The Maxus eTerron 9 debuted in Europe this week. It’s a mid-size electric pickup made by SAIC Motor, the same Chinese automaker behind MG. It has an LFP battery pack and an estimated range of 267 miles.
This is the Maxus eTerron 9, a Chinese-made all-electric, all-wheel drive mid-size pickup truck that debuted in Europe at this week’s IAA Transportation trade fair in Hannover, Germany.
Maxus, which is SAIC’s commercial vehicle spinoff, already sells a battery-powered pickup in Europe–the T90EV, but that’s rear-wheel drive only. The new model comes with an extra motor, a bigger battery and more range.
Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Mitsubishi, all well-known pickup makers, don’t currently have a rival for the eTerron 9 on European soil. Ford sells the F-150 Lightning, which is a full-size truck, in Norway and Switzerland, and Toyota pinky-promised that an electric version of the widely popular Hilux would go into production by the end of 2025 in Thailand. Isuzu also said it would start selling a battery-powered, all-wheel drive version of the 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-spec version measuring 211 inches long, 78.9 inches wide and 73.7 inches tall. It’s powered by two electric motors–one at the front and one at the rear–that have a combined output of 436 horsepower.
A 102-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery sends juice to the motors and enables an estimated driving range of 267 miles on a full charge. A 20% to 80% top-up takes 40 minutes, according to Maxus, while the peak charging rate is 115 kW. There’s also vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality to export power from the high-voltage battery to multiple 2.2 kW and 6.6 kW outlets.
20 Photos
SAIC
Inside, there’s a pair of landscape-oriented displays, dual-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 sleeping surface that’s 66.9 inches long. There’s also a midgate similar to the GMC Sierra EV.
The body-on-frame electric pickup can tow up to 7,716 pounds (3,500 kilograms), which is on par with most of its combustion-powered competitors, but the payload capacity is just 1,366 lbs (620 kg), well under the 2,206 lbs (1,000 kg) rating of its challengers. The bed length is 94.4 inches.
What its gas- and diesel-powered rivals don’t have, however, is an 8.3 cubic feet 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 boost range on highways. The same air suspension system allows the driver to lower the rear by 2.3 inches when stationary to make loading and unloading easier.
Sales of the Maxus eTerron 9 are slated to begin next month, with deliveries scheduled for January 2025.
