Scott Morrison thought they would “end the weekend”. But new electric utes are landing in Australia – and manufacturers insist they have plenty of grunt to tow a boat or trailer and take the family camping.

For years, the iconic utility vehicle has been at the crux of a political debate over the speed of Australia’s transition to cleaner cars, largely due to the common belief that electric vehicles are underpowered compared to traditional petrol or diesel vehicles.

Morrison famously suggested former Labor leader Bill Shorten’s plans to hasten electric vehicle uptake would force Aussies to drive wimpy cars that couldn’t hack the country’s tough terrain. As recently as January this year, the opposition invoked the ute once again to try to scuttle the introduction of fuel pollution limits for new vehicles, rules designed to bring Australia in line with every other developed country in the world other than Russia.

“Australians love their utes and SUVs and will not thank a government that forces them to drive less-powerful cars that cannot meet performance expectations,” transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said.

On Tuesday, BYD, China’s best-selling car brand, will unveil the first plug-in hybrid electric ute to hit Australian showrooms: the Shark 6, combining a battery that powers two electric motors and a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that can extend the vehicle’s range to 800 kilometres.

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It comes as American automaker Ford is also preparing to introduce a plug-in hybrid ute to Australia by next year. The country’s first fully electric ute, the LDV eT60, arrived last year, priced at up to $92,990.

While the Shark’s pricing is to be finalised, David Smitherman, chief executive of Australian BYD distributor EVDirect, said it would be the first electric ute “available to average Australians”. Industry sources rumour it could cost around $60,000, which would make it competitive with Australia’s two top-selling utes: the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.

Of 10,000 Australians who had registered interest in the ute already, most were diesel ute drivers eager to experience an electric vehicle for weekend trips or for work use, including tradespeople who could use the battery to charge power tools, Smitherman said.