Beefed up Changan Hunter K70 REEV ups ante for next round of bakkie wars

Changan was the first to market with a Range Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV) when they launched their Hunter K50 REEV double-cab bakkie in South Africa late in 2025. Jampacked with tech and luxury, it is a solid offering that continues to find homes locally.

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More off-road credibility

And while on our travels to Chongqing, China, the home of Changan Automotive, we came across the new Hunter K70 REEV in R33 guise at one of their test facilities.

Based on the Hunter K50 REEV that we know, the Hunter K70 REEV offers a bunch of cosmetic and under-the-skin upgrades. I think it is safe to ignore the R33 badging and stripes for now as a local model derivative offering.

What you can’t ignore is the extended front and rear wheel arches, the chunky 286/65 all-terrain 17-inch tyres riding on new off-road alloys, an aggressive new front and rear bumper and roof rails.

Handling is said to be improved, while the eagle-eyed might notice that the suspension has been raised to offer more than 220mm of ground clearance.

I had a few runs up and down their straight track before I was offered a drive along a lane that offered some ruts and bumps.

Chunky 17-inch all-terrain rubber replaces 18-inch road rubber on new Hunter K70 REEV. Picture: Mark Jones

One of the fastest bakkies

All this really told me was that the Changan Hunter K70 REEV is every bit as fast as I remember the Hunter K50 REEV being. And it should be, because we were led to believe that the incoming Hunter K70 REEV will use the same dual-battery, electric-powered/internal-combustion-engine setup as its predecessor.

This means that you will have a combined 200kW of power and 470Nm of torque on tap from the two electric motors – one upfront and one in the rear.

And they, in turn, are powered by a 31.2kWh battery that can be charged by plugging the bakkie into an electrical outlet or by using the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol motor as a generator while on the fly.

Something that often gets confused when discussing REEV technology is the fact that the turbocharged petrol engine is not connected to the drivetrain and does not turn the wheels. It is there only to charge the battery.

The performance delivered by the bakkie is driven by the torque produced by the two electric motors, which is good enough to see the Changan Hunter K50 REEV at number 3 on the list of the fastest bakkies we have tested.

Aggressive new off-road front and rear bumpers are now on offer: Picture: Mark Jones

Fuel efficiency still a priority

Changan claims the same pure electric-only operating range of up to 145km and a combined driving range of 1 000km for the Hunter K70 REEV as they do for the Hunter K50 REEV.

As in the past, it is worth noting that these numbers can vary depending on your driving style and how often you charge the bakkie.

Pricing and specifications for the Changan Hunter K70 REEV will be confirmed closer to local introduction.

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