Hyundai electrified ute accelerates: “Mind blowing” range extender to take on BYD Shark 6 by 2028

Hyundai will be bringing a ute powered by an entirely new and “mind blowing” form of hybrid system to the Australian market to take on the BYD Shark 6 PHEV.

Speaking at the launch of the new Hyundai Palisade (upon which our ChatGPT image is based), Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano swore he will not leave this country until Hyundai has this new ute concept in its showrooms.

And, as he has two years left on his visa. that points to an earlier than expected 2027-28 arrival fpr Hyundai’s dual cab ute.

“And not just any ute, I mean, we could easily take another platform and just go out there and rebadge it, and that’s just not acceptable, especially now with the competition continuing to grow,” Romano said.

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“We need to differentiate ourselves. And there are technologies that we’re currently developing that are different than anything we’ve brought to the market.

“I can’t get into the details, but they will be coming out before I leave, and we will use it to ensure that our ute and our vehicles in the future are different than what China is currently producing. 

“Those brands are looking at different technologies as well. We’re going to try to be first to market in a number of areas, but unfortunately, I can’t get into that right now.

“I think we have to really think differently and I believe (Hyundai’s global CEO) Jose Munoz, who’s leading this charge, is thinking very differently.

“I wish I could get into more detail with you at this stage and if they produce what we’re talking about at this stage and what we’re working on, it’s going to be mind-blowing.

“It’s going to be great. I really mean that, and I’m not just blowing smoke.”

EV Central understands that the technology the excitable Romano is referring to is some form of hybrid technology where the vehicle – or the ute in this case – will have an engine and electric motors, but the wheels will never be turned by the power from the engine, which is used as a generator to supply power to the electric motor.

Yes, that does sound a lot like Nissan’s E-Power range extender system, but the Hyundai version of E-Power could be a plug-in of some kind.

This is more in-line with range extender tech that’s already seen in Australia, notably employed by the Chinese brand Leapmotor in its C10 SUV.

Romano was also quite open about his brand’s struggles with selling EVs into the Australian market thus far.

“I think last time we were together, I told you we were doing a terrible job selling EVs,”he said, bluntly. “I would say today, we’re a little less terrible. But we have a long way to go.

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“If you know our history, we were selling our EVs direct, that has changed, and so now we’re going back to the dealers That means we’re having to retrain and maybe regroup.

“So we’re not running away from the Chinese threat. We’re actually taking it on in a different way by having greater expansion and greater offers.”

Indeed, part of the Hyundai strategy is to take the Elexio medium electric SUV developed in China from early 2026.

While battling the cut-priced Chinese brands is one clear focus for Romano, not having a ute to sell is clearly something that keeps him awake at night.

“You see the (BYD) Sharks driving around. I mean, it’s going to just get tougher and tougher,” he said.

“You’ve got to look at the best vehicles in the market, the best utes in the market, who are the two biggest players,” Roamo said, referencing the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

“We all know who they are, and that’s who you have to position yourself with, but you have to bring in some new technology because a lot of that technology they’re using is better than ours.

“This is the key. You know, when I drive down my street and I see a ute in a driveway, and there’s usually another car next to it because most people that have a ute, someone in the family has something else.

“Wouldn’t you know that most of them are the same brand? So we’re not just missing out on the utes. We’re also missing out on the brand experience in order to be able to get into the family.”