actually integrated it quite nicely.
03:59It's tucked in nicely.
04:00This, on the other hand,
04:01looks like an aftermarket job
04:03because that's basically what it is.
04:04The end result of that is
04:05the whole thing sits quite low.
04:07So, you're getting issues there
04:08with your departure angle
04:09if you're doing any off-road driving.
04:11Just something to sort of look out for.
04:13Hopefully, they come up with a neater solution.
04:15But for the purpose of today,
04:16this is a pre-production car
04:18and they've fitted this tow bar for us
04:20so that we can actually do the tow testing.
04:21We're going to get away with this
04:22in our closed environment here.
04:23But if I was actually towing
04:24with this out on the road,
04:26I'd want to have a better,
04:27more elegant solution than this
04:28that was a little higher off the ground.
04:30Now, a big difference here
04:31at the rear end
04:32between this and the upcoming Ranger Plug-in Hybrid
04:35is that this doesn't use
04:36a leaf spring setup
04:37and that's going to affect stuff
04:38like your payload.
04:39So, I'll run you through some of the specs.
04:40So, we're talking about a payload
04:42of just under 700 kilos.
04:45So, not a huge amount.
04:46Less than the Shark,
04:47also less than the Ranger.
04:49However, GVM of 3495 kilos.
04:52Now, if you do load this vehicle up
04:54with three and a half tons
04:55and you do have 350 kilos
04:57of downboard weight here,
04:58that's going to leave you
04:59with around 330 kilos worth
05:00of payload left.
05:02Not a huge amount to work with
05:03because once you start adding in passengers
05:05and a couple of other bits and pieces,
05:06you're going to eat
05:07into most of that capacity.
05:08A GCM of 6745 kilos
05:11and a curb weight of 2810,
05:14which is a little more than the Shark,
05:18about 100 kilos up on the Shark.
05:19So, these are heavy vehicles.
05:21Once you add the battery capacity
05:23in 37 odd kilowatt hours,
05:24it is a lot of weight to be adding.
05:27It sort of eats into all of your payloads
05:29and things like that.
05:30So, I'll be curious to see how it goes.
05:31Now, I mentioned this tyre in here.
05:34One of the issues they have,
05:36and we'll go through this in a bit more detail
05:38when we get this up on the hoist,
05:39is that not only do you eat
05:41into your tray capacity here,
05:42you also have nowhere to put the spare tyre.
05:44So, they are working on a solution
05:46where this will mount off to the side
05:49or have a sort of something nicer
05:51than it just sort of sitting there.
05:52But ultimately, you don't really want
05:54to be taking up all of your tray space
05:56for a tyre.
05:57You want to have it under the vehicle
05:58and it would appear there isn't any space
06:00for a full-size spare under the vehicle.
06:02So, that is something that I think
06:04they probably need to address
06:05and it could be a platform issue
06:07if they don't actually have the space
06:08beneath the vehicle to mount that correctly.
06:10So, it will be interesting to see how that goes.
06:13Now, let me know what you reckon
06:14in the comments section below.
06:15What do you think about pricing?
06:17What do you think about specs?
06:18And how do you think this will compare
06:20to some of the others in this segment
06:21when it comes to, you know,
06:23the capacities and what it's actually capable of?
06:25Let me know what you reckon down there.
06:26So, we're inside the Canon Alpha P-HEV.
06:29This is what the key looks like.
06:30So, you've got lock, unlock,
06:33you've got remote start and panic
06:36and then the GWN logo.
06:38It's a proximity sensing key.
06:40You've got a push button start just down here.
06:43So, what do we think about the interior?
06:45So, on first glance, a lot of piano black,
06:48which I'm not a huge fan of.
06:50But, outside of that, this looks fantastic.
06:52Like, it is, you know,
06:53I say this a lot about these Chinese market vehicles.
06:57They give you the perception
06:58that you're in a vehicle
06:59that is much more expensive than it actually is.
07:01You can spend 70-odd,
07:0460-odd thousand dollars on a Hilux or a Ranger
07:06and feel like, you know, you're in purgatory.
07:10Whereas, this actually looks very nice.
07:12It feels very nice.
07:14There's some crazy, like, features here.
07:15You've got heating and cooling on the front row,
07:17second row, massage seats.
07:19Like, it's all stuff that you don't expect to find
07:21in a dual-cab ute.
07:22So, from that point of view, all looks pretty good.
07:25Touch points, what are they like?
07:26So, nice and soft there.
07:27Soft on the door as well.
07:29How soft are they?
07:30We've got our durometer.
07:31We've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
07:34If you don't see how this car compares to others
07:35that we've tested before,
07:36there is a link in the description below.
07:38Now, build quality.
07:40Give that a little shake.
07:41That all feels good.
07:42Obviously, not a very stringent build quality test,
07:45but just something we do for fun.
07:47Do you want a Canon Alpha?
07:48What is it like?
07:49How's it been?
07:50Let me know in the comments section below.
07:52That's what our door slam sounds like.
07:56So, let's talk infotainment.
07:58Big infotainment screen here, 14.6 inches,
08:01and then a 12.3-inch display ahead of the driver
08:03with a little hood on it as well,
08:05which should mean that it's a little easier to see
08:06if you cop a bit of glare.
08:08I like that this doesn't sit too high,
08:10so it's still within your eyeline,
08:12but it doesn't actually block sort of any vision
08:14outside the vehicle.
08:15Pretty decent infotainment system
08:17in terms of what it is kitted out with.
08:19So, satellite navigation built in,
08:21which means you don't need to have a smartphone
08:22connected to it if you don't want to.
08:24You've got a voice recognition system.
08:26Let's give that a crack, see how that works.
08:29Open the driver's window.
08:33I always like to test it out.
08:34It's a little bit extra here.
08:35Close the driver's window halfway.
08:41Fantastic.
08:41All right.
08:42Close the driver's window the whole way.
08:46There you go.
08:47I like that.
08:48You can actually do a fair bit of stuff with that.
08:50AM, FM, DAB, digital radio.
08:53You have an Infinity branded sound system,
08:55which is half decent.
08:57Normally, in these dual-cab utes,
08:58it's not really a big enough soundstage
09:00to get decent audio quality,
09:02but this, on the other hand,
09:03is actually quite good.
09:05Smartphone mirroring.
09:05Oh, and apps as well.
09:07You can actually load extra apps into here,
09:08and it's funny,
09:09when these are in the Chinese market,
09:11there's actually so much more
09:12you can add to these vehicles
09:13that, for whatever reason,
09:15isn't supported in Australia,
09:16but I would love to see
09:17some more of those apps
09:18getting fitted to these vehicles in Australia
09:20so that, you know,
09:21we can take advantage of that stuff.
09:22Smartphone mirroring.
