Whether you like it or not, electric cars will soon be far more common on Australian roads. As governments push for a reduction in carbon emissions, electric car production has been ramped up in an effort to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas being pumped into our atmosphere.

But that's actually a good thing. Dispel any ideas of electric vehicles being boring: even the smallest EVs are exceptionally fun to drive. Instant torque, linear power delivery, great weight distribution… Electric cars save the planet while still being pretty damn fun – so for those who enjoy speed, you may want to rethink your next car purchase if you were eyeing up a gas-guzzling tarmac-chomping monster of an SUV.

So which are the best electric cars to buy right now in Australia? We've carefully curated this list of the best electric car across a range of categories, ensuring everyone is satisfied.

If you're not ready to go fully electric but would like to save on fuel, then check out our round-up of the most fuel-efficient cars in Australia.

Range: up to 530km (WLTP estimate)Price: expected from $110,000 before on-road costsTest-driven: June 2025

The Cadillac LYRIQ is finally bringing American luxury electric power to Australian roads and it’s doing it in serious style. The first all-electric Cadillac to officially arrive Down Under, the LYRIQ signals a bold new chapter for the 122-year-old brand, blending modern luxury, high-end tech, and a distinctive design language that gives Europe’s best a run for their money.

Powered by GM’s Ultium battery platform, the LYRIQ delivers up to 530 kilometres of range on a single charge and a near-silent driving experience. Available in the all-wheel drive (373kW) configuration, it’s quick, refined, and surprisingly agile for its size. The AWD version hits 0–100km/h in 4.8 seconds not bad for a 2.5-tonne SUV built to rival the BMW iX and Mercedes EQE SUV.

Step inside, and it’s pure theatre. A sweeping 33-inch curved OLED display dominates the cabin, wrapping around the driver like something from a concept car. The AKG Studio 19-speaker sound system co-developed with the same brand that tunes recording studios makes Spotify playlists sound live. Cadillac has leaned heavily into craftsmanship too: open-pore wood, laser-etched metal trim, and an ambient lighting package that feels more boutique hotel than car.

On the road, the LYRIQ feels unmistakably American smooth, powerful, and unhurried. It glides across Sydney’s roads with effortless confidence, and thanks to adaptive damping and near-perfect 50/50 weight distribution, it manages to feel both substantial and responsive. Charging speeds are solid too, with up to 190kW DC fast charging getting you from 10–80% in just over 35 minutes.

The LYRIQ isn’t here to play catch-up it’s heqre to redefine what American luxury looks like in the EV age. It’s less brash than a Tesla Model X and more emotional than a BMW iX, combining performance, elegance, and tech in a package that feels genuinely aspirational. For buyers who want something fresh, distinctive, and premium without going European, the Cadillac LYRIQ is the dark horse to watch.

Read DMARGE's full review of the Cadillac LYRIC

Range: up to 233km Price: from $71,169 drive awayTest-driven: 31 August 2022

Overseas, there's plenty of variety when it comes to small electric cars or electric city cars. Australia hasn't quite caught on to the joys of small EVs just yet, but there is one fun small electric car for sale here: the MINI Electric Hatch.

Australia's smallest electric car is also one of its most stylish, with its retro aesthetic and dapper interior an antidote to the idea that electric cars are boring.

The MINI Electric Hatch is even better on fuel (chiefly because it doesn’t use any) but also makes 135kW/270Nm – quite a lot for a car that’s almost a metre shorter and 50% more powerful than a Toyota Corolla Hybrid, by way of comparison. Ride and handling are also typically MINI: responsive, snappy and punt-able.

You don't get oodles of interior space, and its performance and range credentials are hardly segment-leading... But like most MINIs, you're not really buying it for its practicality per se. That said, its diminutive size is a real selling point. It's a charming electric car that makes driving fossil-fuel-free a rather fun endeavour.

Check out our full MINI Electric Hatch review to find out more.

Range: up to 450kmPrice: from $78,500 before on-road costsTest-driven: 27 April 2025

If you thought the Polestar 2 was impressive, wait until you experience the Polestar 4. The Swedish electric performance brand has dialled things up with a sleeker coupe SUV design, a faster powertrain, and the kind of minimalist luxury that makes even the Germans nervous. It’s the first Polestar model that feels truly futuristic while remaining surprisingly practical.

Under the hood, you’ll find the same dual-motor setup shared across the Geely-Volvo family, with outputs of up to 400kW and 686Nm in the top-spec version. The Polestar 4 will do 0–100km/h in just 3.8 seconds, which puts it in sports car territory. Range sits comfortably around 400–450 kilometres depending on configuration — more than enough for daily driving and weekend trips alike.

RELATED: Sweden’s Deadly Electric GT Lands In Australia, and Germany Should Be Very Worried

Step inside and it’s a Scandinavian masterclass in restraint. There are no gimmicks or over-the-top flourishes, just a clean cabin built from recycled and sustainable materials. The Harman Kardon sound system is one of the best in class, and the Android Automotive infotainment feels polished and intuitive. The panoramic glass roof floods the cabin with light, and the decision to replace the rear window with a digital feed works surprisingly well in real-world conditions.

Out on Sydney’s roads, the Polestar 4 feels composed and sure-footed. The steering is sharp, the body control is exceptional, and the balance between comfort and agility is spot on. It’s the sort of car that makes you want to take the long way home, even when traffic’s bad.

Polestar has created something quietly special here — a car that feels like the future without shouting about it. With strong performance, premium materials, and a distinct design identity, the Polestar 4 is easily one of the most compelling EVs on sale in Australia right now.

Check out our full Polestar 4 review to find out more.

Range: up to 660 km (single motor) / 620 km (dual motor)Price: expected from $69,990 before on-road costsTest-driven: September 2025

China’s Zeekr is the quiet disruptor of the premium EV world. It’s a sub-brand of Geely, the same group that owns Polestar and Volvo. The Zeekr 7X is its global flagship SUV and the first Zeekr model expected to officially reach Australia. Think Scandinavian restraint meets Shanghai confidence, minimal yet bold, refined yet distinctly new money.

Built on the SEA electric platform shared with Volvo and Smart, the 7X feels properly premium from the moment you step inside. The interior is finished with soft-touch materials, an intelligent 27-inch infotainment display and a 12.3-inch digital cluster behind the wheel. Zeekr’s use of sustainable, leather-free materials and ambient lighting that changes with driving modes makes the cabin feel futuristic without being cold.

Under the skin, the 7X delivers serious numbers. The rear-wheel drive version produces 310 kW of power and a claimed range of up to 660 kilometres, while the dual-motor AWD variant offers 400 kW and 620 kilometres of range along with a 0–100 km/h sprint of just 3.8 seconds. Charging is equally impressive, with 800-volt architecture allowing the battery to top up from 10 to 80 per cent in under 20 minutes using a DC fast charger.

RELATED: This Zeekr People Mover Just Landed in Australia And It’s More Luxurious Than Most Private Jets

On the road, the Zeekr 7X feels quiet, precise and unexpectedly European in its handling thanks to adaptive air suspension and a low centre of gravity that helps this mid-size SUV corner like a grand tourer. You get the sense Zeekr isn’t trying to copy Tesla or BMW. It’s building its own identity from the ground up.

Outside, the 7X is sleek and confident without being loud. Hidden door handles, frameless windows and a continuous LED light bar give it a distinctive look that sits comfortably between luxury and tech. It’s the kind of SUV that turns heads in Woollahra and looks just as at home in Byron.

If Zeekr can deliver local support and pricing as aggressive as its performance figures, the 7X could be one of the most compelling new EVs to hit Australia this year. It’s a genuine rival to the Tesla Model Y Performance, Polestar 4 and BMW iX3.

Range: up to 530 km (Long Range) / 435 km (Excite)Price: from $40,990 before on-road costsTest-driven: August 2025

The MG4 is proof that affordable electric cars don’t need to look or feel cheap. It’s MG’s most accomplished EV yet, and one of the few genuinely fun electric hatchbacks on the market right now. Compact, agile and surprisingly premium inside, the MG4 makes a strong case for itself as Australia’s best-value electric car.

Built on MG’s new Modular Scalable Platform, the MG4 comes with a choice of battery sizes ranging from 51 kWh in the Excite to 77 kWh in the Long Range. Power outputs start at 125 kW and go right up to 180 kW, while the new all-wheel drive XPower version adds a second motor and 320 kW, enough for a 0–100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds. That puts it squarely in hot hatch territory, but without the fuel bill.

Inside, MG has taken a huge leap forward in design and quality. The cabin feels modern and practical with a floating centre console, minimalist digital dashboard and a crisp 10.25-inch infotainment display that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There’s plenty of legroom in the back, decent boot space for the weekly shop, and a clean, clutter-free layout that’s easy to live with day to day.

RELATED: The EV Brand Nobody’s Talking About Deserves More Respect

On the road, the MG4 drives far better than you might expect from a budget EV. It feels planted and balanced thanks to a rear-wheel drive setup that keeps weight low and evenly distributed. Steering is responsive, ride comfort is excellent for city use, and the regenerative braking system is well tuned for smooth stop-start traffic. It’s an EV that feels genuinely enjoyable, not just efficient.

Charging is quick and convenient. The MG4 can handle up to 150 kW of DC fast charging, which gets you from 10 to 80 per cent in around 26 minutes. Home charging through an 11 kW wall box takes roughly eight hours.

The MG4 isn’t trying to be a luxury car, but it nails the basics with confidence. It’s sharp to look at, engaging to drive, and cheap to run. For anyone looking to enter the EV world without dropping six figures, this is a smart place to start.

Range: up to 613 km (Macan 4) / 591 km (Macan Turbo)Price: from $133,700 before on-road costsTest-driven: May 2025

The Porsche Macan Electric is the most important car the brand has built since the Taycan. It’s the first model to use Porsche’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture and the first to truly bridge the gap between performance SUV and daily luxury EV. In short, it’s what happens when Stuttgart’s engineers get serious about electrification.

Power comes from a dual-motor setup delivering 300 kW and 650 Nm in the Macan 4, and 470 kW and 1,130 Nm in the Macan Turbo. The Turbo version launches from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds, faster than most supercars, yet it still manages a 591 km WLTP range. Both models feature Porsche’s new 800-volt electrical system, which can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in around 21 minutes using a high-speed DC charger.

Step inside and you instantly know you’re in a Porsche. The driving position is spot on, the steering wheel feels alive, and every control has that reassuring click that defines the brand. The curved digital display wraps around the driver, while a central 10.9-inch touchscreen handles infotainment duties. Porsche has also introduced an optional passenger screen so your co-pilot can manage navigation, media, or quietly judge your driving.

Out on the road, the electric Macan feels like a smaller Cayenne mixed with a Taycan. The body control is tight, steering is precise and the chassis feels beautifully balanced. Active suspension and adaptive damping work quietly in the background to make sure every bump disappears without dulling feedback. It’s an SUV that drives like a sports car, and it’s this dual personality that makes it one of the most desirable EVs on sale in 2025.

Visually, Porsche hasn’t messed with success. The silhouette remains instantly recognisable, but everything has been sharpened. The headlights are slimmer, the tail light bar is sleeker, and the proportions are more athletic. It feels both familiar and futuristic, the kind of evolution that draws a crowd in Paddington as easily as it does in Portsea.

For Porsche buyers who have been waiting for an electric SUV that still feels every bit like a Porsche, the Macan Electric finally delivers. It’s fast, composed and luxurious, yet still practical enough for the weekly school run. Porsche may have go things wrong with going all in on EV but this war could be their savior.

Range: up to 602kmPrice: from $64,300 drive awayTest-driven: 25 February 2022

Meet Australia's best-selling electric car. While Tesla wasn't the first to make an electric car, it has almost single-handedly changed the public perception around EVs and catapulted them into the mainstream. Offering futuristic technologies such as self-driving capabilities, exceptional range and a fast-charging infrastructure network around the globe, there is much for the American carmaker to shout about.

The Tesla Model 3 is the most affordable car in the Tesla lineup, and just so happens to be one of the best electric sedans currently on sale in Australia (although it is beginning to face increasingly stiff competition). There are three models to choose from when you make your order: the base Model 3; Model 3 Long Range and Model 3 Performance.

The base gives you everything you could need from an electric car, while the Long Range increases the size of the battery for, you guessed it, longer range, up to 602km in fact. The Performance sees the top speed increase to 261km/h and a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds. The Performance can be yours for less than $100,000.

Many will be satisfied by the base model's figures: 491km of range, 225km/h top speed and a 6.1 second 0-100km/h time. It's also relatively affordably priced: it's the yardstick by which all other electric cars are measured. No other EV on the market can match Tesla's overwhelming array of tech, though.

Inside it's incredibly minimal, with just the now-notorious large iPad-style screen dominating the cabin. You need to use this screen to control virtually all aspects of the car, which could prove cumbersome when driving, but because of the large size, it's legible and easy to navigate. The driving experience is a pleasant one, although it may take some getting used to.

All in all, the Tesla Model 3 is a great electric car, and if you're in the market for an affordable slice of luxury to ferry the family around, there's nothing better. There's a reason it's #1.

RELATED: Tesla’s Little-Known Race Cam Feature Could Help Win Over EV Skeptics

Range: up to 805kmPrice: from $109,900 (PORC)

The BMW iX3 isn't just a new electric SUV, it's the opening statement for BMW's entire Neue Klasse era. Built from the ground up on a dedicated EV platform, it's the first BMW to use sixth-generation battery tech, 800-volt architecture and a completely reimagined interior. And at $109,900 before on-roads, it undercuts the Porsche Macan Electric, Audi Q6 e-tron and Genesis Electrified GV70 by a meaningful margin. That's a sharp move from Munich.

Power comes from a dual-motor all-wheel drive setup producing 345kW and 645Nm, enough for a 0–100km/h sprint of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 210km/h. The 108.7kWh battery pack delivers a claimed 805 kilometres of WLTP range, making it Australia's longest-range electric car when it arrives mid-2026. Charging is equally staggering: 400kW DC fast charging gets you from 10 to 80 per cent in just 21 minutes, and a 10-minute pit stop adds over 350 kilometres of range. Those are numbers that genuinely change the daily calculus of EV ownership.

Step inside and the cabin feels like nothing BMW has done before. The 43.3-inch Panoramic Vision display stretches across the base of the windscreen like something from a concept car, complemented by a 17.9-inch central touchscreen and a head-up display. It's bold, it's divisive, and it works. Harman Kardon audio comes standard, seats are heated and power-adjustable, and the overall impression is of a cabin that's been designed to feel open and driver-focused rather than cluttered with buttons you'll never use.

From the outside, the iX3 marks a clean break from the current BMW design language. Vertically stacked LED headlights frame an illuminated kidney grille that's more restrained than the controversial snouts of recent years. Flush door handles, a low drag coefficient of 0.24 and clean surfacing give it a quietly confident presence. It looks expensive without trying too hard, the sort of thing that'll sit comfortably in a Mosman driveway or an underground car park in Toorak.

On the road, early overseas reviews suggest BMW has nailed the calibration. Steering feel, regenerative braking and chassis balance are all reportedly exceptional — the sort of fine-tuning that legacy manufacturers do well and newer EV brands still struggle with. A rear-wheel drive iX3 40 with a smaller battery and lower price is expected to follow in early 2027, which should broaden the model's appeal considerably.

For anyone who's been waiting for BMW to properly commit to the electric future, the iX3 is that moment. It's fast, it goes forever on a charge, and it's priced to make the Germans' European rivals nervous. If it drives as well as the spec sheet suggests, it could be the new benchmark in the premium electric SUV space.

RELATED: BMW Reveal The iX3 And Its A Stunner

Range: up to 427 km (AWD twin-motor)Price: from $69,990 before on-road costs

The EX30 Cross Country takes the compact Swedish EV you know and gives it outdoor credentials without compromising style. Volvo has lifted the ride height, added chunky cladding, skid plates and all-wheel drive to deliver an EV that not only handles city streets with ease but also seems ready for light off-road detours.

Under the skin you get the twin-motor all-wheel-drive setup delivering around 315 kW and 543 Nm of torque, offering rapid acceleration and a crisp driving feel. Thanks to the 69 kWh battery pack the claimed range sits at around 427 km, very credible for a car of its size and dynamics. On the road the raised suspension and tougher tyres mean it handles rough patches and unsealed drives with more confidence than the standard version.

Inside the cabin the Cross Country remains true to Volvo’s Scandinavian minimalism. The same clean layout you’d expect from the standard EX30 is present, but with an added sense of rugged refinement — premium materials, durable finishes and a smart layout make it feel like a premium compact SUV. The tech is modern too: a 12.3-inch central display, wireless CarPlay and ample driver-assistance features keep it in step with its peers.

Visually the Cross Country stands out. The elevated stance, rugged detailing and unique exterior touches make it distinct from the standard model. It looks ready for adventure yet equally at home outside a high-end café in Sydney. That versatility gives it broad appeal, from young families to urban professionals who occasionally head “off the grid”.

If you’re after a compact EV that doesn’t compromise on style or performance but adds a bit of versatility for weekend getaways or rougher roads, the EX30 Cross Country ticks the box. It’s smart, refined and just robust enough to feel ready for whatever Australia will throw at it.

Range: up to 482 km (Premium) / 456 km (Performance)Price: from $54,990 before on-road costsTest-driven: Australia, early 2025

The BYD Sealion 7 marks a major leap forward for the Chinese electric brand. It’s bigger, faster and more refined than the Atto 3 it replaces, aimed squarely at the likes of the Tesla Model Y and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Sitting on BYD’s latest e-Platform 3.0, it packs an 82.56 kWh battery and comes in two configurations: a single-motor rear-wheel drive Premium or a dual-motor all-wheel drive Performance model. The latter will launch from 0–100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds, while the more efficient Premium still offers plenty of grunt and up to 482 kilometres of range on a single charge.

On the road, the Sealion 7 feels impressively composed. The ride quality is supple yet controlled, handling is tight for an SUV of its size, and there’s none of that body roll you might expect from a family EV. It’s quick when you want it to be but refined when you don’t an ideal balance for Australian roads, whether you’re commuting through Sydney traffic or cruising down to the coast.

Inside, it’s clear BYD has done its homework. The interior design feels modern and premium, anchored by a 15.6-inch rotating touchscreen that runs BYD’s latest OS with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The cabin materials feel solid and the layout is refreshingly straightforward, with a digital instrument cluster, floating centre console, and comfortable seating front and back. Passenger space is generous, and boot capacity makes it a proper family car rather than just a tech experiment.

From the outside, the Sealion 7 looks sleek and confident, with smooth body lines and a sculpted front end that give it genuine street presence. It’s more aerodynamic than its rivals, contributing to better range and performance, and the flush door handles and 20-inch alloys add a hint of luxury.

Where the BYD Sealion 7 really shines is in its value proposition. At a starting price of just under $55 K, it delivers features and performance you’d expect from cars costing far more. It’s BYD’s strongest statement yet that the brand isn’t just chasing affordability it’s here to compete on quality, design and technology.

RELATED: American & Japanese Car Makers Are Going To Be Left Behind By China

Range: up to 511km (TBC)Price: from $59,990 before on-road costs

For those who don't know, CUPRA is the offshoot brand of Spanish carmaker SEAT. SEAT is part of the Volkswagen Group, so shares much in common with the likes of VW, Škoda and Audi. CUPRA was originally just SEAT's performance division (like BMW's M or Nissan's Nismo) but it has now become its own brand – and it's just launched in Australia, ahead of many other markets.

The CUPRA Born will actually be the first Volkswagen Group MEB platform vehicle to arrive Down Under, as it'll beat the Škoda Enyaq and VW ID.3 to market by a solid 12 months. That means it'll be our first taste of an affordable EV from the Volkswagen Group and it's a pretty exciting taste. Sporty, keenly priced and with decent range, the CUPRA Born is an exceedingly exciting car that's got the Tesla Model 3 squarely in its sights.

A single e-Boost model will be available, with a 77kWh battery and a rear-mounted motor making 170kW/310Nm and good for a 0-100km/h time of 7 seconds. A Performance Pack will give you larger, stickier tyres and adaptive damping with the cost of a bit of range. 170kW DC fast charging will be supported, allowing you to charge from 5 to 80% in 35 minutes.

The CUPRA Born also just feels pretty special. With one-piece bucket seats as standard, a premium interior that'll remind you of an Audi and plenty of Spanish charm, it's a fun little thing. Despite being a high-tech EV, it's kind of a return to the rear-wheel drive hot hatches of the 80s.

