Is A PHEV Diesel Hybrid A Viable Choice? Introducing the Chery Stockman

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I used to be intrigued by the latest announcement from Chery that they have been going to import a diesel plugin hybrid ute to Australia.

With Australian highways abounding in diesel utes and petrol PHEVs (notably, the BYD Shark 6 and the Canon Alpha), why hasn’t this been achieved earlier than? Carsguide touts the Chery Stockman diesel PHEV as not only a BYD competitor, but additionally a worthy challenger for the Ford Ranger.

It’s tough to seek out direct comparisons relating to the variety of PHEV utes on Australian roads. One of the best I may do was the next: Though the information and time intervals don’t completely match, they offer the overall path of gross sales: From February 2025 to October 2026, BYD has bought 31,659 Shark 6 petrol hybrid utes. In the identical time interval, it seems that Nice Wall (Canon Alpha PHEV) and Ford (Ranger PHEV) bought roughly the identical numbers — presumably within the low 1000’s.

It needs to be famous that the Ford Ranger solely has 30 km of electrical vary — a couple of third of its Chinese language rivals.

The Shark 6 has taken a chew out of Toyota and Ford gross sales, however has been criticised for lack of towing and carrying energy in comparison with diesel fashions. This has been considerably rectified by the introduction of a efficiency model — nevertheless, it carries the next price. Will the Chery Stockman resolve the towing, carrying, and value components? For the second, it appears to be like like towing and carrying are equal to the Shark Efficiency. In addition to the electrical vary.

The Stockman diesel PHEV will likely be fitted with a 2.5 l turbo diesel in addition to its electrical motor. It’s going to even be obtainable as a petroleum PHEV. Hypothesis is rife about pricing, with an expectation it is going to be priced to match the BYD Shark 6 (round AU$56,000). Reservations are actually open, in line with Chery’s official Australian webpage. You possibly can see footage right here. “The Stockman does every part a severe ute ought to — hauls, tows, fees itself — after which someway matches a luxurious inside in there too. How? Truthfully, don’t fear about it.” Echoes of a earlier Queensland premier: “Don’t you are worried about that.” Thanks, Joh. You possibly can see him in motion right here.

Australia’s historical past with diesel utes, I used to be curious as to why a diesel PHEV has solely simply now been launched. I’ve pushed petrol automobiles for over 40 years, and at one level, we had three within the driveway. As life slowed down in retirement, we didn’t want all of these automobiles, however for the previous few years we wanted to maintain them operating. We known as the automobiles Grace (Hyundai Sonata), Ruby (Hyundai Accent), and the grandfather of all of them, George (a 1964 Wolseley). There have been instances once we simply needed to drive the automobile to verify all of the bits have been working — “George/Ruby wants a run,” I’d say.

I’ve by no means pushed diesel, however my considering is, if that’s the case with petrol automobiles, what of diesel? What if I’m utilizing my new Chery Stockman diesel PHEV on electrical energy on a regular basis for metropolis commutes (I do know, I do know, who would try this?) and never utilizing the diesel engine. Would that trigger issues? I first turned to Professor Google to coach myself, and located this handy web site.

I realized that: “Diesel engines stay superior for steady-state motorway cruising.” “Elevated torque output makes diesel hybrids appropriate for towing or carrying heavier operational payloads.” That is as I anticipated. It doesn’t point out selecting up the youngsters from college, although, operating your diesel motor so every part stays cool within the sizzling Australian summer time. Petrol hybrids, however, “… usually ship smoother energy supply and decrease noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) ranges. For drivers in city visitors, this reduces fatigue and improves the working setting.” Additionally they are usually cheaper to buy. In Australia, petrol remains to be cheaper than diesel (although, not by a lot). So, operating prices could be a consideration.

Then there are the considerations about emissions — diesel engines have larger ranges of nitrogen oxides (NOx), inflicting considerations for fleets working in metropolis centres. Diesel combustion additionally generates particulate matter (PM), affecting air high quality. We wrote about analysis on this two years in the past wherein mice uncovered to exhaust fumes have been extra prone to get Alzheimer’s illness. Trendy diesel hybrids will likely be fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPF). “Petrol hybrids typically current a cleaner profile relating to native air pollution. Whereas petrol engines launch CO2, hybrid configurations usually obtain aggressive CO2 figures when the electrical vary is utilised successfully.”

After which there are totally different upkeep points. “Diesel engines with DPFs require common freeway driving to ‘regenerate.’ Utilizing a diesel hybrid completely for brief metropolis hops can result in DPF clogging and dear unscheduled downtime. Petrol hybrids typically have less complicated upkeep necessities in stop-start eventualities.”

To additional alleviate my ignorance, I turned to my Fb mind belief. “I wish to write up the brand new Chery PHEV diesel hybrid ute for CleanTechnica. From what I’m studying on-line, there seems to be some concern {that a} diesel motor wouldn’t pair properly with an EV. Your ideas?”

Andrew replied to my question: “Sure, I lately found this myself on researching non hybrid diesels. The DPFs will clog, when you solely journey brief distances. Equally with petrol PHEVS, you might doubtlessly have petrol sitting in your tank for months and it’ll ‘go off’. I consider that Geely Starray, can really detect the petrol standing and it’ll have interaction the engine, to the annoyance of the motive force.”

Robert tells me that: “Whereas it’s tough to quantify that assertion till you bodily drive certainly one of them. The assertion is a wise one and is a possible final result. A number of years in the past, Toyota had massive points with their DPF system as a result of folks didn’t drive them exhausting sufficient.”

I’d admire feedback on this subject from CleanTechnica readers.

We could have to attend for a definitive reply as extra of those automobiles seem on the roads. Hopefully, our ute drivers will likely be inspired by the excessive value of diesel and petrol to plug their PHEVs in, and assist create a brighter, extra electrical, much less polluted future.