09:24Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
09:25So, this is Apple CarPlay.
09:28Nice big display there.
09:30Very sort of straightforward and easy to use.
09:31The issue, though, here,
09:33as you can tell,
09:34there's no easy way
09:35to get back to the home screen.
09:37You know, you have to then
09:39faff around with
09:40going to the main menu of CarPlay
09:44and then going to GWM.
09:46So, I just wish there was,
09:47like, it retained these side menus
09:49so you don't need to sort of
09:50play around with that.
09:52But, anyway,
09:53this is what Android Auto looks like.
09:55So, full screen again.
09:57Sort of pretty decent there, too.
10:00Screen ahead of the driver.
10:01Basic sort of functionality.
10:02You can sort of move through menus there.
10:04Gives you all the critical info that you need.
10:05Plus, a head-up display as well.
10:08On the safety front,
10:09auto-dimming rear vision mirror.
10:11You've got blind spot monitoring
10:12built into the wing mirror there.
10:14A driver monitoring system.
10:16One of those annoying things.
10:18You've got front rear parking sensors.
10:20360 camera.
10:21Radar cruise control
10:22with a semi-autonomous steering function.
10:25Show you what the camera looks like.
10:26There it is there.
10:27Quality is pretty reasonable.
10:29I can see what's going on there.
10:31Let's look at what other views we have.
10:33Oh, of course,
10:33you can change the views there
10:35based around the 3D view.
10:37You can see with this stuff,
10:38it's the same in other cars as well.
10:39Everything is just distorted around the car.
10:41It's not really an overly useful thing.
10:44It does reverse tracking, though,
10:45which is the same as
10:46what you find in BMW products.
10:48plus semi-autonomous parking.
10:52That's what we've got here.
10:55You can make the chassis see-through.
10:59Oh, my goodness.
10:59There's so many views here.
11:02Very nice.
11:02Excellent.
11:03And this is what the horn sounds like.
11:07Okay, practicality.
11:09Let's start off with connectivity, I reckon.
11:12So, inside here,
11:14you've got a Qi wireless phone charger.
11:17Now, the rest of your charging points
11:19in your 12-volt outlet
11:19are down here on the driver's side
11:21and there's no pass-through.
11:22You can see there
11:22there's nothing to the passenger side.
11:25So, you've got two USB-A ports
11:26and a 12-volt,
11:27but you can pass a cable through here
11:29if you want to.
11:30Just a little bit convoluted.
11:31I don't know why they didn't have
11:32like a central pass-through there
11:34so you can just have a shared space
11:35in the centre.
11:36There's also USB connectivity up the top here
11:38to connect a dash cam.
11:39In the centre console,
11:41you've got a couple of cup holders.
11:42There are a moving tray here.
11:44Cooling for the centre console as well
11:46which is good news.
11:47Glovebox.
11:48Nice, reasonably sized there.
11:50And Sunny's holder up the top.
11:52Some cute little sunglasses.
11:54They might be Sean's by the look of it.
11:56Bluey one, yeah.
11:57And then, over on the driver's side,
12:00you've also got a little storage hole
12:02there as well.
12:03Now, on comfort,
12:05what does it look like?
12:06Well, you've got dual-zone
12:07automatic climate control,
12:09heated and cooled seats,
12:11heated steering wheel,
12:11you have a massage seat for the driver,
12:14an electric seat adjustment.
12:15So, you can go forwards, backwards.
12:17Your backrest can go forwards and backwards.
12:19You can lift the front of the seat.
12:21You can lift the back of the seat.
12:22You've got lumbar adjustment as well.
12:25In terms of steering adjustment,
12:26it is manually adjustable
12:28for both tilt and reach.
12:30On our reach test,
12:31all of this stuff is easy to reach
12:32while you're driving.
12:34Now, second row.
12:35What does it look like back here?
12:36So, you'll notice that's sliding backwards.
12:38These electrically recline,
12:40which is pretty cool.
12:40So, what is behind here?
12:42Not a great deal of storage there.
12:45There's a whole bunch of components.
12:47There's a jack.
12:47Let's have a quick look.
12:49Igor, do you mind dropping that side?
12:53There's that as well.
12:55I don't know what that is.
12:56It's like a subwoofer, maybe.
12:58Yeah, maybe it's a speaker or something,
13:00or it could be an inverter
13:01or something for the plug-in hybrid system.
13:06And I know that when we had a look
13:07at the BYD Shark,
13:09the dust ceiling wasn't very good,
13:12whereas this appears to be much better.
13:14Let's just have a little look
13:15under here as well.
13:16Okay, so we've got a bit of storage
13:17under there too.
13:19Do these seats lift up?
13:20No, they don't.
13:21Okay, cool.
13:23So, what is space like back here?
13:27Yeah, nice.
13:27That's the seats, I promise.
13:32So, yeah, you can recline that,
13:34which is good.
13:34Gives you a little bit more space there.
13:36If I pull that back all the way,
13:38decent in their room.
13:39Tow room's okay.
13:40It's not sort of amazing and not terrible.
13:42Headroom is pretty reasonable too.
13:44So, they haven't eaten too much
13:46into the cabin here
13:47with all the battery stuff.
13:49I'll be keen to see once we get it up
13:51on the hoist
13:51what it actually looks like under there,
13:53but it's still quite an accommodating space here.
13:55It doesn't seem to be
13:56a huge amount of compromise.
13:57Wireless phone charger there,
13:58which is pretty cool.
13:59A little bit of storage there.
14:01A pair of cup holders as well.
14:03Well, you've got two USB-A outlets.
14:05You've got the button here
14:06to open and close
14:07that rear sliding window.
14:09Heated and cooled seats
14:10for the two outboard seats.
14:12For a dual cab ute, pretty awesome.
14:14You have matte pockets in the back here
14:16and air vents there as well,
14:18plus a control here
14:20for the passenger seat too.
14:22Now, does the window go down all the way?
14:25So, it's auto up and down.
14:27Very nice.
14:28Now, let's talk about electricity.
14:32You've got both AC and DC charging,
14:35which is great.
14:35So, DC charging up to 50 kilowatts.
14:37AC charging, 6.6 kilowatts.
14:40This also has V2L,
14:41which means you can run external appliances
14:44at up to 3.3 kilowatts.
14:45So, not quite as good as Shark or Ranger.
14:49So, Shark will do up to around 7 kilowatts.
14:51Ranger will do a little bit more than that as well.
14:52And then, on top of all of that,
14:54the actual battery itself,
14:5537.1 kilowatt hours,
14:58which is a big old battery
15:00in a vehicle like this.
15:01And it's part of the reason
15:01you can't fit that tyre.
15:03Again, we'll go through all of that
15:04when I get this up on a hoist.
