2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid review

2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid

GWM has an entertaining habit of finding either cutesy names for its fleet of utes, SUVs and EVs or incredibly blokey names. The Cannon Alpha really leans into the latter, doesn’t it?

GWM’s Cannon ute came on the scene a few years back to challenge the traditional ute maker and buyer – Ford, Toyota, Isuzu and Mitsubishi sell a lot of these things and they’re all pretty much the same on paper, so brand loyalty is a real thing. 

The Cannon Alpha has joined the fray as a literal bigger brother to the Cannon (previously the GWM Ute). The Cannon Alpha Lux and Cannon Alpha Ultra can be had in diesel, like all the other utes.

But here in the Ultra Hybrid, it’s decidedly higher-tech. You pay for it, but instead of a grumbly 2.4-litre diesel, you get a smooth, quiet 2.0-litre turbo petrol with 255kW and 648Nm and a bit of electro-motivation. We’ve already seen decent hybrids in the GWM SUV range, so transferring that tech to this big unit should be interesting.

How much is a GWM Cannon Alpha?

The Cannon Alpha is the larger, truckier ute range that sits above the GWM Ute we’ve known for a few years. Based on the Tank 500, it takes a lot of that SUV’s underguts and interior while replacing the boot with a big tray.

There are three Cannon Alphas – the Lux, the Ultra and the Ultra Hybrid. This was the top of the range and solitary hybrid at $64,990 drive-away, which seems like a lot, but when you look at the mainstay brands it’s right in the middle.

Included in that price is an extensive list of standard features. You get 18-inch alloys, auto LED headlights, side steps, tyre pressure monitoring, powered front seats with heating, cooling, and massage, a 12.3-inch instrument screen, 14.6-inch media screen, front and rear parking sensors, a hefty safety package, panoramic sunroof, 60/40-split tailgate, wireless phone charger, head-up display, heated steering wheel, 64-colour ambient lighting, 10-speaker Infinity-branded sound system, powered rear seats with heating, ventilation and welcome function, auto parking and a full-size spare.

How big is a GWM Cannon Alpha?

The Cannon Alpha might compete on price with our well-known utes but it’s bigger. It bridges the gap between those ‘normal’ utes and the big American trucks like the Ram, Silverado and F-150.

At almost five-and-a-half metres long, it’s about 200mm (depending on model) longer than a Ranger and about 150mm longer than a HiLux. And the F-150 is about 300mm longer again than the GWM.

The Cannon Alpha’s interior is a huge improvement in just about every way over the Cannon series. It’s a more considered and refined look, even the fake wood panels look pretty good. I’m not entirely sure about the screen in the dash in front of the passenger, which displays a sort of sketch of the car’s grille that cycles through colours, but it’s certainly novel. 

Dominating the dash is the giant 14.6-inch screen and GWM has resisted any silly gimmicks and just bolted it in. It’s very easy to use when stopped, with big tiles on the home screen offering information about the car and apps, as well as a strip of shortcut buttons down the right-hand side. 

The instrument screen is big, crisp and clear but not too big. Some of the figures are a bit on the small side, and the graphic of the ute and the various things the safety systems can ‘see’ are a bit distracting. You can also flip to an Audi-like map view, which I found more to my taste, and both the factory navigation and Apple Maps can display in the digital cluster.

Opinion is divided on the in-dash analogue clock. I think those things are naff but other folks liked it. 

The centre console hosts what looks like a crouching Star Wars droid, but is in fact the gear selector. One of the weirdest selectors I’ve seen – and bucking the trend for downsizing – it works perfectly well, but I don’t really know why it’s shaped like that. It seems to be staring at the wireless charging pad, which may explain the handy sliding cover.

Surrounding the shifter are various driveline and seat heating/cooling controls and a rotary dial to control the stereo volume. Behind that is a pair of cupholders, and behind those is a large centre console bin with a big generous armrest.

The front seats are really comfortable and covered in what appears to be a mix of leather and fake leather. I’m not bothered by fake leather if it’s good, and it requires a keen eye to tell the difference, although you could feel it if you went prodding. The same goes for the rear seats.

As this is bigger than other similarly priced utes, there is more space in the back seat in every direction. The back doors also swing out wide leaving you with a broad and tall aperture for loading yourself or kids. The rear seats are heated and cooled as well, and have some limited electric adjustment and a welcoming feature designed to position the rear seats for easier access.

The outboard rear seats are heated and cooled, and there is also a wireless charging pad in the armrest. Rear-seat passengers also score vents. The outboard seats are also well-shaped and quite comfortable. The middle seat isn’t amazing but few are.

