Do not confuse Shanghai with Shanhai, which are two different things, but easy to confuse. Something similar happens with car brands, and even more so in the Great Wall Motors (GWM) group, where we previously had a line of trucks called Poer. Of course, in China, Poer is known as Pao, P-Series and Cannon, depending on which translator you get.
From the Poer family, we know the first model that, in China, advanced rapidly with two models: the Poer -just plain- such as the King Kong Cannon and the Shanhai Cannon. Shanhai, which I reiterate again, is not “misspelled Shanghai”, it means something like “mountains and sea”.
And although this truck has been on the market for some time, it arrives at the Shanghai Motor Show with two novelties under its arm. The first is a plug-in powertrain and the second is that Poer, it seems, will separate from Great Wall and become an independent brand, in the style of Ora, Wey or Tank. Of course it will still be part of GWM, but not as a family of models anymore. It remains to be seen if this is replicated in other countries or if they will continue to leverage the success of their parent brand.
The novelty: A plug-in Poer for “mountains and sea”
This is not the first time we have talked about the Shanhai Cannon, which is the most advanced truck of the bunch, with technologies that may not even reach all markets like facial recognition, Level 2 semi-autonomous driving, heated massage seats, ambient lighting, and much more luxury than we’re used to in a truck. Its measurements remain at 5.4 meters long, 1.9 m wide and 1.9 m high, with a base between axles of 3.3 m.
Nor does its design change, imposing and taking many elements and nods from American trucks, with a large chrome grill. It features two-tone wheels, roof bars, a solid top for the pick-up and double-opening doors, like the RAM 700, accompanied by large protruding spotlights on the sides.
Image: Autohome.
The Shanhai Cannon is related to the Tank 500, a model from which it derives part of its design., offer of engines and also the interior; we can say that the Shanhai Cannon is the “truck” version of the Tank 500.
And what a coincidence, that GWM premiered this new powertrain in Shanghai, both for the Poer truck and for the Tank 500 and Tank 400. We are talking about a 2.0 Turbo Miller cycle engine with 248 Hp, associated with a nine-speed automatic gearbox with built-in 120 kW electric motor and 400 Nm of maximum torque.
Adding it all up, the new truck will deliver 300 kW (402 Hp), much more than the most powerful engine it offers, a V6 3.0 Turbo of 348 Hp, but consuming much less. According to GWM, this system is enabled to travel 55 kilometers in 100% electric mode.