15:06And that is also going to give you
15:07a driving range of around 110 kilometres
15:09on the NEDC cycle.
15:12Now, time to have a look underneath the Canon.
15:14I thought we'd have a sticky beak under here
15:16like we did with the Shark
15:17and just compare the undertray
15:19because they are very different concepts.
15:21And if you find this sort of stuff boring,
15:23feel free to skip ahead.
15:24You've got the time codes down there,
15:25but I'll run you through
15:25just some of the key differences.
15:27So, we'll start up the front here
15:28with underbody protection.
15:29So, one of the issues I had
15:31with the Shark's underbody protection
15:32was that it had sort of overlaps
15:34that faced forward.
15:36So, it meant that if you're going through sand
15:37and stuff like that,
15:38you'd be collecting all of the sand
15:40and debris in there.
15:41This is all facing the correct direction,
15:43which means you're not really going to collect as much.
15:45You still do have a couple of points in there
15:47where you might pull some stuff in,
15:48but it isn't the end of the world.
15:50It's a recovery point here,
15:51well, I think it's more like a tie-down.
15:53I don't know that you'd be using that
15:55for any serious recovery,
15:56but it is there just in case
15:57you need to pull the vehicle out.
15:59Come with me through here, Sean.
16:01Now, this is where everything changes
16:03between Shark and Canon,
16:06and also Ranger.
16:07So, these two vehicles, Ranger and Canon,
16:10as plug-in hybrids,
16:11are totally different to the Shark.
16:12You remember with the Shark
16:13that basically from this point onwards
16:15was underbody protection for the battery pack
16:18because the battery sat just here.
16:20This is a totally different layout
16:21because it is virtually an internal combustion car
16:24with the battery at the rear of the vehicle.
16:26So, you've got stuff like transfer case,
16:28the front diff over here with the differential lock.
16:31You've got the exhaust that runs down the centre of the car
16:34alongside the driveline.
16:36So, this is more a traditional sort of vehicle layout
16:39as you'd expect on a dual-cab ute
16:41with four-wheel drive at heart.
16:44Now, in terms of the actual electric motor,
16:46unlike, again, the Shark,
16:48which has two sets of electric motors,
16:49this actually has the electric motor here housed
16:52just next to the transmission.
16:53So, it means that you're actually getting
16:55everything sandwiched in there,
16:57and it means that you can retain the rest
16:58of the driveline here
16:59without having to really do a great amount of change
17:02to the platform to integrate it.
17:04A fuel tank over here,
17:06so, minimal protection to that,
17:08but it's sort of not the lowest point of the vehicle.
17:11You've got stuff like here
17:12and also the bottom of the differential
17:14that sit quite low.
17:15But I've got concerns about the departure angle
17:17at the rear that I'll show you in just a moment.
17:19Then you've got your electrics
17:21that sit up the top here.
17:22So, this car has an 800mm weighting depth.
17:24So, you can actually imagine
17:26that this is all going to be fully submersed
17:28if you do go to 800mm.
17:30So, I don't have any sort of huge concerns about that
17:32because there'll be rated connections there
17:35for submersion.
17:36But just something to keep in mind
17:37that if you are regularly doing that,
17:39this whole area is going to be underwater.
17:42So, just something to keep in mind.
17:44The exhaust outlet's just here
17:46near the rear tyre.
17:48Rear differential,
17:49this has copped a fair old hiding
17:50with whatever they were doing with this car.
17:53So, you can see the base of that
17:54has copped a few whacks.
17:55So, you've got 224mm of ground clearance here
17:59and this seems to be the point
18:00that's going to copped a hiding
18:03if you do actually exceed any of that.
18:05So, just something worth keeping in mind.
18:08Looks like they've got some vibration isolation here
18:10on the driveline as well.
18:12They probably would have found something
18:13during the engineering process
18:14and have installed this isolation point here
18:17to try and remove any vibrations from the vehicle.
18:20Now, back here is where things get interesting.
18:22So, you can see the suspension set up.
18:23You've got a damper outboard of the chassis rail,
18:25a coil spring up here with a bump stop as well.
18:29This rear suspension set up
18:30isn't independent rear suspension
18:32similar to what the Shark has.
18:33So, this is a live axle,
18:35very similar to what you would find
18:37in a traditional dual cab ute.
18:39Where the Ranger has leaf springs over here,
18:41the Canon does away with that
18:43with this multi-link suspension set up.
18:48Diff located over here
18:49with the diff lock integrated within that.
18:51You've got an anti-roll bar here as well for handling.
18:54So, it sort of helps keep the rear sort of fairly flat.
18:58This is where everything changes though.
18:59This is the battery pack.
19:00So, 37 kilowatt hours or thereabouts.
19:03This is an NMC battery pack.
19:05So, basically the type that you don't want to puncture
19:08because that will cause potentially thermal runaway.
19:11So, just a couple of things I've noted here.
19:15Yes, we've got the tow bar fitted to this
19:16and I'll show you what that looks like in a second.
19:18But if the tow bar isn't there,
19:20this is quite a low point at the rear of the vehicle.
19:23So, if you do drop the rear of the vehicle
19:25onto something fairly sturdy,
19:27I think it's going to hit that battery.
19:28And while the battery does have
19:29significant under tray protection there,
19:32it is just something that's worth keeping in mind
19:35in terms of off-roading.
19:37Now, I'll show you the tow bar in just a second,
19:39but you can see why part of the reason
19:42the tow bar location is an issue
19:43is that's a recovery point
19:45that's mounted to a chassis rail here.
19:47The tow bar is in the way of that.
19:49So, if you do need to tie anything onto that,
19:51it's going to be quite difficult to do
19:53with the tow bar in that position.
19:54And if you have a look at where the chassis rail sits,
19:56it's supporting a battery,
19:58which hangs off the end of it.
19:59You're then supporting a tow bar,
20:01which can potentially have
20:02about 350 kilos worth of load on it.
20:05So, you've got a lot of weight
20:06to be putting on the end of this chassis rail.
20:08So, you can see now why,
20:09A, you can't fit a spare tyre under here.
20:11This is typically where that would sit.
20:13And B, why the tow bar has to sit where it sits,
20:16because you've got another cross member here
20:19that the tow bar can't go any higher on.
20:22It just feels to me like this tow bar
20:23is a total afterthought.
20:25This wasn't really part of the original design
20:27of this platform.
20:28And I think that they really need to look
20:30at integrating this tow bar
20:31into this cross member somehow.
20:34You're going to have issues here
20:35with this being as low as it is.
20:38We've got a towing video
20:39that we'll go live a little later on.
20:41And when we did that,
20:42this sat quite low
20:43and I wasn't really comfortable
20:44with the position of that.
20:45So, it's something worth keeping in mind.
20:47And you can see here,
20:48we've done off-roading as well.
