For the price of a premium GWM P-Series, you can have a battery bakkie.

South Africa has some huge farms and wildlife estates. Massive areas where an off-road bakkie earns its keep. And rarely ventures onto a public road.

Toyotas arethe vehicle of choice on nearly all of these farms and wildlife areas. Specifically, the Land Cruiser 79 bakkie range.

But what if you could buy an affordable battery-bakkie, tough enough to help run your farm? Lugging loads. Retrieving lost Nguni calves atop isolated koppies. How good a deal, would that be?

Most double-cab bakkie customers considering a shift from petrol or diesel to battery power are looking at Ford’s F-150 Lightning. Or the Rivian RT1. But what if you could go with something a bit simpler, and Chinese?

At R500 000, the Kandi K32 is terrific value for a battery-powered double-cab bakkie. Pricing undercuts even the base version of Ford’s F-150 Lightning.

If you are looking for a skateboard architecture, you’ll be disappointed with the K32. This Chinese double-cab is built on a traditional bakkie platform. Curiously, despite having battery power, a power bulge is shaped into the bonnet.

What do you get for your R500 000? Not a lot of power or battery capacity. The K32 is available with either a tiny 20.7- or 50kWh battery. Much smaller than the battery configurations used in Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Rivian’s R1T.

Power is modest, at only 21 kW. And Kandi isn’t making outrageous range claims, either. The smaller battery version will only roll for 97km, before needing a recharge. Require more range? Kandi’s 50kWh K32 is good for 240km. Both versions of the K32 can only reach 105km/h.

With limited range and a very low top-speed threshold, what is the point of this Chinese battery bakkie? If you think about farm life, nobody ever drives 120 kph on their own land. And range isn’t a huge issue on even the largest Karoo farm – provided you fall into the habit of plugging-in each evening.

Battery bakkies are terrifically heavy, because customers require huge range – necessitating the fitment of massive batteries. But the K32’s weight is comparable to most conventional double-cab bakkies – at only 1855kg. Compare that to a Rivian R1T at 3100kg.

Lighter vehicles are always better to drive. And on a farm where some bridges and gravel corners winding up a mountain might fail under the weight of a very heavy bakkie, the K32’s lightness is an advantage.

Glance at its stance and you’ll notice a lot of ground clearance and 265/65 R17 tyres, ideal for off-road driving. So, what’s the catch? Well, the K32 isn’t road-legal. You can drive it all over your farm and on district gravel roads, but it’s not allowed anywhere near a national or municipal road.

In terms of design, it also looks somewhat like a previous generation Mazda BT-50 from the front. But if you want a rugged farm bakkie, with battery power and a very comfy double-cab cabin, the Kandi K32 could make sense.

Further Reading

Double-cab bakkie buyer’s guide