RELATED: CUPRA Is The Most Exciting Car Brand Australia’s Seen For Decades

Range: up to 570 km (Long Range) / 435 km (Standard Range)Price: from $54,800 before on-road costsTest-driven: September 2025

The XPENG G6 is one of the most talked-about new arrivals in the Australian EV market. It’s a mid-sized coupe-style SUV that blends sharp design, impressive range and serious technology in a package that feels more premium than its price suggests.

Power comes from XPENG’s next-generation SEPA 2.0 platform with two battery options. The single-motor rear-wheel-drive version delivers up to 570 kilometres of range, while the dual-motor all-wheel-drive model cuts that to 435 kilometres but adds proper sports-car pace. Instant torque and tight steering make it feel athletic without being twitchy, and the suspension is tuned for comfort on rougher city roads.

Inside, the G6 feels distinctly modern. A wide digital display dominates the dashboard and is paired with a second screen for the driver. The clean interior layout, floating centre console and ambient lighting help create an upscale atmosphere that rivals far pricier European brands. Materials feel solid, and space in both rows is generous enough for families.

Out on the road the G6 feels refined, composed and quiet. There’s an instant surge of power when needed, yet the throttle response is smooth enough for daily driving. Ride comfort is excellent, and the car’s aerodynamics give it an efficiency edge over most competitors. Charging is quick too, with its 800-volt architecture allowing a 10-to-80 per cent top-up in under 20 minutes using a DC fast charger.

XPENG’s ambition is clear. The G6 doesn’t just compete on price; it challenges established EV players on design, technology and driving experience. It’s stylish enough for city life and capable enough for long-distance road trips, all while undercutting rivals like the Tesla Model Y and Polestar 4 on value.

Range: up to ~460 kmPrice: from ~$45,000 before on-road costsTest-driven: November 2024

The Leapmotor C10 arrives on the Australian market as a compelling mix of value and ambition. At a base price under $50K, it offers midsize SUV dimensions with an all-electric drivetrain and styling that punches above its budget. It’s an intriguing option for buyers who want a fresh name, tech-rich cabin and practical range without stretching deep into luxury-SUV territory.

Inside the C10 you’ll find minimalist modern design: a large central screen dominates the dashboard, the layout is clean and intuitive and there’s enough space to comfortably accommodate four adults and weekend luggage. The seating position is elevated, visibility is strong and cargo room is credible for daily use or a short getaway.

On the road, the C10 delivers a smooth and quiet drive. While it doesn’t offer supercar acceleration, it accelerates adequately for everyday needs and the ride is comfortable and composed. The real strength lies in the value equation: a well-spec’d EV for the price of many conventionally-powered mid-sized SUVs.

In short, the C10 may not yet carry the brand prestige of legacy names, but for many Australians it offers a smart electric option with few compromises. If your budget is tight but your ambition is high, this Chinese newcomer deserves serious attention.

Read the review of the Leapmotor C10 here.

Range: up to 480 km (77 kWh battery)Price: from $89,990 before on-road costs

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is proof that nostalgia and innovation can actually coexist. It takes the DNA of the classic Kombi and repackages it for the electric age, creating one of the most charming and instantly recognisable EVs on Australian roads. It’s part family mover, part design statement and part cultural throwback, all rolled into one incredibly likeable package.

Built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform, the ID. Buzz uses a 77 kWh battery with a rear-mounted electric motor producing 210 kW and 550 Nm of torque. That’s enough to send this electric van from 0 to 100 km/h in a brisk 6.5 seconds. The official range sits around 480 kilometres, though the more powerful GTX variant trims that slightly in favour of all-wheel drive and extra punch.

Inside, the ID. Buzz feels like a Scandinavian lounge on wheels. The cabin is light and airy thanks to huge windows and clever use of space. Sustainable materials feature throughout, and the modular seating layout makes it incredibly practical. The digital cockpit is simple and functional, with a clean central touchscreen running Volkswagen’s latest software. You also get loads of thoughtful details, from the hidden smiley faces moulded into the plastic to the fold-out tables behind the front seats.

On the road, the ID. Buzz is surprisingly refined. The steering is light, body control is solid and the low centre of gravity keeps it stable through corners. It’s quiet, comfortable and has that instant torque hit that makes city driving effortless. Whether you’re doing the school run or heading down the coast for the weekend, it feels composed and capable in every situation.

Most importantly, it has personality. The ID. Buzz isn’t trying to outdo Tesla on performance or BMW on luxury; it’s an EV that connects emotionally, offering a sense of fun that few modern cars capture. It’s ideal for families, design lovers and anyone who secretly wishes the world was still a bit more 1972.

RELATED: You Couldn't Pay Me To Drive A VW Until I Saw This

Read the full article 14 Best Electric Cars In Australia For 2026 | Tested & Driven By Our Editors on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Australian automotive software and technology provider Cox Automotive says the new car market will cool, despite the introduction of new brands and an expected oversupply. However, China Inc. will still end up with a record share.

Industry insider and statistics and valuation specialist Cox Automotive Australia predicts more challenging times for the Australian new car market, but also potential bargains to be had.

In its 2025 forecast, Cox predicts a 5% decline in total sales compared to 2024, with a target of around 1.18 million units. That compares to 2024's record registration total of 1.237 million vehicles.

But what might be bad news for OEM insiders struggling to reach targets may be more palatable for new car buyers, with Cox predicting discounting thanks to oversupply as demand from private and fleet buyers wanes in the face of continuing cost-of-living pressures.

Chinese brands are likely to be the winners, Cox says, with makes such as BYD, MG, and newcomers including Zeekr and Geely expected to snare close to a 20% market share collectively.

"Prospective new car buyers battling cost-of-living pressures can expect more affordable choices in 2025, with incentives and discounting expected to ramp up again this year," Cox Automotive Australia (CAA)'s 2025 forecast stated.

"Growing manufacturer inventory and even more intense market competition, coupled with presently slowing household demand for new vehicles, means 2025 will continue to offer up a 'buyer's market' - unlike the supply-constrained 'seller's market' we saw during 2021-2023," the company said.

"In all likelihood, both private and fleet sales will face headwinds and cool year-on-year in the first half of 2025 in particular, driving the introduction of more incentives at OEM and dealer level to 'move metal' - manifesting as discounts or lower finance interest rates," it stated.

Despite pressure for car makers to move vehicles in the first months of 2025 – including vehicles imported early to meet the new Vehicle Efficiency Standard regulations, which came into force on 1 January - Cox expects the first half of 2025 to echo the majority of 2024 in terms of soft private sales.

"Private vehicle sales - meaning any non-business, government or rental fleet purchase - decreased a substantial 8.0% across H2 2024, and CAA expects the structural factors driving this to linger into the first half of 2025 at least," it stated.

"Other factors that could impact non-private sales in 2025 include a predicted slowdown in the private investment pipeline, and the predicted short-term impact in the lead up to the Federal Election."

Cox does predict better fortunes for electrified vehicles – both hybrid and battery electric. It expects battery electric vehicles to grow from under 7% share to around 10% while electrified vehicles overall (battery electric, plug-in hybrids and hybrids) should grab around 30% of the total market.

Cox calls out the end of fringe benefits tax concessions for leased PHEVS as a potential hurdle in their growth, but cites the arrival of plug-in utes such as the BYD Shark, Ford Ranger PHEV and commercial newcomers, including plug-ins from GWM, as the counterpoint.

"As cost-of-living pressures continue to impact the private market, and with supply no longer an overarching problem, you can expect to see an even harder-fought sector in 2025, with keener pricing and finance options a likely result for private and fleet buyers," said Cox Automotive Australia CEO Stephen Lester.

If you can afford to buy a new car, do it soon – and to maximise your saving make sure it’s a car that is sitting in dealer stock.

This is especially true if the car is at the ‘dirtier’ end of the emissions spectrum. The likelihood is that later in 2025 and into 2026, diesel utes and SUVs will get more expensive as the penalties related to not meeting the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard start to impact new car brands.

Read the full article ‘Bargains To Be Had’ For Australian New Car Buyers on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

The Zeekr 9X isn’t just another entry in the overcrowded SUV market it’s a direct challenge to luxury icons. Geely’s high-end electric offshoot has taken a hard look at the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, mimicking its silhouette, adding a chrome grille that resembles ship's hulls, and going to town with diamond-cut lighting details (42,242 facets, if you're counting). The result is an SUV that looks expensive, even if it isn’t as punchy as a Rolls.

At over 5.2 metres long with proportions that dwarf the Range Rover Sport, the 9X makes no secret of its aspirations. It’s flashy, unapologetic, and designed to command attention from Double Bay to Doncaster. Yallah!

Looks aside, the Zeekr 9X backs it up with serious hardware. A 2.0-litre turbo engine is paired with front and rear electric motors for a combined output pushing 665kW translating to a 0-100km/h sprint in around three seconds. That’s faster than a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT.

It rides on adjustable air suspension with up to 288mm of ground clearance, features a 900V charging system that juices the battery from 20 to 80 per cent in nine minutes, and uses five LiDARs to power its semi-autonomous ‘G-Pilot’ system. If Zeekr can deliver on its promises, it’s not just coming for your wallet — it’s coming for your assumptions about what luxury should look and feel like.

The short answer: likely. Zeekr has confirmed that right-hand drive versions are in the pipeline and that Australia is firmly on their radar. With plans to sell 10,000 vehicles locally by 2026, the brand is already laying the groundwork through its X SUV and 009 people mover.

The 9X, especially in ‘Super Hybrid’ spec with a 1500km range, could appeal to Aussies looking for all the prestige and presence of a top-shelf SUV without the six-figure badge tax. A Zeekr spokesperson said they're “exploring all relevant opportunities,” and given the brand’s aggressive global push, it’s not a matter of if it lands in Australia, but when.

And when it does, don’t be surprised if you see a “Rolls” rolling down Bondi that isn’t quite what it seems. Welcome to 2025!

Read the full article Chinese SUV That Thinks It’s a Rolls Royce SUV Could Be Coming To Australia on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

The Australian SUV market is about to get even more interesting with the arrival of Jaecoo, the premium offering from Chinese automotive powerhouse Chery.

While you might not have heard the name yet, this ambitious newcomer has the substance to make waves within the already turbulent new car marketplace.

With the company's first model Down Under, the J7, officially on sale, we enlisted Peter Matkin, Chery's Executive Director of Program Management and Vehicle Concepts, for a crash course in Jaecoo.

Jaecoo represents auto giant Chery's push into the premium lifestyle space. As Matkin told DMARGE.com, it is a brand aimed at "new elites -- a little bit more middle management -- looking to set themselves higher."

In Chery's brand hierarchy, Jaecoo sits near the top of what Matkin describes as a pyramid: "We have Chery at the bottom, then Omoda, then we have Jaecoo, and then right at the top of this pyramid we have the Exceed, which is our luxury brand."

Exeed is, for now, a non-starter Down Under. Instead, Jaecoo aims to deliver premium features, styling and driving experience without the premium price tag that typically comes with European badges.

Unlike some previous entrants who've stumbled by bringing vehicles ill-suited to local tastes and conditions, Jaecoo is taking the Australian market seriously with substantial local adaptation efforts.

"The adaptation is extremely important," admits Matkin. "Traditionally, we in Chery have been quite fortunate in some of the markets that we've exported the cars. We've been able to translate the existing China specification into those markets and it works... but in some markets [like Australia] it doesn't work and you have to do some adaptation work."

This commitment extends beyond just marketing talk. Chery has invested in a European R&D centre in Frankfurt with 70 engineers working on adapting vehicles for different markets and road conditions.

As Matkin explains, "If you go to Germany, the roads are nice and smooth, lots of money spent, they're rich enough. In Spain and Italy, [there are] much rougher roads. And then if you get to Eastern Europe, those roads haven't been maintained for 30 years."

Says Matkin, this experience in adapting vehicles for Europe's diverse conditions is now being applied to Australian market Jaecoo models, with focus on suspension, steering and safety systems calibration.

A key advantage of Jaecoo's Chery parent is the ability to implement changes quickly.

"One key attribute is we're extremely fast," Matkin points out. "As soon as we get negative feedback, we have got a whole bunch of engineers now working on this."

This approach has already paid dividends according to Tim Krieger from Chery Australia, who notes that each vehicle they've brought to market has improved on the last. The team currently has around 30 engineers from headquarters working with the Australian team to ensure their vehicles meet local expectations.

Released in March and on-sale in May, the J7 marks Jaecoo's Australian debut. But it's just the beginning.

"Jaecoo is not going to be a one model wonder," confirms Krieger. "There's a whole raft of products that's going to be made available to us over the course of the next few years."

The larger J8 SUV is scheduled to arrive in June, with "a couple of other models which we'll see before the end of the year," says Krieger.

"We're not in any of this for the short term," insists Matkin. "Everything that we're doing is for the long term. It's just a constant increase in products in markets, and it's the same here."

For those who've grown tired of the same old options, Jaecoo represents something genuinely interesting — a new player with serious backing, premium aspirations, and a commitment to understanding what Australian drivers actually want.

Backed by Chery — China's number one auto exporter for 21 consecutive years — and protected by an eight-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, Jaecoo isn't just dipping a toe in the Australian market.

As the automotive landscape continues to evolve, Jaecoo is a name worth keeping an eye on. The new J7 is just the beginning of what could be a significant new presence on Australian roads.

Read the full article New Luxury SUV Brand Takes on Range Rover, Lexus and Genesis in Australia on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Leapmotor — you'd be forgiven for not knowing the brand, but thanks to the savvy C10 that's about to change...

Fresh brands and battery-electric SUVs are the auto industry's new black. For decades start-ups weren't a thing in the wheeled world. Oh, how that's changed.

So, in Australia's increasingly crowded electric vehicle market, a newcomer needs more than a pretty face to stand out. That's where Leapmotor is making a compelling case for itself with the all-new C10 mid-sized SUV.

Backed by automotive powerhouse Stellantis (the group behind icons like Maserati, Peugeot, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo), this stylish, family-friendly electric SUV combines European design with cutting-edge technology — all at a competitive price point.

After checking the C10’s spec sheet and experiencing it first-hand, we're convinced this electric newcomer deserves a spot on your shortlist. Here's why.

The Leapmotor C10 isn't just another cookie-cutter electric SUV. With clean lines, distinctive LED lighting signatures, and thoughtful proportions, the C10 makes a statement without shouting. Designed in Europe, the C10 earned initial recognition with a 2024 French Design Award, and it's easy to see why.

A range of colours including Pearl White, Terra Grey, Jade Green, Midnight Grey, and Metallic Black, deliver a level of external sophistication. Leapmotor’s interior designers have ensured the C10’s cabin complements its exterior with two interior colour options — a warm Camel Brown or dynamic Black.

The cabin itself blends minimalist design with premium materials. The C10’s Design trim level features soft-touch surfaces and super comfortable OEKO-TEX-certified silicone leather seats.

When it comes to technology, the Leapmotor C10 punches well above its weight. The cabin's focus is a massive 14.6-inch high-resolution touchscreen, which is complemented by a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. Both are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip -- the same processor you'd find in a premium smartphone.

The infotainment system supports over-the-air updates to ensure your C10 stays current throughout ownership. While the absence of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is a unique approach, the native system offers satellite navigation, online music and video streaming, and dual-zone voice control.

And if music quality matters to you, a 12-speaker surround sound system comes standard. Useful tech like wireless phone charging, Bluetooth and NFC key functionality, and V2L capability (to power small appliances) round out the C10’s smart package.

Don't let the stylish lines deceive; the C10 provides generous space — enough for Australian families. The 2825mm wheelbase translates to great legroom, particularly in the second row, while the flat floor enhances the sense of spaciousness.

Cargo capacity ranges from 581 litres behind the second row to 1410 litres with seats folded in the BEV version (slightly less in the plug-in REEV variant at 546/1375 litres).

Leapmotor's designers have clearly set out to impress those inside as much as out. There's a massive fixed panoramic glass roof that floods the cabin with natural light. An electric sunshade is tailor-made for Aussies – and something many brands forget.

The Design variant of the C10 takes comfort levels even further with heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a power tailgate and multi-colour ambient lighting. And yes, that can even be tuned to pulse in rhythm with your music.

Safety is paramount for all cars, but it is especially important when choosing an EV for family use. In this area, the Leapmotor C10 does not compromise. A 5-star ANCAP safety rating for BEV models headlines the act, and the comprehensive LEAP Pilot driver assistance system includes 17 advanced functions, ranging from adaptive cruise control and lane centring to autonomous emergency braking and blind spot detection.

Other safety features include a 360-degree camera with dynamic guidelines, rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring, and multiple airbags, including a centre airbag. This is standard across all variants and provides front-seat occupants added protection in side-impact crashes.

The Leapmotor C10 offers two distinct powertrain options to accommodate different driving needs. The battery electric version delivers 160kW of power and 320Nm of torque, with a WLTP range of 420km from its 69.9kWh Lithium Ferro-Phosphate battery. It achieves 0-100km/h in a spritely 7.5 sec.

Just announced as part of the Leapmotor C10 range is the REEV variant. Standing for Range Extender Electric Vehicle, the new C10 choice combines a smaller 28.4kWh battery with a 1.5-litre petrol engine. This configuration offers up to 170km of pure electric driving, extending to a combined range of approximately 1150km (NEDC) — perfect for long Australian road trips.

Both BEV and REEV C10 variants support DC fast charging, with the former capable of charging from 30-80% in approximately 30 minutes.

While delivering premium features and technology, the Leapmotor C10 maintains competitive pricing. Available in both Style and Design trims, the C10 starts from $43,888 for the REEV Style with the range-topping BEV Design priced from $49,888.

Even sharper is the introductory driveaway offer on the REEV line-up from $45,900 driveaway.

From Model Year 2025, Leapmotor C10 ownership is simplified with a generous warranty package: six years/150,000km vehicle warranty, eight years/160,000km high-voltage battery warranty, and eight years of roadside assistance and capped-price servicing. Service intervals are 20,000km or 12 months for the BEV and 10,000km or 12 months for the REEV.

Leapmotor might be new to Aussie shores but it gains significant credibility through its partnership with Stellantis, one of the world's largest automotive conglomerates.

The collaboration ensures the Leapmotor C10 benefits from established dealer networks and aftercare infrastructure across Australia, addressing potential concerns about service and support.

Already present in 16 countries and ranked among the top three EV startups in China, Leapmotor's global expansion is accelerating with Stellantis's distribution muscle. It's a brand to watch…

There’s a school of thought that suggests delayed gratification is good for the soul. That’s hard to wear when you’re ready to make the switch to electric – and enjoy that new car smell.

The good news is that customers keen to drive the new Leapmotor can not only test drive the C10 but also drive it away with minimum wait times.

Leapmotor’s network of 12 Australian dealers (and more to come!) is ready to help. Forget about tedious pre-booking hurdles, get on down and drive experience for yourself. And if you like what you see (and drive) you can take delivery now and not in six months time!

The C10's absence of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto might disappoint some tech-savvy users accustomed to these smartphone integrations. Also, initial impressions pegged the C10's driver attention monitoring and lane-keeping assist systems on the zealous end of the spectrum. The beauty of OTA update technology is that Leapmotor has already tweaked the assistance levels to better suit Australian conditions.

Charging capabilities, while adequate, aren't class-leading compared to some BEV competitors, so ultra-fast charging enthusiasts might need to factor this in. On the flip side, the REEV variant delivers a practical drivetrain option many other new energy vehicle brands can't match.

The Verdict: Put it on your test drive list.

The Leapmotor C10 represents a compelling new option in Australia's electric SUV landscape. Its sophisticated design, advanced technology, family-friendly practicality, and competitive pricing make a strong case for consideration alongside more established competitors.

For Aussies looking to make the electric transition without breaking the bank — particularly those who appreciate space, thoughtful design and cutting-edge tech — the Leapmotor C10 delivers a premium experience at a value-conscious price point.

Read the full article Is the Leapmotor C10 the Best Value EV Right Now? on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

We’ve long suspected that Porsche owners are exactly the kind of people who secretly like to give their cars a little sensual stroke when nobody’s looking. Apparently we weren’t alone, because Porsche hasn’t just acknowledged this unusual (but, with the right 911, at least a little understandable) behaviour, it has only gone and built stroke-me panels into the bodywork of the new Porsche Macan Electric.

OK, so they don’t call them ‘stroke-me panels’ exactly. But there’s really no other way to explain them. Approach the front of the new Macan, rub your hand gently along its aero-friendly snout, and the bonnet will pop open automatically, revealing a surprisingly usable ‘frunk’ storage space.

