Electric Advice

Polestar is to Volvo what IKEA meatballs are to any other brand you might pick up at the supermarket: a superior Swedish work of art that manages to  improve upon the competition in almost every conceivable way, even if, on paper, they sound like the same thing. 

The fact there’s still no sign of flying cars outside my house, a couple of decades into the 21st century, is crushingly disappointing, but at least car boffins are sort of heading in that general direction by developing vehicles fuelled by the same stuff that powers rocket ships: hydrogen. (And, in a more Back to the Future II fashion, by effectively creating cars with their own power plants on b

Aside from the umbilical type - which do seem quite necessary - cords and cables are usually a pain, either getting in a tangle, fraying and refusing to work properly, or providing an opportunity for you to trip over something. 

BYD, or BYD Auto Co Ltd, if you want to use its full title, is a Chinese car company founded in 2003 and based in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, which makes a range of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and petrol engine vehicles, as well as buses, trucks, electric bicycles, forklifts and rechargeable batteries.

If you’re the kind of person who still hasn’t gotten their head around DVD players, and you prefer your technological advancements to arrive at the speed of a tortoise rather than a hare, the concept of hydrogen cars may cause you to pine for the days when penny-farthings ruled the roads. 

When most people think of off-road four-wheel drives (4WDs), they tend to picture beefy, petrol or diesel-guzzling beasts that only look legitimate when equipped with winches, caked with dried mud and decorated with a constellation of bugs.

Cupra is the sizzling, sporty Spanish cousin you never knew Volkswagen had, and a brand making its mark with a sexy line-up of performance-focused cars. 

Study shows top sellers are not always the most affordable cars to own. One of Australia's cheapest cars is also the most affordable to own and operate -- even though it must use premium unleaded petrol which can cost up to 20 cents a litre more than regular fuel.   The Suzuki Alto hatchback, which starts from just

Depending on who you ask, the second-generation Tesla Roadster might just be the quickest series-production car of all time – or maybe it’s the stuff of dreams, literally.Since its reveal all the way back in November 2017, the new Roadster has been the subject of much debate, with Tesla founder Elon Musk claiming at the time it would sprint from zero to 60mph (0-97km/h) in a record 1.9 seconds while on the way to 100mph (161km/h) in 4.2s.Yep, that was an insane set of claims, which was complemented by two others: a quarter-mile (0-402m) time of 8.8 seconds and a “provisional” top speed of more than 402km/h.Fast forward to June 2018 and Mr Musk announced at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting that those performance claims were for the Roadster’s entry-level variant, rightfully describing it as “crazy”.So, just how quick and fast can the Roadster get? Well, we still don’t know for sure, as the flagship version with the SpaceX-inspired ‘rocket thruster’ option is yet to have its acceleration and max-speed claims issued – well, clearly.To make matters a little more confusing, Mr Musk took to Twitter in July 2019 to claim the Roadster would complete the zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) dash in 2.1s.When asked which variant of the Roadster he was referring to, Mr Musk clarified it was the entry-level version without the ‘rocket thruster’ option. Confused? We are, too.For what it’s worth, Tesla’s website still lists the entry-level Roadster’s zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) time as 1.9s, so maybe that’s with the ‘rocket thruster’ option? And if so, how quick is the flagship with it? As always, time will tell.What is seemingly for sure, though, is the Roadster will be up there with the quickest and fastest cars money can buy when it’s officially released as early as late 2021. And in case you were wondering, yes, it’s been delayed, having originally been scheduled for deliveries from 2020.Either way, the Roadster will face stiff competition from the very best from this millennium, including from within the Tesla model line-up, with the eagerly anticipated Model S Plaid large sedan revealed in September 2020 with zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) and -100km/h claims of less than 2.0s and 2.1s respectively.It remains to be seen exactly how the Roadster and Model S Plaid measure up, but you’d be wise to put your money on the former to come out on top in a straight line… and around corners.Other official Roadster challengers include the Ariel Atom 500 (0-100km/h in less than 2.3s), Dodge Challenger SRT Demon (2.3s), Bugatti Chiron (2.4s) and Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (2.5s), among others.For reference, the Roadster’s tri-motor powertrain features one electric motor up front and two at the rear, combining to deliver a ridiculous 10,000Nm of maximum torque to the wheels, all four of which are driven. Its peak power hasn’t been claimed yet.Despite its epic performance claims, the Roadster can still travel 1014 kilometres (620 miles) between full charges thanks to its 200kWh battery, according to Tesla. And yep, that’s yet another unprecedented claim.Assuming the Roadster comes to reality, it will be very interesting to see what its official acceleration and top-speed claims are, along with its other data. That said, the inevitable tests that look to confirm them will be even more so. Bring on the unofficial videos already!

Converting a conventionally powered car to run on electricity alone is a bit of a hot-button topic right now.