LDV electric ute heading to Australia

China's LDV has opened pre-orders in NZ for the eT60, which goes into right-hand drive production in August and should hit showrooms in summer.

Meanwhile, the fully electric ute is on track to be on Aussie roads by the end of this year or in early 2023.

The Kiwi market is being offered a single, dual cab configuration with an 88.5kW/h battery and a 130kW, 310Nm permanent magnet electric motor driving the rear wheels.

AC and DC charging is standard, and LDV is claiming a 325km range based on the WLTP test regime and a fast charge of 80 per cent in 40 minutes when using a DC charger.

Kiwis will pay A$72,199 drive-away, which includes GST and all on-road-costs.

LDV Australia general manager Dinesh Chinnappa confirmed to Drive the model was headed to Australia.

"We are endeavouring to have the LDV eT60 in Australia late this year or early next year, once right-hand-drive production commences," Mr Chinnappa told the website.

"While Australian timing and pricing are yet to be confirmed, we are very excited about the future rollout of electric LDV vehicles."

The new vehicle appears to be marketed to city tradies and families rather than farmers, offering rear-wheel-drive but no 4WD, 750kg payload, 1.5t maximum braked tow rating, and a side note revealing that towing the maximum weight reduces the range by 50 per cent.

Specifications include a suite of safety equipment, a 10.25-inch touch screen, 17-inch alloy wheels, 'leatherette' seating and a 220V mains power outlet.

LDV has included electronic brake force distribution and emergency brake assist, a reversing camera, hill descent control and hill start assist.

The eT60 also has electronic stability control with roll movement intervention, driver and passenger airbags, side airbags and full length curtain airbags.

The driver's seat comes with a range of adjustments for driver positioning, but centre of attention is the 10.25in touch screen entertainment system with Apple CarPlay, allowing the driver to navigate, make calls, send and receive messages, and listen to music.

Since launching in Australia in 2014, LDV has grown its market share to 1.3 per cent, which doesn't sound like much, but that's edging towards Honda (1.4pc) and Volkswagen (2.4pc) territory.

LDV sold 8391 vehicles from January to July, with its only current ute, the T60, making up 2121 of those sales.

Last year, Queensland Country Life spoke with a number of people from rural areas about why they bought a Chinese ute.

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