Week three of the China Files. Week one was the heavy hitters; week two was the brands you've never heard of. This week it's the dirty stuff: ladder-frame off-roaders, plug-in hybrid utes and the workhorses China actually builds — from a US$15.7k electric box to a 635 kW ladder-frame luxury bruiser.
The lockout hasn't changed: Chinese vehicles face a 100% US tariff (in place since September 2024), a US Commerce Department rule finalized in January 2025 bars Chinese connected vehicles outright — software restrictions from the 2027 model year, hardware from 2030 — and US senators are pushing to write the ban into permanent law. Quick note on the numbers: prices are Chinese domestic list prices with approximate USD conversions, and range figures are WLTC/CLTC lab numbers — China's optimistic test cycles, so knock roughly 20–30% off for real-world driving. Every spec below was verified against a source read today.
1. GWM Tank 300 — the Bronco that went plug-in
Price: 199,800–259,800 yuan (approx. US$28,500–37,100)
Specs: The new-generation Tank 300 launched in China in July 2026 — a genuine body-on-frame off-roader. Petrol: 2.0T with 162 kW (217 hp) / 380 Nm and a 9-speed auto; a 2.4T turbodiesel (135 kW / 480 Nm) exists too. The hybrids are where it gets silly. Hi4-T: 130 kW front motor, 37.1 kWh battery, 105 km WLTC of electric range and 913 km combined, 0–100 km/h in 6.1 s. Hi4-Z: 560 kW combined, 59.6 kWh battery, 200 km WLTC electric, 1,122 km combined range — and 0–100 km/h in 4.3 s.
What you're missing: A proper ladder-frame 4x4 with electronic 4H/4L, crawl control, tank turn assist and front-plus-rear locking diffs — that also does a 4.3-second 0–100 as a plug-in hybrid for about US$37k. The 2026 Ford Bronco starts around US$42.5k, offers zero electrified option, and the fast one (Raptor, ~US$82k) still drinks fuel the old-fashioned way. One honest note: the Tank 300 PHEV is also on sale in Australia, so Americans aren't just losing to China — they're losing to Australia too.
Sources: CnEVPost, dsf.my, Ford Authority (Bronco pricing)
2. GWM Tank 500 — the 635 kW ladder-frame luxury barge
Price: 335,000–375,000 yuan for the hybrids (approx. US$47,900–53,600); 3.0T twin-turbo V6 petrol from 355,000 yuan (approx. US$50,700)
Specs: The big Tank. Hi4-T: a 180 kW 2.0T plus 130 kW motor for 310 kW / 750 Nm combined, 0–100 km/h in 6.9 s, 37.1 kWh battery, 110 km WLTC electric and 900 km combined. Hi4-Z: 635 kW / 1,195 Nm, 0–100 km/h in 4.3 s, 59.05 kWh battery, 201 km WLTC electric and 1,096 km combined. The V6 option is a 3.0T twin-turbo with 265 kW / 500 Nm. LiDAR with Coffee Pilot Ultra (HD-map-free smart driving) on higher trims, Nappa massage seats, rear entertainment screens, and proper intelligent all-terrain 4WD.
What you're missing: A full-size, body-on-frame luxury off-roader with 635 kW of plug-in hybrid muscle and 201 km of electric range, starting around US$48k. The closest US equivalent, the Lexus GX 550, starts at about US$67k, has no plug-in option, and brings 349 hp — roughly a third of the Tank 500 Hi4-Z's output.
Sources: CnEVPost, Wikipedia, Carscoops (GX pricing)
3. Jetour Traveller — the US$18k Bronco-shaped hybrid
Price: 2026 petrol range 125,000–169,900 yuan (approx. US$17,900–24,300); C-DM plug-in hybrid 153,000–210,000 yuan (approx. US$21,900–30,000)
Specs: Chery's Jetour brand took a boxy silhouette (penned by ex-Porsche designer Hakan Saracoglu) and stuck real hardware underneath: the 2.0T petrol makes 187 kW / 390 Nm with XWD all-wheel drive and uses 8.83 L/100 km WLTC. The C-DM plug-in hybrid pairs a 1.5T with two or three motors, 27.2 or 43.24 kWh batteries, and 129–212 km of CLTC electric range with up to 1,300 km combined. The facelifted Traveller 7 C-DM (pre-sale September 2026) goes further: 575 kW / 835 Nm, 45.12 kWh battery, 251 km CLTC electric range, up to 1,400 km combined. Standout kit: 700 mm wading depth, rear-axle diff lock, 6.6 kW V2L and a swing-out tailgate.
What you're missing: A Bronco-lookalike 4x4 with plug-in power and up to 251 km of electric range starting under US$18k for the petrol and under US$22k for the hybrid. The Ford Bronco Sport starts at about US$33.8k, tops out around US$42.3k, and offers no hybrid of any kind — Ford isn't even sure it will get one this decade.
