Haval’s onslaught on the SUV market has taken another step with the introduction of the brand’s first hybrid offering in South Africa – the H6 Hybrid. Might the H6 Hybrid be one of SA’s best-value vehicles on sale right now? We attended its local launch to find out.
Where does the Haval H6 Hybrid fit in?
The H6 Hybrid addresses the major problem with the Haval range – iffy fuel economy.
The Haval H6 has been a runaway success for Great Wall Motor’s SUV brand. The Chinese brand’s family car/medium SUV seems to offer a lot of what buyers want in this segment: a fresh design, practicality, modern tech and, above all, a decent asking price when all things are added up.
The H6 Hybrid addresses one of the major issues the model lineup has had since its introduction – less-than-excellent fuel economy. Drivetrain efficiency has been the issue that’s most often raised by H6 owners and those who have test driven the H6 (and Jolion). The new range-topping derivative is purported to use about half the fuel of a regular H6 derivative, while not costing all that much more than the top-end non-hybrid version.
The H6 Hybrid also introduces a new Ultra Luxury specification that sits atop the lineup – above the previous best Super Luxury.
What’s the H6 Hybrid like to drive?
The best of both worlds – performance AND efficiency.
Toyota has been the go-to brand when it comes to hybrids in the South African new-vehicle market and we’ve become accustomed to hearing that the Aichi-based brand’s hybrid engines have been tuned for efficiency and that’s why they don’t produce more power than their pure ICE (internal combustion engine) siblings… despite having a battery pack and an electric motor on board. The H6 Hybrid, by contrast, combines a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder turbopetrol engine with an electric motor to produce a combined power output of 179 kW and 530 Nm of torque (at least that’s what Haval claims). That’s crazy considering this is an “average” family SUV.
After spending an afternoon driving the H6 Hybrid I can tell you the newcomer produces excellent overtaking acceleration and that there’s plenty of “get up and go” when you summon it with a firm prod of the accelerator pedal, but it’s difficult to say it felt like 500 Nm of shove, even in Sport mode. That said, it still felt plentiful and considering the derivative’s price point and rival in the segment – the RAV4 Hybrid E-Four, it certainly has the strongest powertrain.
The newcomer’s transmission is quite clever too. The H6 Hybrid uses a 2-speed direct-drive gearbox that I couldn’t find fault with. It’s quiet, and smooth and seems to avoid that annoying elastic feeling that rivals’ CVTs exhibit.
And what about that all-important fuel economy figure? Haval claims its H6 Hybrid uses just 5.2 L/100 km and during our 250-km trip (comprising rural roads and a bit of JHB N1 highway driving), we averaged 6.7 L/100 km. That represents a vast improvement on the 10 L/100 km-plus that users have been achieving in petrol-only versions of the H6.
What is Ultra Luxury spec?
Fit-and-finish is excellent and the specification on the Super Luxury has everything you’ll ever need.
Ultra Luxury may sound like it incorporates many more features than the Super Luxury grade, but the only notable addition is a self-parking feature. It still features an incredibly well-equipped specification that includes every conceivable safety feature and autonomous-driving function that you’d struggle to find in cars in the R1-million bracket.
The only feature I could detect that was missing was wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The feature is still available on the H6 Hybrid, you just have to have your phone plugged in via a cable.
Check out the list of features and specs on the H6 Hybrid here
Anything not to like?
The infotainment screen houses all of the onboard functions, but it takes a lot of getting used to.
It’s hard not to recommend the H6 Hybrid considering the sheer value it offers at a competitive price point. I do think that its ride quality isn’t quite up there with those of rival models from Toyota, Volkswagen and the Korean brands (Hyundai and Kia) – at least not yet. The H6 flagship’s ride can be a bit firm over harsh bumps and isn’t as composed as those aforementioned competitors when it comes to traversing dirt roads. However, most modern buyers aren’t likely to find that a deal breaker, unless they take the time to extensively test drive all of Haval’s competitors. Besides, the attractive price and specification of the H6 (hybrid and ICE versions) remain rather compelling value propositions.
I also find the infotainment system to be less user-friendly than most touchscreen setups. It requires a lot of button presses to access often-used settings and the menu descriptions don’t always make it immediately clear what each of the settings is supposed to do. The hardware also dings and beeps a lot until you’ve got all the settings to a state where most of the alerts are converted into haptic vibrations or simple alerts on the instrument cluster.
We compare the RAV4 Hybrid with the H6 Hybrid
Pricing and after-sales
At an all-inclusive price of R669 950 (October 2022), the H6 Hybrid offers near-unbeatable value for money. A 5-year/100 000 km warranty, 5-year/60 000 km service plan and 8-year/150 000 km battery warranty are included.
Summary
The H6 Hybrid offers a lot of car for the money; expect it to sell very well locally.
The Haval H6 Hybrid solves the fuel economy issue that has been bothering H6 owners and will appeal to those looking to reduce consumption and running costs (provided they can afford a R670k vehicle). The H6 Hybrid Super Luxury comes stacked with all the tech and features you may ever need at a very competitive price. The engine and transmission combine excellently and provide a smooth, powerful and fuel-efficient experience that will undoubtedly trouble the competition.
It’s not perfect though – there are a few gimmicks within the H6 Hybrid’s onboard systems that require some familiarisation and the ride quality could also be improved in order to really put the sword to the competition. However, even with those faults, it’s still an excellent buy at the moment for those looking to get the most value out of their hard-earned Rands.
Related content:
Haval H6 Hybrid (2022) Specs & Price