20:49And this has copped it quite a lot.
20:51So, it sits quite low
20:52and it affects your departure angle as well.
20:54So, that's a bit of a sticky beak
20:56under the rear of the Canon.
20:58Very different setup to the Shark,
21:00which doesn't have a driveline
21:01down the centre of the car
21:02and you can take advantage
21:03of putting a battery there.
21:05I'll be keen to see
21:05what the Ranger looks like underneath
21:06when we get our hands on that.
21:08But, yeah,
21:09if you have any questions about this,
21:11let me know in the comments section below.
21:12Okay, we've just hit the road
21:16in the Canon Alpha plug-in hybrid.
21:18So, this is an interesting package.
21:21Recently, we drove Canon Alpha hybrid
21:24and we actually covered a piece
21:27about how GWM has fixed a lot of issues
21:30with throttle calibration.
21:32Since then as well,
21:33they announced that they've hired
21:34Holden's former Ryan and Handling chief
21:37and those last set of Commodores
21:39were fantastic.
21:40So, it is a really great hire.
21:42So, I think they really are teeing themselves up
21:44for bigger and better things here,
21:46which is really good to see.
21:48This feels very much like the hybrid.
21:50It's really strange.
21:51As you sort of set off,
21:52it doesn't have that sort of full electric vibe
21:55that something like a Shark has
21:57or an Outlander has.
21:58It feels very much mechanical in a sense
22:01and that is because this is
22:02a very different configuration
22:03to something like an Outlander or a Shark.
22:06What you have here is basically
22:08an electric motor that's sandwiched
22:10between a transmission
22:11and the engine effectively.
22:14So, it's providing electric assistance
22:16as required,
22:17but that also means that it has to work
22:19in line with the transmission
22:20and with things like the low-range transfer case
22:23and the differential.
22:24So, you feel that sort of resistance
22:26as you're moving.
22:27It's not the end of the world,
22:28but it feels very much like
22:30a traditional car in a sense,
22:32just without the noise.
22:33Like right now,
22:34it's running in electric vehicle mode
22:35and that means that it is entirely switched off.
22:38It can actually run in this mode
22:39at speed as well.
22:40So, you're not always restricted
22:42to being in hybrid.
22:43If you do have that charge in the battery,
22:45it can actually just run
22:46as an electric vehicle
22:47while there is still charge in the battery.
22:49So, what you'll see down here,
22:50we're at 16%.
22:51We've been doing a fair bit of driving today
22:52and haven't had a chance
22:54to charge the battery,
22:55but what we'll do before we sort of
22:57do any sort of serious off-riding and stuff,
22:58we'll put a bit of juice back into this
23:00so that we can actually properly assess it
23:01with that energy in the battery.
23:03Now, let's run through the actual configuration.
23:05So, 2.0-litre turbocharged
23:07four-cylinder petrol engine.
23:09This is kind of what a vehicle
23:10in this segment needs.
23:11It needs a bigger internal combustion engine
23:13to provide that torque fill
23:14when you're out of battery
23:15or when you don't have sufficient power
23:17from the electric motor
23:18or motors, depending on the vehicle.
23:21So, what they've been able to do
23:22is cram a much bigger engine
23:23under the bonnet here.
23:24So, that produces 180 kilowatts of power
23:27and almost 400 newton-metres of torque.
23:29When you step up to something
23:29like the Ford Ranger,
23:31a 2.3-litre turbocharged engine
23:33around 400 newton-metres of torque.
23:36So, over 400 newton-metres of torque.
23:38Like, that is where it really starts
23:39getting punchy
23:40and you're able to get that sort of torque feel
23:42when you need it,
23:43when the electric assistance
23:44isn't there for you.
23:46And that's all paired with
23:47a 120-kilowatt,
23:49400-newton-metre electric motor.
23:51And that produces a combined output
23:53of 300 kilowatts of power
23:54and 750 newton-metres of torque.
23:57Now, I know that I've just thrown
23:59a whole bunch of numbers there at you,
24:00but that is a lot.
24:02750 newton-metres of torque
24:03is more than what you're getting
24:04from something like
24:05a big, chunky V6 diesel engine.
24:07So, it gives you that sort of peak torque
24:09that you really want
24:10from a vehicle like this
24:11when you're doing tasks like towing
24:13or you have a lot of payload in the tray.
24:15And it'll be interesting to see
24:16how this does go when it's towing
24:17because it does have
24:18such a big towing capacity.
24:21It is a lot of work
24:22for a vehicle like this
24:23to actually perform.
24:24And that's all routed
24:25through a nine-speed automatic transmission.
24:27So, spent a fair bit of time
24:29driving this
24:29and that's probably its Achilles heel.
24:32Here in the normal Modify,
24:33it sort of kicked down the throttle,
24:35waiting, waiting, waiting.
24:36Now everything.
24:37So, there is a fair old lag there
24:38before you actually get any activity
24:40from the drivetrain.
24:41And that is because
24:42even though you have an electric motor,
24:44it has to wait for that transmission
24:45to bump itself down
24:47into the gear that it needs to be in
24:48for it to accelerate.
24:50So, you can't provide
24:51that electric torque feel
24:52like you can in a car
24:54that has just electric motors
24:55and no traditional driveline
24:57to route energy through.
24:58It is fixed when it's in sport mode,
25:00thankfully.
25:00So, you kind of,
25:01you get above that
25:03and that's not an issue.
25:04But I think in the normal mode,
25:05it could just be a little sharper
25:06in terms of the way
25:07that it knocks back
25:08through those gears.
25:09The other thing I noticed as well
25:10is you can catch
25:11that transmission napping
25:12at times
25:13when you are slowing down
25:14and you need to get back
25:15on the throttle,
25:16like right there,
25:16waiting, waiting, waiting.
25:18Now I have everything.
25:19So, as it's going back down
25:21through the gears
25:21when you need to accelerate again,
25:22it can sort of
25:23be a little bit clunky at times.
25:25So, I think there's probably
25:26just a little bit of improvement
25:27to be had there.
25:28This is a big battery though,
25:2937.1 kilowatt hours.
25:30You have over 100 kilometres
25:31worth of driving range,
25:32which is really useful
25:33if your daily commute
25:34is 20 or 30 kilometres.
25:36You could, in theory,
25:36drive to and from work
25:37without having to ever switch
25:39on the internal combustion engine.
25:41It can run entirely
25:42as an electric vehicle
25:43for most of the time,
25:44which I think is
25:45a really sort of good feature to have.
25:47And it doesn't really compromise
25:48the vehicle
25:48in terms of its capability.
25:49Yes, you do have reduced payload,
25:51but ultimately,
25:52it still has, on paper,
25:54the same sort of level of specs
25:55and interior as you would expect
25:57with only a few downsides.
