Articles by Dom Tripolone

It isn’t easy being green, but BMW is taking a huge step forward with its incoming EVs.

MG is preparing its new cut-price EV.

Records are made to be broken.

Another Chinese ute has arrived to put pressure on the Australian dual-cab ute establishment with a low price and plenty of gear. Foton has just revealed Australia prices and specifications for its new Tunland ute range.

Ford's "Model T" moment for EVs could be a mid-sized ute.

The Australian new car landscape is getting reformed in front of our eyes. July sales figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), showed the cars and brands Aussies are loving and the ones we are falling out of love with.

The Audi Q4 e-tron proves good things come in small packages. It’s been a working theory of mine that, the bigger the electric car the less it makes sense. Smaller in the electric car world is better, at least until game changing solid-state battery tech comes along.

Move over Toyota and BYD, there is a new hybrid behemoth.

Australia’s ute market is about to get very crowded.

IM Motors has an ace up its sleeve.Officially called 'IM presented by MG Motors' in Australia — yes, it’s a mouthful — it is launching here with a pair of electric models, the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV.They are competitively priced — starting at $60,990 drive-away and rising to $80,990 — and are packed with hi-tech features such as super-fast charging, 20-speaker stereo, crab mode that allows the car to drive diagonally, four-wheel steering and plenty of self-driving features such as auto parking.A 100kW battery in the more expensive version pushes max driving range to more than 650km in the IM5 and more than 550km in the IM6. Even the entry-level grade’s 75kWh battery delivers a respectable 450km or 490km range in the SUV and sedan respectively.There is something that will have the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y shaking in their boots, as the IMs have something no one else can match, according to MG Australia boss Peter Ciao.“This car is still expensive because every dollar is spent on the chassis. The digital chassis is an innovative technology,” he said.The digital chassis is said to integrate advanced hardware such as rear-wheel steering, electronic dampers, air suspension and electric drive to manage acceleration, braking, steering, and damping in a unified manner. It makes applications such as crab mode, that allows the vehicle to drive at a six degree angle to get out of tricky spots, auto park functions in 90-degree and parallel parking situations.The four-wheel steering, air suspension and adaptable suspension are claimed to improve the drive experience on the go, smoothing out the ride and sharpening the steering through the bends.“I can guarantee you never met any car in this market with this performance,” said Ciao.“At IM we are focused on the drive performance, very very focused on the drive. That’s a key point of difference.”The IM5 is so dynamically sharp that Ciao claimed the IM5 holds the record for the moose test, which is a high-speed swerve and avoid test. The IM5 completed the test at more than 90km/h, which is more than any other vehicle to date. Many big name brands have failed this with some vehicles even flipping over. The IM's four-wheel steering is one of the key factors that allow it to change direction with such poise at that speed.Ciao said IM is different from other recent premium Chinese electric car brands such as Zeekr and Xpeng.Those other brands, he said, try to balance drive performance with value and fit out, delivering a good deal. The IM cars on the other hand are a different beast, with the engineering and drive experience a focus and far superior to others in the price range, according to Ciao.Ciao also said the brand is already exploring how to improve the product for next years update.“We have already discussed how to update the next-generation model. I told where you need to change, where you need to update and the next model year how to do better. And he gave me lots of support,” he said.IM has big aspirations, with more models and technologies to come.Ciao said all IM models are on the table as IM has a global strategy, so there are no China-only models now. All vehicles are global models and have the potential to come to Australia.This means the massive LS9 SUV is a potential starter, with Ciao singing the praises of the huge SUV that can hit 100km/h in under five seconds, and said it will be unlike anything on the road in Australia.“Yeah the next model is a huge SUV, but has supercar performance,” said Ciao.