2026 BYD Shark 6 review: Australian first drive

As growing pressure is placed on manufacturers to power fleets of vehicles with alternative energy sources, all eyes are on the arguably most difficult segment to meet this demand – dual-cab utes.

I'd be remiss if I didn’t put the BYD Shark 6 at the top of the list for mainstream electrification of a dual-cab in a field of full diesel and mild-hybrid options. Now, buyers have two more options of the Shark 6, and vocal internet commenters have been silenced with a 3500kg towing option.

Like it or not, it’s the realistic future of the segment, or at least for the near future until someone figures out how to efficiently produce and burn a biofuel.

The gamble to be the first to market with a plug-in hybrid option seems to have worked for the brand, bringing in 22,924 sales since its release in 2025 (based on April sales figures). 

Offered in the singular Premium trim specification until now, BYD Australia has just released a more affordable cab-chassis Dynamic entry-level vehicle and a range-topping, larger-engine Performance variant.

I drove the two offerings back to back, along with the previous offering in recent weeks to reacquaint myself with the model, to see if the new choices have what it takes to top the stifling field of Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux domination.

The BYD Shark 6 range now starts with the Dynamic cab-chassis offering from $55,900 plus on-road costs.

Standard equipment sees the cab-chassis retain the 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol turbocharged engine paired with the 29.6kWh BYD Blade Battery for a combined output of 321kW and 650Nm.

As for interior equipment, you can find a 12.8-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, paired with a 10.25-inch LCD instrument cluster, synthetic leather interior, eight-way power-adjustable front row seats, 50-watt wireless phone charger, and a full suite of safety systems.

Pricing for the Dynamic does not include the Ironman Australian-designed alloy tray that will be announced at a later date.

The Premium, which was originally the only offering for this model, remains at the same price of $57,900 plus on-roads. It adds a 15.6-inch infotainment screen, head-up display, a tub, heated and ventilated front row, adjustable lumbar for the front row, rain-sensing wipers, genuine leather wheel, and Continental tyres over the Giti tyres found on the Dynamic – although tyre size remains the same across the board at 265/65 R18.

The top-of-the-range Performance variant heads the Shark 6 at $62,900 plus on-road costs. The majority of that goes to the new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine matched with the same battery, but a power-up for the rear electric motor to boost figures to a combined 350kW/700Nm.

Towing is uprated to 3500kg from 2500kg for the Premium, although payload is down to 762kg from 825kg. Not much else has changed on the chassis from the specs list perspective, but local BYD product employees told me the discs and pads are slightly larger than those of other trims, and the rear shocks have been “re-valved”.

As for what else you get for an additional $5000, Google Automotive Services has been integrated into the 15.6-inch screen, you get a new ‘Crawl’ off-road mode (which will be rolled out as an over-the-air (OTA) update for the existing Premium), NFC card capability, and a minor reshuffling of the buttons inside.

BYD expects that the Premium will take a 55 per cent split of sales, while the Performance will make up 25 per cent, and the Dynamic will peck at the crumbs of the remaining 20 per cent. Considering Australia’s obsession with top-spec variants, I dare say it’ll be more than that, but we will wait and see.

But it’s clear that the brand is listening to people online by upping the towing capacity, giving it an on-paper boost off-road and offering a cab-chassis variant.

From a purely plug-in hybrid ute side, there’s the Ford Ranger PHEV from $71,990 plus on-road costs, and the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV from $59,990 plus on-road costs.

The JAC Hunter PHEV will also be a player for this segment when the brand eventually announces pricing, though based on the information we have, it will likely be around the $49,990 plus on-roads range.

Jumping into the lower-specification Dynamic cab-chassis, the interior is very familiar if you’ve been looking at one of the Premium Shark 6s in showrooms currently, with the only striking difference being the smaller infotainment screen.

There’s a level of expectation when sitting in a ute deemed to be the 'tradie' option. The Dynamic does a good job of raising that expectation compared to other base-variant utes.