GWM offers a spray-lined tub that’s 1100mm wide at its narrowest and 1520mm wide at its most generous. Depth is listed at 500mm. It’s obviously a bit bigger than the Ranger or HiLux, helping restore some of the versatility that utes lay claim to.

The Cannon Alpha has a very clever rear tailgate that is not unique, no, but clever all the same. A tiny rubber button on the rear GWM badge pops the gate open like any other ute, but with a lovely damped motion provided by gas struts.

A longer press releases the 60/40-split tailgate to allow you to swing the two parts of the tailgate out. In addition to this cleverness are four tie-down points to keep your loads in check.

Does the GWM Cannon Alpha have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?

GWM offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on the Cannon Alpha, which always pairs well with a charging pad. The system synced easily and quickly and never once fell over. As an iOS user, I only had Apple CarPlay, but it was superb to look at and easy to use given the size. I’d imagine you could easily change features or music even on a bumpy road.

The massive screen also features DAB+, AM and FM radio, and offers a bunch of functionality, statistics and, gratingly, a slightly puzzling climate-control interface. Thankfully, the main functions are handled by a strip of identical physical buttons beneath the screen. They’ll take a bit of getting used to but save you menu-diving.

I quite liked the look of the satellite navigation, which looked great both on the big screen and on the instrument display. For dash cam fans, there’s also a USB port on the side of the interior rear-vision mirror and sensor housing to power a forward-facing camera.

GWM’s phone app allows you to lock and unlock the doors, fire up the air conditioning, and seat heating and cooling functions. It can also find the vehicle, and you can set up geo-fencing to alert you if someone takes it outside of a specified area. You can also open and close the windows and sunroof, as well as monitor things like fuel level and tyre pressures.

Is the GWM Cannon Alpha a safe car?

The Cannon Alpha does not yet have an ANCAP score. The Tank 500, with which just about all of its underguts and the cabin are shared, did score a five-star rating.

The Cannon Alpa comes with seven airbags, including a front-centre airbag that prevents head clashes in side impacts. Seven airbags is pretty competitive in this space and noses ahead of a few rivals.

What safety technology does the GWM Cannon Alpha have?

The Cannon Alpha features a plethora of cameras for you to basically see right through the car. You can switch views as you’re manoeuvring around, including wheel views from the side camera on each side.

While the list of safety-assist features is comprehensive, time behind the wheel revealed there was still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to calibration. 

Of particular note was driver attention detection. If you looked at the speedo, it told you off. If you did a head check, it told you off. If you blinked a little too slowly, it told you off. These systems need careful work to balance safety without becoming overbearing.

The lane-keep systems worked reasonably well and weren’t too pushy, but I did notice that the lane detection in the right lane on the M4 was a bit hit and miss. Having said all that, the fact the Cannon Alpha has all these features is a good start, and hopefully the finesse will come as the feedback from customers mounts a case for engineering to improve things.

How much does the GWM Cannon Alpha cost to run?

A seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty puts the GWM in the middle, with most utes clustered around the five-year warranty mark, while Mitsubishi offers a conditional warranty up to 10-years/200,000km. GWM is on par with Ssangyong and LDV, two other challenger brands.

In instances where the vehicle is used commercially (rental, hire, or contract delivery) the warranty reverts to a seven-year time period with a 150,000km distance limit. The 1.74kWh hybrid battery is covered for eight years/unlimited kilometres.

Servicing for the hybrid starts with a 12-month/10,000km first service and then every 12 months/15,000km. A HiLux is every six months/10,000km, which seems a trifle short for what is supposed to be a work vehicle. 

GWM’s capped price servicing covers the first seven years of ownership, but it’s not the lowest cost program, adding up to almost $3000 over the first five years, with the fourth service alone accounting for $999 of that tally.

Insurance came out at $1846 per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

This seems slightly higher than most utes by between $100 and $200.

Is the GWM Cannon Alpha fuel-efficient?

It quickly became clear that the hybrid system in the Cannon Alpha was not pointed towards efficiency but rather performance. Still, a chunky ute slurping down petrol and still averaging less than, say, a much lighter family SUV is pretty impressive at 11.1 litres per 100 kilometres.

The official figure of 9.8L/100km is eminently achievable if you’re not pounding the throttle around the suburbs, and would likely lean out considerably on the highway.

Its 80-litre tank would have covered 720km in my hands, but if you manage to match the claimed consumption figure, you could stretch to almost 900km between fills. Given petrol is cheaper than diesel most of the time, and a diesel Cannon Alpha’s official figure is 8.9L/100km, while my colleague Alex got 10.5L/100km in his time with one, the two would be closely matched in fuel costs.

What is the GWM Cannon Alpha like to drive?

