BYD Shark vs Denza | B5 Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5

BYD's revolutionary ute, the Shark six, has been drawing a lot of criticism, for only one peculiar aspect. That is, it's unexpectedly low towing capacity. Given the massive power advantage of the Shark, over traditional diesel utes, its towing capacity is also expected to be better than them. The Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux, both have a towing capacity of three point five tons. But the Shark's is a ton lower than them. So what can BYD do about it? The answer, is that they already have a solution. The BYD Shark shares its platform, with an SUV, that goes by the name of Denza B5 or the Leopard 5, or Fang Cheng Bao Bao 5, or even the Yangwang U8 mini. The width and height of both the vehicles is identical. Only the length is different, since the Shark has a tray at the back. However, there is one crucial difference, between the powertrains of both the vehicles. The Denza B5, is two hundred and fifty hp more powerful than the Shark six! Basically, the electric motors used in Denza are more powerful than those used in the Shark 6. The Denza B5, is already on its way to Australia as well as other global markets. The pricing in China starts from a delicious, fifty two thousand Australian dollars! Yes, it is cheaper than the base-variant of the new Tesla Model Y in China! There is a possibility, BYD might not offer the lower-variants, in their quest for higher margins, in Australia. But even then, the premium variant still retails for sixty one thousand aussie dollars in China! The premium variant, gets the adjustable hydraulic suspension, which can raise the ground clearance to 310 mm, from the standard 220 mm, at the flick of a switch. The interior is also more premium and feature-rich, compared to the Shark. With shipping and taxes, the Denza can still end up below sixty five grand, down under. That will be tantalizingly close, to the top-variants of the Toyota RAV 4, and well below the Outlander plugin hybrid! Not bad for an SUV, that is four times more powerful than those two Japanese crossovers right? Compared to bigger SUVs, be it the Toyota Prado, the Ford Everest or the Isuzu MU X, it looks like an absolute bargain! Coming back to the Shark, the Australian importer for BYD, EV Direct has already confirmed that more utes are on the way. The need for increased towing capacity, has already been conveyed to BYD. There is a speculation going around that BYD might go for a larger, two-liter engine, instead of the current one-point-five liter, to increase the Shark's braked towing capacity. Another solution would be adding a retarder into the powertrain. But, it is best to leave it, to BYD's hundred and ten thousand R&D engineers, to figure out the best solution. Also, to make things worse for the competition, a lower variant of the Shark is also on the cards. It will still be just as powerful as the premium variant currently on sale. However, it will be another five thousand dollars lower in price, just by getting rid of a few electronic trinkets inside the cabin.