25:58In terms of the energy modes,
25:59you can actually get the vehicle
26:01to do a number of different things here.
26:02It's quite clever
26:03in terms of the way
26:03that it's set up.
26:04You can condition the battery
26:05in terms of temperature.
26:07So, if you're in a low temperature area,
26:09you can have the battery condition
26:10so that when you start the vehicle,
26:11it's sort of good to go
26:12with the energy that you need.
26:13You've got controls here
26:14for discharging
26:15through a vehicle to load.
26:17You can also set things
26:17like whether you want the vehicle
26:18to charge the battery,
26:20whether you want the battery
26:21at a certain capacity all the time,
26:23dynamic steering torque control,
26:25comfort braking.
26:25Like, there's just so many features
26:27here to play with.
26:27Off-road thermal management
26:29really is quite cool
26:30to see how much they've been able
26:31to sort of jam-pack
26:32into this platform.
26:33Now, let's talk fuel economy.
26:34It's a bit of a tricky one
26:35because, long story short,
26:38this is a pre-production car.
26:39We can't really drive it
26:40on public roads.
26:41So, the fuel economy
26:43is kind of a bit meh
26:45because I've got no control
26:46over how it was driven
26:48before it got here.
26:49But just to give you an idea,
26:50it says after resetting,
26:51which was five hours
26:52and 24 minutes ago,
26:54average is 11 litres per 100km
26:56with energy consumption
26:58at 19.3 kilowatt hours
27:00per 100km.
27:02Yeah, energy consumption
27:03in these cars
27:04is a bit of a furphy
27:04because unless you're
27:06just driving it as an EV
27:07or you're driving
27:08a longer distance,
27:09your first 100km or so
27:10is going to be on EV anyway.
27:11So, really,
27:12the interesting number
27:13is how efficient is it
27:14when you're out of battery
27:15and then it's sort of
27:16doing its own thing.
27:17That is something we'll test
27:18when we can get our hands
27:19on a production version of this
27:20and I can sort of drive it
27:21as I normally would
27:22any other car.
27:23Okay, time to test body control.
27:26We do this at 130km an hour
27:28to see what the ride feels like.
27:31In and around the city,
27:32it's actually not too bad.
27:32It's quite soft and pleasant,
27:35very car-like.
27:36Let's see whether that comes
27:38at the detriment of body control.
27:41It's actually surprisingly good.
27:43With a curb weight
27:44of over 2,800kg,
27:45it handles itself really nicely
27:47over those sine waves.
27:48So, pretty sort of
27:49impressed with that.
27:50Okay, we've got our
27:51bumpy road here.
27:53We do this at 90km an hour.
27:55It's a good indication
27:55of what this would be like
27:57over a corrugated,
27:58pothold country road
28:00or far north Queensland,
28:02something like that.
28:04Excellent.
28:04That feels good.
28:05Here comes our condensed sine wave.
28:08We'll shake the car around a bit
28:09and drop our GoPro.
28:14Yeah, it actually feels pretty good.
28:16Like, it's soft enough
28:17and it gives you the comfort
28:18that you need.
28:19I can just imagine
28:20if you went on a longer distance trip,
28:21sort of just pounding the hell
28:22out of this on corrugations,
28:24it wouldn't be fatigue-inducing
28:25like some dual-cab utes
28:27that may have really sorted
28:28the ride here
28:29for this type of terrain.
28:32Now, your drive mode selector
28:33is down here.
28:34You've got a bunch of drive modes
28:36to pick from.
28:37Let's just slot it over to sport.
28:40What you notice immediately in sport
28:41is when you nail the throttle,
28:43the gear shifts are much quicker
28:44and it's far more eager
28:45to get up and move,
28:46which is good news.
28:48We've also got paddles as well
28:49if you want to manually change gears.
28:51But what we'll do now
28:52is go for a quicker lap
28:53around our track
28:53just to see how it feels.
28:55We test all cars back-to-back
28:57in the same way
28:57to get a vibe
28:59for what the ride
29:01and handling is like.
29:02Well, it's a fair bit
29:03of body roll there.
29:12Gee, it's got a fair bit
29:13of punch.
29:13In sport mode,
29:14you can definitely feel that torque.
29:16Like, if you lean on the throttle
29:17out of a corner,
29:18it really just pushes you in nicely
29:20and gets it moving.
29:21It surprisingly hides
29:22its weight well
29:23despite it being
29:25on the porkier end
29:27of the scale
29:27and despite it
29:30having a bit of body roll,
29:31once it does lean in,
29:32it settles pretty quickly
29:33and then you can just
29:34push on with the throttle.
29:36Great little,
29:37great little drivetrain
29:38once the speed picks up.
29:42It's like a lot more
29:43back here.
29:47All right,
29:47here's our back straight.
29:48We'll just lean on to this.
29:51All right.
29:53It's still picking up speed
29:54really nicely
29:55and that's with the battery
29:56fairly flat now as well
29:57so you're pretty impressed
29:59with that.
30:00Yeah,
30:00bit of body roll
30:01but it actually sort of
30:02gets up and moves
30:03really nicely.
30:04It's quite a cracking
30:05drivetrain they've got here
30:06in terms of just getting
30:07a bit of sportiness
30:07out of it.
30:08Now,
30:08let's talk about visibility.
30:09So,
30:10seating position's great.
30:11I can see quite clearly
30:12down the front of the car there.
30:13Nice big wing mirrors
30:14and decent visibility
30:15out the back.
30:16The good news
30:16with this seating position
30:17and unlike something
30:19like the standard Canon,
30:21you can actually adjust
30:21this seat
30:22and the steering wheel
30:23just to be comfortable
30:24with the Canon.
30:25You can't adjust
30:25the front of the seat.
30:27It really sort of
30:27gives you that feeling
30:28of sliding forward
30:29whereas this gives you
30:30just a nice seating position,
30:32nice commanding view
30:33and it's just a good place
30:34to be seated
30:34especially with stuff
30:35like massage seats running.
30:37Road noise,
30:37it's pretty pleasant
30:38inside the cabin.
30:39There isn't a huge amount
30:40of road noise
30:40that comes into the cabin
30:41with the highway terrains
30:43that are fitted.
30:43If you go for something
30:44like an all-terrain
30:45you're going to get
30:45a fair bit of road noise
30:46especially on coarse chip surfaces.
30:48The one thing you do notice though
30:49is just a little bit of wind noise
30:50that comes in
30:51about the mirrors
30:52at highway speeds.
30:53We put it up against
30:54our calibrated sound meter
30:55and this is how it went.
30:57If you want to see
30:57how this car compares
30:58to others that we've tested before
30:59there is a link
31:00in the description below.
31:02So let's test
31:03the semi-autonomous
31:04driving systems.
