Riddara RD6 launched in Thailand – Proton X90’s BEV pickup cousin with up to 461km range

The Riddara RD6 “pickup truck” has been launched in Thailand. It is a fully electric (BEV) unibody truck that comes in 4 variants in Thailand, with prices ranging from THB899,000 (approx. RM117k) to THB1,299,000 (approx. RM169k). And if its front end looks familiar to you, that’s because the Riddara RD6 shares the same underpinnings with the Proton X90 SUV.

Riddara RD6 2WD 63 kWh – THB 899,000 (approx. RM117k)
Riddara RD6 2WD 73 kWh – THB 999,000 (approx. RM130k)
Riddara RD6 4WD 73 kWh – THB 1,149,000 (approx. RM150k)
Riddara RD6 4WD 86 kWh – THB 1,299,000 (approx. RM169k)

Essentially a unibody “truck”, you may think of the Riddara RD6 as something like the Honda Ridgeline, but electric. It’s not even close to the usual ladder frame trucks that we are more familiar with as it even has a MacPherson strut suspension setup at the front and a multilink suspension setup at the rear.

The 4 variants of the Thai-spec Riddara RD6 come with 3 different battery sizes – 63 kWh, 73 kWh, and 86 kWh. The two smaller batteries are LFP batteries and they provide NEDC ranges of 373 km and 461 km respectively. The larger 86 kWh battery is an NMC battery which provides a range of 455 km (again, and NEDC figure so take it with a grain of salt).

As for AC charging, the Riddara RD6 can only handle a maximum AC charging rate of 6.6 kW as standard as it can only handle single-phase charging. Charging times (20% to 80%) are 7.8 hours for the 63 kWh battery, 9.3 hours for the 73 kWh battery, and a whopping 11 hours for the 86 kWh battery.

For DC charging, the 63 kWh, 73 kWh, and 86 kWh batteries have maximum DC charging rates of 90 kW, 110 kW, and 100 kW respectively (yes, the bigger 86 kWh battery has a slower charging rate compared to the 73 kWh battery).

Turning the wheels of the Riddara RD6 is either a 2WD or 4WD powertrain. The former is a single-motor setup that makes 272 PS and 385 Nm (0-100 km/h in 7.3 seconds) while the latter is a dual-motor setup that makes 428 PS and 590 Nm (0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds).

Although based on the same underpinnings as the Proton X90, the Riddara RD6’s cabin is rather different. A huge 12.3-inch touchscreen sits in the middle of the dashboard and the centre console is slightly different.

Should Proton rebadge the Riddara RD6 as the new “Proton Arena”? Share your thoughts in the comments…