A new budget electric ute crusher from China is about to hit Aussie showrooms.
The Foton K2 van has been approved for sale in Australia, according to a Department of Infrastructure, Transports, Regional Development, Communications, Sports and the Arts filing.
It will join the increasingly busy electric van segment, and will be available in short and long wheelbase variants.
・China’s new HiLux hunter just the start
・China’s new HiLux hunter incoming
It sizes up in the mid-size van category at 4900mm long for the SWB and 5200mm long for the LWB.
This makes it similarly sized to the Ford E-Transit Custom priced from $77,890, before on-road costs.
There is no indication yet on how the K2 will be priced, but it is likely to come in cheaper than the E-Transit Custom.
Foton Australia has been contacted for comment to find out when the K2 will officially launch Down Under.
The K2 is powered by an electric motor set-up that produces 125kW.
There are two battery choices available, which are 50kWh and 67kWh units.
There is no official driving range figure for the K2, but overseas versions, known as the i7, offer 360km from the 50kWh unit, according to more generous CLTC standards.
Overseas versions feature a functional cabin, with seating for three people and a small pop-out digital driver display and optional central display. There are also physical climate control buttons.
Other information remains scarce at this stage, but we are likely to find out more about it later on this year.
It will join the Foton Tunland ute, which recently came to Australia after a more than eight-year absence Down Under.
It is unclear what could be next on the agenda for Foton, but the brand has previously offered an SUV and that is something still on the cards.
“Foton’s got some pretty strong van offerings,” Inchcape Australia (Foton distributor) Managing Director Blair Read told CarsGuide late last year.
“That is where our current focus is, what we’ve been discussing with the factory, and then maybe SUVs down the track.”
