24/03/2026
BYD Shark 6, One year, 40,000km review
What’s to like?
Plenty of cabin space, comfortable seats, a good size rear tub, enjoyable to drive, handles well for a 2700kg barge, even with the ICE running the cabin interior noise is pleasant at 110kmh, all round visibility is good.
What’s to really like?
The 3 x 240volt outlets in the rear tub and the ability to draw up to 22kWh from the HV battery reduces aftermarket spending compared to adding a battery system that often takes up tub space and delivers less output for a far shorter duration.
Having the HV battery pack between the axles is the vastly superior than positioning the pack behind the rear axle.
100kms of pure electric range is achievable around the suburbs with the factory Continental tyres (75kms on A/Ts). The potential to go weeks on end using only home solar power is a bonus.
Aftermarket products fitted
Manual roller shutter on the tub
7 inch LED spotlights
Kumho A/T tyres for dirt road driving (factory wheels and tyres kept for suburban driving).
The downsides
A few minor issues that are hopefully corrected with software updates or should be corrected when an updated Shark 6 arrives in showrooms:
The touchscreen is not as user friendly as it could be.
Tow mode needs more improvement via software updates.
The battery and rear motor coolant lines need factory fitted protection at the front, currently it’s exposed to rocks thrown up by the passenger side front tyre on unsealed roads.
The phone app is okay for 2014, unfortunately it’s poor for 2026.
The common T-Box failure doesn’t stop the vehicle being driven and is covered under warranty, unfortunately the unnecessary saga getting the T-Box replaced is frustrating.
The major issue- it’s well known that BYDs after sales customer service is on average very poor, BYD Australia’s excuse that the company has grown fast and service can’t keep up is not acceptable considering their well promoted game plan from the start was to grow fast. The fix is simple, spend less on marketing and more on communications.
For 30% of the Ute buying public this vehicle is absolutely NOT for them, for the other 70% the current $58,000 on road price makes the Shark 6 a serious contender.
