GWM Haval H6GT vs Lexus LM 500H

What's the difference?

Given the limitations of the launch drive route, we'll wait for a longer seven-day loan before giving our final verdict of the GWM Haval H6 GT PHEV. But from this initial drive, it’s clear the plug-in hybrid powertrain has transformed the H6 GT. 

Compared with the petrol H6 GT, it's quieter, smoother, faster, much more efficient and has excellent real-world electric driving range, with that petrol engine to back it up nicely. 

There’s no question it’s good value, and the spacious, comfortable cabin makes it a solid family offering. It looks like GWM now has a genuine BYD Sealion 6 and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV rival on its hands. 

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Lexus LM 500h is luxurious, comfortable, practical, easy to drive and expensive. While it may appear to be the ultimate family car, with only four seats it's limited in terms of how many kids and their friends you can carry. On top of that, the privacy screen introduces accessibility issues to the kids you wouldn't encounter on other vehicles. If you are thinking of a Lexus people mover as your next family car I'd suggest looking at the LM 350h which has seven seats and no privacy screen. If you’re looking at a business class executive van the LM 500h would be perfect. 

Late last year GWM introduced some subtle styling changes to the H6 GT, notably a refreshed smoky tail-light design and new GWM badging that replaced the old ‘HAVAL’ across the tailgate.

Aside from that, the H6 GT is exactly as it was in 2022.

Some people love the coupe-SUV aesthetic, and to those people I say good for you. I am not one of those people.

Often that body style has compromises, and in the case of the Haval that means visibility through the rear windscreen.

I think the regular Haval H6 SUV is a handsome vehicle with a classy yet subtle look. But the GT is a little over the top for me. As I said though, horses for courses. 

Interior design in the H6 GT could be best described as fussy minimalism. You have minimal elements like the driver’s display and its lack of instrument cowl, but there are a lot of lines and different materials covering the dash and door panels, including synthetic carbon-fibre panelling. 

It won’t win any interior design awards but it’s also far from unappealing.

The LM 500h doesn't look real. More like a concept vehicle with its vertical face wearing that enormous grille. Feels like if you watched it for long enough you’d catch it transforming into some kind of robot. Yet, at the same time its styling is elegant and prestigious.

I have a confession to make. I used this Lexus as my office. Its interior is that comfortable and spacious. I'm also a parent and there were times where it was the quietest place to get some work done.

It also let me observe people's reactions as they walked past with their dogs not knowing what was going on inside behind those tinted windows. The people that noticed were clearly car enthusiasts as they knew what they were looking at and couldn't pass without gaping it awe.

The LM 500h’s interior is superbly plush with thick carpets, beautiful copper metallic trim and nappa leather seats.

As I’ve said, the cockpit up front is less luxurious than the extravagant first class section in the back behind that dividing wall.

And yes, I’ve seen large screens before but nothing that stretches the width of the vehicle.

The GWM Haval H6 GT PHEV is a spacious car. It’s at the top end of the medium SUV segment when it comes to interior space.

Up front the space is impacted by the chunky centre console. It is wide and sits up too high, presumably to give the cabin a sportscar cockpit feel. It ends up just impeding knee and elbow room.

It does, however, aid storage, which is already a positive in the GWM. There’s a big open space under the massive console for items. The secure central bin is also sizeable, as is the glove box, while the door storage up front is excellent. Big and wide bottles will fit alongside a few other longer items. There’s also a pair of cupholders in the console.

The USB-A ports are annoyingly housed under the console but the outlet for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is on the passenger side of the car - a result of being built in China which is a left-hand-drive market.

The front seats are very cushy but could do with a little more under thigh support. They look and feel nice to touch. You get more power adjustability on the driver's side.

GWM’s steering wheel has a nicely sized rim and feels good in the hands, but the wheel hub and top spokes are positioned more than halfway up the wheel which forces the driver to adopt a ‘10 and 2’ hold rather than the preferred ‘9 and 3’.

The multimedia system is decent in the H6 GT, and GWM has certainly come a long way on that front. There are multiple ways to access functions - swipe up, down, left or right and you’ll find what you need.

Many vehicle functions are found in the screen but like most of these set-ups, you just need to spend some time learning where everything is. Apple CarPlay works well in this format, too.

The second row is incredibly spacious, especially for a coupe-style SUV. Most models with that body style compromise on rear headroom, but there’s loads of that in the H6 GT, even with the panoramic sunroof which usually eats into space.

There’s no shortage of leg, toe and knee room, either. I had room to spare sitting behind my 184cm driving position. And with barely a hint of a transmission tunnel, the middle seat is actually usable.

The 60/40 split-fold rear seats have a flat base but are well cushioned and have a comfortable back rest. Amenities in the rear include map pockets, lower air vents with strong air con flow, two USB-A ports and fold-down armrest with two cupholders. 

The door storage is not as good as the front row so bottles don't fit as easily.

Open the powered tailgate and you'll find a high, flat space with limited under-floor storage. It can take 392 litres with all seats in place and 1390L with the second row folded.

