Volvo Parent Company Launches EV Truck Brand
Geely launches Radar brand for electric trucks and SUVs, promising a lineup of vehicles in the coming years.
The Radar RD6 truck, revealed this week, is expected to offer a range of 373 miles in the CLTC cycle.
The launch of the truck and SUV brand reflects the relatively recent appearance of a market for lifestyle pickups in China.
Chinese automaker Geely, parent company to both Lotus and Volvo, has launched more than just an electric truck this week—it launched a whole brand. Previewed a few days ago via some leaked photos, the Radar RD6 electric truck received an official reveal this week, promising a range of over 600 kilometers (373 miles) on a full charge, at least in China's CLTC cycle.
Intended as a lifestyle pickup, the RD6 will effectively be the first such electric model aimed at outdoorsy urbanites—a demographic that was not catered to in China until very recently. Based on Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), the RD6 will be one of several camping-oriented models the brand plans to offer in coming years.
In all, the brand plans a coupe-style truck, a large SUV, a four-wheel bike and an even larger pickup.
The new images revealed this week show a Honda Ridgeline-style layout and proportions, with a usable but not overly expansive cargo bed meant for camping gear.
It's worth noting that pickups in China are currently used almost exclusively by those engaged in farming and are not often seen in large cities. In fact, they had been banned in many cities along with other commercial vehicles until just a few years ago. In addition, there are just a handful of players in the entire segment, with Great Wall Motor perhaps being the best known brand outside of China, thanks to exports to the rest of Asia and other regions.
Great Wall had been moving in the direction of lifestyle pickups thanks to sales in Australia, where pickup trucks are lucrative for foreign automakers. But until now, an electric model aimed at lifestyle pickup buyers was nowhere in sight.
Geely itself has been on something of a brand launching spree for the past few years, having created Lynk & Co., Zeekr, Polestar, and now Radar in a short span of time. The automaker is easily one of the most creative when it comes to new nameplates and body styles, willing to experiment in new segments, and has usually found itself in the right place at the right time.
It remains to be seen whether Radar will make a big impact in China, but at the very least Geely will have the whole electric truck segment pretty much to itself until the arrival of the Tesla Cybertruck, now expected in late 2023 at the earliest in North America and likely much later elsewhere.
