GWM Cannon Alpha 2026 review: Ultra PHEV - off-road test

The GWM Cannon Alpha plug-in hybrid EV is one of the newest vehicles to arrive here as part of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle revolution in Australia.

On paper, this Chinese-made ute has plenty of appeal – it’s feature-packed, well-priced and cheap to run. But, as we all know, ’on paper’ and the ‘real world’ are often two very different things. And, another thing, the Alpha has rivals in the form of plug-in hybrids such as the BYD Shark 6 and the Ford Ranger.

So, how does this stretched plug-in version of the Cannon perform off-road?

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GWM Cannon Alpha 2025 review: Ultra PHEV 'We've got a better proposition': GWM said the 2025 GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV is better than the BYD Shark 6 and will go toe-to-toe with the Ford Ranger PHEV plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute Watch out BYD Shark 6 and Ford Ranger PHEV: 2025 Cannon Alpha PHEV now has a longer EV driving range and is cheaper in some states as plug-in hybrid ute battle boils over

Read on.

Price and features – Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with?

8 / 10

The Cannon Alpha PHEV is available in a Lux ($57,490, drive-away) or Ultra spec ($64,490, drive-away).

Standard features in the Ultra include a 14.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 12.3-inch digital driver display, wireless charging pad (front and back), a 360-degree view monitor as well as driving modes and front and rear diff locks.

It also has leather-accented seats, which are eight-way power-adjustable for the driver (plus position memory and lumbar support), and six-way power-adjustable for the front passenger.

The front seats are heated and cooled, as are the rear outer seats. The rear outer seats are also two-way power-adjustable and have a “welcome function” (seat memory).

'Marble White' paint is standard. Metallic paint – including 'Crystal Black', 'Storm Grey' or 'Onyx Silver' – costs an extra $595.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

Design – Is there anything interesting about its design?

7 / 10

This is a Chinese-made ute with aspirations to be as big as a US pick-up and it’s mighty close to those dimensions.

The GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra is 5445mm long (with a 3350mm wheelbase), 1991mm wide and 1924mm high. It is 35mm longer overall (with a 120mm longer wheelbase), 57mm wider, and 38mm taller than a standard GWM Cannon.

For reference, the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 is 5931mm long, 2074mm wide and 1991mm high. The Ford F-150 Lariat SWB is 5884mm long, 2030mm wide and 1995mm high. And the Toyota Tundra Limited is 5955mm long, 2040mm wide and 1985mm high.

Everything is big on this ute – including a front grille maximus, pronounced wheel arch flares and chunky side steps. But thankfully the sensory overload of chrome featured in some other Cannons, has not been included here.

The interior’s appearance reminds me of a low-brow men’s-only cigar club in London – especially the woodgrain-look strip across the dash – but overall it is a clean, neatly laid-out space.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

Practicality – How practical is its space and tech inside?

7 / 10

This ute’s interior is a good example of a cabin done well but in a low-key manner – one that offers plenty of functionality without sacrificing any premium-look-and-feel inclinations.

The 14.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) is bigger than in previous Cannons but I had difficulty pairing my phone to this set-up, trying several times before, swearing up a storm, I stopped trying.

Is it still as clunky and as counter-intuitive as previous GWM multimedia set-ups? Well, no, because once I’d switched off my phone, restarted it and gone through the whole pairing process again, my phone was all hooked up and ready to go.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

The Ultra has plenty of nice soft-touch surfaces, leather-accented seats and, yes, even that aforementioned woodgrain-look strip across the dash doesn’t feel out of place.

Those seats, by the way, are comfortable, with even the back-row seats offering plenty of room and support.

Up front are all the storage places you’d expect – including a deep centre console with a lid and sliding tray, cupholders and the like – and charge points for your phone and/or other devices as well as wireless charging for your smartphone.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

Rear passengers get grab handles, air vents, map pockets and a centre armrest with pop-out cupholders.

Worth noting there were no floor mats in our test Alpha Ultra. Buy a set of heavy-duty rubber mats before you drag any mud, dirt or sand into the cabin.

As for the business end of this ute, the Ultra’s tub is 1500mm long, 1520mm wide (1100mm between the wheel arches), 500mm deep, and it has a listed 1140L of cargo capacity.

The tub liner seems robust, and the tub has four tie-down points, but no power point.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Under the bonnet – What are the key stats for its engine and transmission?

7 / 10

The Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine producing 180kW/380Nm, an electric motor tipping in 120kW/400Nm and a 37.1kWh battery which is onboard in two sections.

Combined outputs of the petrol engine and electric motor set-up is 300kW/750Nm.

The Ultra has a nine-speed automatic transmission, a 'Torque-On-Demand' 4WD system, high- and low-range 4WD gearing as well as front and rear diff locks.