This volume doesn’t sound huge and it trails the BYD Sealion 6 (just over 570L). But it doesn’t look small when you open the boot. And the PHEV doesn’t lose any cargo space from the petrol model, despite all of the electric elements underneath.

Sadly, the H6 GT PHEV misses out on the temporary spare wheel the petrol Ultra gets, making do instead with a tyre repair kit.

You might be able to take Lexus out of Toyota but it's very hard to take Toyota out of Lexus and this particularly applies to the practicality of the LM 500h.

Every day I discovered new compartments, tray tables and storage areas. There are so many cabinets, lockers and hidey holes that we almost left my belongings (an entire family of plushie toy capybaras) behind because there are so many places to check.

Of course, I'm talking about the rear compartment here because up front there's not much storage. In fact, it proved to be quite a problem in that I had nowhere to put my bag with somebody sitting next to me and no area behind the front seats to stow it, either.

Talking of seats, the LM 500h only has four of them, with two up front and two in the rear. Up front, the seats are supportive and large, but the rear seats - those are, well... have a look at the images.

We’re talking two large captain's chairs that look as though they’ve been removed from the first class section of a plane.

And while this might be suitable for businesses shuttling a couple of executives to and from meetings, for a family, even with two children, the extra couple of seats a third row offers would come in handy.

The LM 350h has seven seats over three rows and no privacy screen. A far better choice for families.

For device charging there are USB ports up front and in the rear. There are wireless phone chargers for those in the back seats but not up front.

The LM 500h has a cargo capacity of 752 litres with all seats in place.

The Lexus LM 500h sits at the top of its range and is without a doubt one of the most expensive people movers on Earth with its list price of $220,888.

As you would imagine the standard features list is as extensive as it is extravagant.

For starters, while the regular LM 350h has two rows of seating in the rear (seven seats all up, including the front two), the 500h has the third row removed and just two super luxurious and enormous fully reclining seats fill the entire space. It’s like a theatre back there.

That theatre theme keeps going with a media screen in the back so large it stretches the width of the vehicle. Seriously, it's a 48-inch screen to watch movies or connect to your device.

The sound system is probably the best I’ve experienced - a spine tinglingly incredible 23-speaker Mark Levinson set-up.

What else can I tell you? Those rear seats are upholstered in beautifully soft semi-aniline leather. They’re heated and ventilated with a massaging function and... ridiculously comfortable.

There’s four-zone climate control, windows which have an electronic shade that turns the glass opaque, there are wireless phone chargers in the doors and carpet throughout so thick you sink down into it as you step inside.

Our LM 500h was upholstered in the 'Solis White' leather which also brings contrasting and mesmerising copper metallic trim.

Oh, and there’s a wall with an electric glass screen that can be raised or lowered to separate the rear passengers from the driver.

I should have mentioned this earlier. The kids loved it, but these parents spent a lot of time telling the 10- and three-year old not to put the screen up again.

The rear occupants, aka the kids, can also lock the screen in place. Which they did, and so sound proof is the dividing wall that we can only just hear their uproarious laughter.

Up front, the cockpit is comfortable but it’s clear all the space and luxury is for those being driven around.

Still, the front seats are leather with heating and ventilation, there’s a 14-inch media screen and 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster, plus a head-up display. Sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard.

The Haval H6 GT plug-in hybrid comes with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and two electric motors - one on each axle. The GT is all-wheel drive and it comes with a two-speed electric transmission.

It has impressive outputs of 321kW of power and 762Nm of torque. This is enough to propel the big SUV from zero to 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds.

The Haval also has a maximum braked trailer towing capacity of 1500kg.

The LM 500h is a petrol-electric hybrid with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine which makes 202kW/460Nm and works in concert with two electric motors.

The front motor makes 64kW/292Nm and the rear makes 76kW/169Nm. The combined maximum power output of the two motors and the petrol engine is 273kW.

The LM 500h is all wheel-drive and has a six-speed automatic transmission.

GWM’s generous 35.4kWh battery gives the H6 GT PHEV an impressive electric-only driving range of 180 kilometres. That’s about 100km more than some rivals. 

But be aware that figure is according to the more generous NEDC cycle. It is yet to be tested for a WLTP rating which is more widely accepted in Australia, so expect that figure to fall to some degree.

Combined fuel consumption is rated at just 0.8 litres per 100 kilometres when the battery is charged.

The H6 GT PHEV should be capable of travelling 1000km with a full charge and the 55-litre fuel tank at capacity. It takes 91RON petrol.

We averaged about 5.0L/100km on the drive back to the city via the motorway after the battery had drained a little and that was in 'Intelligent Hybrid' mode.

Note too that the H6 GT has vehicle-to-load charging capability, with a 3.3kW capacity.

Finally it has a CCS2 charge plug and can charge at a maximum 6.6kW for AC and 48kW for DC.

