This is the Maxus eTerron 9, a Chinese-made, all-electric, four-wheel-drive, mid-size pickup truck that made its European debut at the IAA commercial transport show this week in Hanover, Germany.
Maxus, a subsidiary of SAIC, already sells a battery-powered pickup truck in Europe — the T90EV — but it’s rear-wheel drive only. The new model comes with an extra motor, a bigger battery and a longer range.
Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Mitsubishi, all well-known pickup truck makers, currently have no rivals to the eTerron 9 on European soil. Ford sells the F-150 Lightning, a full-size pickup, in Norway and Switzerland, and Toyota has promised to produce an electric version of its popular Hilux in Thailand by the end of 2025. Isuzu has said it will start selling a battery-powered, four-wheel-drive version of its D-Max in Europe starting next year.
The new Maxus eTerron 9 is slightly larger than both the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger, with the Chinese version measuring 211 inches long, 78.9 inches wide and 73.7 inches tall. It is powered by two electric motors – one in the front and one in the rear – for a combined output of 436 horsepower.
A 102 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery sends power to the motors and enables an estimated driving range of 267 miles on a full charge. A 20% to 80% charge takes 40 minutes, according to Maxus, while the maximum charging rate is 115 kW. There’s also a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function to export power from the high-voltage battery to multiple 2.2 kW and 6.6 kW outlets.
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Inside, there’s a pair of landscape-oriented screens, two-tone leather upholstery, a floating center console, and a two-spoke steering wheel. The driver gets an eight-way power seat with ventilation and massage, and both front seats can be folded to create a 66.9-inch sleeping surface. There’s also a middle door similar to the GMC Sierra EV.
The electric truck can tow up to 7,716 pounds (3,500 kilograms), which is on par with most of its combustion-engine competitors, but its payload capacity is just 1,366 pounds (620 kilograms), well below the 2,206-pound (1,000-kilogram) rating of its competitors. The bed is 94.4 inches long.
But what its gasoline and diesel rivals don’t have is an 8.3-cubic-foot front trunk because there’s an engine in the way. The eTerron 9 also comes with an adaptive air suspension that automatically lowers the ride height at high speeds to improve highway range. The same air suspension allows the driver to lower the rear by 2.3 inches when stopped for easier loading and unloading.
Sales of the Maxus eTerron 9 are scheduled to begin next month, with deliveries set for January 2025.