Approach from the side and give the Macan a light tickle just above the rear wheel arch, and you’ll find the charging port door slides open automatically, a bit like one of those hidden rooms that only reveals itself when you remove the right book from the shelf.

Of course, it’s all typically finicky and seems specifically programmed to fail if you’re trying to show off to your friends and colleagues, or catch it on video — and how it works when said owners are wearing their prerequisite leather driving gloves remains to be seen —but the point Porsche is making is pretty clear; this isn’t your average mid-size electric SUV. It might have ditched the petrol engine entirely for this generation, but this is still something just a little bit special.

That’s especially true in the case of the monstrous Macan Turbo, which pairs twin electric motors producing a total, and totally silly, 470kW (with Launch Control active) and 1130Nm of tyre-torturing torque.

That’s enough to produce a zero to 100km/h sprint time of just 3.3 seconds - in a family-focused SUV that weighs close to 2.5 tonnes. It’s also the same acceleration time a Porsche Carrera Cup race car - which weighs a spritely 1260kg - can manage on a good day.

If you think transforming soccer parents into race drivers every time they breathe on the accelerator sounds bonkers, I can assure you it feels even more so. Porsche’s launch control system is among the easiest on the planet to use (you just stamp on the brake, flatten the accelerator, and then lift your left foot) and every single time I tried it I found myself generating these high-pitched squealing sounds I’d never heard before, a bit like air being released from a tightly held balloon, only if that air was also terrified.

Unfortunately, that’s about the only sound you’ll hear. The Turbo does have an artificial sound generator, but it’s pretty droning and dull and best left switched off. And you can’t help but pine for just a little more emotion, aural or otherwise, from the experience, which, like most go-fast EVs, still feels a little cold and clinical. 

Porsche is one of the few brands that knows how to make a properly sorted EV, and the Macan is no exception. The ride is bang-on — just forgiving enough to be comfortable in town, but also firm enough to deliver masses of confidence on twisting roads — but it really just completes a massively competent package, with tons of grip, little body roll and steering that is typically Porsche wonderful, too. The fact it can do it all with seating for five and a sizable boot makes it all doubly impressive.

Still, hair-peeling acceleration aside, I think the Macan might suffer from the Taycan’s curse, in that the fastest versions are altogether too fast, and the best bang-for-buck exists lower in the range.
 Especially when you consider that they all share the same 100kWh battery, unlocking a driving range of between 616km and 654km - and the cheaper ones will travel the furthest.

The new Electric range opens with the Macan, which lists at A$128,400. A reminder here that the old entry-level Macan with an ICE engine would have set you back less than six figures, so this one represents quite the jump. It’s rear-drive only, and its single electric motor fires out 265kW and 563Nm with Launch Control engaged.

Next up is the Macan 4 (A$134,400) which, as the name suggests, adds a second electric motor up front for AWD, and ups the grunt considerably, now 300kW and 650Nm, again in Launch mode. It will clip 100km/h in 5.2 seconds, more than a second slower than the next in line, the 4S (A$149,300), which ups the power to 380kW and 820Nm, and drops the sprint to 4.1 seconds.

Now, if you think 4.1 seconds, or even 5.2, isn’t quite fast enough for you, then you’re welcome to drop the A$184,400 required to park a Turbo on your driveway, but if you really do think that, I suspect you might be stroking more than just your bonnet.

Read the full article Hidden ‘Stroke Me’ Panels Could Be Secret To New Porsche Macan’s Sexiness on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

As the old adage goes: “If it ain’t broke...” Well, you know the rest. But the reality is that the automotive sector was, until only recently, very much broken, producing countless vehicles that continued to pollute our atmosphere and exacerbate the climate crisis to irrevocable levels...

That's according to the European Union, which adopted a law to make all new cars and vans sold in Europe zero-emission from 2035.

For over a century, internal combustion engines (ICE) were the gold standard in car production, getting faster and cheaper as production hit record levels to meet an insatiable demand for cars across the globe; their iconic V8 rumble, synonymous with power, prestige, and progress.

But now, the tide has shifted; the automotive industry has seen sweeping changes in recent decades, with governments imposing strict emissions quotas and green initiatives that have forced traditional automakers to either adapt or die.

It's drawn parallels with the Quartz Crisis in the 1970s: a period of immense upheaval for a traditional industry steeped in heritage and craftsmanship. During this time, Swiss luxury watchmakers, long revered for their mechanical timepieces and complex automatic movements, were blindsided by the advent of quartz technology pioneered by rival Japanese brands like Seiko.

The first quartz wristwatch was the Seiko Astron 35SQ, debuting in 1969. It was accurate, affordable, and mass-produced - qualities that traditional Maisons said were killing the industry, as they struggled to compete with increased output and reach of the new player in the horological game... sound familiar?

By the mid-1970s, quartz watches dominated the market and Swiss brands like OMEGA and Longines had to adopt new materials and practices to continue to innovate and lead the market - even Rolex started to produce quartz-powered timepieces like the Rolex Oysterquartz, launched in 1977.

Just as quartz technology brought efficiency and accessibility to the watch world, EVs are bringing sustainability and advanced technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. Misinformation has been rife about the cost and safety of electric vehicles on Australian roads.

Are EVs too expensive? They're on par with new ICE vehicles leaving the factories in 2025. The batteries don't last? They absolutely do. Polestar and other brands are proving that the long-term degradation of EV batteries is far less severe than initially feared.

Even when EV batteries are no longer suitable for cars, they retain significant utility for other applications, such as grid energy storage or home power systems (or they can be recycled and used again). Similarly, companies like Tesla and the Chinese-made BYD have proven that electric vehicles are more than capable of matching their ICE counterparts in speed, efficiency, and environmental impact.

BYD hasn't been in the Australian market for long, but has already started to make considerable inroads into the burgeoning EV space with good-looking and adorable cars. Take the BYD Shark 6; launched only a month ago, it's Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute and has already registered 4,000 sales ahead of its official January 2025 launch.

China has certainly emerged as a powerhouse in the global EV revolution, capitalising on an early headstart on its Western competitors through heavy investments in research, development, and manufacturing.

With a largely captive market of over 1.4 billion people and a growing middle class eager for affordable and sustainable vehicles, China provided the perfect ecosystem for EV innovation to flourish; companies like BYD have started to redefine the automotive landscape and it's led to the old car brands to sit up and take notice.

Much like the revered Swiss watch brands of old, legacy carmakers are scrambling to catch up to the transient automotive landscape; BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have all made significant strides with their electric offerings.

Yet just as traditional Swiss manufactures initially resisted quartz technology, many automakers are reluctant to let go of ICE vehicles. The industry is deeply rooted in ICE technology, with legacy brands like Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz having spent decades perfecting their internal combustion engines, investing not only time, but inordinate sums to improve their cars and their components.

Throwing away these investments in R&D, factories, and supply chains would be a monumental loss; automakers are hesitant to commit fully without certainty about market demand or future policies.

The problem here is that the EU hasn't specifically cited the emissions coming out of the car's tailpipe as the issue to address. It's encouraged luxury brands like Porsche to pump significant investment into an alternative, renewable energy source for their most iconic releases, allowing the petrolhead purists to still have a gas-guzzling mid-engine sports car in their driveway, and still meet the stringent climate targets.

Where the Quartz Crisis of the last century posed something of a bipartisan issue for the world of haute horlogerie and watch enthusiasts, the contemporary issue of the climate crisis sees a much more polarising divide in the automotive world.

On one side, there are those championing a full transition to electric vehicles, viewing EVs as the only viable solution to curb emissions and combat climate change. On the other side are traditionalists and enthusiasts, particularly in the luxury and performance segments, who are pushing back against the idea of abandoning the visceral experience of internal combustion engines.

Luxury brands like Porsche, are wary of going fully electric because they’re not convinced that all consumers are ready to abandon ICE vehicles, indicative of the industry’s broader strategy.

The Porsche Macan, for example, is transitioning to full EV because it aligns with the typical Macan driver’s expectations - someone looking for a premium SUV with cutting-edge technology and eco-conscious credentials.

But forcing long-time Porsche purists to give up their high-performance engines (e.g., Porsche’s iconic flat-six or V8 engines) could alienate the brand's core audience. Many 911 owners, for instance, will likely balk at a fully electric version... even if it did come with the necessary sound effects.

Porsche’s investment in e-fuels is a prime example of this divide; synthetic fuels, produced using renewable energy and promise to offer a carbon-neutral way to keep ICE vehicles on the road without contributing to net greenhouse gas emissions.

It'll inevitably lead to a seismic shift in the way we see luxury vehicles. SUVs, for example, are never the enthusiasts' choice - they're typically bought for practicality or because of the badge on the front. As SUVs transition to EVs, they’re likely to become some of the most expensive options available, packed with advanced technology and innovation to meet consumer demand for cutting-edge features.

Sports cars, on the other hand, will see the opposite effect: Everyday electric vehicles may dominate the lower end of the price spectrum, offering efficient, no-frills city-runners without the bells and whistles traditionally associated with luxury brands.

It's only when you start to look at the traditional combustion engines that you'll notice this increase in cost, meaning the driver will likely have to spend for the luxury of driving a sports car; E-fuels offer a cost-effective way for Porsche to retain this customer without jeapordising the climate targets of the brand.

In the quartz crisis, lightweight and low-cost components like plastic allowed for cheaper and more efficient watchmaking. Swatch were the pioneers of this space and has since transitioned to Bioceramic, an innovative material that has carved out its own space in today's horological market.

Similarly, the automotive sector is embracing new materials, such as lightweight aluminium for EV frames and solid-state batteries that promise better energy efficiency and safety than traditional lithium-ion counterparts.

In the 1970s, the Japanese watch industry leaned on mass production and automation to meet the increasing demands for their pieces, disrupting the handcrafted traditions of Swiss watchmakers.

Today, EV manufacturers are similarly transforming car production, with companies like Tesla and BYD pioneering Gigafactories that integrate battery and vehicle production under one roof. Rivian, too, has focused on streamlined production processes to scale their electric trucks and SUVs efficiently.

Of course, not all traditions are left behind. Just as the Swiss eventually found a way to coexist with quartz by embracing their luxury identity with the resurgence of mechanical icons like the OMEGA Speedmaster and Rolex Daytona, automotive stalwarts are leaning into their heritage.

Brands like Ferrari and Corvette have unveiled hybrid models that marry electrification with the visceral experience of their roaring engines, bridging the gap between past and future to work within the guidelines set.

Perhaps the greatest parallel, however, lies in the consumer. Both revolutions marked a shift in what people value. The quartz crisis taught us that convenience and accuracy could outweigh tradition, while the EV revolution has revealed a growing consumer desire for sustainability and cutting-edge tech. In both cases, the message was clear: evolve or be left behind.

The watch industry, ultimately, survived the quartz crisis by adapting. Traditional luxury brands doubled down on their craftsmanship, producing veritable works of art with intricate movements, precious metals and exquisite pieces. Some embraced quartz technology themselves.

The automotive industry is in the midst of its own reckoning. Legacy carmakers will find their place in this new era, innovating in a future that is still being written.

Whether it’s e-fuels, fully electric hypercars, or cars that drive themselves, one thing is certain - change is coming. Will the world’s most iconic brands steer themselves into this new era, or will they simply be left behind in the rearview mirror?

Read the full article Car Brands Confront Their Own ‘Quartz Crisis,’ Echoing the Swiss Watch Industry’s Near Collapse on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Hybrid cars are quickly becoming Aussie new car buyers' favourites. But beware, there's more than one type of hybrid and some brands are sticking hybrid on cars that arguably don't qualify for the badge.

Battery electric vehicles might get Elon excited and have Green pollies frothing at the bung, but right now, it's hybrids that Australians want to know more about.

No surprise then that hybrids of various guises are grabbing an increasing share of new car sales. In fact, according to the latest official VFACTS new car registration figures, Australian hybrid vehicle sales are up over 50% year-on-year to the end of October... In a potential sales record-setting year, that compares to flat diesel sales, petrol sales are down almost 11% and EV sales are also down close to double figures.

Given one of the single largest segments of new vehicle sales Down Under – utes – is for the moment devoid of any hybrid (but watch this space and read more below), arguably the actual ultimate demand for hybrids could be considerably higher. Indeed, considering the avalanche of new hybrid models set to swamp our market in the next two years or so, some pundits are predicting as many as 50% of new car sales could be hybrid as soon as 2028.

The advantage of hybrids in the most general of terms is written on the tin – they deliver a mix of the benefits of both EVs and conventional ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Able to run in EV mode some of the time, by definition, they've also got an engine that is fuelled at the pump – no more range anxiety, especially if you are heading bush or want to tow.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) can also have their battery topped up via a charger – or even a good old 240V plug. Depending on your address and the PHEV's electric-only range, that could see you commuting during the week on EV power alone, saving the combustion heroics for weekend work.

The most common form of hybrid requires no connection to the grid and uses a combination of battery and ICE powertrains to optimise fuel usage and/or boost performance. Many will move from a standstill on electric power alone and also switch off the engine from time to time once at cruising speed. At full throttle, you get the punch from both the ICE and EV powertrains.

The key criticism of hybrids is hinted at above – you have to lug around both ICE and electric powertrains. EV evangelists suggest they are simply bridging technology – keeping us moving until battery electric vehicles are good enough or, more to the point, cheap enough, to tick most car buyers' boxes. I beg to differ – for countries like Australia with infrastructure challenges, huge distances, relatively cheap fuel and diverse vehicle needs, hybrids are going to be around for the foreseeable future.

But hybrids ain't hybrids – and before you buy or even try, it pays to know what's what. Here are the three different types – and one imposter...

Parallel hybrids are the most common hybrids – pioneered and made most famous by Toyota, and by dint of purchase choice your local Ubernaut... Think of parallel hybrids as having two separate power sources - an electric motor and a petrol engine. Both can drive the wheels directly and the power sources can work together or separately.

In city driving, the electric motor can power the car by itself but EV mode tends to be limited to (very) low speeds and (very) short distances. On highways, the petrol engine takes over and when you need extra power, like climbing hills or accelerating quickly, both power sources work together.

Less common, for now, is the series hybrid. Here only the electric motor or motors drive the wheels - the petrol engine never connects to them directly. Instead, the engine (usually smaller) powers a generator, producing electricity to power the electric motor and/or charge the battery.

Some would argue this is the most efficient use of hybrid technology as it delivers a pure EV style drive and dispenses with much of the ICE running gear.

This design is best for stop-start city driving but it can be less efficient on highways compared to parallel hybrids. This could be a great long-term solution for utes and trucks, however – after all, railway locomotives have used diesel series hybrid drives for decades. In reality, the application of this technology is rare – parallels seem to rule the roost for now.

Plug-in hybrids or PHEVs (pronounced Fevs!) are typically (but not always) parallel hybrids with a much bigger battery that you can charge before driving by plugging into an electrical outlet.

PHEVs deliver the best of both worlds - you can drive on pure electric power for a reasonable distance (up to 80km) but still have the petrol engine for longer journeys. And that EV range is getting better all the time -- Haval has just announced a PHEV version of its H6 GT with 180km electric range. It's potentially a game-changer.

Of special interest to Aussies, PHEVs look likely to be the most popular choice for electrifying utes. BYD has already launched its Shark 6 PHEV pick-up, Ford has a PHEV Ranger on the way and companies like GWM are also planning PHEV versions of their utes and large SUVs. Oh, and Ferrari and others are building plug-in hybrid supercars if that's your cup of chino.

When it's a mild hybrid. The tech varies from brand to brand but the common denominator is the electrical power generated by the mild hybrid system is not enough to drive the car. Instead, the power generated is used to power other systems (aircon for instance, especially when engine stop-start is activated in traffic). Mild hybrid systems also commonly harvest some electrical power under deceleration to cut alternator loads (and therefore save fuel) and in some cases can also (very) modestly boost performance when accelerating.

Basically, this is a hybrid engineered by the marketing department – so much so mild hybrid sales aren't included in official hybrid volumes. Don't be fooled, a mild hybrid is NOT a hybrid...

Based on sales volumes, parallel hybrids are Aussies' favourites. This is largely thanks to Toyota normalising hybrids across much of its line-up – indeed, off-roaders aside, most Toyota models are now hybrid only... Thus if you're happy to go with the flow, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda and Kia all offer a growing number of parallel hybrid models in popular segments including hatches, plus small, medium and large SUVs. Typically all of these vehicles deliver decent fuel savings – especially around town.

There's a much longer list of brands expected to further broaden hybrid ranks in the next 12 months. It's probably easier to say the brands that aren't adding hybrids to their new car showroom. Even EV pioneers like BYD are getting into the game.

If you want the ability to do some driving in pure EV mode but can't quite commit to a full-battery electric car then a PHEV might be the choice. Most deliver up to 50km of EV-only range and some are now promising four times that (or more).

PHEVs are also a good choice if you plan to tow or expect longer country trips and don't want to charge along the way. With a full battery and a full tank, the Mitsubishi Outlander will achieve close to 1000km without much trouble.

The caveat on PHEVs is to make the most of that flexibility you really need the ability to charge at home. That can simply be a 240V plug, though a cheap 7.2kW charger from the likes of Jetcharge makes things even easier.

The step-change for hybrids Down Under will likely be the arrival of longer-range plug-in hybrid utes and medium and large SUVs. So far this year, the three segments account for over 50% of new car registrations and currently hybrids have modest penetration into the segments.

Even storied off-road badges like LandCruiser will soon include hybrids in their line-ups with the all-new Prado expected to offer a 2.4-litre petrol-electric hybrid as well as the normal turbo-diesel powertrain.

A PHEV option will soon be offered in Australia's 2023 best-selling vehicle, the Ford Ranger and the next generation Toyota HiLux due in 2025 is also expected to offer a conventional non-plug-in hybrid variant – which will share its origins with the above-mentioned Prado. As the number of Chinese brands offering utes via their Australian outposts increases, the hybrid options will scale considerably.

And fans of full-size American pick-ups never fear. While it's yet to be confirmed for Oz, RAM has announced the 1500 Ramcharger in the US which combines a 3.6-litre petrol V6, oversized 90kWh-plus battery and fast-charging plug-in infrastructure to deliver almost 500kW, 0-100km/h in the mid-4.0sec bracket and over 1100km of range.  Now, that's what we call a hybrid!

Read the full article Hybrids or EVs, Which Is The Smart Option To Buy Right Now? on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Buyers of the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and other top dual-cabs should pay attention. Officially launched within hours of each other, the Kia Tasman and BYD Shark 6 have changed the face of Australian utes almost overnight.

The Kia Tasman is the first conventional 4x4 dual-cab pick-up sold by a mainstream Korean brand Down Under — and it arrives with a face only its mother could love. The BYD Shark 6 is Australia’s first plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute, beating promised entrants from brands like Ford and GWM by months (if not years) and likely undercutting them on price.

BYD announced an introductory price for the Shark 6 dual-cab at A$57,900. To put this in context, it’s about the same price as a mid-spec turbodiesel four-cylinder Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, or Mitsubishi Triton. Yet, with 321kW and 650Nm, the plug-in hybrid BYD not only significantly out-powers the incumbents (it’s even faster than the turbo V6 Ford Ranger Raptor to 100 km/h!), but also delivers a level of tech the others can only dream of — for now.

The Shark 6 is essentially a range-extended electric ute. A 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol engine and electric motor power the front wheels, with the petrol engine primarily acting as a generator to keep the modest 29.6kWh battery charged. A second electric motor powers the rear axle.

You can plug it in to charge the battery, but there’s no dual-range gearbox — something most mainstream 4x4s rely on for off-road capability (except the previous generation Amarok). In fact, like most battery-electric vehicles, there’s no multi-speed gearbox at all. What the Shark 6 does have, however, is tech. Digital instruments, BYD’s trademark swivelling centre screen, and a host of on- and off-road driver aids are included.

With styling that resembles either something out of Futurama or an unfinished LEGO project, the Kia Tasman has certainly captured attention. Conventional it ain’t. Its looks are likely to polarise opinion, but it stands out in the current crop of dual-cabs.

The Tasman is a big deal for Kia — and for Hyundai, thanks to the companies’ shared lineage. Utes are big business in Australia, with multiple dual-cabs models regularly among the top-selling new vehicles each month.

Kia and Hyundai have held strong top-five positions in Australian new car sales without the need for utes, so the Tasman and an inevitable Hyundai counterpart will mark a major shift for both brands Down Under. For BYD, already one of the fastest-growing brands in the Australian marketplace, the Shark 6 delivers an opportunity to attract buyers it’s never engaged.