Overall, on-road, this is a quietly effective system, but there were a few inopportune moments. For example, swiftly moving into traffic flow on a roundabout, where the change-over from electric motor to petrol engine suffered a not-inconsiderable delay.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

Driving – What's it like to drive?

8 / 10

First things first. On-road this long, wide, tall and heavy ute is a smooth-riding and composed machine. That’s no surprise because, being such a hefty vehicle, it has plenty of weight and it's nicely settled and comfortable on the blacktop.

Its suspension set-up – independent front, live-axle rear and coil springs all around – works to keep the Ultra nicely controlled but there is some body lean, if not roll, to its behaviour when driving becomes a bit lively.

Off-road, the Ultra’s generous dimensions and near three tonne weight hamper its all-around abilities in the rough stuff more than a bit.

You feel its size when driving in the bush. The Ultra’s turning circle is about 13m, which is not insubstantial, but it is nice to drive off-road as long as you drive it in a controlled and considered manner because that's a matter of necessity in something this low.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

With 210mm of ground clearance, a listed wading depth of 800mm and shallow off-road angles – approach (28.5 degrees), departure (23) and ramp-over (19) – this stretched ute requires a lot of consideration to prevent the underbody or side-steps from hitting the earth.

And those side-steps may be prone to incidental damage while off-roading, but none of those factors could be considered deal-breakers.

It's much more effective off-road than something like the BYD Shark 6. It has a proper four-wheel drive system (transfer case, high- and low-range gearing) so it doesn't wholly rely on electronics (as the BYD Shark 6 does) and it has front and rear diff locks.

There's a smooth delivery of torque across a broad rev range, steering is well weighted, especially for something so big and its suspension soaks up the worst of road or track bumps.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

So, all things considered, this ute has a comprehensive suite of off-road mechanicals and driver-assist tech onboard and as standard it is very capable in most off-road scenarios.

The only things that stop this Ultra ute from being very impressive and very capable off-road, are the all-season tyres it rolls out of the showroom with.

Its Giti Xross HT71s are SUV tyres built for “light off-road trails”. As it is, this ute is well-suited to light- to medium-duty off-roading, but if you put a set of decent all-terrain tyres on it, it’d be even better.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

If I owned this ute I’d relocate that full-size spare tyre, which is positioned on the inside of the tub’s right wall because it can’t go under the vehicle’s body as the PHEV battery uses that space. Putting the spare on an aftermarket cargo platform rack on the roof is an option.

If you are thinking of using this ute as a tourer, it's handy to know that, with its kerb weight at 2810kg, the Ultra PHEV has a listed payload of 685kg (not much), an unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and braked towing capacity is 3500kg.

GVM (gross vehicle mass) is 3495kg and GCM (gross combined mass) is 6745kg. Remember, any weight you add to a vehicle, in the form of aftermarket gear (bullbar, roof-rack cargo platform etc), or people, camping equipment, pets, surfboards etc, and the weight of whatever you tow has to be taken into account when calculating the weight of your vehicle and the combined weight of your vehicle and your trailer/boat/caravan.

Efficiency – What is its fuel consumption? What is its driving range?

7 / 10

Official fuel consumption on a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 1.7L/100km and energy consumption is listed as 30.3kWh/100km.

Official EV-only driving range is 115km and combined (engine and electric motor) driving range is 1060km.

When the battery is at low-charge levels (14 percent or less) fuel consumption is a claimed 7.9L/100km. But on this test, when EV charge was down to 15 percent, I recorded 10.2L/100km and we recorded as high as 12.4L/100km.

The Alpha has a 75-litre fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel figure and, by my estimation, a real-world EV range of about 100km – I reckon you could reasonably expect a combined (petrol and electric) driving range of about 835km.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Marcus Craft)

Warranty & Safety Rating

Basic Warranty:

7 years/unlimited km warranty

ANCAP Safety Rating:

Safety – What safety equipment is fitted? What is its safety rating?

8 / 10

The Cannon Alpha has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2024.

As standard, it has seven airbags (dual front and front side, dual curtain and front centre) and a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech including AEB, adaptive cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, front and rear parking sensors plus a 360-degree around-view camera set-up.

2026 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra PHEV (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Ownership – What warranty is offered? What are its service intervals? What are its running costs?

8 / 10

The Cannon Alpha PHEV is covered by a seven-year/unlimited km warranty, seven years' roadside assist and seven years' capped price servicing.

It has an eight-year/unlimited km drive battery warranty.

After the first scheduled service at 12 months/10,000km whichever occurs soonest, every service thereafter is set down for 12 month/15,000km intervals.

Prices per service for any Cannon Alpha PHEV (with a warranty start date on or after 01/01/2025) are:

Verdict