Going up against oil burners that chug away within the single digits of the fuel consumption scale, Alex Shahini got behind the wheel of the GWM Tank 300 HEV to determine if its hybridized petrol powertrain could offer as much competition to the stalwarts as the SUVs value for money offering. 
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Hitting South African shores little less than 3 months ago, GWM’s impressively equipped and brutishly styled Tank 300 hasn’t had enough time in the market to determine if it will truly be a threat against the likes of the Fortuner, MU-X, Pajero Sport or even to some extent the Everest. Pricing remains a key appeal to the Chinese ladder-frame SUV, starting from R725 950 for the non-hybrid Super Luxury that employs the same petrol motor found in this HEV which tops pricing at R851 950.
Related: GWM Tank 300 Price and Spec
This isn’t the first time I jumped into the driver’s seat of this sizable and rugged offering from GWM. In fact, I was one of the first journalists in the country to get the opportunity behind the wheel in early February. That said, the fuel consumption on the brand-new model that barely had delivery mileage on the clock sat at over 11 L/100 km – significantly higher than the claimed rating of 8.4 L/100 km. Looking within the same price range of the Tank 300 lineup, I immediately did some research to see what range of figures the market-leading Fortuner delivered. The verdict between a 2.4GD-6 manual, 2.4GD-6 4×4 and 2.8GD-6 48V 4×4 VX was 6.8 L/100 km and 7.6 L/100 km a piece on the latter two models.
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Worth noting that the 48V hybrid iteration of Toyota’s popular SUV comes in at R961 800, which means the HEV still undercuts its electrified competitor by more than R100 000 but Toyota’s entry-level Fortuner starts from under R680 000. Taking a look at performance, the hybrid Tank does outperform the 48V Fortuner by some margin managing a total of 255 kW and 648 N.m in comparison to 150 kW and 500 N.m.
Over a several-day test period with the model that had over six thousand kilometres on the clock, I was expecting to find a fuel consumption metric that would display in single digits. Despite frugal driving and over 500 km completed (out of approximately 650 km in total) on the open road and within the national speed limit, the Tank 300 HEV could only manage 11.3 L/100 km. As expected, the angular two-box design of the Tank 300 proved to be a hindrance at speed. While any resources on the drag coefficient of the SUV are incredibly hard to come by, it is unlikely that its vertical uprights are more slippery than that of the more sleek Fortuner.
Surprisingly, the Tank would fare its best consumption in sedate driving conditions in or around suburbia with the occasional robot or stop street impeding its momentum. Fortunately, most of this spent energy can be regenerated with the electric motor and stored in the battery for electrified assistance when pulling off again. With the regenerative system in operation and very little drag, the lowest consumption recorded sat just above the 10 L/100 km mark and would never dip into the single-digit metrics.
While the consumption isn’t absorbently high for a vehicle of this stature, in comparison to its competition this could prove to be its ultimate Achilles Heel but there is hope according to Conrad Groenewald, Chief Operations Officer of Haval Motors South Africa. Groenewald stated that a 2.4-litre turbodiesel could be on the cards if a strong enough case was made but time will tell if the current package is accepted as it is. Would you prefer to see a diesel powertrain in the SUV?
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