If the BYD Shark 6 is mechanically innovative, the Kia Tasman takes a more traditional approach — at least for now, though hybrid and EV versions are likely to follow. Underneath, the Kia’s LEGO-like exterior conceals specs that closely match those of the Ranger and HiLux.

Under the hood is a 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine like the one powering the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe, with options for a six-speed manual or eight-speed auto. Suspension is independent in the front, with a leaf-sprung live axle rear setup — again, typical ute fare.

This conventional suspension configuration gives Tasman a 3500kg braked towing capacity, a standard in the Australian ute market. Meanwhile, BYD has already flagged plans to increase the Shark 6’s initial 2500kg towing rating.

Where the Tasman falls slightly behind in comparison is its power and torque outputs. Peak power is just 154kW with peak torque at 441Nm. This is adequate but won’t be a major selling point for Kia. Fuel consumption for the Kia is competitive at a claimed 7.6L/100km.

Here’s where the plug-in BYD has a distinct edge (if you charge the battery regularly). The BYD Shark 6’s official fuel consumption is 2.0L/100km, thanks to the way plug-in hybrids are measured. Real-world use will likely yield fuel consumption similar to Kia's if the battery isn’t charged regularly.

BYD claims an EV-only range of 100km for the Shark 6. You’ll likely get around 75km depending on load and driving style, making it feasible to commute daily without burning a drop of fuel. The V2L (vehicle-to-load) capability allows you to power or charge tools directly from the ute’s tray. Electrified utes like the Shark 6 will change the game for tradies.

With over 4,000 sales of the SHARK 6 to date (27 November 2024), Australia’s first PHEV Ute is already on its way to Australia and will be delivered in late January 2025.

Kia hasn’t announced pricing for the Tasman dual-cab, and likely won’t until closer to its launch in late 2025. For now, the Tasman will only be available in diesel but three variants will be offered: base, X-Line, and X-Pro. Kia will aim for competitive pricing within the established dual-cab market, where buyers are known for their loyalty to proven models.

For now, the BYD Shark 6 is offered in a single, well-equipped model. Early 2025 may see the arrival of other electrified utes, with GWM expected to launch a plug-in version of its Cannon Alpha.

Both new utes are set to appeal to both urban and traditional ute buyers. Kia has a dedicated following in Australia, built on a reputation for long warranty periods, reliability, and refined on-road manners. It remains among the few brands prioritising local suspension and steering tuning.

The BYD Shark 6’s advanced tech and electrified drivetrain will appeal to buyers looking for a unique take on the work-to-weekend vehicle or family trickster. So, two new utes. Two new choices. And there's more to come in the land where too many utes is just enough.

Read the full article Kia Tasman vs. BYD Shark 6: Which Ute Should You Buy? on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

The first of a new generation of Jaguars will be unveiled in concept form in Miami on 2 December 2024. In the meantime, the storied British luxury car maker has released its new brand identity.

To say the response has been mixed is charitable at best… The vast majority of reactions to the new branding, which utilises bold primary colours, bespoke ‘Jaguar Exuberant’ font and mixed upper and lower case letters – just not in the order you’d expect – have been scathing…

We’ve let the (initial) dust settle since the branding and the fashion-focused video debuted on X and other social channels Tuesday night Australian time. Since then, there appear to be a (few) more positive voices emerging, but the jury remains firmly out.

Whether the brand will live or die will ultimately rest on the new models that are poised to take Jaguar into al all-electric age. The first of these, to be teased in Miami, arrives in showrooms in 2026 and is expected to be a four-door coupe akin to the Porsche Taycan. In the interim, all ICE Jaguars and the existing single EV model, i-PACE, will cease to exist. A special tranche of runout F-Type coupes is headed to Australian owners imminently.

But a brand misstep of significant proportions won’t help…

When it comes to branding and marketing, everyone’s an expert. However, we consulted Australian brand and advertising expert Adam Ferrier to give us an informed opinion.

Ferrier founded leading agencies Thinkerbell and MSIX. He is a consumer psychologist, innovator, podcast host, general all-around comms, and marketing guru.

To put it kindly, he’s not convinced the rebrand is on point.

“I think it's incomprehensible both in terms of its content and also why they'll do such a thing. [But] we have to be careful that we're judging everything here on a three-minute teaser video”

Ferrier told DMARGE

“There could be some sense that unfolds, but at the moment it doesn't look like there is.”

Ferrier believes there’s significant equity in the existing Jaguar brand. He suggests – for now – the change is muddying the waters.

“It's very, very hard to reposition a brand. To reposition something in the minds of consumers takes a lot of effort and is normally done incrementally. What they've tried to do is say the Jaguar brand used to stand for British elegance, and now it's going to stand for God knows what? By repositioning it in such a drastic way, they're just confusing [new] consumers. It will make people feel uncomfortable driving a Jaguar because they're not sure what it is that Jaguar says about them."

“Jaguar has got a really strong brand, both positive and negative. Unreliability would be part of it, a bit of inconsistency, but also British elegance would be part of it. Design would be part of it. Speed would be part of it. So even for new customers going in there, there's still this kind of old heritage of what Jaguar is about. And then they're [Jaguar] promising not to be anything that anyone else is, but not quite saying what they are... It's a really confusing mishmash of messages.

“If they're going to be this drastic. They're almost better off just scrapping the Jaguar brand and starting again with a clean slate. But that in itself is ridiculous because it's so expensive to build a brand.”

Ferrier agrees that Jaguar could potentially walk the extreme positioning back post-Miami.

“You can pretend to do something and then do something reasonable. And you could be doing that to try to jolt customer perceptions and say be prepared for something different. And that could just be almost a faux repositioning video they've put out there. And then they can do something more aligned with all the positive attributes of the brand. If that's the case, then fine. They've got everyone's attention. They've got everyone talking. It could be marketing genius,” he stated

He suggests that Volvo is a brand which Jaguar could learn from.

“A good evolution of their positioning [could be] something like Volvo, which used to stand for safety. Then they did their sponsorships, Twilight series and they just worked hard and then they kind of redefined their models a little bit to make them more contemporary… But they didn't lose the essence of what the brand was about… [and] They were able to completely contemporize the brand and rejuvenate it without throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

Automotive commentators have roundly criticised Jaguar’s repositioning. Unsurprisingly, there’s been significant commentary on the brand’s own social channels – much of it countered by Jaguar moderators who seem to us to be trying just a little too hard.

Congratulations. You’ve killed a British icon.

Jaguar deleted all of its past posts on its Instagram account and just two new posts remain – the controversial video and a partial rear view of what we believe to be the new super-GT four-door.

The brand has also see-sawed on removing and reinstating commentary on its social channels from consumers since Tuesday night.

cd3294 commented on the video post: “Congratulations. You’ve killed a British icon”. At the time of writing, that had attracted almost 24,000 likes.

The sentiments are more positive in the post showing the Miami concept.

While this writer is no fan of Elon Musk, the Tesla founding billionaire arguably hit the nail on the head via X when, based on the new Jaguar brand video, he commented: “Do you sell cars?”

Effectively, the junior partner in the Jaguar Land Rover group, Jaguar is owned by the India-based Tata Group.

It has been moribund in most markets for the last decade after a series of unsuccessful new model launches and a tarnished brand reputation.

In 2023 it sold just over 64,000 cars globally. In Australia, just 650 new Jaguars have found homes YTD October 2024. Many of those registrations are company fleets and/or demos.

Yikes.

During the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards last month, Santino Pietrosanti, UK Brand Director at Jaguar Land Rover, hinted at the brand’s forthcoming rebrand, describing it as part of the company’s ongoing “transformative journey.”

“We’re embarking on a transformation of our own, rooted in a commitment to diversity, inclusion, creativity, policy, and—most importantly—action,” Pietrosanti shared. “We’ve established over 15 DEI groups, including Pride, represented here tonight, and Women in Engineering and Neurodiversity Matters.”

He continued, “We’ve introduced significant policy changes, such as our ‘transitioning at work’ initiative, to foster equity and support our communities. At Jaguar Land Rover, individuality is our superpower.”

If you take note of Santino's attire in the evening, it could have been a clue as to what was coming from him and his brand team.

Yes, quite possibly. Even if it wasn't meant to be a PR stunt, the brand could possibly wind the woke back and pitch this as one big elaborate PR campaign.

They may come out after the car's reveal in Miami with a big 'surprise'; the next stop they accept is the PR Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions next year.

You heard it here first; this whole thing could be a clever ruse. But then again, Santino's outfit says otherwise. Watch this space.

Read the full article Jaguar New Logo Disaster Signals A Falling Automotive Icon, Undone By Unnecessary Wokeness on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Imagine you bought a car on the basis of its racetrack performance and then it didn't have any… The same Chinese hyper EV that last month claimed a Nürburgring lap record had broken the internet thanks to broken brakes. Well, sort of…

The car in question is the Xiaomi SU7. A high-performance sports sedan, the SU7 is the headline model from a Chinese company that is better known for making smartphones than fast cars.

In October, the Xiaomi SU7 set a new four-door lap "record". Now, even Chinese auto bloggers have turned on Xiaomi, saying the car is too dangerous to take to the track. The truth is probably somewhere in between... The devil, as often is the case, is in the detail.

The record details first... Located in the northwest of Germany, the Nurburgring Nordschleife racetrack has legendary status.

'The Ring' hosts iconic race events but is most commonly known — in the last few decades at least — as providing the venue for benchmark lap times for fast cars. The fastest hot hatch, the fastest supercar, the fastest SUV, the fastest racing car... You get the idea. Various brands run their various models around the track (also known as the Die Grüne Hölle – The Green Hell) and use the lap times as bragging rights in advertising and other ventures.

It's a slippery slope, literally and figuratively. The track is long and treacherous. The record attempts themselves are similarly slippery — often mired in controversy (just ask Lamborghini) and bring up all sorts of awkward questions: What really constitutes a production car? Where was the lap time measured? What tyres or fuel was used etc, etc… But let's not let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Hence the arrival at The Ring of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype in October. And pay attention to that suffix, Ultra. The Ultra is an experimental version of the already rapid SU7. Xiaomi claims the tri-motor EV sedan packs over 1140kW (1548hp) and can accelerate 0-100km/h in 1.98sec on the way to a top speed of 350km/h. Says the carmaker:

"Xiaomi SU7 Ultra also comes with a peak chassis system tuned for the Nürburgring Nordschleife, delivering better chassis control and a higher control ceiling. As a four-door 'race car' it is track-ready straight from the factory. In addition, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra offers multiple upgrades in smart driving, smart cockpit, safety and luxury experience."

Xiaomi Press Release

Xiaomi intends to sell the Ultra as a full-production car in 2025... Orders are open, and the cost in China is set at 814,900 yuan – about $A173,000. On October 28, with Ring specialist and Nurburgring 24 winner Briton David Pittard at the wheel, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype duly set a new "record" for a production sedan at a very, very rapid 6min 46.874sec. The video makes for compelling viewing... and the time is properly rapid – and not just in sedan or EV terms.

It's as fast as the fastest Porsche 911 production model. The next fastest four-door time we can find is one set in 2017 by current Supercar driver and Bathurst 1000 winner, Richie Stanaway, in a purpose-built Prodrive Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special at 6min 57.578sec. Back then Richie raced Aston Martins…

However, perhaps the most (in)famous four-door 'record' is that of the Tesla Model S Plaid Track Package set in June 2023. That record attempt (Tesla had a couple of goes) played its part in a tit-for-tat spat with Porsche for four-door production car bragging rights. The Plaid's time of 7min 25.231sec was called out, having been set on non-road-legal rubber.  Porsche has since reset what it claims as the four-door record earlier this year with its Taycan Turbo GT on the right tyres at 7min 7.55sec.

In both cases, the SU7 Ultra has a margin of at least 20sec... A lifetime when it comes to lap pace… FYI: look out Porsche – the Chinese brand says it is committed to going back in 2025 with a proper production SU7 Ultra and dotting the i's.

Fast forward to the track testing of the fastest ACTUAL production Xiaomi SU7 – it's dubbed the SU7 Max... Note Max, not Ultra… What's very clear is a standard Xiaomi SU7 is far from the track-ready mega-sedan its brand advertising and (especially) its Ultra counterpart purports it to be…

With around 495kW, the Xiaomi SU7 Max might be 600kW shy of the Ultra but still outpowers many (most?) of the fastest cars sold Down Under today – electric and ICE. The maker claims it can accelerate to 100 in under 3.0sec. Go is not the problem... Whoa is…

A video from Chinese auto influencer Tang Zho Liao Che highlighted the SU7 Max's braking issues, crashing at the Shanghai Tianma circuit after complete brake failure. Fellow Chinese auto commentator Director Xiong also posted a video describing how a number of SU7s had failed in a similar manner... Not mincing words, Xiong says taking the SU7 on the track is dangerous.

Despite claims from Xiaomi that its SU7 outperforms Porsche Taycan, the SU7 Max's braking hardware and technology have a long way to go to match the powertrain. In fact, photos of the Xiaomi SU7 Max's brakes clearly show despite the oversized Brembo callipers, the pads themselves are tiny – far smaller than you'd expect on a 2000kg-plus vehicle capable of the performance near-500kW delivers.

The whole tale has now escalated to an attack on the veracity of a host of claims Xiaomi makes for the SU7, including reduced range, poor automated emergency braking and crash structure performance. Xiaomi has since issued a statement, explaining that the SU7 Max is not meant for track use.  Perhaps the brand's legal and PR departments aren't talking... Excuse me, about that Nürburgring trip…

Okay, we've been a little unkind picking on Xiaomi for the shortcomings of its standard SU7, but it's instructional to understand that just because a car shares a badge doesn't always mean it shares the potential or credentials. The 6min 48sec lap time, on the face of it, remains a serious accomplishment for a battery electric sedan.

At a time when Australia is expecting a flood of new car brands from China, it's probably fortunate that for now, Xiaomi has no plans to come Down Under. Meantime, for no other reason than this is another amazing video to watch, it's worth understanding that fast, even 1500hp fast, is a relative term. The current fastest time at the Nurburgring is almost one and half minutes faster than the SU7 Ultra — 5min 19.546sec.

In the spirit of equal opportunity, that time was set not by an EV but by a hybrid. A Porsche, but a hybrid all the same…

Read the full article Chinese Xiaomi Hypercar Nürburgring Record Ruined By Brake Failure Safety Concerns on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

From Aion to Zeekr, here’s the latest on 12 Chinese car brands with big plans Down Under.

Some are already here, some are launching soon, and others are still dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Is there room for them all? Will the cars hold up to Aussie conditions and meet Aussie buyers' expectations? One thing is for sure: the Australian new car marketplace is set for interesting times... much like its second-hand counterpart.

A sub-brand of Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), Aion is China’s third-largest EV brand — behind BYD and Tesla. Targeting an early 2025 launch of both sedan and SUV-style EVs, Aion has established a wholly-owned operation in Australia. It’s not just EVs either — hybrid models are also on the agenda under the GAC brand.

Subaru and Peugeot importer Inchcape has officially announced it will distribute Changan’s Deepal EV brand Down Under. Starting in Q4 2024, it will launch the S07, a compact battery-electric SUV.

Inchcape is reintroducing Foton to Australia. The group took over distribution in mid-2024 with plans to launch EV and conventional competitors to the likes of the Ranger and HiLux. Now, it seems Foton will also enter the large pick-up market with a RAM/F150 rival arriving by mid-2025.

Geely is setting up a local operation to launch a range of EV models, including the EX5 midsize SUV and the RD6 electric dual-cab ute by mid-2025. It’s worth noting that the Geely Group also includes brands such as Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Lotus, Lynk & Co, and the company that manufactures London cabs. Deep pockets then…

According to its Australian website, Jaecoo will launch its compact Range Rover lookalike J7 locally in early 2025. A sub-brand of Chery, Jaecoo was only created in early 2023. The debut J7 is described as “urban and adventure-oriented.” EV and PHEV powertrains are expected across a lineup that will also include smaller J6 and larger J8 models.

Another brand under the Chery umbrella, Jetour is intended to be more off-road-focused than its Jaecoo and Chery counterparts. Debuts are planned for late 2024 in Thailand and South Africa, with a potential Australian launch in 2025. Count this one as a maybe.

You can register your interest to test drive and purchase a Leapmotor C10 electric SUV on the brand’s Australian website now — so this brand is a definite. Leapmotor is sold internationally via a joint venture between the Chinese manufacturer and the global auto group Stellantis (think Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, etc.). The product roadmap includes more SUVs and hatches, with a five-model lineup (at least) expected by the end of 2026.

A definite maybe at this point. When it does arrive, Lynk & Co is expected to be distributed in Australia by fellow Geely Group brand ,Volvo. Back in 2021, the company announced an ETA of 2025. Right now, any local hiring is being kept quiet, suggesting it may be a 2026 proposition.

Most famous (so far) for promoting a solid-state battery-equipped sedan with a 1000km range between recharges, Nio is still far from a certainty for Australia. It has been linked with both existing third-party distributors and a wholly-owned greenfield operation. The former seems the stronger bet.

Another 'register your interest' 2025 proposition for Australian EV SUV buyers is the Skywell EVA5. The local connection is Tenerife (QLD)-based EV Automotive, which has been selling Skywell-manufactured electric commercial vehicles for around five years. The vans resemble Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, but the EVA5 has more of a Honda CR-V vibe than European flair.

Importer TrueEv has announced local pricing and a free home charger offer for early Xpeng X6 SUV buyers, along with a nationwide service agreement via Ultratune branches. The X6 is expected to be joined by the larger G9 SUV and X9 people mover in 2025. First deliveries of the X6 are due in November 2025. PS: Xpeng also makes a quadrocopter…

Geely’s premium Chinese EV brand, Zeekr, is well into its launch planning for Australia, with cars already in-country and dealer and launch preparations well underway. Initially, the selection will be niche, with the debut offerings being the 009 luxury people mover and the X, a high-spec small crossover. Expect more models soon, including the next iteration of the handsome 001 shooting brake. This is one to watch for sure.

Read the full article New Car Market Is About To Get Interesting: 12 Chinese Brands Landing Soon on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

I still remember the old-school MINI Coopers from the '90s: just over three metres long, with three doors and five seats cruising around London. At the time, they were the perfect little city runner; a versatile hatchback with a four-cylinder engine that delivered that iconic go-kart feeling behind the wheel. 

Fast forward to today, and the British carmaker has taken that distinct heritage and transformed it into something much bigger, redefining the legacy of this classic car with modern sensibilities.

Standing at 1.613 metres tall with an increased length of 4.43 metres, the new MINI Countryman is the largest and most versatile MINI available - a striking blend of style, ample space and cutting-edge technology that caters to every need of the Australian family home.

The MINI Countryman model is designed with families in mind, offering generous legroom and headspace, with all the room in the boot to accommodate the daily school run or weekend getaway. With its expanded dimensions, the MINI Countryman has elevated the comfort of its iconic predecessor while retaining that exhilarating go-karting spirit for which MINI is known.

For the first time, the Countryman will be available with a fully electric model alongside the traditional combustion engine, boasting a formidable battery capacity of 64.7 kWh, which will get you a range of up to 462 kilometres depending on which model you choose. It’s a huge boost in today’s EV market, especially in Australia, where long coastal drives or journeys into the bush are an inherent part of the famous Australian lifestyle. 

Inside, MINI has introduced a revolutionary 240mm circular OLED display; a showstopping centrepiece at the heart of the new model. It’s a technological tip of the hat to the emerging demands of the modern driver, offering a fully personalised driving experience for whoever sits behind the wheel. 

MINI has also introduced eight Experience Modes to its acclaimed line, adding another level of customisation and interactivity to the Countryman driving experience. From Core, Go-Kart, Green and Vivid to Timeless, Balance, Personal and Trail, drivers can access a unique, multi-sensory experience with just a simple flick of the toggle bar, transforming the MINI’s cabin with an immersive creative design and sound palette.

With this level of customisation, the new MINI Countryman ensures that no matter who’s in the driver’s seat, the journey feels uniquely theirs, combining practicality with MINI’s signature sense of fun.

Now for the passenger princesses in the room - it’s alright, we see you - MINI has added pizzazz to the incredibly serious responsibility of being the in-car DJ, with your very own virtual decks. Simply connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth and swipe left with four fingers on the OLED display.

The all-new Countryman will bring up a vinyl spinning around the screen, allowing you to “scratch” tracks like a pro. It’s certainly a fun and novel feature from the British brand, so you can channel your inner Fred Again right from the passenger seat. Now I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for the drivers among us. But don’t worry, MINI has thought of you too.

