Words: Kyle Cassidy
Published 10 June 2026
JAC launched its new T9 PHEV variant at Fieldays, adding another PHEV option to the ute market. It has a sharp price of $59,990, making it the cheapest in the market at present. That’s a ‘special launch’ price, though there isn’t a firm time frame for its expiry.
JAC NZ says it has 100 PHEVs coming to fulfill initial demand, with stock estimated to arrive late-July to early-August. JAC NZ sees the current fuel price situation with diesel as an opportunity for the PHEV, and say some dealers are expecting the sales split between the diesel and PHEV T9 to be 50/50.
We learnt a few more specs on the ute at the reveal, including a 1.6L/100km average fuel consumption figure. JAC NZ says it has been trialing the new ute here on NZ roads, and has recorded fuel economy of 2.6L/100km during an Auckland to Whangarei run recently.
While JAC quotes a 100km EV range (that’s an NEDC figure), they said to expect around 85km in the ‘real world’. The T9 PHEV has a 31kWh battery, which can be DC charged, and there is also a 3.3kW VTL outlet in the tray.
With a 155kW/370Nm 2.0-litre turbopetrol and two electric motors, JAC quotes 360kW and 674Nm for the total system output, good enough for a 0-100km/h run of just 6.0 seconds. The truck is also undergoing some final fine tuning to the rear suspension for Australia and New Zealand markets.
We had the briefest of drives around a go kart track (of all places) that wasn’t really enough to tell us much other than there’s ample electric power in EV mode to chirp the rear wheels when accelerating out of tight bends.
The driveline set up sees the front and rear axle work independently, i.e there is no driveshaft running to the rear diff. When in EV mode, the rear 150kW/340Nm electric motor powers the rear wheels via a solid diff. When you need extra traction (or activate one of the off road drive modes), the front wheels get power from a 130kW/300Nm motor upfront, while theICE can tip some effort in too.
There is no low-range as such, but off-road settings, like a crawl mode, are said to prime the system for max traction, and there are diff locks too. It has a 550mm wading depth, and approach and departure angles of 27 and 23 degrees respectively.
There is just one spec, which mirrors that of the Black Edition T9, minus the sunroof. However, the PHEV gets wireless connectivity, a soft close tail gate and telescopic adjustment at the steering wheel.
