Off-roaders lose it over wild videos of BYD Shark

Extreme footage of a Chinese EV ute being pushed to the limit in the Aussie bush has divided the four-wheel-drive community.

Aussie four-wheel-drive enthusiasts have been divided by a new breed of green utes taking on the nation’s trails.

Videos of China’s BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute taking on tough territory have sparked debate in the off-roading community.

Vision of the hybrid-powered utes taking on the infamous “Beer o’clock hill” at The Springs 4X4 Park in south east Queensland lit up social media when one driver took a bold run at a steep and rocky incline, damaging the car’s chassis and cooling system.

BYD Shark on Beer O'Clock Hill. Picture: Team Bree Offroad

A video posted by Team Bree Offroad suggested the car was “destroyed”.

While some commenters suggested the car’s name should be changed from Build Your Dreams to Bring Your Duct tape or Back Yard Design, others suggested it was “plain stupid abuse of a perfectly good car”.

“I have never seen a harder full send on the hill, I think I know why,” another said.

MORE: BYD Shark 6 named Car of the Year

The innovative BYD Shark 6 won our Car of the Year award. Picture: Thomas Wielecki

“Truthfully, it wouldn’t matter what kind of vehicle it was. If it was driven in that gung-ho, brain dead manner anything would have broken,” and that you could “line any other vehicle up and hit that hill at the same speed and manner is going to yield the same results”.

A second clip posted by 4WD TV in muddy conditions reported the Shark “ripped up this hill” with no trouble.

The BYD Shark on a muddy trail. Picture: 4WD TV

While some enthusiasts praised the car and its driver for climbing the territory “like a rat up a drain pipe”, others said EV owners should “keep dreaming” and “stay in your cities where you belong”, poking fun at the car’s Chinese roots by saying they were “lucky the CCP didn’t remotely immobilise him part way up”.

Savage Tech Australia, a company specialising in off-road accessories, posted on social media that its Shark copped a flogging on “the holy grail of Aussie off-road, a brutal climb where reputations go to die”.

MORE: Dutton move could torpedo EV industry

“We didn’t break anything except the myth that the Shark can’t handle it.

“Everyone online is saying the Shark is wrecked, it’s broken it’s done.

“No issues at all, still in one piece. It’s a bit muddy and slightly scuffed but definitely not broken. She loves it.

“Not bad for a bloody Chinese ute.”

MORE: Six-cylinder power for RAM ute

BYD Shark utes loading onto a car carrier in China. Picture: Supplied

The BYD Shark was the sixth most popular car in Australia last month, splitting the Toyota Prado and Ford Everest four-wheel-drives.

Limitations in the car’s traction control systems have been exposed by motoring outlets such as CarExpert and Driving Enthusiast Australia, showing that the high-tech Shark can struggle in slippery conditions that do not challenge conventional turbo diesel utes.

4X4 fans commenting on the Shark’s off-road abilities have been split by the car’s potential, with some saying “I have seen enough videos of these sharks ‘wheeling’ to know that the traction systems on them is complete junk”, while others said that “with a little local development and some software being rewritten, these will be a great proposition”.