The MINI Countryman boasts the brand’s Parking Assistant Plus, a driverless function that utilises 12 ultrasonic sensors and 4 surround-view cameras to identify possible parking spaces more clearly and automatically execute parking manoeuvres in tight spots.

The completely hands-free function eliminates one of the biggest frustrations of driving - squeezing into small spaces. Whether you’re reversing or etching into a tricky parallel park, the Parking Assistant Plus makes that final move effortless, finding those hidden extra inches easily. For me, it’s the standout feature. 

Elsewhere, MINI has embraced its playful spirit with another fun feature, ensuring that no road trip goes without memories. The new interior camera, cleverly integrated into the display, allows passengers to capture moments from inside the car. 

Finally, the new Countryman introduces the MINI Intelligent Personal Assistant, a smart co-pilot designed to make every drive smoother and more intuitive. While MINI stops short of calling it AI, the assistant’s responsive functions certainly make it feel that way, bringing a state-of-the-art voice assistant to the cockpit for the first time. 

Simply say, “Hey MINI,” and Spike, the Countryman’s Personal Assistant, will arrive on the OLED screen in the form of a sweet-natured animation. Spike can handle key functions like updating navigation, making phone calls, and even opening windows - all hands-free - so that you can focus on the road ahead. What’s more, Spike learns from previous drives, adapting to your preferences and anticipating your needs without you having to ask.

It’s a groundbreaking function that takes driving convenience to a whole new level, making the MINI Countryman not just a family-friendly vehicle but an intelligent companion for every journey. Get around it.

Read the full article The New MINI Countryman Provides Big Adventures In A Small, Supersized Package on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Misinformation is killing the sales of used EVs. But there’s value there if you buy with your eyes wide open. If you want a plug-in-and-go electric car there’s no shortage of new electric car brands from which to choose…  In fact, industry insiders have the current crop swelling by somewhere between 10 and 20 new brands over the next two years. But not everyone’s got the readies to go new. So, are there used EVs you can buy now and does it make sense to do so? 

Right now, used battery electric vehicles are lingering on dealer lots, prices are dropping, and their retained values are falling behind those of internal combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid vehicles. There are bargains to be had. But get ready to cop some flak should you choose to plug in… Misinformation is rife. In fact, the uncertainty being created (some say by vested interests) is at the core of used EVs’ image problem. 

At a recent auto industry seminar, I moderated a panel that dug into a range of issues with EV industry leaders including Scott Nargar from Hyundai Australia, Laurissa Mirabelli from Polestar, and electric vehicle expert Toby Hagon. To go into your EV shopping (new and used) forewarned and forearmed, it’s worth revisiting a very condensed form of the used EV mythbusters these experts offered.

A common misconception is that even minor battery issues require replacing the entire pack. 

FACT: Full battery replacements are much rarer than engine replacements in ICE vehicles.

FACT: Modular repairs are more likely. Rather than replacing the entire battery, manufacturers can repair or replace individual components or modules, which greatly reduces the cost and impact on a vehicle's value. Given the long warranty on all modern EV batteries, the chances are you’re covered.

Another myth is that EV batteries degrade quickly (think mobile phones), causing performance in used EVs to decline sharply. 

FACT: Data shows battery degradation is usually minimal. Most major EV brands report far less battery degradation than even they expected. For instance, studies from Polestar, Tesla, and Nissan show that batteries lose only a small percentage of their capacity even after many years. Projections suggest EV batteries will remain within usable limits well into a car’s third or fourth ownership phase.

Even if EV batteries last longer and degrade slower than people think, buyers still face a hurdle: they don’t know the condition of a used EV’s battery when they’re shopping. 

FACT: The industry is moving quickly to address this. Many EVs already have the ability to check the battery condition via the onboard infotainment. Plus international regulations are emerging that will require all automakers to provide this battery state-of-health (SoH) information. While it may take some time for this to filter down to all Australian EVs, respected industry body Cox Automotive Australia via its Mannheim brand is leading the charge locally with a solution for assessing battery SoH. 

It's arguably the SoH measure that’s the used EV buyers key sticking point. Mike Costello, Corporate Affairs Manager for Cox Automotive Australia, told me: "Transparent communication about a used EV's battery state-of-health is key to establishing a stronger second-hand market..."

“While research shows battery degradation is typically minor, customer concerns about long-term lithium-ion battery performance are valid and need addressing."

Costello says Cox Automotive is close to launching a tool that will give accurate battery health readouts in minutes. This information can then be included by dealers in used EV listings, just like an odometer reading or the vehicle's build year.

An independent assessment of the health of your prospective new EV’s battery will give you significant piece of mind. As to assessing the rest of the used EV package, don’t forget the basics: buy from a reputable dealer who guarantees a title, supplies a warranty and ensures the car has a solid service history (yes, EVs do need regular servicing…) Finally, consider a third-party pre-purchase inspection. And a test drive is a must…

Australia’s used EV market is still in its infancy but it might be the ideal time to consider going electric. Prices are down, choice is expanding and battery technology is proving more reliable than many think, making this a prime moment for savvy buyers to secure a deal.

Read the full article Should I Buy A Used EV? Busting The Myths About Second Hand Electric Vehicles on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

When Formula 1’s most iconic brand, Lotus, launched its three latest creations last month, we felt we could say, without hyperbole, that the world of EVs had entered a new era. Namely, one where sustainability and high performance could work hand-in-hand with a premium feel.

Most importantly of all, it all came together under a name that we already know, love, and revere; driving’s illustrious heritage need not cleave from its cleaner (and no less illustrious) future. 

Of these three vehicles, one steadfastly leads the charge: the Lotus Emeya, a fully electric hyper-GT that embodies Lotus’ spirit of innovation with a sleek, motorsport-inspired design underpinned by eco-conscious engineering. The Emeya redefines what it means to drive an EV, and we’re thrilled it’s finally landed on Australian shores.

The Lotus Emeya is built for the driver who demands speed — any self-respecting driver should — but also yearns for the sustainability that a clean conscience requires. With a class-leading top speed of 256 km/h and the capacity to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 2.78 seconds, this hyper-GT offers instant, frankly breathtaking power.

This is all thanks to its precision-engineered 50-50 weight distribution and a lowered centre of gravity, which also means Emeya handles like a dream, providing stability and control even when you’re working those pedals hard, whether it be through snaking city streets or on the open highways.

Of course, plenty of cars can go fast; what sets the Emeya apart is the advanced mechanics that deliver said speed. The car’s active aerodynamics, including an active rear wing that deploys at high speeds, work in harmony to improve downforce, enhance handling, and — in masterful anticipation of the most common stone to be thrown at high-performance EVs — increase driving range.

Paired with motorsport-inspired elements like the grille, dam, and diffuser, the Emeya is as functional as it is fierce, maximising performance while keeping you firmly in control.

At the heart of the Emeya is its 800V battery technology, offering fast and efficient charging that slots into the busiest of lifestyles.

The car supports 350kW DC charging — for those new to EV jargon, that means you can recharge from 10% to 80% in under 20 minutes — making it perfect for those who really love racking up the miles. The 22kW AC charging option also means you’re covered whether you’re plugging in at home or on the go.

Beyond performance, the Emeya raises the bar for luxury in the EV space. The interior makes extensive use of carbon fibre — and not just for aesthetics, as is becoming far too commonplace for this writer’s liking — but to actually enhance performance too, keeping the car as light as can be.

The fabrics used for the interior also do their bit for the planet too; sourced from offcuts at some of the world’s most prestigious (if apparently profligate…) fashion houses, proving that luxury doesn’t have to come at the expense of the planet.

With the Emeya, Lotus has crafted a vehicle that caters to more of the modern driver’s needs than you may expect from a brand whose historic appeal came from its ability to go very fast and look good while doing it. While the driving experience undeniably remains thrilling, the sleek silhouette employs adaptive lighting technology that maximises low-light vision, ensuring that every journey is as safe as it is stylish. 

Inside the cabin, the KEF audio system delivers an immersive sonic experience (normally going for up to $60,000 AUD for a pair, you’d certainly hope so), while instant connectivity and zero-lag interfaces in the driver’s cockpit — for any gamers in the readership, you’ll be chuffed to hear the system runs on the revered Unreal Engine — offer the seamless control and tech integration that is an increasing cornerstone of the automotive world.

It’s even got an app, meaning you can check the battery level, change the temperature, or use keyless entry.

When our founder, Luc Weisman, took the Emeya for a spin, he found that Lotus’ ability to “balance the analogue and digital experience” is what really made this a driver’s car. With regenerative braking on one side of the wheel, combined with three driving modes, you can pick between a longer-distance drive or a sportier mode that tightens up both steering and suspension at the flick of a switch.

Lotus’s legacy of engineering superiority remains firmly intact with the Emeya, but this new chapter brings a fresh focus on sustainable luxury too; it’s built for the future but doesn’t compromise on Lotus’s rich motorsport heritage.

Whether you’re a go-fast enthusiast looking for raw performance or a style-conscious family man who wants a squeaky clean vehicle that fits seamlessly into your life (but still delivers a bit of pedal to the metal razzledazzle when required…) the Emeya is the one for you.

Read the full article How The Lotus Emeya Revolutionised Luxury EVs: Speed & Sustainability In One Very Pretty Package on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

If you're keen to try an electric vehicle or upgrade your current EV, now is the time to do so. Electric vehicles have never been cheaper, new or used, and there are some absolute bargains to be had.

Firstly, high interest rates and rising inflation are pressuring Aussies to reduce spending, which is forcing new car retailers to offer ever more enticing deals. And, as we all know, cheaper new cars force used car values down. Down down, prices are down.

Secondly, in case you haven't heard, Tesla is struggling to stay ahead of rising competition from traditional brands, which is why Elon Musk has dropped Tesla prices three times in the last 12 months and is likely to do so again.

Lastly, government EV incentives have all-but dried up, leaving electric cars to compete without assistance against cheaper petrol and diesel-fuelled rivals.

That's all bad news for EV makers but great news for anybody chasing an EV bargain. For example, how does a practically new MG4 hatchback for 25 per cent less sound, or a Porsche Taycan sports car for half price, or a BMW i7 luxury limo $90K under the norm? Show me the money!

Anywho, here are five EVs we would buy right now.

MG's impressive urban EV hatchback arrived in 2023, is cheaper and better equipped than a top-spec Toyota Corolla, and has the rear-drive dynamics to make an enthusiast smile. A seven-year warranty means there are plenty of 12-month-old usedies with warranty coverage left. We found a [$28,990 MG4 Excite 51] in the classifieds, which is $10K below the new price, but we'd stretch to [this low mileage MG4 Essence 77] which has a bigger battery, more powerful electric motor and more luxuriously appointed cabin. At $47,950 it's still 10 percent below the $52,990 RRP.

The GWM Ora small hatchback is the cheapest EV on the new car market, and for that price you get urban-chic design, a seven-year warranty, 5-star safety rating and a well-equipped cabin. The $31,990 example we found in the classifieds has just 200km on the clock.

If you want to spend even less, and you're not afraid to buy something a bit older, a ten-year old Nissan Leaf can be secured for as little as $11,000. This one-time EV pioneer would make a great everyday urban runabout. Just remember that it'll only do about 150km on a charge and the warranty has expired so you're up for any mechanical issues that arise.

Why this instead of a Tesla Model Y? Exclusivity, for starters. Design and dynamics, as well. Sure, the Model Y is a good vehicle mechanically, but it isn't a great drive and has the visual appeal of a balled-up footy sock. The Kia EV6, on the other hand, is a good-looking rooster that's loads of fun on the right roads. [This dark blue Kia EV6 Air] is $20K below new and has only 10,000km on the clock.

The Air may be the cheapest variant, but is still well-equipped, spacious inside and a hoot to drive even in this least-powerful 168kW spec. Add to all that Kia's sharp servicing costs and seven-year warranty and the ownership experience is stress-free for years to come.

We're getting up in price now, but the savings are even juicier if your budget extends this far. This brilliant performance EV is four seconds fast and has loads of street cred and four doors which makes it practical - for a Porsche. Plus, if our calculations are correct, [this particular Taycan 4S] example has more than $30,000 of optional extras fitted which means the first owner is effectively selling it for half-price.

It's a face only a mother could love, but it's also the last word in electric luxury right now. Sadly, the BMW i7 is also representative of how EVs are struggling commercially, because [this particular example] has just 1500km on the clock yet is $50K below new. In other words, its first owner ripped up a C-note every three kilometres. Ouch.

Read the full article Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Buy A Pre-Owned EV on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

I'm not a car guy, but the Kia EV3 changed my mind with its bold design, vast interior, and very impressive range.

Ask any of my long-suffering colleagues and they'll tell you: I’m not typically one to get excited about cars. For as long as I've been in media, I've left the car talk to our seasoned petrolheads (though, in the age of electrification I guess we shouldn't call them that anymore...). They've pointed to Kia's absolutely monstrous EV6 as being like nothing else on Aussie roads and the electric vehicle that might finally win over reluctant, Raptor-obsessed tradies...

That's why when I found out that our usual auto writer was off the tools this week and I was nominated to attend the online launch of Kia's latest offering, the long-awaited EV3, I dutifully accepted the task but not without a little chagrin.

However, after spending the next hour fixated by this unassuming new vehicle, it's safe to say that my lifelong status as a guy who isn't into cars wasn't just called into question but came crumbling down in an instant. Here’s why this compact EV SUV could win over even the most indifferent among us...

Suffice to say, the Kia EV3 doesn’t look like your average compact SUV. Kia uses an ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy that gives all of their vehicles a wonderfully futuristic edge. In the case of the EV3, that means clean lines and a confident stance that demands your attention.

Vertical headlamps and the new interpretation of Kia’s iconic 'Tiger Face' design, combined with 'Star Map' lighting, make the car look both aggressive and sophisticated (which we think is right on for the DMARGE demographic). The similarly contemporary colour options — Aventurine Green and Terracotta — are exclusive to this model and add a unique touch that’s hard to resist.

Much as I like the bold new look of the outside, the interior is where the EV3 truly shines. It’s spacious, comfortable, and packed with features that basically make it feel like a living room on wheels. And when I say 'spacious', I'm saying that as a lanky 6'6 bloke, so I've got a pretty high bar wherever legroom is concerned...

The centre console includes a sliding table and storage area — perfect for those of us who live on the go. Need to charge your devices or store a small backpack? No problem. The EV3 has got you covered... and it saves you from dumping all your stuff in the passenger seat like some kind of dropkick.

The near-30-inch widescreen display is a techie's dream. Plus, it’s not just for the driver; the front-seat passenger can also control a heap of entertainment and navigation features. The final touch is the 'multi-adjustable' ambient lighting which, alongside the ultra-comfortable seats, makes even the longest trips feel like a breeze.

Like I said, I'm not much of a car guy but even I know that one of the biggest concerns people (especially blokes...) have about electric vehicles is 'range anxiety', but the EV3 pretty much puts those worries to rest. With a best-in-class 600km driving range and fast-charging capability that gets you from 10-80% in just 31 minutes, it’s perfect for both city commutes and weekend getaways.

Coming in two models — the Standard with a 58.3kWh battery and the Long Range with an 81.4kWh battery — both promise a smooth and powerful drive with a 150kW/283Nm electric motor.

Cutting-edge tech and top-notch safety go hand in hand here. The EV3 is loaded with advanced driving assistance systems; from Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist to Highway Driving Assist, it’s designed to keep you safe on the road at all times. It's also their first ever car to boast 'i-Pedal 3.0' regenerative braking technology, which allows for one-pedal driving (safer than it sounds...), making it even more efficient and bl**dy good fun to drive.

And let’s not forget the undeniable cool factor of the Kia AI Assistant and built-in streaming service. Whether you’re listening to your favourite tunes on the Harman Kardon audio system or using the AI assistant to plan your trip, the EV3 makes every drive a hell of a lot easier than trying to balance your phone in your lap while cruising around in the Corolla...

I'm not ashamed to admit that I went into the release event with low expectations, wondering if it would feel like an hour of my life I'd never get back. And then, a miracle: the EV3 changed everything.

It’s not just an EV with good range and nice colour options; it’s a stylish, innovative, practically-minded new way of life that's good for the planet too. For someone who usually couldn’t care less about cars, that’s saying something.

If you’re in the market for a new whip and want something that blends cutting-edge technology with everyday practicality, the Kia EV3 is worth a look. It might just make a car enthusiast out of you, too.

Read the full article I’m Not A Car Guy, But The KIA EV3 Launch Was Electrifying on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

There's a common misconception about electric vehicles, that these things lack power and can't go the distance. Certainly, this could've been true 20 years ago before the EV revolution had started to take hold, but with modern offerings such as the Kia EV6 and the formidable EV9, this couldn't be further from the truth; modern electric vehicles are some of the most impressive releases hitting Australia's roads.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to experience Kia's latest offering to the EV market for myself, and I quickly realised that no one does the Australian Open better than Kia and the omnipotent Kia EV9.

Flying into Melbourne, I was struck by the incredible energy during the Australian Open. Growing up in South West London, I'm certainly no stranger to tennis, but I'll admit, this is the first time I attended this impressive Grand Slam and it felt closer to a tennis festival than a traditional tournament.

Our day started in the Crown in Melbourne's Southbank overlooking the Yarra River. After an important briefing, we were taken out to the front where a fleet of Kia's impressive EV9s were waiting to take us away to our next destination.

The first thing you notice about the new Kia is their superior design; the Kia EV6 was the South Korean manufacturer's first step into the electric SUV and represented the brand's shift from an economic city runner to an impressive piece of machinery, but the all-electric EV9 takes this to a whole new level.

Parked together, I was struck by the cars' presence and stature lined up outside the Crown. For a 7-seater SUV, the Kia EV9 felt incredibly elegant; its design, refined. In a sea of Ocean Blue Matte, the fleet boasted a rare futuristic look and feel that elevates the traditional SUV experience beyond the banalities of the everyday drives, although they'd be the perfect addition for the morning school run, I thought.

Down the side of the SUVs, Kia's attention to detail extended beyond the intricacies under the hood, with alluring lines that follow the contours and shape of the cars. The embedded door handles, reminiscent of a futuristic driving vision, not only contribute to the Kia's sleek and clean design, but also amplify its already remarkable impression.

Now I should say, I'm a tall guy. I struggle in the back seat of compact cars and certainly on long-haul flights. One of the main things I'm looking for in a car is ample legroom within every seat of the car, and the Kia EV9 exceeded my expectations; the thing's a spaceship, with an in-built massager on the driver’s side in addition to the all-important Relaxation Mode. 

So we set the built-in navigation system, found a decent radio station in Melbourne and headed to our next destination.

We've written plenty about how much we love Kia's new EV range here at DMARGE, and with good reason. Kia is effortlessly raising the standard of what discerning Australian drivers can expect from the inside of an electric vehicle, integrating luxury details in each of their new releases to make the EV the best choice on the roads.

Driving through South Melbourne last weekend, I was reminded of all the detail-oriented fixes that the new EV9 has addressed, such as the almost 30” LCD that extends from the middle console to behind the driver's steering wheel for a seamless look and feel; it's an easy-to-use display that transitions between the EV9's number of exciting new features.

The EV9's augmented reality HUD which sits above the driver's field of view and suggests key information such as speed, navigation guidance and lane safety information, heightens experience from the driver's seat.

Checking your mirrors, you're met with Kia's revolutionary digital mirror system; cameras extend out where the traditional wing mirrors should be, and you're greeted with a wider and clearer rear view that increases visibility even in those annoying blind spots. Similar to the centre mirror, that uses a camera positioned on the rear spoiler and offers the driver full visibility, even with a packed car.

Arriving at the Brighton-based mansion that Kia Ambassador, Dylan Alcott, jokingly suggested was his house, I faintly heard the classical hum of the Succession theme playing in the EV9's superior Meridian® surround sound system through 14 strategically placed speakers throughout the cabin.

Ok maybe not, but this house was incredible, and it was only the better when we met our amazing host, 15-time Grand Slam champion and Australian of the Year 2022, Dylan Alcott, who welcomed us to the house, and our arena for the morning's tennis.

As a group of journalists, influencers and media types, there was the (correct) assumption that our tennis skills might not be up to the standard expected when presented with such an esteemed company. Which is fair. Even retired AFL royalty and Kia Ambassador, Buddy Franklin, looked more suited to the paradigms of an Aussie Rules pitch than in Dylan Alcott's back garden... although he did excel at King of the Court, naturally. 

