The Haval H6 HEV is a stand-out in the SUV market

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The Haval H6 is increasingly popping up in car parks around South Africa, often seen next to what used to be the local mainstay brands. 

The striking design of the H6 gives it pride of place and commands more presence than many of the products with which it competes. Such is the strength of Phil Simmonds’s design that brand-conscious and historically loyal consumers are choosing to spend their money on a relatively new brand, despite the woeful performance of Chinese brands and products in the past. 

We’re into a new era now. Haval is chomping away at market share and exceeding even our lofty expectations. 

But design isn’t all there is to it. Haval has made significant progress in South Africa, launching commendable products with inarguable value for money. The H6 is one such product, offered with a full house of tech and features within a very attractive package and price point. 

Initial criticisms in the past have centred around the engine choices on offer being uneconomical … enter the H6 HEV, launched late last year, to fill that gap. 

The new HEV is a noteworthy testament to Haval’s ability to make strategic calls and quickly land new or improved products on our shores.

We spent significant time with the Haval H6 HEV, covering just under 4 000km in the car over four weeks. 

The H6 HEV is a head-turner and conversation-starter. Its futuristic design has hints of sportiness, elegance and intelligence, it is more handsome than the non-hybridised versions and certainly one of the standout designs in its class. 

It’s an approachable car too and that’s no metaphor. It provoked others to not just look but to enquire more about what it is, where it’s from, how much it is, and so on. 

The conversation continues as you get inside the H6 HEV. Much like the exterior, the interior is a fresh impression of Haval’s design architecture. It’s not unlike the other H6s, but consider it an ultra-luxury spec model. 

Its cabin includes just about everything technology- and feature-related you can imagine and it feels as if Haval has done this in a bid to win customers, yes, but to also justify the price … more on that later. 

The floating console design prioritises space and practicality, partly freed up by the rotary drive dial. 

Above this, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen looms, within which you’ll find plenty of functions. Directly in front of the driver is a 10.25-inch screen and beyond that, projected onto the windscreen, is a high-resolution heads-up display that is configurable and dynamic. 

The interior of the Haval H6 Hybrid.

We’re talking full marks here — the 360-camera resolution is top-notch in the segment, as is the heads-up display and the sheer number of functions in this car.

Technology, such as phone mirroring, is a given. Add a myriad driving and steering weight modes and you have a car that, in many ways, can be tailored to your preferences. 

A panoramic roof adds to the ambience and electronically adjustable leather pews make the driving position almost perfect … almost. 

Within this accumulation of tech, there are a few oddities. The user experience is decidedly odd. There are far too many sub-menus to access certain features and it takes a while to figure them all out. However, that can be overcome. 

After that, certain functions are overly complicated or hidden under a sub-menu only to be layered underneath yet another one. Something as simple as the volume control isn’t so simple unless you’re the driver and you control it from the multi-function wheel. Similarly, the ability to access the climate 

control menu to adjust the temperature isn’t nearly fast or straightforward enough. 

These are just a few functions that, while they aren’t hard to employ, are just not where they should be. 

Elegant and intelligent: Despite a few tech niggles, the eye-catching Haval H6 hybrid offers good fuel economy and a comfortable ride.

This brings me to the drive itself. Let’s start with the good stuff. Hybrid drive makes sense in our country. It allows you to travel vast distances while conserving fuel in urban and extra-urban environments. 

The H6 HEV pairs a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol motor with an electric motor. The system, though somewhat complex, isn’t all that complex from behind the wheel. 

The powertrain provides small-car economy with exciting performance. The H6 HEV is the most powerful H6 you can buy, dishing out 79kW of combined grunt. Command it from your right foot, and it’s delivered in front-wheel-driven spades. 

It is exciting for what it is — a family-friendly SUV for the urban buyer. 

On gravel surfaces, a suspension on the firm side shows up but, for the most part, it is what you’d expect from this type of vehicle. 

On the open road, the ride is good, with acceptable NVH levels and a comfortable ride. 

Consumption can be very impressive, provided you’re in a suitable driving mode, and your battery regeneration is set to “as much as possible”. Braking regeneration charges the battery as soon as your foot comes off the pedal, while coasting or when you’re on the brakes, and this can extend battery life so you can go further in electric mode. 

Our best consumption around the city was 5.9l/100km, and we managed a respectable 6.9l/100km over the entire test. That is impressive for a car that was called in to haul a family of five, and all their luggage, across all sorts of roads. That’s the point of SUVs, though. 

So where’s the rub? There are two big ones in the full-spec H6 HEV. 

The first has to do with the Adaptive Cruise Control technology. On paper, this is an intelligent system but my concern lies in the execution of the braking control. The H6 will slow down when needed, but it does so by depressing the brake pedal at your feet. This is an old technology decision that disturbs your sense of driving and changes the pedal feel if, for instance, you need to apply more pressure to the brake. 

The second is a sensor-ranging issue where the system applies the brakes when not required. On the highway, without any obstructions in front of the car, the H6 will just randomly hit the brakes. Or perhaps while cruising around a slight bend in the road, the car seems to brake as it senses an upcoming curve, no matter how slight, and the application, in most cases, is harsh. 

The other big issue has to do with braking regeneration. No matter what regen setting you’re in, the H6 charges the battery when coasting, especially down a hill. As I mentioned above, it does this by depressing the brake pedal, in essence, riding the brakes. It gets most concerning on extended downhills, such as mountain passes, where the vehicle seems to ride the brakes to a point where the pedal feel is lost, and the entire car shudders when you take braking action yourself. 

Imagine driving a car with warped discs? That’s what it feels like. To make matters worse, the braking efficiency is compromised. This becomes unnerving for the driver, not to mention the passengers, who can feel the discomfort and shudder. 

These problems aren’t unsolvable and the fact that Haval has loaded this car with so much is something to be celebrated. My suggestion to Haval is to offer the H6 HEV in a slightly lower spec, as it has done with the Jolion Luxury model — a spec that does away with all the fancy self-driving tech and just gives you standard cruise control. 

That would revise the price too, which, for what it is on paper, doesn’t seem ridiculous, given the H6’s competition with the Toyota RAV4. But when considering the H6 HEV at R669 950 costs about R90 000 more than the Super Luxury 4WD model, one has to weigh whether the saving in fuel economy is worth it. Over the cost of ownership, this may be enough of a swing to the HEV. 

The H6 HEV is a smart addition to the crowded SUV field and will find homes nationwide. Were it not for those flawed bits of tech, it would score much higher in our rating, but we can’t forget about those, as they are fundamental to a confident driving and ownership experience. 

The HEV is sold with a 5-year/60 000km service plan, 

a 5-year/100 000km warranty and 

a hybrid-battery warranty of 

8 years/150 000km.