Lexus says after a combination of urban and open roads the LM 500h should use 6.6L/100km. In our own testing we found consumption was higher at 9.4L/100km.

Worth noting my driving environment was mainly a hilly suburban one filled with school drop offs. Achieved some personal bests this week, with one long run to Sydney’s outskirts, only to return in nightmarish peak hour traffic.

Premium (95 RON) fuel is required and the tank size is 60 litres. In theory the driving range is a smidge more than 900km, which drops to around 640km using our real-world average.

The last time I drove the GWM Haval H6 GT was not long after its mid-2022 launch. It was the petrol variant and I don’t recall what model grade it was. But it left me a little cold.

The ride quality wasn’t great and the powertrain suffered from poorly calibrated throttle response combined with a jerky transmission. It was average at best.

It's incredible the difference a powertrain can make because the plug in represents a big step up over the 2022 petrol model.

The acceleration is brisk and linear and that 0-100km/h time of 4.9secs is no joke. 

Our launch route saw us drive from Sydney’s CBD to the NSW south coast town of Kiama. At no point on that drive did the petrol engine kick in. In fact we still had some electric range left for the drive home.

In some other PHEVs, the petrol engine kicks in automatically at a particular point. That’s not the case with the GWM. If you want to only drive on electric power then depending on what mode you’ve chosen, that’s what will happen. PHEVs are more than just city-friendly cars now. You can travel decent distances on electric power only.

Of course if you want to preserve that energy, there are ‘Power’ modes like 'EV Priority' and Intelligent Hybrid. The staged regen braking helps here, too. 

The system will never let the battery dip below about 12 per cent, according to GWM. And if you are super efficient and struggle to use petrol, the CPU does something tricky to make sure some fuel is used to avoid any issues with the petrol engine.

On the drive home we switched to hybrid mode and found it hard to detect when the petrol engine kicked in. It’s one smooth powertrain.

The cabin has decent insulation, although a fair amount of road noise is noticeable on coarse chip road surfaces. It’s quieter on smooth roads, naturally.

Steering feel in the big SUV is light yet direct, but we didn’t get to test the GWM on dynamically challenging roads so no comments on handling just yet.

Similarly, the motorway-heavy launch route meant ride quality was hard to pin down, however a few bumps on the streets of Kiama and on the motorway revealed a firmer tune. There might be more work to be done on that front.

But overall, the PHEV powertrain has elevated the drive experience of the Haval H6 GT. 

Quite simply, driving the LM 500h is like piloting a limousine on stilts. Superbly comfortable, but with an elevated driving position that offers outstanding forward and side visibility, the LM 500h is an easy vehicle to drive for long periods of time.

A digital rear vision mirror means visibility behind is good and unobstructed by the privacy screen or the seats.

The drawbacks are down to the lack of space up front, with the driver’s chair limited in its ability to recline or slide back due to the bulkhead behind it.

And that's compounded by the lack of cabin storage for bags if the front passenger seat is taken.

As for the rear passengers there aren't many people movers offering this level of comfort, except perhaps the Zeekr 009.

Variable suspension that adjusts continuously keeps the vehicle composed and provides a high level of comfort for those in the rear. At the same time, the LM stays nice and flat through roundabouts while remaining civilised over speed bumps.

And then there's the acceleration, which, while not supercar-like is incredibly brisk for a van. The all-wheel drive system provides outstanding traction in wet and slippery conditions, too. 

Our family used the LM daily for everything from school runs to shopping trips and weekends away and not only was it fun to drive, our lucky rear passengers enjoyed sitting high and being able to see clearly out their windows along with the luxury of a giant movie screen.

The Lexus  LM 500h is yet to be tested by ANCAP so it doesn't have a safety assessment score. There is, however, a high level of safety tech onboard including AEB which can detect pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other vehicles, emergency steering assist, lane keeping assistance, road sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors as well as six airbags.

For child seats there are ISOFIX points and top tether anchor mounts on the two rear seats. We have a forward facing child seat and found it easy to install.

A space-saver spare wheel is located under the boot floor.

The H6 GT PHEV comes with a generous seven-year, unlimited kilometre factory warranty, and an eight-year, unlimited kilometre battery warranty. It might not beat the 10-year terms from Nissan and Mitsubishi but those are conditional based on servicing at an authorised dealership. 

It comes with five years of free roadside assistance and a five-year capped price servicing plan.

GWM is yet to confirm the service schedule and pricing for the PHEV and it's unclear how much that will differ from the petrol grade.

For reference, the MY25 AWD petrol model costs an average of $416 per service over five years and the service schedule starts at every 12 months or 10,000km but ramps up to 15,000km intervals after the first year. 

Lexus covers the LM 500h with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. 

The Lexus Encore Platinum program is complimentary for LM owners for three years, providing 24-hour roadside assist, a loan vehicle or pick-up/return service at service time, 'On Demand' vehicle evaluation options, valet and airport parking benefits as well as exclusive offers and event opportunities.

Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000 kilometres, and impressively, pricing is capped at $695 per service over five years.