Great Wall Motors (aka GWM) continues to lead the way in China’s surge into the Australian new vehicle market, currently sitting in seventh place overall.
Nearly two-thirds of these sales come from the Haval sub-brand and its Joleon and H6 SUVs.
The larger of the pair, the H6, has been here since 2017 and has grown steadily in the highly-competitive medium SUV segment against big-hitters like RAV4, Outlander, CX-5 and Sportage.
Originally petrol-only, it added a conventional petrol/electric hybrid variant in 2022, followed in early 2025 by GWM’s first ever Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) vehicle.
Both hybrids come to Australia in the top-spec GT Ultra model with a high level of safety equipment and technology. The PHEV that we’re testing here is priced at $55,990 driveaway. That’s $9500 more than the hybrid.
That price has it sitting midway between the Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-60 and Jeep Compass and the Chinese BYD Sealion 6, HG HS and Jaecoo J7. Importantly, it does significantly outdo all of these rivals with its claimed EV-only range of 180 kilometres. More on that later.
STYLING
The H6 GT streamlines the body to the extent that GWM tags it as an SUV Coupe in line with the recent trend adopted by other brands to escape from the traditional boxy profile.
It certainly works and combined with the other styling elements gives it a real premium look that could easily pass, not only for its big-selling Japanese and Korean rivals but even for much more expensive European SUVs.
These styling elements include body-coloured side panels that extend the grille to the edge of the vehicle, LED lighting in twin rectangular headlights that wrap around the front, LED daytime running lights, LED foglights, taillights and a full-width lighting panel.
There are 19-inch alloy wheels with red brake calipers.
In a search for brand recognition in previous models the ‘Haval’ name is emblazoned across the front and rear in large, bold letters at the front and rear. Consistent sales growth means that’s no longer needed and they’ve been replaced by much smaller and more subtle badging.
There are five exterior colour choices, Hamilton White is standard, the other four are $495 options.
INTERIOR
It’s hard to fault anything inside the H6 Hybrid Ultra PHEV with a real feeling of quality throughout.
Comfortek front leather seats are heated and ventilated with the driver having an eight-way power adjustment, heated leather steering wheel and a head-up display.
There’s good storage space with adjustable twin drink holders and a large storage bin in the centre console.
There’s dual-zone air conditioning which, together with a flat rear floor, good foot, leg and headroom, and the panoramic sunroof make for a pleasant environment for rear passengers. There’s a centre armrest with two cupholders and air vents.
At the back there’s a powered tailgate which opens out to a 600-litre boot, expandable to 1485 litres with the rear seatbacks folded.
The batteries are located beneath the false floor taking up the space where a spare wheel would otherwise be stored leaving a puncture repair kit as the only option.
POWERTRAIN
The Haval PHEV combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine with two electric motors, one at the front and one at the rear.
The engine alone generates 110kW and 230Nm. The batteries add 135kW for combined outputs of 321kW and 762Nm.
The two systems work together smoothly with the battery providing instant torque at take-off and the turbocharger kicking in at higher revs.
Power is sent to all four wheels through GWM’s two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission electronically controlled transmission.
SAFETY
The Haval H6 Hybrid comes with an impressive suite of safety features that have contributed to it getting the maximum 5-Star ANCAP rating.
There are seven airbags; enhanced ABS brakes with brake assist, cornering brake control and brake override, roll movement intervention, hill descent and hill-start control, front and rear parking assist and a 360-degree camera.
Other features include automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, intelligent cornering control, rear cross traffic alert and braking, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and correction; autonomous emergency braking including pedestrian and cyclists, traffic sign recognition, blind spot detection, rear collision warning, driver drowsiness detection and two IsoFix child seat anchors.
INFOTAINMENT
Access is through two large colour displays, a centrally-mounted 12.3-inch touchscreen for the infotainment features and a 10.25-inch instrument cluster behind the steering wheel for driving data.
As is the growing trend there are no raised physical knobs for the most commonly-used features such as audio system and air conditioning meaning a series of taps on the screen for adjusting sound. There are some shortcut buttons on the side of the screen and other controls on the steering wheel.
There is no embedded satellite navigation so access needs to be made through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (both wired) or direct from the smartphone via Bluetooth. There is a wireless smartphone charging on the front console.
There are five USB ports, three in the front and two at the rear.
DRIVING
Haval H6 is at the larger end of its segment and entry is quite easy. While the seats are adjustable in most directions the base can’t be tilted and we found them a little uncomfortable.
Take-off is by battery only with the instant acceleration that we love. The zero to 100 km/h sprint can be done in just 4.9 seconds.
There are two different EV modes that both default to electric only driving and only switch to the engine when needed for hard acceleration or when the battery charge is low.
The combination of the smaller turbo engine and batteries mean that the H6 Hybrid cruises quietly. Brake regeneration can be adjusted and monitored on the driver’s display.
Out in the rural segment of our teat route the H6 Hybrid provides a surprisingly enjoyable drive with plenty of punch when needed. The ride was a bit spongy at times and handling was typical of most SUVs.
Fuel consumption is listed at 5.2 litres per 100km, we average just under 6.0 L/100 km during our test.
SUMMING UP
The jury’s still out on the benefits of plug-in hybrid vehicles in their role between conventional hybrids and full electric vehicles.
While PHEVs do eliminate the range anxiety that remains one of the major concerns for potential EV buyers the relatively small batteries in most PHEVs means that their electric-only driving range only sits around 50 kilometres and after that, unless re-charged, they become just another hybrid, but one that typically costs about $10k more than equivalent hybrids.
While the Haval H6 PHEV does cost $9000 more than the H6 Hybrid, it does provide significantly greater range, listed at 180km. Even if that equates to 150km in real-life driving conditions it makes for a much more attractive option than all of its rivals.
With the 55-litre fuel tank full and battery charged, GWM claims a driving range of 1000 kilometres.
RATINGS:
Looks: 8
Performance: 6
Safety: 7
Thirst: 8
Practicality: 8
Comfort: 8
Tech: 7
Value: 8