After some more failed attempts to return a 220 km/h serve from former Tennis pro, Daniel Guccione, we headed back to the hotel, tails between our legs, ready for an evening of tennis at the AO.

1,020,763 attended this year's Australian Open, up from the previous record of 839,192, as tennis fans from all over the world arrived in Melbourne, Australia's coastal capital of Victoria, to witness the greatest tennis players compete for the coveted AO title.

For more than 20 years, Kia has proudly sponsored Australia's biggest live sporting event, positioning itself as the go-to vehicle of the tournament and is trusted as the player's transport of choice to and from their matches.

Walking around the world-class grounds of the AO, Kia's presence is abundantly clear; thousands of avid tennis fans walk under the waving Kia flags that line the tournament's walkways; inside the world-renowned Rod Laver Arena, Kia's banners envelop the players with each crucial serve; and the Kia Suite, that sits on the corner of the famous 1573 Court, is the perfect place to sit back and enjoy Kia's famous Sunday Session in between the tennis action.

In the hours before Australia's Alex de Minaur was set to take centre stage at Rod Laver Arena, we were treated to an afternoon of luxury at Kia's Suite inside the grounds of the Australian Open, reflecting on our own performances on the court that morning.

Dylan Alcott had invited his friends to join him at this year's Kia Sunday Session; Jungle Giants and the DMA's were delivering DJ sets to keep the guests pumping until the main event; delicious canapés were circulating the room; and the bar was mixing world-class cocktails to get us ready for the evening for tennis.

The atmosphere was palpable inside Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The crowd, some 14,000 strong, was roaring in support of its homegrown hero as he faced off against the Russian challenger, Andrey Rublev.

Just moments before, Novak Djokovic had quickly dismantled any hopes that Adrian Mannarino had of progressing through to the quarter-final, beating the French star 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 in the Fourth Round. The fans inside the arena that evening were naturally hoping for a more even contest, in favour of their Australian hero. 

If Andrey Rublev was still unsure what to expect facing off against the last Australian left in the competition, the crowd inside the Rod Laver Arena quickly reminded the World No. 5 of the battle he was about to face.

"I started to tell to myself 'You're going to die today but you will do everything' and somehow I started to play better and better. I found more energy and I was able to win."

Andrey Rublev

Chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" cascaded through the crowd with each passing point as the raucous crowd attempted to lift their star. Rublev was able to take the first set 6-4, breaking the Australian ace with a formidable cannon of a forehand that de Minaur struggled to contain.

Alex de Minaur roared back and ripped the second and third set from the Russian, who allowed the occasion to break his focus as he stood on the baseline, holding his legs, perplexed and seemingly alone. But in the end, Rublev prevailed and took the final two sets from the hopeful Aussie as quickly as the first, breaking de Minaur's serve three times in the last and ending any hope at this year's tournament.

After the match, we met up with our group in the underground car park that the Australian Open players use to enter and exit the grounds, and reunite with the fleet of white Kia EV9s.

Jumping into the middle seat on the back row, in between two other big lads, I was still processing the 4-hour battle we had all witnessed inside the AO that evening. I often replay moments in my head from the live game I had just enjoyed. But this time, my mind quickly wandered to how comfortable the three of us were.

Kia doesn't just drive the future; it serves it up with a touch of luxury, a return of innovation, and a whole lot of style.

Read the full article Nobody Does The Australian Open Better Than Kia And The Omnipotent EV9 on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Former F1 champ Jenson Button has revealed that amongst the many unique and one-of-a-kind cars that you'd expect to find in a professional motorsport driver's garage, is a car not exactly known for its competitive racing edge. However, according to Button, it's the fastest of the lot.

When you think of the classic car collection of one of Formula 1's most notable names, you'd be forgiven for reeling off some of the biggest and most sought-after cars ever made; Jaguar. Lotus, Ferrari.

Personally, if I was to wonder what machines took pride of place inside Button's garage, my thoughts would invariably drift toward McLaren, the British racing team that Jenson Button drove with between 2010-2017.

Button's time with McLaren witnessed some spectacular moments on the track, from thrilling victories to intense battles with his competitors, all etching his name into the upper echelons of Formula 1 history. It's here Button became a truly world-class competitor, arriving at the team as a World Champion, securing the Drivers' Championship with Braun in 2009.

The British driver was known for a smooth and precision-oriented racing style; his race management was second to none and the British driver frequently managed his tyre and fuel with immense efficiency.

It's no wonder then, that when speaking at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, during Monterey Car Week last week, Button revealed the many unique pieces in his collection, and there was one such model that stuck out like a sore EV thumb.

"I have a Tesla — and everyone laughs when I say that, 'a Tesla?' — but it's just great," the 2009 Formula 1 World Champion told Gear Patrol.

"It's the quickest car I've ever had from A to B. It's $50,000... and I hate it. I hate to like it; you look at the build quality, it's terrible. But it's just easy; it's just a tool. And it's quicker than most of the cars I have; it's faster than most of the cars here, 0 to 60, [or] in the lanes."

He's certainly not the first of Formula 1's favourite drivers to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle, with Mark Webber, one of Australia's most popular drivers cruising across the many diverse terrains of Australia in Porsche's new fully electric Taycan 4S Cross Turismo.

Button did, however, admit he hasn't fully switched to the EV revolution, revealing that he still has a "lot of Jags right now, for some reason," preferring to invest in classic cars that he's able to fix and modify.

Alongside his Tesla, is a fully restored Jaguar E-Type Series 1.5 convertible, Sir Stirling Moss' aluminium-bodied Jaguar XK 120 that raced in Le Mans and a classic Jaguar C-Type.

A bit more respectable, then.

Read the full article Formula 1 Legend Jenson Button Reveals The Quickest Car He’s Ever Owned… Is Electric on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

In an exclusive interview with Chris Noone, CEO of Carly, we delve into the transformative potential of car subscriptions and their power to address the uncertainties and barriers associated with EVs.

When you hear success stories like F1's Mark Webber driving an EV across Australia, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the EV revolution has already been a radical success. However, when we turn to phenomena like China's EV graveyards, it becomes clear that we have a long way to go in overhauling our relationship with our cars.

One man who thinks he might have found a solution to this crisis in Australia is Chris Noone, CEO of Carly Car Subscription, a visionary car subscription service that offers Aussies the chance to "own the moment, not the car". When saving up for a new car takes too long and signing up for a traditional loan or lease inhibits that all-important flexibility to change your car, Carly offers a happy and much-needed third way.

But how exactly could car subscriptions change everything? Read our full interview below to find out.

WATCH: 'EV Graveyards' prove manufacturer capacity exists, but adoption must be accelerated.

To better understand Noone's perspective, we began by exploring his pretty unique career journey. He started his professional life in marketing but soon felt the magnetic pull of technology, drawing him first into the captivating world of video games:

"I started my career in marketing, but I felt the lure of technology and wanted to get into something more creative. So, I took a pretty 180-degree turn and moved into video games."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

Within the gaming industry, Noone took on a number of impressive roles, from distributing some of the earliest video games in Australia to running Asian operations for a video game publisher called MicroProse, his journey even encompassed a brief detour into the early days of mobile content, working with Vodafone on launching some of the first mobile games in the world just as smartphones stood on the precipice of total ubiquity.

After several years in London, Noone returned to Australia and took a role with a joint venture between Microsoft and PBL, where he was involved in the early days of mobile advertising. These experiences equipped him with invaluable insights into how mobile technology and digital content were rapidly reshaping the landscape of consumer engagement forever.

However, as the winds of change swept through the industry, driven by tech giants like Apple and Google, he realized that another transformation was already underway...

This realisation marked an important turning point. Noone recognised that the traditional model of car ownership was evolving and that the industry was ripe for innovation:

"That's when I started looking around for other opportunities and was approached by the predecessor of Carly."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

Initially, the business operated as a peer-to-peer car rental platform, allowing individual car owners to rent their vehicles to others while providing trust, certainty, payments, and insurance to ensure a safe and pleasant experience. He has since steered the company through a profound transformation.

This journey from peer-to-peer rentals to car subscriptions signifies a pivot that aligns with evolving consumer needs and market dynamics. Chris Noone is candid about the rationale behind this transition:

"In that time, we pivoted away from rentals into car subscriptions, and the journey started in 2019. We're now 100% focused on car subscriptions."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

One of the central challenges facing the car subscription industry at present time is making people aware that such a service exists and extolling its many virtues. As any good CEO should, Noone believes this challenge also presents a significant opportunity.

He's quick to emphasise that it's not merely about making car subscription services accessible; it's about explaining why this model offers a compelling alternative to traditional financing or outright car purchases. Education, as Chris Noone underscores, is key to empowering consumers to make informed choices.

A distinguishing feature of car subscriptions, as emphasized by Chris Noone, is flexibility:

"Our customers are the sort of people who would normally buy or finance a car, but for whatever reason, they can't commit to a three- or four-year contract."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

This flexibility is designed to cater to individuals whose lives — like so many of ours — are marked by change, whether that be shifting work commitments, evolving lifestyle preferences, or the uncertainty of future circumstances; Noone argues that car subscriptions offer a valuable solution for those who require access to a vehicle without locking themselves into long-term financial commitments.

With electric vehicles at the forefront of the automotive industry's evolution, Noone delves into how car subscriptions could play a pivotal role in easing the transition to EVs, especially in the Australian market. He acknowledges the widespread uncertainty surrounding electric vehicles.

"A lot of people and companies are saying, 'we think we will [adopt electric vehicles], but we've never driven one before.'"

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

It's this uncertainty, combined with concerns about charging infrastructure, range anxiety, and resale values, that Noone believes car subscriptions can address more effectively than anything else available right now:

"The fixed subscription allows you to subscribe to an electric vehicle for a minimum of 30 days... You can hand the vehicle back when you're satisfied with it, or when you decide that you want to go and buy an electric vehicle."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

This approach not only allows potential EV adopters to experience electric vehicles in real-life situations without the risk associated with long-term commitments, but the in-built flexibility represents a significant departure from the conventional approach to vehicle ownership whereby buyers commit to long-term financing or leasing arrangements without the option to experiment with electric vehicles before making a more substantial investment.

One of the most thought-provoking perspectives shared by Noone is his view of electric vehicles as tech products. Drawing parallels with the rapid evolution of mobile phones and other tech gadgets, he said this:

"Electric vehicles are essentially software technology products. People want to upgrade them more often to access new features."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

This perspective challenges the traditional concept of car ownership, where consumers tend to retain vehicles for several years or even decades at a time. Instead, Noone envisions a future where people seek more frequent upgrades to access the latest technological advancements in their electric vehicles.

Moreover, the traditional approach to car ownership may not be cost-effective when dealing with rapidly advancing technology in electric vehicles. As a result, he believes that car subscriptions could serve as the ideal model for accommodating this demand for frequent EV upgrades. In short:

"We think that subscription is a solution to all of those concerns."

Chris Noone, CEO of Carly

In a rapidly evolving automotive landscape, car subscriptions are emerging as a flexible and low-risk solution for those seeking to navigate the transition to electric vehicles. In fact, businesses like Carly could hold the key to addressing the challenges of EV adoption and transforming the way we think about personal transportation in a fast-changing world.

Watch this space...

Read the full article Car Subscriptions Could Solve EV Adoption Crisis, According To Visionary CEO on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Former Formula 1 driver and endurance racing champion Mark Webber got behind the wheel of the new Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo to travel halfway across the country and prove that electric vehicles really can take you further.

Australian drivers have been reluctant to make the switch to fully electric vehicles, citing the lack of appropriate infrastructure or public charging stations available for longer drives; because, let's face it, Australia's not exactly the smallest country in the world.

But luxury sportscar maker Porsche has set out to debunk this tired myth, challenging former Australian Formula 1 driver and Porsche ambassador Mark Webber to travel 5000km across Australia in a fully-electric Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, relying solely on Porsche's Destination Chargers stationed throughout the country.

In a groundbreaking demonstration of Porsche's electric performance, Webber successfully drove the Taycan from the far reaches of Darwin and the Northern Territory, through the infamous Simpson Desert in Queensland, before arriving along the picturesque coastline of Bondi Beach in Sydney in a three-week journey from start to finish.

“Embracing the spirit of exploration, on this all-electric trip the Taycan Cross Turismo redefines the very essence of reduced impact adventure," said CEO and Managing Director of Porsche Cars Australia, Daniel Schmollinger.

"The Taycan Cross Turismo offers a thrilling driving experience while exploring nature. This is how Porsche captures the hearts of Australians."

The drive took a total of 19 days and required 27 recharging stops throughout, for a total charging time of 85 hours that was mostly conducted overnight. The impressive feat underpins the Porsche's unparalleled performance over longer distances, reaffirming the power and viability of electric vehicles in Australia, even in the toughest of terrains.

"The technology in the all-electric Porsche Taycan has proven its performance capabilities under difficult conditions and, as the charging infrastructure further expands, electric vehicles are becoming more popular than ever, reshaping how Australians travel on their roads,” Daniel Schmollinger continued.

From outback cattle stations to fast-charging stations and Porsche Destination Charging, there are as many as 165 Porsche Destination Chargers across 87 locations in Australia, with the Official Porsche Centres’ ultra-rapid DC chargers boasting a power output of 350kW for some of the fastest charging speeds available.

The Taycan 4S Cross Turismo has a combined electric range of 469km and was also equipped with an additional 22kW on-board charger, allowing for effortless charging, even in remote locations.

The Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo was in its element traversing through diverse and unpredictable terrain, demonstrating the way electric vehicles can seamlessly integrate into our everyday lives, and embrace the inherent Australian thrill of long-distance driving.

Read the full article Former F1 Driver Mark Webber Takes Porsche Taycan on Epic 5,000km Journey, Showcasing EV Capability on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Despite China's soaring electric infrastructure, the take up of EVs themselves has not kept up with the country's massive amount of supply.

The notion of EVs sat gathering dust may come as something of a surprise, given the fact that closer-to-home Aussie blokes are leading the charge for electric vehicle adoption and as a result have never been more popular in Australia. As legacy manufacturers continue to electrify their iconic models while new-age manufacturers compete for market space, it's hard to imagine that a country could somehow ve oversupplying EVs to its population.

And yet, on the fringes of Hangzhou — a Chinese city known for its picturesque landscapes — a scene of stark contrast unfolds. A dilapidated temple overlooks what seems to be a graveyard, but not for the human departed. Instead, it is a final resting place for hundreds of abandoned electric cars, intermingled with the weeds that have begun to overgrow them and the rubbish that piles up around them, as vividly reported by Bloomberg.

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A number of similar sites have popped up across China, embodying the darker side of the nation's electric vehicle boom. The graveyard phenomenon mirrors the initial surge of investments and innovation that marked the EV sector's rapid development as new manufacturers emerged and government incentives beckoned: ride-hailing companies led the way and soon China had become a global EV leader, producing approximately 6 million EVs and plug-in hybrids in 2022 alone.

Unfortunately, many ride-hailing firms that embraced EVs have since vanished, leaving behind a trail of discarded vehicles. An estimated 500 Chinese electric car manufacturers in 2019 have dwindled to around 100 today, thanks in large part to the pandemic. However, the root cause of these graveyards actually lies in the accelerating pace of innovation: as automakers raced to introduce EVs with enhanced features and extended driving ranges, older models became obsolete at an alarming rate.

WATCH: It's a sorry, spooky sight.

These graveyards are not just unsightly; they come with environmental costs. Quickly discarding these EVs undermines their ecological advantage, given that their production process is significantly more emissions-intensive than for fossil-fuelled counterparts. Moreover, their spent batteries contain valuable materials like nickel, lithium, and cobalt, all crucial resources for greening China's EV industry.

The Hangzhou government has pledged to address the issue, but the landscape remains dotted with abandoned EVs, with the phenomenon encapsulating the intricate tapestry of an industry in flux. While some companies have faltered, the broader success story of China's EV market speaks to the future. With extensive charging infrastructure and a global lead in clean car production, China's road to sustainable transportation is far from over.

That last point is the most important thing to remember when enjoying this strange spectacle: while it doubtlessly represents an unfortunate waste of resources, it also represents a small stumbling block in a hugely impressive wider push for electrification that much of the Western world —the UK and the US in particularly — could learn a great deal from. While we might enjoy the haunting imagery these graveyards provide, China's EV industry is alive and kicking, make no mistake.

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Read the full article Abandoned Electric Cars Reveal Growing Pains of China’s Clean Energy Push on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Cadillac, after years of being in the doldrums, is finally starting to make some exciting cars again – and now it seems the American luxury brand is heading Down Under, with parent company General Motors laying the groundwork for an Australian launch.

Cadillac, General Motors' luxury marque, has had mixed fortunes in recent years – well, for decades, really. In the 60s, Cadillac was the undisputed world leader in luxury cars, but the brand has never really returned to those heady heights. Decades of penny-pinching and churning out uninspiring, uncompetitive cars damaged the brand, with Cadillac going from a badge of quality to just being considered a tarted-up, poorly-made 'Yank tank'.

Yet 2023 seems to be a turning point for Cadillac. The brand is exciting again: it's making genuinely cool cars again, recording record sales and focusing on electrification while simultaneously getting back into motorsport in a big way with the awesome-sounding V-Series.R endurance car and even eyeing up joining Formula 1 with Andretti Global.

Now, it seems Cadillac is also preparing an assault on the Australian market, with GM filing key trademarks locally that suggest they're gearing up to launch the brand Down Under.

Last week, GM filed trademarks for the Optiq and the forthcoming Escalade IQ electric SUVs. Late last year, they also filed a trademark for the Lyriq, Drive reports, and have also invited Australian journalists to drive that car. That suggests GM is seriously considering an Australian launch.

Cadillac returning to Australia would be an enormous about-face for GM, which pulled out of the Australian market back in 2021 after Holden ceased local manufacturing in 2017 (and ailing sales in the intervening years).

GM has had some presence locally thanks to the efforts of General Motors Special Vehicles (GMSV, which used to be known as Holden Special Vehicles or HSV), which imports American-made Chevrolet Silverados and Corvettes and converts them to right-hand drive locally – however, GMSV's offering isn't quite the same as having first-party manufacturer presence in the market.

RELATED: Australians Are Falling In Love With Huge American Utes In Record Numbers

You might not know this, but Cadillacs were even made in Australia, albeit for only a short period. Australia’s first Cadillacs were exported in right-hand drive from the US between 1927 and 1934 before being assembled in Adelaide from complete knock-down (CKD) kits, GoAuto writes. However, GM pulled the Cadillac brand after the Holden FX – the first proper Australian car – was launched in 1948.

This isn't the first time Cadillac has tried to open up shop in Australia, either. Cadillac was set to relaunch in Australia in 2008 but had to park those plans in light of the Global Financial Crisis and GM's bankruptcy. GM also announced back in 2018 that they were planning yet another expansion, but the pandemic thwarted those plans.

We reckon 2023 is the perfect time for a Cadillac relaunch. American cars have always been derided here in Australia for being too thirsty and unreliable – but the mechanical simplicity and sustainable bona fides of an electric Cadillac might be a more appealing proposition to Aussies.

We just want one so we can pretend to be like Conor McGregor or Dan Bilzerian.

Read the full article Cadillac Planning A Australian Relaunch on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Whether you're an electric vehicle convert or a petrol-powered cynic, it's hard to ignore just how many EVs you see on the road these days in Australia – and despite a legislative landscape that hasn't done much to encourage EV ownership, new research commissioned by one of Australia's leading EV brands and research firms suggest that we Aussies are more ready for electric cars than one might expect...

Despite only 4% of Aussies currently owning an electric or hybrid vehicle, new data commissioned by BMW reveals that nearly one in two Australians (48%) are willing to go electric for their next car.

It goes even further: their data predicts that nearly one-quarter (23%) of Australians expect to own a fully electric car by 2040. However, among younger Australians (aged 18-24), this number jumps to a whopping 36%.

Perhaps surprisingly, it's actually men between 18 and 34 who are most likely to consider an EV, according to BMW. That flies against the "no replacement for displacement", gas-guzzling, anti-eco-friendly stereotype most blokes get painted with.

WATCH our 60-second review of the BMW iX electric SUV below.

BMW's findings are also supported by new research completed separately by Roy Morgan that was released this month, which suggests 548,000 Australians plan on buying an EV in the next four years – equal to 12.5% of all those intending to purchase a new vehicle in this period – which represents a stunning increase of over 1,230% compared to four years ago.

