The BYD Shark pickup truck made its world debut this week in Mexico as a production-intent model for the Mexican market. What is BYD? What type of a pickup truck is the Shark? Are you interesting in buying something like this? Will it come to the U.S. market and should other pickup truck manufacturers be worried? Let’s dig in.
BYD Shark
BYD is a Chinese automaker and the acronym stands for “Build Your Dreams”. BYD started as a battery manufacturer around 1995, and it became an automaker in 2003. The company has presence in the many countries around the world, including Mexico. However, BYD does not have any direct car or truck sales outlets in the United States at this time. According to some reports, BYD does not intend to sell the new Shark pickup truck or any other vehicles in the United States at this time.
The BYD Shark is a midsize pickup truck (by American standards) with a gas/electric plug-in powertrain. It has some very impressive specs, but first let’s see how big this thing is. The Shark has a wheelbase of 128.3 inches and total length of 214.8 inches. It’s 77.6 inches wide.
Let’s compare this size to the new 2024 Toyota Tacoma, which is currently the best selling midsize pickup truck in the U.S. The Tacoma four-door crew cab short-bed has a wheelbase of 131.8 inches and a total length of 213 inches. The Tacoma is between 76.9 and 77.9 inches wide.
Indeed, the BYD Shark’s dimensions match those of the most common U.S. midsize trucks. It is not a full-size pickup truck by any measurement.
For power, the Shark combines a 1.5-liter turbocharged combustion engine with two electric motors and a sizable 29.58 kWh battery. It has AWD capability. Combined maximum power is listed at 435 bhp and the all-electric driving range is 62 miles. BYD says the Shark can accelerate 0-62 MPH in 5.7 seconds. It appears to be a quick and efficient midsize pickup.
BYD says the Shark has 40kW fast charging capability, which means that 30-80% of charge can be recouped in around 20 minutes.
The Shark’s maximum tow rating is 2,500 kg (or 5,511 lbs). If the Shark came to the U.S. market now, this would the nearly the lowest tow rating of any midsize truck. The Honda Ridgeline is rated to tow up to 5,000 lbs. The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor is rated at the same 5,510 lbs of towing. Most other U.S. pickups are rated to tow between 6,400 lbs and 7,700 lbs.
We do not have a BYD Shark payload rating at this time.
TFLtruck has not yet seen this truck in person, and we do not have any first-hand experience with it.
What do you think? Are you interested in a plug-in gas/electric hybrid pickup truck like this? We know that the 2025 Jeep Gladiator 4xe plug-in hybrid is coming to market within the year. Also, the Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid is coming to Australia and other markets in 2025. Let us know in the comments below.