It’s trimmed nicely for its price point. It hovers around the same cost as a dual-cab Toyota HiLux WorkMate dual-cab 4x4, but trimmed closer to something like an SR5 with synthetic leather seats. Red stitching across the dash, a full-colour instrument cluster, and the striking lack of blank buttons add some luxury to the entry-level.

Retained for this trim is the centre console you find in the Premium variant, a physical gear selector surrounded by terrain mode, hazards, EV/Hybrid, tailgate, parking brake, volume dial, and the on/off switch are all contained in the same area.

The seats do a good job of offering enough comfort with under-leg support for a wide range of body shapes. My 184cm tall, long-legged frame got acquainted with the power-adjustable driver's seat (another base-variant rarity) to set myself up nice and tall for off-road, while dropping down the height for highway driving.

Continuing with the theme of keeping equipment from the Premium, the steering wheel will be a familiar setup. Two driving mode dials can be found at the bottom of the wheel, one side for on-road and the other side for off-road, along with a plethora of straightforward controls from cruise control to audio player.

As mentioned earlier, you do lose a few things opting for this trim: no front row heating and ventilation, no adjustable lumbar, and synthetic leather on the steering wheel. However, you do still have a wireless charging pad and two USB-C ports under the spacious centre console.

Moving up into the new range-topping Premium variant, you find all of the features you’ll see in the existing Premium variant – heating and cooling seats, power-adjustable lumbar, head-up display, and a genuine leather steering wheel.

However, BYD has redesigned the interior slightly. Noticeably, there’s a lack of a centre gear selector. Instead, it has been moved onto the steering column, where the indicator is on other variants, with the indicator stalk moved onto the other side of the wheel. Positioned perfectly to accidentally hit when going to indicate, though it luckily won't select neutral unless you're stopped.

In its place, the buttons have been simplified, moving controls like the off-road mode onto the same mode button, and some of the climate controls onto the screen. This space has been replaced with a small storage bin for reasons unknown to the average user.

While the seats are essentially the same across the board, having heating and ventilation is a massive bonus in my eyes. As we come into the colder months, that black synthetic leather is going to be stone cold in the mornings. Similarly, in summer, the last thing you want is sweaty thighs with no ventilation.

One of the biggest problems I had with this seat is the lack of seat base bolsters. They’re not as prominent as I’d like, and I found myself sliding around in the seat more than I would in other utes, especially more than a cloth seat option.

The second-row space is a standout for this ute. Historically speaking, dual-cab utes are horrendous for rear passengers due to a lack of space, leading to a vertical backrest. While you can argue that a ute isn’t really an option for the family, it’s becoming increasingly common.

Still, the Shark 6 has angled the seat in a way that it doesn’t feel like you’re sitting on a church pew. Then there is the obvious bonus of not having a transmission tunnel running up the length of the floor, because there’s no mechanical link between the front and rear axle, where a traditional ute would have a driveshaft.

The need to swing my legs across the floor isn’t necessary, as I have more than enough space with the front row set in my driving position and me sitting properly in the back. My feet slide under the seat, and when my knees do touch the seat in front of me, it’s met with a soft back.

I can’t see there being too many complaints from having two kids in the back, or even young adults, but the seat is on the slipperier side with a lack of usable base bolsters, so there’s a tendency to slide around.

Second-row equipment is rounded up by two centre vents, a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders, USB-C/USB-A ports, and a 230V vehicle-to-load (V2L) socket to power most household electronics, maybe even a game system.

The tub measures up to a similar size as many of the popular offerings like the Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and such, but comes with an electric latch to do away with the handle on the tailgate for a more shaved look.

Inside you can fit a plastic-lined area and two V2L plugs – again the 230-volt, which would be more than enough to power a few single-phase tools or a coffee machine.  

The payload has been dropped on the Performance over the Premium thanks to some additional weight throughout, where the payload is 825kg in other trims – the top spec is 762kg.

Moving to the Dynamic cab-chassis, the price mentioned above does not actually include the alloy tray, which was designed in collaboration with Australian firm Ironman. There’s no indication of how much this will cost, but tray users will need to account for this in their purchase cost.