Roy Morgan's data also suggests that it's men who are by far and large leading the charge when it comes to EV adoption: their figures show that 61% of those planning to buy an electric vehicle are men – although it must be pointed out that this is a vast change from even three years ago when the split was 76% men compared to 24% women.

They also show that while it's still young men leading the charge, intention to buy an electric vehicle has more than doubled across all age groups, with the fastest growth in intention to purchase has been for Aussies aged 65+, increasing more than threefold (340%) in only two years.

All of this suggests that Australia's on the brink of an EV revolution – however, BMW also reveals that there are still a number of significant hurdles both car manufacturers, the public and the private sector need to overcome to entice more Aussies to make the switch to EVs.

BMW's survey revealed that while two in five (39%) of Australians believe that a mileage range of 30km or less is sufficient for their day-to-day driving requirements, range anxiety remains a major concern. It also revealed that only 31% of Aussies are aware of the closest charging station to their homes, while even less (19%) are aware of the closest charging station to their workplaces.

RELATED: I Took A 1,000km Road Trip Across The UK In An Electric Car. That Could Never Happen In Australia

The other big concern, unsurprisingly, is price. Price remains by far and large the leading reason why Australians are not purchasing electric vehicles (62%), with access to charging stations and lack of knowledge about EVs also playing significant roles in the decision-making process.

But it seems we're on the cusp of something – and if all those Aussies who were surveyed actually put their money where their mouths are and end up buying EVs in the near future, our roads will look even more different still...

Read the full article EV Adoption on the Rise As We Embrace Electric Cars Faster Than Expected on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, it's hard to deny that electric vehicles are becoming more and more common on Australian roads – and recent sales figures show they've never been more popular.

The latest data from the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries demonstrates that while overall EV sales slumped in April, EV market share reached an all-time high, with full battery EVs (BEVs) making up 8% of the overall new vehicle market.

According to the FCAI's sales data, a total of 82,137 new vehicles (both electric and petrol-powered) were sold in April, a rise of 1.3% compared to the same time last year.

“We know that this number would have been larger had the industry not faced global supply challenges,” FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber explains.

Korean marques such as Kia and Hyundai – despite (or perhaps because of) having in-demand EVs like the Kia EV6 GT and Hyundai Ioniq 6 in their stables – have been hit particularly hard by supply chain issues.

RELATED: The 13 Best Electric Cars In Australia For 2023, As Tested & Driven By Our Editors

Tesla is by far the best-selling EV brand in the country, with the Model Y and Model 3 topping the sales charts for the month, followed by the BYD Atto 3, Volvo XC40 Pure Electric and MG ZS EV.

In fact, the Tesla Model Y actually cracked the top five best-selling vehicles list full stop, only being outsold in the SUV segment by the Toyota RAV4. In other words, that makes the Model Y the second-best-selling SUV in Australia right now – which is pretty impressive.

WATCH the Tesla Model Y going through crash testing below.

Unsurprisingly, the top two best-selling vehicles in Australia for April were the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux. These two utes have been the best-selling vehicles in the country for literal years, with the Hilux typically topping the sales charts... But Ford Ranger sales have been particularly ebullient lately, in light of the Ranger's recent update, threatening Toyota's long-held top dog position.

In order, the top five best-selling vehicles for April were the Ford Ranger (3,567 sales), Toyota Hilux (3,526 sales), Toyota RAV4 (2,198 sales), Tesla Model Y (2,095 sales) and the Hyundai i30 (2,029 sales). The i30 was the only 'conventional' passenger vehicle (i.e. not a ute or an SUV) to crack the top five.

Year to date, the best-selling EV in Australia remains the Model 3, which is not only Australia's best-selling EV of all time but the best-selling EV in world history.

Read the full article Electric Vehicles Have Never Been More Popular, Sales Data Confirms on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

A Melbourne Mercedes dealer has come under fire after a customer revealed that they charged him $445 for an "engine oil and filter change"... For his electric car. 

One of the many advantages of electric vehicle ownership is that EVs are far easier to service than internal combustion-engined cars. Not only do they have much longer service intervals, but the cost of EV services are generally cheaper, as they have far fewer service items that need attending to: you don't have to worry about oil or oil filter changes, for example.

Well, in theory at least. One Melbourne-based Mercedes EV driver has taken to social media after he found that his local Mercedes dealer had charged him for an oil and filter change, despite the fact that – in case it wasn't completely obvious – EVs don't need engine oil and don't have oil filters.

The owner, Matty, took his two-year-old Mercedes-Benz EQA-250 to the 3 Point Motors dealership in Epping, Melbourne for a full service on April 11. It was only after inspecting his invoice that he realised the mistake had been made, prompting the confused EV owner to even go out and check that his car was indeed an EV... It had him second-guessing himself.

WATCH Matty reveal his EV service stuff-up below.

"The problem is, this car is fully electric. They charged me to change the oil and oil filter on a fully electric car. Not hybrid, full electric. I thought I'd just double-check this – I've been driving this car for two years; let's just check it again for the 14th time today – yes, it's definitely electric," he said in a viral video he posted to TikTok.

3 Point Motors has since said in a statement that it was an "innocent mistake" that occurred when a technician accidentally selected the wrong job code when printing the invoice for the luxury electric SUV, and have since refunded Matty.

This definitely smacks a bit of the old "top up your blinker fluid" gag... But really, it's not that funny. Matty might have caught the mistake, but we bet there would be other drivers who aren't quite as savvy who wouldn't question such an invoice.

RELATED: 13 Best Electric Cars In Australia 2023, As Tested & Driven By Our Editors

EVs may be mechanically simpler than ICE vehicles and boast longer service intervals, but they're not completely immune from servicing.

While EVs might not need engine oil, they do need transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid. You'll also need to top up your washer fluid like you would on a normal car. Thankfully, small service items like this are a cinch to do yourself.

Other service items like tyres, windscreen wipers, light bulbs and cabin air filters will also periodically need attending to. It's still a car, after all.

However, any problems with the battery array or software in the car can be near-on impossible to do yourself, and you'll need to take your EV to a dealer or a mechanic that specialises in EVs.

Read the full article Mercedes-Benz Dealer Caught Charging Electric Car Owner For Oil Change on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

The wait is over: Kia has finally lifted the covers off their hotly anticipated new flagship vehicle... And we like what we see.

It's fair to say that hype levels around the Kia EV9 are pretty high. The second model in Kia's "EV" electric car range after the impressive Kia EV6 – a sporty, mental sedan-like crossover that easily ranks as one of the best electric vehicles on the market – the EV9 is a large, high-riding luxury SUV that promises to be Korea's eco-friendly answer to the Toyota Land Cruiser or Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

Late last year, Kia released official shots of the EV9 undergoing low-friction, off-road and skidpan testing in South Korea – although the EV9 remained heavily camouflaged. In February 2023, spy shots emerged of uncamouflaged prototype EV9s driving on public roads in Chile and Germany.

Now, Kia has finally put us out of our misery and shown us what the final production version of the EV9 will look like, as well as giving us our first look yet at the car's interior. Here are our key takeaways from the reveal.

We got our first look at the Kia EV9 at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show with the Concept EV9: a concept car that even by concept car standards, really caused a stir at the show. Boxy yet futuristic with huge rear suicide doors and massive rims, it was a real stunner and statement of intent from Kia.

RELATED: Australian Police Plan To Use Kia EV6 GTs As Highway Patrol Cars

What's rather exciting is that the production EV9 doesn't diverge much from the concept car – in all the areas that count, at least. While the final EV9 lacks the rear suicide doors and camera-only wing mirrors of the concept car, all the key design cues have survived the move from concept to production car.

Other differences from the concept car include chunkier four-spoke rims in place of the concept's triangular three-spoke design, a slightly smaller front 'grille' and a more conventional headlight enclosure.

The production car has also gained roof rails and crucially, door handles. Yeah, you might need those on a production car...

Now, for what we haven't seen before: the Kia EV9's interior. Our first impression is that it looks pretty good – it's very modern but doesn't seem unnecessarily complicated. The single-piece instrument cluster and infotainment panel are a good look (it's similar to current BMW designs but Kia's design seems a bit better executed) but thankfully, it seems there are still buttons for all the important stuff.

RELATED: BMW’s Bold Plan To Make The World’s Greenest Cars

This reveal also confirms that the EV9 has three rows of seating for a total of six passengers – all the seats are very generous but the tradeoff there is that you don't get a middle seat in the middle row, with the middle row seats being captain's chairs.

Indeed, the middle row seats can actually rotate 180 degrees, which means your four rear passengers can sit and face each other. It will also aid ingress and egress for middle-row passengers, as well as being a pretty cool feature that few SUVs on the market have these days.

With all the back-row seats down, there's a truly cavernous amount of space in the rear of the EV9. We'll have to await an official capacity figure, but you can safely assume it'll exceed 1,300L.

We're not in love with this grey colour scheme, however – it might not date that well. Presumably, you'll be able to get an EV9 with a slightly sleeker black interior.

Built on the same e-GMP platform as the Kia EV6, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the forthcoming Ioniq 6, the EV9 is projected to have a driving range of around 483km as well as a 5-second 0-100km/h time. A high ride height and boxy dimensions mean it’s probably pretty good off-road, too.

We're still awaiting the final specifications for the vehicle locally.

Similarly, Kia Australia hasn't released pricing yet but we can safely assume you probably won't have much change from $100,000 (or indeed, you might even need more dosh than that to get behind the wheel of one).

Read the full article Kia EV9 Reveal: South Korea’s G-Wagen Rival Finally Unveiled on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

It seems as if Joe Biden's favourite new pastime is hooning about in giant electric cars – and his latest joyride might just be the most overwhelmingly American thing he's ever done.

As the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden is pushing to have 50% of all vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2030 and has introduced a variety of policies meant to stimulate American electric vehicle production. He's backing EVs to the hilt and has made many public appearances either driving or spruiking locally-made EVs.

His latest stunt? Driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xE plug-in hybrid around the front of the White House. Biden posted about his drive on Twitter, saying it's "not a bad place to test drive the electric future of American auto."

There's just something extremely 'Murica about the POTUS in a Jeep at the White House. All he needs is a big flag and a gun and you'll have the full picture.

Not a bad place to test drive the electric future of American auto.

@POTUS

This isn't the first time he's driven a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xE around the White House, with the 80-year-old having driven both the 4xE and the GMC Hummer EV for a photo opportunity back in 2021.

RELATED: LeBron James Finds Most Unique Way To Flex His New Electric Hummer

Biden also recently tested the Ford F-150 Lighting at a Ford safety testing centre in Dearborn, Michigan as well as the new Cadillac Lyriq at the Detroit Motor Show, where he was even interviewed by social media star Daniel Mac about the electric car.

Of course, there's a reason Biden's only driving the car around the White House: it's one of the few places he's allowed to drive. Typically, sitting US Presidents aren't allowed to drive themselves, as it's considered to be a safety risk by the Secret Service.

Vice-Presidents aren't allowed to drive, either – a point of frustration for Biden, who's a noted revhead, when he was in the role. Biden talked about how much he missed driving back in 2016 during an interview with Jay Leno, who Biden took for a spin in his prize possession: his 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible.

Whilst Trump was in office, Biden got four years of driving freedom – but now that he's in charge, his chances to drive are few and far between. Perhaps that's for the best, considering his age...

Read the full article President Joe Biden Showcases Electric Future by Driving Jeep Hybrid at White House on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Sightings on social media have given us our best look yet at Kia's hotly anticipated luxury electric SUV – and it's looking pretty good.

Kia has already taken the world by storm with their super-fast EV6 crossover, which they're following up with another very exciting vehicle: the Kia EV9, which promises to be the brand's biggest, most expensive, most luxurious and most high-tech car yet.

The South Korean carmaker first revealed the car as the Concept EV9 at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show. Boxy yet futuristic with huge rear suicide doors and massive rims, it was a real stunner and statement of intent from Kia.

Kia then released official shots of the car late last year undergoing low-friction, off-road and skidpan testing in South Korea – although the EV9 remained heavily camouflaged. Now, in 2023, we've had our first non-camouflaged public sightings of the car.

Chilean motoring enthusiast @nacional.collector has shared a video of what looks to be a final production model EV9 driving around the streets of Santiago on Instagram ahead of the car's worldwide launch. Nicely spotted.

Some observations: we really like the blue paint job, as well as those rims, which seem to be the same four-spoke design seen on the camouflaged test car from September, just with polished metal elements.

It seems as if the overall design of the car hasn't changed that much if at all since September, except for the lower front fascia, which now seems to have (faux?) air inlets. It's a good-looking beast.

Another two more camouflaged EV9s have also been spotted out in the wild in Germany, one of which also had those polished rims, while another was rocking a different four-spoke rim design. Interestingly, both seemed to omit the LED matrix lights of the September car for more conventional lights. Perhaps the LEDs are an option?

Guess we'll just have to wait for the official reveal of the car, which will happen in Q1 of this year. Kia Australia has confirmed that the EV9 will be making its way Down Under, with an initial allocation of 400 units.

Built on the same e-GMP platform as the Kia EV6, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the forthcoming Ioniq 6, the EV9 is projected to have a driving range of around 483km as well as a 5-second 0-100km/h time. A high ride height and boxy dimensions mean it's probably pretty good off-road, too.

Price? Who knows. But seeing as the EV6 GT is already pushing $100,000, we could likely expect a six-figure price tag for the EV9 too. Watch this space.

Read the full article Kia EV9 Spy Shots Reveal Kia’s Biggest, Most Expensive & Most Luxurious Car Yet on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Silent but deadly: Kia has confirmed that they're currently in talks with police departments across the country about the prospect of supplying their new, insanely fast EV6 GT electric supercar.

Kia Australia has confirmed that "several [Australian] police fleets/jurisdictions have tested or are currently testing" the EV6 across a range of potential roles. The South Korean auto maker says so far the GT-Line AWD has been the main focus, but "anticipates the GT will be considered in the future", Carsguide reports.

That should come as a truly terrifying prospect to anyone hoping they'd be able to outspeed the boys in blue now that the very last V8s and large sedans are being phased out across the country.

(The last V8-powered Holden Commodore highway patrol cars were phased out in 2022, and the Chrysler 300 SRT-8s which were originally meant to replace those locally-made vehicles are on the chopping block as well.)

The Kia EV6 GT is the most powerful production car Kia has ever made, as well as one of the coolest. A dual-motor, all-wheel-drive electric beast, it can zip from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds and handle better than most supercars.

That means it outperforms virtually all vehicles commonly employed by highway patrols around the country, including the BMW 530d, Hyundai Sonata, Volkswagen Passat, Kia's own Stinger and of course, the old Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore (both six- and eight-cylinder variants).

RELATED: Australia’s #1 ‘Hoon’ Car Brand Revealed, According To Speed Cameras

One major advantage the EV6 has over its rivals is its all-wheel drive layout, which makes it a much nimbler beast than its larger sedan rivals. Being electric, it's also capable of sneaking up on perps (when its sirens aren't blaring, of course). It'll also save police forces a huge amount of money on fuel and servicing.

Australia isn't the only country looking into EV6s as cop cars: they're already in service with police forces and emergency services in the UK, as are other EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model 3.

There's only one negative: charging might be cheaper than fuelling up, but it's not as fast – and the EV6 GT's range, while impressive for a modern EV, pales in comparison to those of some of its ICE rivals, such as the BMW 530d.

Serious questions remain about whether EVs, given the fairly average state of Australia's current charging infrastructure and the vast distances some police vehicles have to cover, are really suited for highway patrol duties.

The real question is this: how many donuts can you fit in the boot?

Read the full article Police Plan To Use Kia EV6 GTs As Highway Patrol Cars on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

To see if you can really do a proper road trip in an electric car, I jumped in a Jaguar I-PACE on a UK adventure from Edinburgh via Oban down to the home of Jaguar in Coventry. This is what I discovered...

Despite what some might say, electric cars haven't "ruined the weekend". It's becoming increasingly easy to make the switch to electric in Australia, with the price of electric vehicles starting to become more competitive, the quality of EVs only improving and charging networks continuing to grow around the country.

Yet range anxiety still looms large in the mind of many motorists – and even some seasoned EV drivers are reluctant to take their cars out for long road trips. The reality is that Australia's vast distances, combined with a still reasonably sparse charging network, pose real challenges for car manufacturers trying to push battery juice.

In comparison, the UK has some of the best EV charging infrastructure in the world, and far shorter average driving distances than you'd encounter in Australia. It's a glimpse of the future for us eco-minded Aussies.

That's why when I had the chance to take an electric car (and a very nice electric car at that) for a proper drive down through The Mother Country, I was very keen to see how I'd go, and compare it to my experiences of electric motoring in Australia. Here's what I discovered.

Starting off in the centre of Edinburgh, we headed west towards Oban, a picturesque resort town on Scotland's west coast that's known as "the Gateway to the Isles"; it's where you'd get on a ferry to Islay, for example.

We then planned a magnificent drive loop up to Glencoe before heading down south to England. The roads around that part of the Scottish Highlands are some of the most beautiful and fun to drive in Europe; it's truly stunning.

Then, we drove down the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond on a big southern thrust down past Glasgow towards the picturesque Lakes District, where we spent a night in Keswick. We then jumped back on the road to smash down to Stratford-upon-Avon, where we spent another night, and then returned the car to Jaguar at Jaguar Land Rover's headquarters in Gaydon.

All in all, we drove well over 1,000kms in just over 3 days. A comparatively small distance by Australian standards, but still a fairly substantial trip.

The Jaguar I-PACE is the British brand's first-ever ground-up electric car, and it's a pearler. Jaguar was one of the first luxury car brands to realise the importance of electric cars, and five years on from its introduction, the I-PACE remains an exemplar in its field.

A lithe compact crossover, it's got that perfect mix of sportiness and luxury the Jaguar brand is known for. It can comfortably fit five adults, but it's also a pretty nippy little thing. It's got a dual-motor, all-wheel drive setup that's good for 295kW/700Nm of torque (that's a lot of torque) and it'll do 0-100km/h in 4.8 seconds. It's got a WLTP-rated range of 470km, although we found in real-world driving conditions, it was more like 330kms of range. Not too terrible.

I have to admit, I'd never been the biggest fan of Jaguar before driving the I-PACE, but it seriously changed my impression of the brand. Simply put, the I-PACE's interior is one of the nicest and easy-to-use car interiors I've ever come across. Acres of supple leather and one of the best centre console layouts in the business – it's a very nice place to be, especially for a long road trip.

RELATED: The Longest Range Electric Cars Available In Australia

It also drives extremely well. Not only does it have plenty of grunt (great for merging off those challenging British motorway roundabouts), but it handles extremely well, especially for a car of its size and weight (with a kerb weight of 2,133 kg, it's not exactly an E-Type).

One of the I-PACE's coolest features is how you can raise and lower the suspension on demand with a push of a button. This is great for when the roads get a little rougher or if you need to clear a nasty driveway. It's also fun to feel the car go up and down. Yes, I'm a child.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing road trip companion. My only real complaint was that its normally fairly generous 656L boot was mostly taken up by the spare wheel Jaguar provided us with for the trip (the I-PACE normally just comes with a tyre repair kit). For a long road trip, a full-size spare is essential, so the fact it compromised so much boot space was a slightly unpleasant surprise. That's a nitpick though.

Our road trip from Edinburgh to Gaydon was an absolute delight. Much of that was thanks to the Jaguar, which was a truly exemplary car. The scenery was unbelievably beautiful, and the roads, almost without exception, were like butter. The driving roads from Edinburgh to Oban as well as the loop around Glencoe were easily some of the best roads I've ever had the chance to tackle, too.

But the road trip was also a real eye-opener to the realities of electric car ownership – as well as the difference (or lack thereof, as we found out) between driving an electric car in the UK versus Australia.

It was pretty surprising to see how many EVs were on the road in the UK. They're everywhere, and they're hard to miss, thanks to their green license plates.

Partly this is because they're comparatively a fair bit cheaper to buy in the UK than they are in Australia. There's also a far larger range of EVs out and about, including models from European marques that aren't available Down Under, such as the Renault Megane E-Tech, Vauxhall Mokka Electric or Volkswagen ID.3.

The charging network is also much bigger in the UK. Britain has roughly 10 times the number of public charging stations as Australia, despite the fact that Australia is about 32 times bigger than the UK.

RELATED: The Next Battle Ground For Australian EV Owners? Home Charging Stations

While Australia's East Coast is reasonably well-served with charging stations in 2023, it's just so much easier to drive long distances electrically in the UK. It wasn't a daunting prospect driving 1,000kms – Australia's a different story.