31:06We do this at 70km an hour
31:07on the three outer lanes
31:08of our bowl here.
31:09We'll get that up to 70.
31:11Alright, there's 70km an hour.
31:12Wait for that steering wheel
31:13to go
31:14coloured here
31:17to indicate
31:17that it's detected the lines.
31:19Alright, there it is.
31:22Okay, so
31:23doing an okay job
31:25in that first line.
31:26It is sort of veering
31:27towards
31:28the marker
31:29a little bit.
31:30We'll jump over
31:30to the next lane.
31:36Alright, wait for that steering wheel.
31:38There it is there.
31:41There it goes again
31:42just veering towards
31:43that lane.
31:46Yeah, it's kind of okay.
31:48It's sort of just
31:48floating a little bit.
31:49It doesn't sort of
31:50inspire confidence.
31:52Jump over to
31:53the final lane here.
31:57For that to activate.
32:01Alright, it looks like
32:03it wants to activate there.
32:06Sometimes it just doesn't
32:07like the angle
32:08that it's on here.
32:10Yeah, it doesn't look like
32:11it'll activate for us.
32:12Alright, so
32:13yeah, look
32:14I don't know.
32:15System could be a little bit better.
32:16I wasn't sort of
32:16blown away with
32:17how well it was
32:18keeping its lane there
32:19regardless.
32:20So, yeah
32:21it probably just needs
32:22a little bit of work.
32:23Okay, so
32:24just
32:24we've finished our
32:25sort of autonomous
32:26testing stuff here.
32:27One thing I will call out
32:28before I forget is
32:29GWM did an update
32:30to firmware
32:31on these cars
32:32to prevent
32:33some of the issues
32:34they had with
32:34throttle calibration.
32:36Unfortunately
32:36it hasn't really
32:38sort of been addressed
32:39here in the
32:40plug-in hybrid
32:41because
32:41imagine we're at
32:43an intersection now
32:43and I have to turn
32:44across the intersection
32:45I go full throttle
32:46and then go for the brake
32:48it's still accelerating
32:49I'll show you what I mean
32:50so full throttle
32:51and then brake
32:52it's sort of still
32:54still accelerating
32:55a little bit there
32:56and the end result
32:57of that is
32:57you know
32:58you have to stand
32:58on the brake
32:59while the car
33:00still is moving forward
33:01it just doesn't
33:02really inspire you
33:04with a huge
33:05amount of confidence
33:07so it is something
33:08they fixed
33:08with software update
33:10on the standard hybrid
33:12and I'm hoping
33:12it's something
33:13that they can
33:13also just roll out
33:14to this
33:15at some point
33:15as well.
33:16Okay let's see
33:17how quickly
33:17this accelerates
33:19from 0 to 100
33:22and then 80 to 120
33:23as well.
33:24I will caveat
33:25this by saying
33:25I just popped it
33:26in sport mode
33:26I'll turn
33:27traction control
33:28off as well
33:28I'll caveat this
33:29by saying
33:29the battery's
33:30down to 13%
33:30so I'll do this
33:31again later on
33:32and if the time
33:33is better
33:33we'll publish that
33:35but let's give
33:37this a shot
33:37so it gets up
33:44alright
33:44that's not
33:45terrible
33:46okay there's
33:4770
33:4790
33:49100
33:50and
33:52120
33:54alrighty
33:55felt pretty
33:55sort of decent
33:56behind the wheel
33:57so
33:57750 newton metres
34:00is a fair bit
34:00so
34:010 to 100
34:027.7 seconds
34:04so
34:04yeah
34:05fine
34:06not amazing
34:06but fine
34:07probably about
34:082 seconds
34:09off
34:09something like
34:09a shark
34:10for reference
34:1080 to 120
34:115.56 seconds
34:13so still a
34:14decent
34:15enough
34:16mid range
34:17there
34:17to get
34:17moving
34:18which is
34:18fine
34:19alright
34:20let's do a
34:21stop from
34:21100
34:21and see
34:22what the
34:22brake and tyre
34:23package is like
34:24alright
34:26here we go
34:28ok
34:34so
34:35100
34:35to 0
34:362.97
34:37seconds
34:3841.36 metres
34:39so
34:40really not that
34:40bad
34:41sort of anything
34:42between 35
34:42and 40
34:43is pretty good
34:44but given
34:44this weighs
34:452.8 tonnes
34:46pulling that up
34:47in that distance
34:48is actually
34:49pretty reasonable
34:49if you do want
34:50to see how
34:50this car compares
34:51to others
34:52that we've
34:52tested before
34:53there is a link
34:53in the description
34:54below to our
34:54spreadsheet
34:55with all of
34:55the details
34:56so let's
34:57see how
34:58quick it
34:58goes in
34:58reverse
34:59here we
34:59go
35:00alright
35:0336
35:04kilometres
35:06an hour
35:06ok
35:08time to do
35:09a little bit
35:10of light
35:10off-roading
35:11I'll run you
35:12through some
35:12of the high
35:13level specs
35:13here but
35:14with a little
35:15caveat
35:16because this
35:17has the tow
35:17bar fitted
35:18to the rear
35:18of it
35:18I don't
35:20exactly know
35:20what the
35:21departure
35:21angle is
35:21going to
35:21be but
35:22I don't
35:22think it's
35:23going to
35:23be very
35:23good
35:23so
35:24give you
35:24the overall
35:25numbers
35:25for the
35:25Canon
35:26Alpha
35:26and I'll
35:27see if we
35:27can get
35:27some actual
35:28numbers
35:28for the
35:29tow bar
35:29fitted
35:29version
35:30so you
35:31have
35:31800mm
35:32weighting
35:32depth
35:32which is
35:32pretty good
35:33approach
35:34angle of
35:3423 degrees
35:35so that's
35:35the angle
35:35of the
35:36face
35:36you can
35:36approach
35:36before you
35:37hit the
35:37front of
35:37the car
35:38a departure
35:39angle
35:39of 19
35:39degrees
35:40and that is
35:40before you
35:41have that
35:41tow bar
35:41fitted
35:42grand
35:42clearance
35:43of 224
35:44mil
35:44so okay
35:45but not
35:45amazing
35:46the base
35:46spec of
35:47this gets
35:47rear diff
35:48lock
35:48top spec
35:48gets a
35:49front
35:49diff
35:49lock
35:50as well
35:50you have
35:51four wheel
35:51drive
35:51low range
35:52you have
35:53hill descent
35:53control
35:54both
35:54eco mode
35:55which runs
35:55in two
35:56wheel drive
35:56and then
35:57normal mode
35:58which is
35:58basically a
35:59four wheel
35:59drive automatic
36:00so pretty
36:01fully featured
36:02system
36:02I'll be
36:02curious to
36:03see how
36:03this now
36:03performs
36:04with the
36:04hybrid
36:05the plug-in