Sources: AutoCango, The Piston Show, robotdyn, Ford Authority (Bronco Sport pricing)
4. BYD Shark 6 — the ute Australia got and America didn't
Price: not yet on sale in China — the China-spec (Fangchengbao) version is expected in Q4 2026 with pricing estimated around 300,000 yuan (approx. US$42,900; that's an industry estimate, not an official price). Context: it's already on sale in Australia from AUD 57,900 and was Australia's best-selling PHEV vehicle in 2025.
Specs: DMO Super Hybrid all-wheel drive: 1.5T petrol (135 kW) plus a 170 kW front and 150 kW rear motor for 321 kW / 650 Nm combined, 0–100 km/h in 5.7 s. A 29.58 kWh Blade battery gives 100 km NEDC of electric range and 670–800 km combined, with up to 55 kW DC fast charging. It's a proper workhorse too: 2,500 kg braked towing, 790–835 kg payload, 230 mm ground clearance — and independent coil-spring rear suspension instead of old leaf springs. The tray gets 6.6 kW V2L with 230V outlets, plus off-road modes including a new Crawl mode.
What you're missing: Here's a plug-in ute that's roughly as quick off the line as the US$57k–59k Ford Ranger Raptor (405 hp, 0–60 mph in 5.2–5.8 s), but also does 100 km on pure electricity and runs power tools off the tray at a campsite. The Raptor does neither. And the gut punch: Americans can't buy it, but Australians — who've been driving it since 2024 — can.
Sources: ChinaEVHome, Wikipedia, Autoblog (Ranger Raptor specs/pricing)
5. GWM Cannon Shanhai Hi4-T — the three-lock plug-in pickup
Price: the Cannon family spans roughly 125,800–239,800 yuan (approx. US$18,000–34,300); the Shanhai Hi4-T plug-in hybrid is 216,800–239,800 yuan (approx. US$31,000–34,300)
Specs: The Hi4-T pairs a 2.0T petrol with an electric motor for 300 kW / 750 Nm combined, 0–100 km/h in 7.0 s, a 37.1 kWh battery good for 115 km NEDC of electric-only range and ~880 km total. Diesel options remain: a 2.4T with 135 kW / 480 Nm. This is the old-school bit done right — BorgWarner 4WD with front AND rear axle diff locks (a real "three-lock" setup), tank turn, split centre-opening tailgate, 3.3 kW V2L, 3,500 kg braked towing, ~800 mm wading depth and 9 off-road drive modes.
What you're missing: One for the tradies: a triple-lock, plug-in hybrid pickup with 115 km of electric commuting range, from about US$31k. The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro — hybrid-only, and the closest US equivalent — starts at about US$64.4k, more than double, with less electric range and no V2L in sight.
Sources: CarNewsChina database, Carscoops, CarBuzz (Tacoma TRD Pro pricing)
6. Chery iCar 03 — the US$15.7k electric box
Price: 109,800–169,800 yuan (approx. US$15,700–24,300)
Specs: The cheapest car in the entire China Files series so far. Chery's iCar brand (renamed Chery Fulwin X3 in China from 2025) built a Defender-styled, all-electric mini off-roader: single-motor RWD with 135 kW / 184 Nm, or dual-motor AWD with 205 kW / 279 Nm and 0–100 km/h in 6.5 s. Batteries from 50.6–69.8 kWh CATL LFP deliver 401–501 km of CLTC range. DC fast charging is supported (no kW figure published for the China spec — so no number here). The fun details: a side-opening tailgate with an external "backpack" storage box, an all-aluminium cage body, a DJI-powered visual smart-driving option on the top trim, and on the 03T variant, tank turn with 625 mm wading depth.
What you're missing: Fully electric, 4WD, 0–100 in 6.5 seconds, boxy as a fridge — starting at about US$15.7k. Jeep's Wrangler 4xe — the plug-in, not even fully electric — started at about US$50.7k, more than three times the price, and still burns petrol once the electrons run out.
Sources: CnEVPost, CarNewsChina, Suresky CDJR (Wrangler 4xe pricing)
The bottom line
Three weeks in, the pattern's set: China isn't just churning out cheap electric sedans. It's building ladder-frame plug-in bruisers with up to 635 kW, a triple-lock ute that does the daily commute on electricity, and a fully electric 4x4 box for US$15.7k — all locked out by a tariff wall the US built, while Australians are already driving some of this list. The off-road game America had stitched up? It's being played somewhere else now.
The China Files is a weekly series — every Wednesday morning, US time, we dig up another batch of cars America can't have. Next week: the exotics — the electric supercars and halo cars America will never see.
Missed the earlier weeks? Read week one here and week two here — then follow the blog or find us on YouTube so you don't miss it. And if you want the gear we actually rate, browse the store.