Another fashion delirium or is there to stay?

There are several momentary fevers on marketing history. After the Mexican palette, it is now the pistachio turn, which is known to when it will be on the menus from refined restaurants to popular ice cream in increasingly bizarre recipes with an ingredient that no one knew what was until the other day – or they don’t even know. Is it like this with BYD?

From an unknown brand, it has gone through the prime time of popular TV and now invades segments with such a traditional audience that it is almost impossible to change its habits. Byd Shark is a medium pickup, just where Toyota Hilux, Chevrolet S10 and Ford Ranger are, with a gasoline engine and plug-in hybrid to convince such a faithful client to drop the diesel. What are the chances of this to happen, especially for $ 379,800?

Shark is imposing. The general lines of the body are square, with the wheel boxes highlighted and little rounded. There is no way not to remember Ford Ranger and F-150 when looking at the front and rear (and the staircase on the bucket lid), but BYD draws a lot of attention at night, when the lighting stands out when interconnecting the headlights and flashlights with a bar in LEDs for each set. Shark uses the biggest BYD logo we’ve ever seen, not hiding its origin, both in the front and rear, it stamped on the lid.

Inside, the finish impacts the good quality and choice of materials. It has the classic BYD’s classic duo, being the 12.8 “core center and the panel in 10.25”, with the well-known design similar to any car of the brand, with a noticeable evolution in multimedia usability, especially when maintaining the apparent aircondition commands even with mirrors (Apple Carplay and Android Auto, both without wires). On the steering wheel, you can select the driving mode and settings off-road and, for the driver, a good head-up display.

Photo of: Motor1.com

In the beginning, you can be confused by the amount of buttons on the center console, just as there are those who do not like the touch of sports of the orange details inside, which does not talk to the proposal of a pickup like Shark. Overall, the interior of Shark could be placed on a SUV without problems, able to combine even more.

Technically, Shark is a chassis-carrocery architecture pickup, like all the averages it competes. Looking isolated aspects, we better understand your proposal, such as the rear suspension with helical springs and a double-it architecture in place of the rigid axis with spring beams. This, along with other factors, placed the load capacity of only 790 kg in 1,200 liters, but prioritized the comfort of occupants mainly from the rear seat.

Photo of: Motor1.com

Shark uses the same base as the Fangcheng Bao 5, a BYD group SUV that will be sold in Brazil in 2025, which is why the SUV soul in the pickup is very clear. The hybrid set itself is very similar between them, with the 1.5 turbo gasoline and two electric motors, one on each axle, forming a set of electric traction, its main differential in front of its turbodiesel competitors.

On the front axis, the 183 hp 1.5 turbo engine and 26.5 kgfm with a relatively simple conception with a phase variator in the admission and direct injection command. In addition to traction, it generates energy for batteries, with 29.6 kWh in the already classic Blade format and LFP composition, which is responsible for feeding the 231 hp and 31.6 kgfm front engine and the 204 hp rear and 34.7 kgfm. Together, 437 hp are declared, but not torque.

Photo of: Motor1.com

I will not lie that Shark has the pickup dna, because it does not have. For the positive side, the suspension does not have the behavior so characteristic of the rigid axis and beams, without the rear leaps, with adjustment well focused on comfort and very long course. But it ends up swinging a lot at higher speeds and a frequency that bothers you when you are spilling, for example, and some dry beats.

This behavior can please an audience that is going to the pickup trucks, but not a traditional buyer and is another reflection of how Shark is more concerned with being a SUV than a pickup. At the wheel, if you ignore that there is a bucket in place of the trunk, there is no way to call Ranger, S10, Hilux and company, but even remember the Song Plus, stored the proportions.

Photo of: Motor1.com

But it’s interesting to ride with Shark. Despite the 5,457 mm in length – Amarok has 5,350 mm, for example – it is quiet to get used to this size. It is docile and light to drive, with the help of electric steering, good glazed area and various driving assistants, but what stands out is the good hybrid set of the pickup and how it acts.

First, the system allows you to run in full electric mode. We reached 87 km of urban autonomy before the car itself changes (forced …) for a 25% load hybrid, a good number considering the 2,710 kg of Shark and two electric motors, especially when running in urban cycle without fuel. She can still be proud of being the only one who does this.

Photo of: Motor1.com

Like all byd, Shark allows several loading and energy use settings. As standard in our tests, we also put it in hybrid and automatic mode for recharge and battery administration. Thus, Shark reached 45 km/liter in the urban cycle, linking the 1.5 turbo and, when this happens, is well isolated in noise and vibrations.

Of course it depends on the load of the batteries. If you use the 1.5 turbo to do this, without depending on external source, you can expect a very different consumption that, in the real world, almost equals the larger pickup trucks at the end of the day. The combustion engine is not the most efficient when it works more than the hybrid mode, where it participates little, but it is worth remembering Shark’s weight in this equation.

Photo of: Motor1.com

If in everyday life the power of electric motors are sufficient, the 437 hp appears together in a few moments. If Shark is smooth in use and doesn’t even seem to have all this force for linearity, in Sport mode it begins to throw this strength in the game. In 0 to 100 km/h, it spilled 5.6 seconds, but it is the resumptions that make the most difference in use, whether in the city or on the road, important for overtaking, for example.

On the road, the hybrid system itself prioritizes the 1.5 turbo engine, which makes a good difference in use when compared to the aspirated 1.5 that BYD uses in the rest of the line. Of course electricity are working, but can relax more and let the combustion work harder and preserve the cargo of batteries. But this has a price, with 9.1 km/liter at road rhythm, quite different from the urban environment. Interestingly, the road is one of the favorite environments of pickup owners and loses the meaning of the PHEV system.

Photo of: Motor1.com

If you have never had an average pickup, Shark won’t take you much of what is probably used to. SUV comfort, premium -worthy equipment package, good finish and a spacious cabin are points that highlight Shark in use. Hybrid, brought technology to the diesel segment a few years ago, since average gasoline pickups have gone out of line. It’s like getting in the fashion of pickups without having to have the part that a nonpicape owner likes.

But I don’t see a diesel pickup owner to take the Shark home. The dependence on external recharge – which is up to 6.6 kW in AC and 55 kW in DC – is already a complicating point, especially for those traveling a lot, despite more than 400 hp. A traction system that has no reduced box or that is made by an electric motor, not a differential, is a challenge for those who depend on the out-of-road-although it goes well on the dirt, without difficulties. Shark’s own structure hopes too much when compared to traditional averages, even if it doesn’t go to something heavier.

Photo of: Motor1.com

In the city and dirt road, you can see some noises, such as the doors knocking on the body when it passes in heavier holes or more rugged road. The course of exaggerated suspension, with dry beats, gives the impression that the set was calibrated for use on the asphalt and passed the earth just to mark space, not as a priority. Just pass a faster spine to see the set complain and Shark swing too much.

Shark should be a SUV or a smaller pickup, such as a Ford Maverick or Ram Rampage, to have more space in the market. It is good as a car, but did not study Brazilian competition and its audience, very faithful to what is in the garage and quite demanding. It will take a new customer more concerned about the fashion style and this can already lead to a good number of sales, but not those who have the traditional models of the segment, especially those who use them beyond the city, out-of-widen or loading capacity.

Photos: Mario Villaescusa (for or motor1.com)