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Planned range extending electric bakkie will be a first for South Africa, while the intricate EV will reintroduce the coupe bodystyle, but with a surprise twist.
The triplet of the Peugeot Landtrek and Changan Hunter, the K50 Hunter will become South Africa's first range extending electric bakkie. Image: Changan Thailand
Its entry into the South African market announced this week together with parent company Changan, Deepal will officially become the Republic’s 15th Chinese brand, with its focus largely being on electric as well as range extending electric vehicles
Launching its operations, alongside Changan, in the fourth quarter of the year with the all-electric S07 crossover, the brand will expand its line-up in 2026 with the arrival of a fully electric B-segment SUV and two C-segment SUVs, one fully electric and the other an REEV or range extending electric vehicle.
Of keen interest are two bakkies comprising a full EV and one REEV, of which no details were revealed at the brand’s formal market announcement in Rosebank.
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Imported by Saudi Arabian firm, Jameel Motors, the still relatively new automotive division of the Deepal Automobile Technology Group only debuted its first vehicle under the Deepal name three years ago, with its first bakkie arriving last year.
While this makes the S07 its oldest product, seeing as it went on-sale in China two years ago, its debutant bakkie will be a rebadged version of the Changan Hunter that will be sold locally from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Serving as the REEV, the Hunter K50 made its right-hand-drive premiere at the Bangkok Motor Show in Thailand at the end of last month as one of the first bakkies to utilise an REEV powertrain.
Sharing its foundation with the Changan means the Deepal becomes the third variant of the Peugeot Landtrek that will be sold locally and sixth overall product from the venture between Changan and Stellantis – the others being the now discontinued Kaicene F70, the Mexican-only Ram 1200 and in South America, the Fiat Titano.
Already listed on Changan Thailand’s website, the Hunter K50 sports a completely redesigned facia in-line with Deepal’s styling language, while retaining the same rear-end as the Landtrek and Changan Hunter with the only difference being the Deepal badge across the tailgate and a small K50 logo.
The complete opposite applies to the interior where little is shared or carried over from the Landtrek or Changan Hunter.
Housing a new dashboard, the K50 Hunter sports a dual screen setup consisting of a 7.5-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment system, the latter underscored by a series of Chery-like touch-sensitive buttons.
In addition to a Deepal specific centre console, the K50 Hunter has a steering wheel unique to it, different air vents, a steering column mounted gear lever and seemingly more upmarket materials.
Of keener interest is the powertrain that uses a 31.1-kWh lithium-ion battery pack as its main propulsion method.
Driving a pair of electric motors, the front producing 70kW/150Nm and the rear 130kW/320Nm, the setup is augmented by a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine, whose 135kW/390Nm, is mainly used to charge the battery pack.
In total, the setup delivers 200kW/470Nm and according to Deepal, translates to an all-electric range of 131 km and a combined range of 900 km.
Unsurprisingly, the double cab-only K50 Hunter is four-wheel-driven from the start and will do 160 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
According to Thai as well as Australian media, the charging supports up to 41 kW and will require a waiting time of 30 minutes.
Vehicle-to-load charging can be done up to 3.3 kW, with the K50 Hunter’s standard AC on-board charger producing 6.6 kW.
Measuring 5 380 mm long, 1 980 mm wide and 1 875 mm tall, the K50 Hunter has a 3 180 mm long wheelbase, ground clearance of 220 mm and a multi-link coil spring rear suspension layout similar to the Nissan Navara.
Priced from 1 099 000 baht in Thailand, which amounts to R612 497 when directly converted, the Deepal K50 Hunter will only be fully detailed for South Africa from next year.
Showed last year, the E07, in effect, rates as another rebadged Changan, this time the Nevo E07 with only the former suffix being absent in export markets.
Fully electric, the unibody E07 adopts a futuristic fastback-appearance in which the loadbin hides under a sloping glass lid that retracts electrically to reveal a more SUV-like boot complete with an under floor loading space.
Similar to the erstwhile Chevrolet Avalanche, the E07 sports a dropped mid-gate, which in this case, involves the rear seats being folded forward to reveal a completely flat “in-car” loadbin.
Adhering, therefore, to the coupe-bakkie principle used by the Ford Falcon Ute and Holden Commodore Ute (Chevrolet Lumina UTE) in Australia, the E07 also comes with a traditional flip-down tailgate should the glass section not be required.
Measuring 5 045 mm long, 1 996 mm wide and 1 680 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3 120 mm, the E07 has a claimed payload of 300 kg and interior more SUV-like versus that of a bakkie.
Devoid of any buttons, the nerve centre is the 15.4-inch infotainment system that can “bend” towards to the driver and pair of scrollers on the steering wheel that even lacks the Deepal badging.
Underneath, the E07 is powered by an 89.8-kWh battery pack powering either a single or pair of electric motors, the latter making it all-wheel-drive from the start.
In the case of the rear-wheel-drive single motor, the E07 offers-up 252kW/365Nm, a range of 640 km and 0-100 km/h in 6.7 seconds. The claimed top speed is 201 km/h.
For the dual-motor, the addition of a 188kW/280Nm motor on the front axle sees power and torque increase to 440kW/645Nm, but the range reduced to 590 km.
Top speed goes up to 210 km/h and the 0-100 km/h sprint dropped to 3.9 seconds.
In both cases, the E07 supports DC charging up to 240 kW, which Deepal claims will require a waiting time of 15 minutes from 30-80%. A 6.6 kW AC charger is, however standard on both models.
Soon to arrive in Australia and priced from 1 699 000 baht in Thailand, which amounts to a directly converted R946 890, the Deepal E07 will only be fully detailed for South Africa next year.
Additional information from Changan Thailand, Deepal Australia, carexpert.com.au and paultan.org.
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