Changan Hunter guns down Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux

In a world where a double-cab bakkie should be all about leisure, South Africa is a place where double-cab bakkies are all about speed. The bigger the power numbers, the greater the desire and bragging rights.

And while Changan introduced its Hunter K50 REEV and made it all about fuel efficiency and range, the menu also includes 200kW and 470Nm.

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Making it substantially more powerful and faster than Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak X and Toyota’s Hilux GR-S that we had on test.

What is REEV?

The engine is only there to charge the 31.2kWh battery pack that drives the electric. Picture: Mark Jones

In the simplest of layman’s terms I can think of, REEV means that you have a traditional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) sitting under the hood. In this case, a 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder. But this engine is not connected to the drivetrain of the vehicle in any way. It cannot and does not drive the wheels.

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Despite producing 140kW of power and 340Nm of torque of its own in this case. The engine is only there to charge the 31.2kWh battery pack that drives the electric motors on the front and rear axles of the Changan Hunter.

Hunter is fast

The view most of the competition on the road will see. Picture: Mark Jones

So, how did the Changan Hunter K50 REEV perform when tested? With a quoted 200 kW/470 Nm of battery electric urge, you can expect the bakkie to be quick. And it is.

‘One Key Injection Force’ mode increases the engine’s idle speed and seemingly unleashes all the battery power on tap as 0-100km/h, which only takes 7.37 seconds. The 60-140km/h roll on acceleration test is equally impressive and the bakkie comes in with a time of 12.26 seconds.

The Changan Hunter offers up 133km of pure EV driving when the battery is fully charged. And after all the talk of the petrol engine being overkill, you can charge the bakkie from home or at a public quick charger without burning any fuel if you want.

Changan claim a range of up to 1000km on a 70-litre tank of fuel, but the reality is that I had to put an extra 300km of electricity range into the bakkie to reach that number. Leaving me with an overall fuel consumption of 10-litres per 100km.

Ford Ranger slowest

Stylish and attractive, Ford Ranger’s show doesn’t quite match the go. Picture: Supplied

Ford’s Ranger Wildtrak X is a special piece of kit. Fitted with a host of luxuries and extras as standard because of the X badge. It is not cheap, though, at R1 071 500.

Unfortunately, despite running a 154kW/500Nm 2.0-litre bi-turbo setup, it only gets to 100km/h in 11.95 seconds and covers the 60-140km/h run in 19.36 seconds. This makes the Ranger the slowest of the trio here.

Toyota Hilux also defeated

Toyota’s Hilux is a simple legend of a bakkie that puts up a brave fight. Picture: Supplied

You can never keep a Toyota Hilux out of any test. South Africa’s number one bakkie and car will also put up a good fight. But in this case, the 165kW/550Nm 2.8-litre turbodiesel GR-S just doesn’t have enough to go around the Hunter.

With a 0-100km/h time of 10.94 seconds and a 40-140km/h time of 16.54 seconds, the Hilux is quicker than the Ranger off the line and in roll-on acceleration testing. But it’s that instant electrical urge that fells them both. And it does so by a noticeable margin.

The on-road numbers tell a story that’s hard to ignore. Picture: Mark Jones

Conclusion

With an unknown pedigree and limited network support right now, you are never getting a Ford owner out of his Ranger, or a Toyota owner out of his Hilux, no matter how fast the Hunter is. But at the price, the Changan Hunter K50 REEV could almost be seen as the performance bargain of the year.

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Pricing

• Hunter K50 REEV – R779 900.

This includes a five-year / 150 000km warranty and a five-year / 90 000km maintenance plan.

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