Chinese brand GWM, best known in New Zealand for its Haval SUV models, has revealed a next-generation plug-in SUV at Auto Shanghai 2023 that may or may not eventually be a successor/sister to the current Haval H6.
The B07 (aka Xiaolong Max in China) is medium-large SUV that has the look of a pure-electric vehicle (note the flush front), but is in fact a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), matching a 120kW 1.5-litre petrol engine with a large 20kWh battery and dual-motor AWD. Combined power is 205kW/585Nm and GWM claims 105km pure-electric running with a fully charged battery.
B07 is slightly larger than the current H6 (which is currently only available as a non-plug-in hybrid in NZ, although a PHEV with 200km range is under consideration).
The new model is similar in size and powertrain concept to the Mitsubishi Outlander, with a separate electric motor on the rear axle (no physical connection to the front) giving fast AWD response via the GWM iTVC (intelligent torque vectoring control) system.
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GWM says the B07 is designed to run efficiently both as an EV or petrol-electric hybrid, with average fuel consumption of 5.5l/100km "even on a low state of charge".
New interior architecture, with a "Coffee" operating system, promises to be more intuitive than the somewhat confusing infotainment featuring in current Haval SUVs.
BO7 goes on sale in China from May, after which time consideration will be given to export markets. It will come with a new name, of course - "B07" is simply a code name used by GWM for the project.
But more important than the model itself is the new "Hi4" (hybrid intelligent 4WD) electrified architecture it uses, which will power a variety of new-generation GWM models going forward. The company says it's compatible with power output up to 340kW and its sophisticated operation (the B07 has nine different drive modes to drawn upon, for example) makes it suitable for a wide variety of applications.
GWM's Shanghai show material also outlined a non-turbo 1.5-litre (80kW/135Nm) version of the powertrain that could be used for smaller SUVs - but still with AWD.