36:06hybrid
36:06drivetrain
36:07sandwiched
36:08in between
36:08it'll be
36:08really interesting
36:09to see
36:10so let's
36:11give this
36:11a crack
36:12okay so
36:12first up
36:13we're going
36:14to start
36:14in eco mode
36:15so it's
36:16sending drive
36:17to the rear
36:17wheels only
36:17this is just
36:18to see
36:19what the
36:19traction
36:19control
36:20is like
36:21when we
36:21get a
36:22wheel up
36:22in the air
36:23here on
36:23our
36:24offset
36:25mogul
36:26so we'll
36:26get that
36:26set up
36:27drop that
36:28rear in
36:29which is
36:31around about
36:31there
36:33somewhere
36:33and now
36:33I'll just
36:34roll onto
36:34the throttle
36:35look at that
36:41very nice
36:43so that is
36:44how a
36:45traction control
36:45system needs
36:46to work
36:46so we
36:47tested the
36:47cannon here
36:48just the
36:49other day
36:49and it
36:50needed the
36:51rear diff
36:51locking gauge
36:52so I suspect
36:53given this is
36:54on a slightly
36:55longer wheelbase
36:56and heavier
36:57as well
36:57it actually
36:58helps things
36:58so I'm
36:59going to pop
36:59this now
36:59back into
37:00normal mode
37:01we'll see
37:02how this
37:02goes now
37:02just with
37:03normal mode
37:04active
37:05I'll try
37:05if it does
37:06get stuck
37:06I'll try
37:07it in
37:07full drive
37:07high range
37:08where you
37:08get a
37:09torque split
37:10between
37:10the front
37:10and the
37:11rear
37:11but we'll
37:11just see
37:11what it
37:12does
37:12now
37:12okay
37:14so here
37:15we go
37:15I'll just
37:16lean on
37:16the throttle
37:16there
37:17yeah
37:19it's a
37:19piece of
37:20cake
37:20not an
37:23issue
37:23at all
37:24so he just
37:25walks over
37:25that without
37:25any dramas
37:26very nice
37:27okay let's
37:28head to our
37:28hill
37:28this is the
37:29hill that
37:30challenged
37:30the shark
37:31let's see how
37:32it performs
37:32here with the
37:32cannon
37:33okay so it
37:35is hill
37:35time
37:36normally we do
37:36this in
37:38low range
37:38but I thought
37:39it's got a
37:40crack here
37:40in full drive
37:41high range
37:42to begin
37:42with and
37:43just see
37:43how that
37:44performs
37:45these noises
37:46when you
37:47switch between
37:48these drive
37:48modes are
37:49hilarious
37:49okay let's
37:50give this a
37:51shot so that's
37:51four-wheel drive
37:52high range
37:52still in
37:53hybrid mode
37:54I'll just go
37:55constant throttle
37:55to begin with
37:56and then I'll
37:56come back and
37:57try standing
37:58start as well
37:59look at this
38:03come on
38:05now we are
38:08stuck just
38:09there that
38:10almost made
38:11it all the
38:11way up
38:12certainly far
38:13further than
38:13the shark
38:14does in
38:14that mode
38:15so what
38:16we'll do
38:16now is
38:16engage
38:17there's the
38:18that tow
38:20bar catching
38:21on the ground
38:22what we'll do
38:22now is engage
38:24low range
38:25so turn
38:26that on
38:27this is
38:27normally how
38:28we test
38:28cars on
38:29this hill
38:30so now that
38:30low range
38:31is active
38:32let's see
38:33how this
38:34goes I'm
38:34not going to
38:35lock any
38:35diffs just
38:35yet
38:36so we'll
38:36try this
38:36again
38:37just
38:37constant
38:38throttle
38:38here we
38:40go
38:40low range
38:41active
38:41there's that
38:43tow bar
38:43one more
38:44time
38:44just a
38:55reminder
38:55there
38:55no
38:56diff
38:56locks
38:57active
38:57and the
38:59shark
38:59just
39:00genuinely
39:01cannot even
39:01make it
39:02sort of
39:02halfway up
39:02that hill
39:03that is
39:04that is
39:05genuinely
39:06impressive
39:07stuff
39:07very nice
39:08all right
39:09through our
39:09little mud
39:10bog which
39:10isn't very
39:10muddy
39:11listen to
39:11that back
39:12that tow
39:13bar is
39:14it really
39:15needs some
39:15work
39:15okie dokie
39:16so let's
39:17try hill
39:18descent control
39:19here so we'll
39:20just activate
39:20that
39:21we've got our
39:21camera running
39:22there
39:22camera is just
39:23a little bit
39:24useless there
39:24because I
39:24want to be
39:25able to see
39:25over the
39:26front there
39:26but it's
39:28it sort of
39:29works
39:29not the best
39:30angle
39:30but does the
39:31job
39:31alright so
39:32hill descent
39:32control over
39:33the top
39:33here
39:34we'll see
39:35if the
39:35cruise control
39:36will guide
39:37the speed
39:38that doesn't
39:39feel like it
39:40so it's just
39:40basically
39:41yeah constant
39:43speed
39:43yeah it does
39:43perfectly fine
39:44job there
39:45I can also
39:45see there as
39:46well that it's
39:46still doing
39:47regen in low
39:48range as well
39:49which is pretty
39:49good
39:49means that if
39:50you are doing
39:50a long descent
39:51you're going to
39:52get the benefits
39:52of low range
39:53there plus
39:54also regen
39:56ok let's
39:58go back
39:58this time
39:59around what
39:59we're going
40:00to do
40:00I'm going
40:01to come
40:02to a stop
40:03and then
40:03just see if
40:04it has hill
40:04hold and
40:04then apply
40:05the throttle
40:05again
40:06I just want
40:06to point out
40:07just one more
40:07time here
40:08the reason
40:08this is able
40:09to climb up
40:09there with
40:10such ease
40:10as a plug-in
40:12hybrid
40:12is primarily
40:13thanks to
40:13the fact that
40:14it has a
40:14reduction gear
40:15you are
40:15multiplying
40:16torque at
40:16each wheel
40:17when you
40:18route
40:19torque through
40:19a reduction
40:20gear
40:20so you're
40:21not only
40:21getting reduction
40:22through the
40:22transmission
40:23the low range
40:24transfer case
40:24and the
40:25differential
40:25you just
40:26don't have
40:27that in a
40:27shark
40:27and as a
40:28result of that
40:28you're able
40:28to get the
40:30hill with
40:31as you can
40:32tell
40:32absolute
40:32ease
40:33let's just
40:33try this
40:34again now
40:34in EV
40:36mode with
40:36rear diff
40:37locked and
40:37just see if
40:38it will
40:38climb here
40:39I guess that
40:40is sort of
40:40replicating then
40:41what we have
40:41in the shark
40:42so
40:42here we go
40:44that is so
40:50easy
40:51so easy