Starting with the smaller 12.8-inch infotainment screen in the Dynamic, it does an excellent job of not showing the fact that it is a lower-specification option, mainly being fast enough and big enough to show off everything you need to access at a glance.

Having my phone connected via Apple CarPlay wirelessly for the majority of the testing, I did not experience any dropouts throughout the day, and the fact that an 11-speaker audio system is included from this trim adds to a little bit more premium appeal over other base variants.

I still think it's annoying to not have any physical climate controls anywhere. I can’t imagine how it would operate when a tradie has hands caked in dust or concrete, although you can cue the 'a real tradie wouldn’t drive one of these' jokes in the comments.

The rotating screen found in the Premium variant has been axed for the new offerings, but I think most people wouldn’t notice the fact that it’s gone given its borderline useless everyday appeal as a neat party trick.

A lack of a head-up display is noticed, though the 10.25-inch instrument cluster does a good enough job of displaying everything you need. 

There’s an in-built satellite navigation system if you don’t want to run things through your phone, along with FM and DAB radio, though no AM.

You can also stream music through the in-built apps again if you’re not into the Android Auto and CarPlay setup, but the Dynamic lacks the two years of free 2GB data plan you can find in other variants. Data can be purchased via the BYD phone app for around $10 a month – any after-purchase subscription service gets a thumbs-down from me.

The Performance variant sees the screen upped to 15.6 inches, same as the existing Premium, and again does a stunning job of displaying everything quickly enough and supplies a noticeable lack of CarPlay dropouts.

My main complaint is how easy it is to get lost in these screens. I don’t doubt you’d learn quickly, owning the car, but I think back to trying to give my parents a crash course on what settings need adjusting, and I feel like it’s a bit too complicated.

Take, for example, I want to turn off the speed-limit warning and my driving monitoring system – both annoying. You need to dig through two different menus in the system to find these, rather than just having them all at a quick select through an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) menu.

The same with things like trying to figure out how to kick the petrol engine in to recharge the battery. It’s all just confusing and too hard to do on the fly. Anything that needs to be explained to someone who reviews cars for a living needs to be adjusted to be more straightforward.

The head-up display is too low for taller folk. I found myself slouching in my seat to see it as it sits too low, even with my seat adjusted all the way down.

The Performance is the variant all eyes are on now. With 3500kg of towing capacity, it brings the Shark 6 into line with other dual-cab utes of the size, with the main change being a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder in lieu of the 1.5-litre.

Power upgrades show a 29kW/50Nm upgrade over the other trim levels to bring it to 350kW/700Nm combined, but the main word BYD is going for is “effortless”. Apparently, the chassis was always capable of such a weight, but they wanted to make sure it could pull 3500kg without a struggle.

That’s why when you look down the specifications list, you won’t find any other changes to the actual physical equipment. However, a BYD Australia staffer did tell us that the disc and pad size on the front axle has been upgraded, along with a re-valve of the dampers on the rear.

Testing both offerings back to back, there’s no massive difference between the two engine specifications. Initial thoughts are that the petrol engine seems to work itself less hard in terms of cabin noise than the 1.5-litre counterpart when it kicks in, but it’s almost unnoticeable.

Where the difference seems to be most noticeable is climbing up to freeway speed. You can feel the 2.0-litre offering has more top-end grunt over its 1.5-litre counterpart, and evident mostly when doing take-offs on a closed course.

The suspension is still quite firm, to the point where potholes and uneven road surfaces had me stuttering while speaking. It’s a direct response to the fact that this ute has a kerb weight of 2775kg, but the use of coils instead of leaf springs does promote a little more lateral movement and control.

It’s not unbearable, but given the way this ute is certainly marketed as more of a city-dweller than a hard country option, I can see it being a sore point for people coming out of an SUV or similar.

It’s not all a rough transition from a passenger car. I was genuinely shocked at how the Shark 6 composes itself when it comes to turns. Given the fact that the floor is lined with batteries and that aforementioned coil-sprung rear, it means it handles like a car, which is high praise for a dual-cab ute.

