Changan was the first to market with a range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) when it launched the Hunter K50 REEV double-cab bakkie in South Africa late in 2025. Jam-packed with tech and luxury features, it’s a solid offering that continues to find homes locally.
While on our travels to Chongqing, China, the home of Changan Automotive, we came across the new Hunter K70 REEV in R33 guise at one of the company’s test facilities.
Based on the K50, the K70 comes with some obvious exterior cosmetic changes and some under-the-skin upgrades that aren’t so easy to spot. The R33 badging and stripes hint at it being a top-of-the-range offering, and only time will tell if this naming convention makes its way to South Africa.
Off-road ready
What you can’t ignore are the extended front and rear wheel arches, the chunky 285/65 all-terrain 17” tyres riding on new off-road alloys, aggressive new front and rear bumpers, and roof rails.
Handling is said to be improved, but we weren’t offered any information on how this was achieved. However, the eagle-eyed out there might notice that the suspension has been raised to offer more than 220mm of ground clearance. But again, no official number was quoted.
We had a few runs up and down Changan’s straight track before a drive along a lane that offered some ruts and bumps, followed by a section of axle twisters, which wasn’t enough to tell me all I wanted to know about the handling.
Serious power
Nonetheless, what this drive did show was that the Changan Hunter K70 REEV is every bit as fast as we know the K50 to be. And rightly so, because we were told the incoming K70 will use the same dual-battery, electric power/internal combustion engine setup as its predecessor.
This means you’ll have a combined 200kW of power and 470Nm of torque on tap from the two electric motors, one up front and one in the rear. In turn, they will be powered by a 31,2kWh battery that can be charged by plugging the vehicle into an electrical outlet, or by using the 2ℓ turbocharged petrol motor as a generator while on the go.
Engine-only charges
The turbocharged petrol engine isn’t connected to the drivetrain and doesn’t turn the wheels. It’s only there to charge the battery.
The bakkie’s performance is driven by the torque produced by the two electric motors, which was good enough to see the K50 come in at number three on the list of the fastest bakkies we’ve tested.
Changan claims the same pure electric-only operating range of up to 145km and a combined driving range of 1 000km for the K70 as it does for the K50, which puts the new bakkie near the top in terms of fuel efficiency.
Only coming in 2028
However, as always, it’s worth noting that these numbers can vary depending on your driving style and how often you charge your vehicle.
Pricing and specifications for the Changan Hunter K70 REEV are expected to be confirmed closer to local introduction in 2028.