In many ways, the Cannon Alpha is entirely unremarkable to drive. It’s a big heavy ute and many of us know what that means. The turning circle means parking needs a bit of arm-twirling as you use cameras, mirrors, and instinct to slot it home. All but forward vision is a bit limited, so the inclusion of all those cameras is noteworthy and to my mind mandatory.

Sitting high in the air, you get a great view, but you’re also subjected to trade winds. The Cannon Alpha does a pretty good job in strong crosswinds, which is a nice surprise. 

My usual ute bugbear, slow and vague steering, is partially addressed in this machine. It’s well weighted but quicker than the usual off-road-focussed racks of its rivals.

Like a number of its rivals, however, the unladen ride can be a bit of a challenge. As the rear end is held off the ground by leaf springs – compared to the very different vibe of double wishbones up front – you’re gonna get some bounce. To be fair to the Cannon Alpha, it’s reasonably well controlled and is more of a busy feel than the genuinely uncomfortable performance of utes of, say, 10 years ago. It’s pretty easy to get used to.

The ride itself is only really upset on the jointed concrete around my place, and the Cannon Alpha managed the huge potholes left by Sydney’s omnipresent wet weather. Out on the freeway it was commendably quiet, not just the engine, but the wind noise was almost non-existent, even around the huge mirrors.

The addition of the hybrid powertrain is a long overdue moment for this segment. Utes are almost invariably two-point-something-litre diesels with relatively old tech and plenty of noise. The kind of noise we just wouldn’t accept in a diesel sedan or wagon. Or an SUV for that matter. The Cannon Alpha’s hybrid petrol starts without the clatter you expect from a ute and is fine.

It performs rather better than the diesel, too, which has a very unflustered 0–100km/h time of around 14 seconds. The Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid knocks off about a third of that time, moving smartly off the line with a combination of electric torque and the petrol engine quickly spinning up its own twist.

It took a while for the idea that a ute could crawl along silently. You won’t be slicing through traffic even with the brief burst of maximum torque of 648Nm when you put your foot down, but keeping up with everyone doesn’t mean a cloud of smoke or sounding like a Mack truck.

And that’s why driving it is, in a sense, unremarkable. It drives well, is very quiet and it’s refined. Not like a ute at all.

How much weight can a GWM Cannon Alpha tow?

Somewhat surprisingly, choosing the hybrid does not lose you any towing capacity, with both diesel and electrified powertrains pulling up to 3500kg. The usual 750kg for unbraked trailers applies.

The trick with the hybrid is a slightly lower payload, although it’s a pretty stout 735kg, just 25kg fewer than the diesel Ultra but 86kg down on the Lux. As ever, if you do put the full 350kg on the towball when towing that maximum 3500kg, you’re almost halving the payload to four-and-a-bit average-sized people and nothing else. Fine if it’s a young family, but you might be in trouble if it’s the lads off for a big weekend on the water or in the bush.

GWM quotes a gross combination mass of 6555kg, which is up there. The GVM works out at 3310kg.

Should I buy a GWM Cannon Alpha?

What really sets this ute apart is the hybrid powertrain. But what sets the Cannon Alpha apart is a very solid list of standard features and very good value for money in the context of top-of-the-line utes. Well, top of the line before you head into Ranger Raptor territory, anyway. And it’s bigger than all of them.

The Ultra Hybrid is $7000 more than the diesel, but what you get is a truckload more refinement, vastly improved performance, and it will likely be cheaper on fuel than the diesel once you average it all out. You also get a hefty amount of extra equipment over the diesel Ultra, such as the head-up display, heated steering wheel and rear seats, as well as a lot of other stuff.

So it’s good value, comfortable, roomy, and does all the things most utes can do, at least on paper. It’s also a huge improvement on where the current GWM Ute is positioned.

How do I buy a GWM Cannon Alpha? The next steps.

The Ultra Hybrid is probably the best Cannon Alpha you can buy, so it’s the one to get if you can stretch that far. It’s absolutely loaded with stuff, but at the same time, it is well worth investigating the Tank 500 SUV with the same hybrid powertrain if you really don’t need a ute. You might find its carrying capacity isn’t far off too.

The only other hybrid ute on the table is a Toyota HiLux, but it’s worth noting it’s not a proper hybrid but a ‘mild’ hybrid without the ability to move under its own EV power. Ford and BYD have plug-in hybrid models coming soon though.

If you’re interested in hands-on time with the Cannon Alpha your best bet is to visit a dealer, which you can find via the dealer locator. GWM Australia tells us that there is good supply on the ground with just a few combinations of colour and spec leaving you waiting.

You can also find the full range of new and used GWM vehicles for sale at Drive Marketplace.

If you want to stay updated with everything that’s happened to this car since our review, you’ll find all the latest news here.

The post 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid review appeared first on Drive.

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