Geely’s Radar RD6 electric pickup truck with up to 632 km range – would you buy a “Proton P90” in Malaysia?

It measures 5,260 mm long, 1,900 mm wide and 1,830 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,120 mm, whcih makes it about the same size as a double-cab version of the Toyota pick-up, which measures 5,325 mm long, 1,900 mm wide and 1,815 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3,085 mm.

If you think this interior looks familiar, you’re right – it’s the exact same interior as the Proton X90, which is based on the Geely Haoyue. Thus, is there a market for a Proton-badged pickup version of the Radar RD6 in Malaysia? But bear in mind it would be a fully electric car instead of sharing the 48V hybrid ICE engine as the Proton X90.

Currently, all available variants of the Radar RD6 on sale are powered by a single rear motor, producing 272 PS, which propels the electric pick-up truck along the 0-100 km/h acceleration benchmark in 6.9 seconds.

Three battery choices are available for Radar RD6 buyers in China; and these are 63 kWh, 86 kWh and 100 kWh. These offer maximum range figures of 400 km, 550 km and 632 km respectively, with the largest battery variant supporting DC charging at up to 120 kW, while the maximum AC charging rate for the RD6 is 11 kW.

The Radar RD6 also provides a 6 kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) electricity output, enabling the pick-up truck to charge other EVs as well as power external electrical devices.

In terms of cargo space, the Radar RD6 takes equivalent of up to 1,200 litres in the cargo tray, and without a combustion engine in the front of the vehicle, it can take an additional 70 litres of luggage space in its ‘frunk’.

However we hear from unofficial sources that the payload capabilities are relatively low compared to proper body on frame pickups, which is understandable since this is not built from a proper ladder frame pickup platform.

But still, the Radar RD6, or Proton P90 as we would imagine it to be called in Malaysia (P = Pickup variant of the X90), would certainly be capable enough to serve as a lifestyle vehicle for people who just want to do light offroading to a camping spot, or bring their bicycles around for trips.

Geely has already said that the Radar RD6 is export-ready. Since the interior has already been converted to right hand drive for use in the Proton X90, and there already exists conversions to Type 2 AC/CCS2 DC charging in the SEA platform parts bin for use in the smart #1, we think it would be not a tough effort for it to eventually carry a Proton badge.

The question is, is there a market for it in Malaysia? Would you buy an electric pickup truck for lifestyle usage? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.