Despite being so much more common on British roads than they are in Australia, British drivers still haven't wrapped their heads around EVs – in a good way. You constantly get underestimated in an electric car; drivers just don't expect you to be fast.

Then, when you speed away from them when the traffic lights go green, barely making a sound, you leave them totally flabbergasted. It never gets old. Being able to chop 99% of drivers at the lights, to me, is one of the major selling points of any EV.

Having that instant torque and acceleration on demand is also a useful tool when trying to navigate Britain's motorways, especially in the wet (and it's Britain, it's usually wet). Poms tend to be, on average, better drivers than Aussies... But they're much ruder and have far less patience. So much for a stiff upper lip.

The UK might have a much denser charging network than Australia, but you still can't just jump in your electric car and hope to wing it.

Apps like ZapMap and PlugShare help take a lot of the guesswork out of it – as does good ol' Google Maps, truth be told – but you can't necessarily rely on the apps, as we found out.

RELATED: I Committed A Cardinal Road Trip Sin & Have Absolutely Zero Regrets

The Jaguar I-PACE's infotainment system also lets you know where nearby charging stations are, making it much easier to plan your route. It'll even alert you if you plan a route that will require charging along the way.

Just knowing where chargers are is only half the battle. There were a few times during the trip when we made our way to a charger only to find we couldn't use it for some reason.

Case in point: Oban. We initially chose to spend a night in Oban because there were at least four different charging locations in the small town (as well as a whisky distillery we wanted to visit, truth be told). Initially, we thought that was rather impressive – until we actually got there.

The first charger we arrived at, the one closest to our hotel, was part of a charging network that you could only access if you were Scottish. Our foreign phones couldn't download the app you needed to use to charge it, pay by phone wasn't working, and the website kept crashing.

The second charger, which was listed on PlugShare as being publically available, was actually inside a private carpark which we couldn't access after hours. The third charger was straight-up broken. Thankfully, there was a charger in the local Tesco's carpark, so we charged the car overnight there... Only to find when I got back to Australia that we'd got a parking ticket. There were no signs to indicate that it was restricted parking.

Glasgow, despite being a major city, is bizarrely underserved by charging locations, although we were able to find a Level 3 fast charger in a service area just outside of town. When we arrived in Keswick, one of the two chargers in town was in use, meaning we had to go to the other side of town to use the other one.

So yes, whilst it's easier to do an electric road trip in the UK compared to Australia (and many other countries), it's still not completely seamless.

It wasn't all bad news, however. To our delight, we found that the hotel we stayed at in Stratford-upon-Avon had multiple free wall chargers, so we could top up before heading to Gaydon. Imagine being able to fill up an ICE for free! On that...

I always thought Australian petrol prices were pretty steep but British petrol prices are daylight robbery. While public charging stations still cost something, filling up our car with petrol as opposed to volts would have been a very expensive exercise.

RELATED: American RV Owner’s Petrol Pumping Video Shows Insane Cost Of Road Tripping Right Now

On long drives, it's easy to get fatigued, even as a passenger. This is where EVs come into their own: because they're so smooth and so quiet, they're great on long hauls. Admittedly the Jaguar I-PACE is a particularly luxe electric car, but this is true for most EVs.

Despite a few teething issues with charging, I found my 1,000km British battery-powered road trip to be pretty bloody easy. Sure, maybe you can't tear through an entire country in the same way you might be able to in a petrol-powered car, but have you ever heard of "stop, revive, survive"?

The reality is that you need to take regular breaks whilst driving long distances anyway, so factoring in having to charge your electric car really isn't a big deal. There was no point during the trip where we really had to wait on the car to finish charging: either we were able to charge it overnight, or we were able to have it charge while we had something to eat and so on.

I'd definitely do it again – especially if I could do it again in an I-PACE. Again, I was really taken aback by our plucky Jag: refined, fun and easy to use, it's a very complete package. Would I do it again in Australia? Now that's another story... Although I'm more confident about the prospect now than before I did my 1,000km odyssey across the UK.

Yes, going on an electric road trip requires a bit of planning and a bit of a mindset shift. But if you can get past the idea of chewing up dead dinosaurs and embrace the joys of a silent electric zoom, you'll have a great time.

Find out more about the Jaguar I-PACE at Jaguar's online showroom here.

Read the full article I Took A 1,000km Road Trip Across The UK In An Electric Car. That Could Never Happen In Australia on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Good for the planet, easy to live with, eye-catching and able to beat some of the world's fastest (and most expensive) supercars in the performance stakes, the Kia EV6 GT is already shaping up to be the best car of 2023. By a country mile.

The Australian Open came to a close on Sunday night, wrapping up a solid fortnight of tennis mania across Australia – as well as Kia mania. As the tournament's major sponsor, Kia was absolutely everywhere: on our TVs, on our billboards, and on our roads. With a bold new logo and exciting new cars punctuating some of the best tennis in the world, it was hard to miss Kia.

But truth be told, Kia's been on the up and up for a while now. The South Korean marque has slowly transformed from being just a cheap and cheerful economy car brand to a brand that's actually aspirational. That's in no small part thanks to the success of eyeball-grabbing, interesting cars like the muscly Stinger, spicy Picanto GT and of course, the EV6.

When the EV6 broke cover in 2021, we were immediately smitten. It seemed like a real needle-shifter for Kia, and we knew that when we drove it, we'd be impressed. When we did drive it in 2022, it lived up to our high expectations: sporty, futuristic, eye-catching yet practical, it was a hell of a car. But it was also a tease. Because there was going to be an even better version on the way...

Now, in 2023, we've had the chance to put the EV6 GT through its paces – and although it's only January, we can't help but feel that it's already the car of the year. High praise, we know.

First things first, let's share some vital statistics about the Kia EV6 GT, which might help you understand why it's such a tantalising prospect.

430kW. 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds. Dual-motor, all-wheel drive. 420km of driving range. All for less than AU$100,000. Can you see now why we're frothing a little bit?

It hardly needs saying, but 3.5 seconds is fast. That's faster than an Aston Martin Vantage, a BMW M3 Competition, or Lamborghini Urus.

RELATED: Kia’s EV9 Electric SUV Might Give The Toyota LandCruiser A Run For Its Money

Those sorts of superlatives would lead you to believe that the EV6 GT is purely some sort of track monster... Which couldn't be further from the truth. No, what's really exciting about the EV6 GT is just how practical it is. It's the ultimate daily driver.

Case in point: it can seat four adults in complete comfort (and five without too much imposition), meaning you can bring people along for the ride. It's got a highly practical 520L boot capacity which can be increased to 1,300 L when the rear seats are folded.

Not only is it capable of ultra-fast 800V charging, meaning it can charge from 10% to 80% in as little as 18 minutes, but it's also one of only a handful of EVs on the market that's capable of vehicle-to-load charging: that is, you can use the EV6 GT to power external devices, such as electrical camping equipment, power tools or laptops.

RELATED: The Next Battle Ground For Australian EV Owners? Home Charging Stations

On top of that, it's a Kia, which means it comes with a 7-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty – and when it does come time to service it, you'll benefit from one of the widest dealer networks in the country. That might not be very sexy but when we're talking about cutting-edge electric cars, having that piece of mind is pretty important.

Something that might get you a little hot and bothered is how much it costs. As we mentioned above, you can pick up a Kia EV6 GT for just shy of $100,000. That might be a lot of money for a Korean car, but when you consider it's a supercar-beating spaceship from the future, that's a really competitive price point.

There are few vehicles on the market that offer the sort of performance and refinement the EV6 GT offers for that sort of money. That's cheaper than a Mercedes-AMG A45 or about twice as cheap as an Audi RS6 or a Porsche Taycan 4S – all vehicles that Roland Rivero, General Manager of Product at Kia Australia, says Kia is targeting locally. And you know what? With the exception of maybe the Porsche, the EV6 GT is about as nice, if not nicer.

Honestly, we can't reserve enough praise for the EV6 GT. It ticks all the boxes: it's fast, it's good-looking, it's practical, it's good for the planet, it's reasonably priced... Why wouldn't you want one?

Find out more about the Kia EV6 GT at Kia's online showroom here.

Read the full article Kia EV6 GT Review: Supercar-Beating Electric Spaceship on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

It's a question we're sure we've all asked ourselves at one point: why not just put solar panels on an electric car? Well, one Dutch firm's done precisely that. It's called the Lightyear 0, and it just made history by becoming the world's first production solar car.

Designed in the Netherlands and in production in Finland by Valmet Automotive (a highly respected vehicle contract manufacturer that also makes cars for Mercedes-Benz and has previously produced Fiskers and Saabs), the high-tech vehicle is set to be a game-changer for the automotive industry.

Sleek and futuristic, it's a large fastback sedan with a bonnet, roof and boot clad with 5m2 of solar cells, with a record drag coefficient of Cd=0.175. The teardrop-shaped car looks like no other electric car on the market – although it also doesn't look like some flimsy concept car, either.

The company plans on producing one car a week and gradually scaling up its production in the first quarter of 2023. Again, it's hard to overstate this: this isn't just some start-up pipe dream. This is real, and it's already in production. The future is now, people.

WATCH journalists and customers get a first drive of the Lightyear 0 in Spain below.

So, down to brass tacks: how does the Lightyear 0 work?

Well, ignoring the solar panels, it's otherwise a rather conventional electric car. It has a 60kWh battery pack that's capable of being charged in the usual way, which Lightyear says gives the 0 a rather impressive 625km of range or a highway range (at 110 km/h) of 560km. Useful when the sun's not shining.

RELATED: The Longest Range Electric Cars Available In Australia

However, Lightyear says that the 782 solar cells across the car's body can add 70km of range per day during summer, with the Lightyear 0 capable of a practical driving range of over 1,000km "between two charging moments" (based on a 50km workday commute in Amsterdam during summer). They also claim an "annual solar yield" of up to 11,000km (based on living in southern Spain).

In essence, in sunny weather and with short commute distances, you could theoretically get away with never having to charge the car, or at the very least, go pretty long periods without having to charge it. You'd still have to charge the car on longer trips, but the solar cells would help extend your range far beyond most standard EVs.

That's before we even start talking about the convenience and cost-saving factors a self-charging car can offer.

The car is all-wheel drive, with four in-wheel electric hub motors giving it 127kW of power. Lightyear say it'll do 0-100km/h in 10 seconds and claim a top speed of 160km/h – not particularly amazing numbers, but we guess you have to compromise somewhere.

The interior of the car is also pretty forward-thinking, as it's crafted from plant-based leather, recycled PET bottle fabrics and sustainably restructured rattan palm. Like a Tesla, it's got a large centre-mounted touch-screen, but unlike a Tesla, it has a conventional gauge cluster and push-button transmission below the infotainment screen.

It also claims to fit five adults in comfort and boasts 474L of trunk space with the seats up, making it a rather practical daily driver. This isn't some impractical hypermiler like the BMW i8 or Volkswagen XL1: it's a pretty normal car.

All in all, despite its big-picture conceit, it actually seems like an eminently reasonable, entirely driveable car. It's being made by a reputable factory and it's already starting to make its way to consumers.

RELATED: The New DeLorean Electric Car Is A Huge Disappointment

The team behind it aren't your typical skeezy start-up, either. Both the team and the Lightyear 0's solar panel design were born out of Solar Team Eindhoven: a student-run outfit that's produced some of the most successful cars of the World Solar Challenge, the world's best-known solar-powered car race that spans 3,000kms through the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide.

Indeed, we can't think of a better market for the Lightyear 0 than Australia. Australia is one of the sunniest countries on Earth – and also one where having an electric car that can go long distances without charging is obviously highly attractive.

Really, the only catch with the Lightyear 0 is its price. The company plans to only build 150 Lightyear 0s, and is selling them for €250,000 (~US$263,660 / AU$387,050) each. That's more expensive than a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, for reference.

RELATED: I Drove Porsche's Insane New Electric Car. It Blew My Mind

However, the company has a more affordable car in the pipeline, the Lightyear 2, which will have a smaller battery and less range for the much more accessible price of €30,000 (~US$31,630 / AU$46,450), which will reportedly hit the market in 2025.

Currently, the Lightyear 0 is only available to order in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and the UK... Although the fact they're making it in right-hand drive means that it could very well make its way Down Under, where its underlying technology was forged.

Yes, it's very expensive and still somewhat niche, but it's surprising just how fully realised it is. We're excited to see where Lightyear go with this bold new vision for motoring – and if other companies will now start rolling out solar-powered passenger vehicles of their own...

Find out more about the Lightyear 0 here.

Read the full article Valmet Automotive Produce The World’s First Solar-Powered Electric Car on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

When it comes to shopping for electric cars, range is generally speaking the number one figure shoppers are concerned about – range anxiety still plays on people’s minds, after all. But sometimes range figures don’t tell the full story.

Another potentially valuable point of comparison is how much range you get per dollar spent. Electric cars are still rather expensive in Australia right now, so any savvy consumer wants to maximise their dollar when it comes to range.

EV blog The Driven recently broke down the best value electric cars per range in Australia, and their findings paint a rather interesting picture – one that might be at odds with your perception of what’s the best electric car on the market.

So, what’s the answer? Well, the car that delivers the best driving range per dollar is actually the new BYD Atto 3. This Chinese-made car doesn’t have the world’s best total useable range, at 420km, but because it only costs AU$47,381 (which works out at about $112.81 per kilometre of range), it represents great value.

In second place, you have the Hyundai Kona Electric, which at $60,900 and with 484km of range, represents $125.83/km.

Perhaps less surprising is third place, the Tesla Model 3, which has the third-longest range out of any EV on the market (602km). At $76,200, it works out at $126.58/km.

The worst-value EV? The Mazda MX-30, which despite its $65,490 sticker price only gets you an abysmal 200km of range (so $327.45/km), which is less than half of the similarly-priced and appointed Kia EV6 (which gets $169.50/km).

It's worth pointing out that The Driven’s comparison exercise only included EVs from mainstream brands and no vehicle more expensive than $77,000, which excludes many EVs with impressive total range figures from premium marques such as the BMW iX or the Porsche Taycan.

RELATED: I Drove Porsche's Insane New Electric Car. It Blew My Mind

It also doesn't include the vehicle with the longest range figure on the market, the Tesla Model S, which is priced from AU$147,990 and boasts 652km of range in Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive guise ($226.97/km).

Still, it's a worthwhile shopping exercise – especially while charging infrastructure in Australia still has a long way to go...

Read the full article Maximum Range, Minimum Dollars: The Best Value Electric Cars In Australia on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

The former Top Gear host, journalist and now hobby farmer is famously anti-electric cars – but after years of hating on EVs, he's admitted that one has finally changed his mind.

The car in question? The Ford F-150 Lightning, the all-electric version of the American brand's best-selling pickup truck. After reviewing the car and driving it around his farm in the Cotswolds (the subject of his TV series, Clarkson's Farm), the notoriously curmudgeonly and conservative motoring expert was won over.

"I’ve always hated two things in life. Pick-up trucks and electrical power. This is a car that combines both and I absolutely love it. Which is a measure of just how deeply impressive it is," Clarkson says in his column in The Times. Clarkson's no huge fan of America or American cars either, which lends even more credence to his praise.

What's precipitated this about-face? Well, from Clarkson's perspective, because trucks/utes are appliances rather than sports cars, it doesn't really matter what powers them. As he puts it:

"A car without an engine has no soul so, to me, it’s no more interesting than a deep freezer or a toaster. But the pick-up truck is a tool and, frankly, I don’t really care what makes it move about. Just so long as it does so well, and cheaply."

Jeremy Clarkson

Maybe that's a back-handed compliment, but it's a compliment nonetheless.

In classic Clarkson style, he's also a fan of its speed and power: "it can carry nearly a tonne in the boot and tow a four-tonne trailer... Yet, in Sport mode, the top-of-the-range version [of this] three-tonne leviathan accelerates from 0-60mph in 4.0 seconds. It’s as fast as a Ferrari F40."

While he doesn't like the fact that "the steering wheel is on the wrong side" and explains that it's a bit too big for his farm (as well as English laneways), he was ultimately impressed by the hefty EV truck.

RELATED: Joe Biden Breaks Presidential Protocol, Takes Electric Cadillac For Joyride

Ford has been the first major auto maker to embrace electrification in its commercial vehicles. The Blue Oval has also come up with an electric version of its best-selling Transit van, which will be Ford's first EV in many markets, including Australia.

As alluded to above, Ford currently has no plans to make the F-150 Lightning in right-hand drive, meaning Brits and Aussies will miss out on being able to get the electric truck for themselves.

That said, Ford faces stiff competition from smaller EV-only brands: American start-up Rivian (which Ford owns an 11.4% stake in) has made waves with its impressive R1T pickup, and is currently developing a electric delivery van exclusively for Amazon, which owns an 18.1% stake in Rivian).

Of course, Tesla is also developing its Cybertruck, which is now set to enter production in mid-2023 – although they've pushed back production quite a few times by now...

Read the full article Jeremy Clarkson, Known Critic of EVs, Gives Unexpected Praise to Ford’s F-150 Electric Pickup on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!

Even a decade ago, the thought of an electric Rolls-Royce would have seemed positively preposterous... But in what's a huge sign of the times, the prestigious British marque has just unveiled its first-ever electric vehicle, the Spectre coupé.

Rolls-Royce is billing the stunning new car as the world's first "Ultra-Luxury Electric Super Coupé" – because of course they have – and while superficially it shares much in common with the petrol-powered Wraith coupé which has been in production since 2013 (although it's actually based on the same platform as the Phantom sedan and the Cullinan SUV), under the skin, it's a very different beast.

“This is the start of a bold new chapter for our marque, our extraordinary clients and the luxury industry. For this reason, I believe Spectre is the most perfect product that Rolls-Royce has ever produced,” Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös says.

It's also been confirmed alongside the Spectre's release that by 2030, its entire product portfolio will be fully electric. So the real question is this: what does an electric Rolls look like, and how does it stack up to a fossil fuel-powered one?

WATCH the world's first glimpse at the Rolls-Royce Spectre below.

At first glance, the Spectre is immediately recognisable as a Rolls – they haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Imposing yet elegant, it has plenty of characteristic Rolls-Royce features such as suicide doors and the famous Spirit of Ecstacy hood ornament... Although in the case of the latter, Rolls have actually redesigned her with a lower stance which makes her more aerodynamic as well as much closer to her original design.

The Spectre's interior is similarly sleek, with a reasonably conventional cockpit that elegantly integrates a single screen across the dash, flowing from the gauge cluster to the centre console, with an analogue clock breaking up the screen towards the passenger seat.

If you option Rolls' famous Starlight Headliner, you'll also be blessed with stars on your door panels, too – something we haven't seen before.

As previously mentioned, the Spectre's exterior design is rather similar to the Wraith's, albeit somewhat more angular and we dare say a bit more refined. The sharp daytime running lights up front looks very sleek, but what's really impressive is the way the car is styled towards the rear, with the largest single body panel ever produced for a Rolls-Royce extending from the A-pillar to the luggage compartment.

There's remarkably little that gives away that the Spectre is an electric car, except for the lack of a tailpipe. That's probably the goal; to normalise electrification (as well as not to scare off the older crowd who are Rolls' customer base, we suspect).

RELATED: BMW’s Bold Plan To Make The World’s Greenest Cars

As the Spectre is yet to enter mainstream production, Rolls hasn't confirmed final performance figures (of course, Rolls always describe the performance of their cars as "adequate") but have instead shared that their preliminary data suggest it'll make 430kW/900Nm, boast 520km of range and will do 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds. Not bad. For comparison, that's about as fast as a Ford Mustang GT.

An electric drivetrain arguably suits luxury cars like Rolls-Royces exceptionally well. Rolls' mission when it comes to drivetrains has always been about smoothness. That's why they persevere with V12 engines, for example: because they're much smoother than, say, a V8.

But electric cars are even smoother than even the most velvety ICE, and of course, they make virtually no noise – another boon to Rolls. They're all about giving their passenger (and driver) the most effortless, least intrusive driving experience possible. In that sense, the Spectre will deliver in spades.

Rolls haven't given us any indication of pricing, but if the Wraith (which has a starting price of AU$635,000) is anything to go by, you shouldn't expect much change from a million bucks. It's a Rolls. It won't be cheap.

The first deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Spectre will arrive in Q4 2023. Watch this space.

Read the full article Rolls-Royce Unveils Its First-Ever Electric Car, The Spectre… & It’s A Stunner on DMARGE. Don’t miss it!