Ahead of the imminent return of Geely to South Africa, its electric commercial vehicle brand, Radar, has officially been approved…
Ahead of the imminent return of Geely to South Africa, its electric commercial vehicle brand, Radar, has officially been approved for the local market from May this year.
Known outside China as Riddara, the division’s only model, the Radar Horizon bakkie, will formerly become the Republic’s first electric bakkie with a choice of rear-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive drive wheels.
Available in its home market since 2022, the Horizon, which carries the Riddara RD6 nameplate in export markets, rides on the unibody Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform developed by fellow Geely-owned brand Zeekr, and first introduced to South Africa last year with the arrival of the Volvo EX30.
Measuring 5 260 mm long, 1 900 mm wide and 1 830 mm tall, the RD6 has a wheelbase of 3 120 mm and will be imported to South Africa via Enviro Automative, whose current portfolio includes the DFSK light commercial bakkies and vans, as well as the Dayun Yuehu S5 that currently holds the distinction of the country’s most affordable EV.
The importer’s first mainstream product versus the niche appeal of its current products, the double cab-only RD6 has a claimed 1 030 kg payload, a loadbin capable of taking 1 200-litres and a tow rating of 3 000 kg.
Claimed ground clearance is 225 mm and the wading depth 815 mm, with the lack of an engine translating into 70-litres of added storage space below the bonnet.
On the power side, the initial range comprise a single variant, differentiated only by the electric motor count.
Motivated by a 73-kWh lithium phosphorate battery pack, the rear-wheel-drive RD6 develops 200kW/384Nm and will get from 0-100 km/h in 7.3 seconds.
The claimed top speed is 185 km/h and the all-electric range 424 km.
By comparison, the dual-motor four-wheel-drive makes 315kW/595Nm, enough for a top speed of 190 km/h and 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds.
Despite its greater output, the all-paw gripping model has the same claimed range as its sibling.
Supporting DC charging up to 110 kW, the RD6 battery will require 30 minutes waiting from 30-80%.
In addition, the charging setup supports vehicle-to-load, which means as much as six kilowatts can be fed back into the grid.
Enviro Automotive has also confirmed that the lesser 63-kWh and more powerful 86-kWh models will be introduced at some stage as well, the former solely with rear-wheel-drive and the latter exclusively with four-wheel-drive.
“We are very excited to be the first company to bring this electric 4×4 to the South African market. After-care service, parts and other essential requirements will be provided by the Enviro Automotive Group,” company CEO Gideon Wolfaardt said in a statement.
While no pricing details emerged, Enviro did confirm the RD6’s specification sheet, which consists of a six-speaker sound system, LED head and taillights, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and push-button start, electric driver’s seat, leather upholstery and a 10.25-inch instrument cluster display, a tyre pressure monitor, reverse camera and rear parking sensors.
While equipped with Apple CarPlay, the 12.3-inch infotainment system omits Android Auto, with the alternative being the Carbit Link mirroring app.
On the side of the four-wheel-drive, the RD6 sports a transparent chassis view camera, an eight-speaker sound system, full Android Auto, a 14.6-inch infotainment display, Matrix LED headlights, and a full suite of Level 2 autonomous driving system consisting of:
- Adaptive Cruise Control;
- Automatic Emergency Braking;
- Front Collision Warning;
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert with Reverse Automatic Braking;
- Lane Keep Assist;
- Blind Sport Monitoring;
- Lane Departure Warning;
- Lane Change Assist
In addition, the four-wheel-drive’s drive mode selector comes with four additional settings over and above the two-wheel-drive’s Eco, Comfort and Sport – these being Sand, Mud, Off-Road and Wading.
As mentioned, pricing is set to be announced within the coming months.
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