The Victorian High Country breaks tough 4x4s for fun. Steep climbs, rocky steps and relentless water crossings along the Crooked River Track have ended plenty of well-prepared trips, and if you believe the campfire wisdom, it's no place for anything with a battery. That was the question we went to answer. Can an electrified four wheel drive really handle this kind of country? So we took three of them: the Cannon Alpha PHEV, the all-new Tank 500 PHEV and the soon-to-arrive Tank 300 PHEV, with off-road expert Simon Christie from 4WD TV leading the convoy.
Victorian High Country
Three Plug-in Hybrids take on the biggest myth in four wheel driving.
December 2025
The Crooked River Track doesn't ease you in. The crossings come one after another, deep enough to test any four wheel drive, and this is exactly where the hybrid doubts live. Three Hi4-T vehicles pushed through crossing after crossing without a hiccup, batteries and all.
Between the water, the track climbs and drops through rock steps and rutted pinches that demand low range and careful lines. This is where Hi4-T's split personality earns its keep: a proper mechanical four wheel drive system with low range and front and rear locking differentials, with instant electric torque layered on top. No waiting for revs, just controlled power at crawling speed.
Then the climb out: Blue Rag Range Track, up to Trig Point. It's one of the most exposed, spectacular ridgelines in the country, and the kind of sustained, loose ascent that finds any weakness in a drivetrain. All three made the top.
The end of the driving day is where the plug-in hybrids stopped proving a point and started showing off. Camp ran off Vehicle to Load power straight from the vehicles: lights, cooking, the lot. No generators, no noise, just the High Country after dark the way it's supposed to sound.
That's the myth dealt with. Three Plug-in Hybrids went into the High Country, took on everything the Crooked River and Blue Rag Range tracks could offer, and powered the campsite on the way through. The same Hi4-T system in the film is in the Cannon Alpha PHEV, Tank 300 PHEV and Tank 500 PHEV at your local GWM dealer.
