Telo MT1 vs BYD Shark

The Telo truck is surprisingly better, than the trending Shark 6, in a few unexpected attributes! First is the size of its tray. It is more or less similar to the Shark's. Which is unbelievable, considering the vast difference in their lengths! The Shark is five whole feet longer than the little Telo.

On top of that, the Telo's tray can be expanded further, to almost eight feet, by folding the rear seats and opening the partition behind them. But that's not all! You also get massive storage under it's bed, just like the Rivian.

Coming to the weights, the Telo has a slightly higher payload capacity, than the Shark. Plus it's towing capacity is also half a ton better than the Shark. But it's kerb weight is almost seven hundred kilos lighter than the Shark.

That gives it one more advantage over the Shark, its entertaining acceleration! Even the 300 horsepower Telo, accelerates quicker than the Shark. Better power-to-weight ratio, helping it's cause. 

But there's also as 500 horsepower variant of the Telo, capable of sprinting to a hundred k-p-h, in 3.5 secs. It is priced at a four thousand dollar premium over the base model.

Now, coming to the crucial topic of range, you get two options, either a 385 kilometer standard range variant, or a 560 kilometer long range version. But this is where the BYD Shark is better configured for real-world usage. It has a pure-EV range of eighty to hundred kilometers.

That is more than sufficient to take care of about 90 percent of your driving, in a year. For the remaining 10 percent, you have the safety net of a petrol engine.

The harsh reality of today's charging infrastructure, or rather the lack of it, means a pure-EV can never give you the utter peace of mind, that a plugin hybrid can. Perhaps, Telo should think of filling up the under bed storage, with a 10 kilowatt engine from a Vespa scooter and a small fuel tank.

If those things can fit below the Vespa's seat, they can certainly fit below the Telo Truck's tray. Second aspect where the Telo falls short is the interiors. They are worse than a 9 thousand dollar BYD Seagull. The whole schtick about sustainable materials, is to prevent you from complaining about them.

The Shark's interiors are in a different league altogether. To prevent further embarrassment to the Telo, we have put the features comparison in the pinned comment. Finally, coming to the price.

The Telo MT-1 should have been at least ten thousand dollars cheaper than the Shark, given it's tiny footprint and simplicity. But thanks to tariffs and protectionism, it is the other way round. Makes you wonder, how cheaply a Chinese car maker can make something like it.

Thirty three thousand and three hundred Aussie bucks?