40:52alright cool
40:52I'm going to
40:53head back there
40:53and we're going
40:54to do that
40:55one more time
40:55with a stop
40:56like we normally
40:57would
40:57alrighty
40:58let's get
40:58back into
41:00low range
41:01and we'll
41:02try the hill
41:02again with
41:03coming to
41:03a complete
41:04stop
41:05we'll see
41:05how that
41:05fares
41:06so that's
41:06low range
41:07active
41:07here we go
41:10alright
41:12what's it
41:14doing
41:14it's still
41:15figuring out
41:16which gear
41:16it wants
41:16to be in
41:17there
41:17so we'll
41:17come to
41:17a stop
41:18let go of
41:19the brake
41:19it's got
41:20hill hold
41:20roll onto
41:21the throttle
41:21banging there
41:25but
41:27gets up
41:27here
41:28with
41:28no
41:28dramas
41:28at all
41:29so that's
41:29low range
41:30rear diff
41:31locked
41:31with a
41:32stop
41:32absolute
41:34piece of
41:34cake
41:35very nice
41:35now one
41:36thing I am
41:37noticing here
41:38this is
41:38something we
41:39noticed in
41:40the Canon
41:40Alpha
41:41as well
41:41when it's
41:43in low range
41:43with like a
41:44variety of
41:45diffs locked
41:45the stability
41:46control is still
41:47trying to do
41:47stuff and
41:48I just think
41:50it probably
41:50needs a better
41:51calibration
41:51because when
41:52you're turning
41:52the wheel
41:53with the
41:53diff locked
41:53you're forcing
41:54your rear wheels
41:55to rotate
41:55at the same
41:56speed and
41:57I think the
41:58stability control
41:58is getting
41:59confused there
41:59and thinking
42:00that it's
42:01losing traction
42:01and trying
42:02to fight you
42:02so I think
42:04that probably
42:04needs to be
42:05looked at
42:05but yeah
42:06aside from that
42:07that was
42:07pretty impressive
42:08performance
42:08okay rock
42:09time so there
42:10is no rock
42:10drive mode
42:11in fact there
42:11are no real
42:12sort of off-road
42:13drive modes
42:14here so
42:14what I'm going
42:15to do here
42:15is just ride
42:16the brake
42:16with the throttle
42:17just so we
42:18can sort of
42:19mosey on
42:19over these
42:20rocks see what
42:21the clearance is
42:21like specifically
42:23for that
42:23battery pack
42:25feels pretty
42:29good so far
42:30curious to see
42:31if that towbar
42:31touches down
42:32even how low
42:33it is
42:33the ride's
42:37actually quite
42:37nice over this
42:38no dramas
42:39and I'm able
42:39to ride the
42:41brake with the
42:41throttle which
42:42means I can
42:42control my
42:43pace over this
42:45stuff without
42:45it crashing
42:46over it too
42:47much and
42:47without it
42:48cutting
42:48progression
42:49when the
42:50brake is on
42:50okay
42:52there we
42:52are
42:52alrighty
42:54we are
42:54we are
42:55one and
42:56done there
42:56so look
42:57recapping
42:58off-road
42:58I think
42:59off-road
43:00point of view
43:00this is
43:01fantastic
43:01it's got
43:01all of the
43:02bells and
43:02whistles that
43:03you need
43:03it is
43:04stupendously
43:04good off-road
43:05there
43:05like yeah
43:07it is
43:07pretty hard
43:08to fault
43:08so I think
43:09where this
43:09really makes
43:10up ground
43:11over the
43:11shark
43:11is that
43:11you have
43:12you know
43:12what I was
43:13saying all
43:13along
43:14a reduction
43:14gear
43:15you've got
43:15low range
43:16you've got
43:16diff locks
43:17it is literally
43:17all the basic
43:18stuff that you
43:18need as part of a
43:19hybrid drive train
43:20or an electric
43:20drive train
43:21for it to be
43:22able to do
43:22what it needs
43:22to do off-road
43:23otherwise it
43:24just doesn't
43:24doesn't cut it
43:25so that's great
43:26this drives
43:27really nicely
43:27I think the
43:28downsides though
43:29transmission
43:30just a little bit
43:31sleepy there
43:32in normal mode
43:33and that sort of
43:34jumping start
43:35stuff that it does
43:36they need to
43:37iron that out
43:37with software
43:38once it's in
43:39sport mode
43:39it feels fine
43:40so I think
43:40it's probably
43:40just a software
43:41calibration issue
43:42the spare tyre
43:43I think that's
43:43unacceptable
43:43having A
43:44no spare
43:45or B
43:45having it sitting
43:46in the tray
43:46like that
43:47I just don't
43:47think that works
43:48it should be
43:48underneath
43:50when we had it
43:50up on the hoist
43:51I would have
43:52put it underneath
43:52so that isn't
43:53going to work
43:54so I just do
43:54wonder whether
43:55they thought
43:56from ground up
43:56that this was
43:57actually going to
43:58be a plug-in
43:59hybrid platform
44:00or whether it
44:01was internal
44:01combustion first
44:02and then plug-in
44:03hybrid second
44:04and outside of
44:04that I think
44:05they do need to
44:06sort out a
44:07proper towing
44:07solution
44:08so you'll see
44:08in our towing
44:09video which
44:09has either
44:10already gone live
44:11or is about
44:11to go live
44:12if it is already
44:12live I'll leave
44:13a link in the
44:13description below
44:14but what you'll
44:15see there is
44:15that the towbar
44:16sits really low
44:17to the ground
44:17and I think
44:17they really
44:18need a solution
44:19there because
44:20that is just
44:20far too close
44:21for comfort
44:22if you're hitting
44:22big bumps
44:23with a heavy
44:23trailer on the
44:24rear so
44:25there you go
44:25that is a
44:26review of the
44:27Canon Alpha
44:28plug-in hybrid
44:28when the Ranger
44:29launches we're
44:30going to do a
44:30three-way comparison
44:31between this
44:32the BYD Shark
44:33and the Ranger
44:33we've also shot a
44:34comparison between
44:35this and the
44:36BYD Shark
44:36over some of the
44:37highlight items
44:38when that video
44:39goes live I'll
44:39leave a link in
44:40the description below
44:40so let me know
44:41what you reckon
44:41did you enjoy the
44:43video if you did
44:44share it with
44:44your mates
44:45subscribe do
44:46all that sort
44:46of stuff
44:47if you have any
44:47questions let me
44:48know in the
44:48comments section
44:49below but until
44:50next time take
44:51it easy
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