Even when tackling some emergency swerves on a closed course, there wasn’t a dramatic amount of push on the front wheels when it came to hard cornering. In fact, it came more from the rear, and even then it’s stable for a ute thanks to a lack of hard body roll.

As for the steering and brakes, when navigating carparks it’s an intuitive experience with a certain lightness akin to a medium SUV, while almost forgetting you’re at the helm of a 5.5-metre-long vehicle. The brakes offer a linear experience, and the larger discs and rotors don’t really feel that different on the Performance variant. However, the regenerative braking was weak.

The Dynamic cab-chassis offers much of the same experience. You expect it to be down on power, considering the internal combustion engine is 25 per cent smaller than the top specification, but there’s still a bit of effortlessness to it.

Across both variants, there’s a nice suite of driver aids. Again, something I didn’t get much of a chance to test at length, though it’s no different from what is applied to the Shark 6 variants we have tested previously.

The glaring issue with the ADAS is the driver monitoring system and the speed limit warning. The monitor would be hard for me to live with, thanks to its incessant and overzealous beeping, and the same with the speed limit warning, which often picked up signs that weren’t the actual speed limit.

The Shark 6 gets a big bump in its comfort thanks to the lack of cabin noise, which makes city driving and low-speed navigating just a whole lot more comfortable compared to other vehicles on the market.

As for fuel economy, a quick test loop returned a reading of 8.5 litres per 100 kilometres, but this can be easily trumped with a fully charged battery.

BYD claims the Performance should hover around 1.3L/100km and around 80km of electric-only range. Meanwhile, the Dynamic is the same as the Premium, which is 2.0L/100km and 80km of electric-only range – all figures WLTP.

I only had time to tackle the off-road sections in the Performance, which comes with the new Crawl mode set to be applied as an over-the-air upgrade for existing customers.

The new mode limits you to 20km/h and modulates torque to prevent the wheels from slipping. Essentially, you can plant your foot on the accelerator and the Shark will do the rest.

It’s an improvement in its off-road capabilities, but the Shark 6 will probably never be a serious off-road option considering its engine layout. Its biggest kryptonite is that the rear electric motor doesn’t seem to work well with the front axle, resulting in most of the bias being on the front wheels.

Still, the Crawl mode and off-road settings do an okay job of replicating a differential lock by utilising the traction-control system, and better than some competitors, but it's no replacement for a real diff lock.

You would have no issues tackling some tame trails, though tougher stuff might be a challenge and borderline impossible when it comes to deep ditches and getting the axles really crossed up.

The Performance gets a tow-rating bump to 3500kg braked, up from 2500kg for the Dynamic and Premium. Luckily, I had the chance to pull a 2770kg caravan and a 2680kg excavator with the Performance variant on a closed course.

It does an impressive job of getting up to speed without the moan and groan of a diesel engine, though the petrol engine certainly becomes a little more noticeable.

I was more surprised at the lack of rear suspension sag when loaded up with a caravan. With both mechanical and electric trailer brakes, it has some pretty impressive stopping power, even loaded with a few tonnes on the rear.

We didn’t get a chance to take it for a drive on public roads with the trailer, though with rapid acceleration and hard stops, the dash showed around 18L/100km, which falls in line with the testing claim BYD made after locally towing with a 3400kg 26-foot caravan.

The Performance and Dynamic trim levels are welcome additions to the line-up, but does a bigger ICE engine and higher towing capacity warrant selling your Premium? I don’t believe so.

Unless you plan to exceed 2500kg in towing, it's not a massive upgrade for new and existing customers, which is where the projected 55 per cent Premium sales split makes sense.

The packaging as a whole is still excellent with a few mild annoyances, and the Shark is still a game-changer for this segment.

Better in every aspect than a standard diesel ute from one of the big contenders? No, it’s still unserious off-road, and the fuel economy really isn’t spectacular – to extract the most out of it, you’d need to charge at home and drive around on battery power.

Looking at it from someone who wants a dual-cab ute that acts like a car, it’s an excellent option, but battling against rugged utes, it's really no contest for its fossil-fuel competition.

Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.

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