Articles by Tim Nicholson

Since launching in late 2021, Polestar has only had one model to offer Australians, but now it has three, including the freshly launched Polestar 4. This will likely be the Swedish-Chinese EV brand's biggest seller as it enters the competitive medium SUV segment. The cheaper Tesla Model Y is in its crosshairs but can Polestar break into the mainstream with this tech-laden coupe-style SUV.

The influx of new automotive brands coming to Australia, largely from China, is going to cause serious upheaval in the new-vehicle market, according to the boss of one of Australia’s key EV brands.A number of new entrants have either launched in recent months, or plan to launch in the New Year, muscling in on what is already a crowded new-car market.Fresh brands set to hit our shores soon include Leapmotor, Zeekr, Deepal, Skywell, Geely, JAC, Jaecoo, XPeng, and GAC/Aion.The incoming marques are all vying for a slice of Australia’s market that usually sits at over one million sales annually.Polestar Australia Managing Director Scott Maynard said the new brands will shake up the market, but it will be interesting to watch.“Grab some popcorn, it'll be super exciting,” he said at the Polestar 4 launch recently.“So it'll be fascinating to see who can muscle in and displace some of the existing players. It'll be interesting to see who burns bright, burns out and disappears backwards. It'll be fascinating to see how it plays.”He said there could be some clear benefits from the influx of largely EV focussed brands to Australia.“If it electrifies the Australian national vehicle fleet, then that's good in a way. Not all electric cars are necessarily green, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. And if it then forces an uptick in public charging infrastructure and all of those other little bits and pieces, yep, good as well.”Maynard said Polestar holds a unique place in the Australian market, adding the vast majority of the new entrants are chasing a different EV buyer to that of the Chinese-Swedish brand.“Most of those entrants seem to be playing in the volume market. They all seem to be on a quest for world domination. They're all trying to beat each other to outright share and volume, and that's not where we're trying to play.“So we were operating in a completely different space, and I'm proud of the fact that that's where we sit. But in that sub-70k bracket, it's going to get amazing.”Some of the new marques launching soon share space with Polestar and Volvo under the massive Geely Holdings umbrella, including Zeekr and Geely, while Smart - a collaboration between Geely and Mercedes-Benz - also launched recently.Maynard said there was healthy competition between the Geely brands, but added Polestar was unique in the group.“Each of the brands have their own unique persona, their own identity, and so I wouldn't say that we compete, and certainly not ferociously. We eye each other off, I suppose. But we're proud of our position, and we consider our position quite unique to that of any of the other members of the group. And so you wouldn't compare ourselves in terms of volume, share, or any of those measures.”Clarifying his earlier comment that “not all electric cars are necessarily green”, Maynard said he was highlighting how in the electrified vehicle space, “there's different shades of green”, specifically when it comes to servicing batteries.“You put an eight-year warranty on the battery, and people assume that it lasts eight-and-a-half years. But of course, studies show that it lasts significantly longer than that.”Maynard added that Polestar batteries are easily serviced, some other brands are less so.“Our battery is still able to have repairs performed on it, lid off fashion. So the lid comes off the battery, you can replace an individual cell, whereas more and more of the EV brands running now have a battery that has a series of blades that are all glued together. That glue is vicious stuff, because it forms an integral part of the car, it stops the car from falling in half.“And those batteries are infinitely harder to recycle and are not repairable. They are replaced as a single unit, whereas ours can be serviced so that means that cost of repair is pitched against cost of replacement. You can extend the life if you can replace individual components inside it, and also, at the end of life, you can take individual pieces out of it, keep the shell, do all of those sorts of things. That's if you don't choose to turn it into an electricity storage component or something.”While Maynard didn’t mention any other brands by name, it could be seen as a swipe at Chinese giant BYD, which refers to its battery system as ‘Blade’.

Incoming Geely-owned brand Zeekr is keen on importing the radical Mix people mover to Australia, but the focus is on building the brand first.

Another family friendly plug-in hybrid SUV is about to lob on the Australian market, and this one is priced to compete.

One of the latest Chinese automotive manufacturers to confirm an Australian launch has ambitious targets that could see it outsell a number or established brands.

Affordable small SUVs are few and far between these days, but Chery has bucked the trend by offering a new, more affordable version of its Omoda 5. The FX has keen pricing and a lengthy standard features list, but is it in the same league as its more established rivals?

The Hyundai i30 N is one of Australia's most popular hot hatches for good reason. It represents exceptional value for money, and it's part of a dying breed - genuinely capable petrol-powered performance hatchbacks. But how does it handle one of the world's most famed and gruelling racetracks? Read on to find out.

If it feels like the Audi e-tron GT electric performance sedan only went on sale recently, you'd be right. Early 2023 in Australia to be precise. But it's already come in for an update, which happens a lot faster with EVs. It might share its underpinnings with the Porsche Taycan, but this hi-po Audi has a flavour all its own. And it just got even better.

Whoever said sedans were a thing of the past clearly didn’t get the memo.Electric sedans have invigorated the segment and it looks like another one is set to join the growing throng of EV sedans.At the very end of a livestream reveal of its refreshed XC90 SUV, Volvo dropped a teaser for a new model, with the caption confirming the ‘ES90’ nameplate.The brief video showed the silhouette of a sleek four-door model with a sloping, almost fastback-like rear and a boot lip, but beyond that it’s difficult to make out any other details.This model has long been rumoured but now it looks set to join the growing Volvo line-up to take on the likes of the Tesla Model S or Model 3, depending on its eventual size, the Mercedes-Benz EQE and BMW i4.Volvo didn’t reveal any other details but it’s highly likely the ES90 will be based on the same SPA2 architecture that underpins the similarly positioned Polestar 4 sedan, as well as the Volvo EX90 SUV.That model is offered with two powertrains that could point to what the ES90 will get. The rear-drive single-motor Polestar has a rear-mounted motor delivering 200kW/343Nm, and a 100kWh battery for a driving range of 620km. The Dual Motor Polestar 4 adds another motor to the front for all-wheel drive and ups the outputs to 400kW/686Nm. Driving range is 590km.Volvo has another large sedan in its line-up, the S90, and while it remains in production for some markets, it was discontinued in Australia in 2019. The related V90 wagon and the smaller V60 wagon were dropped from the local line-up in 2021. The S60 medium sedan remains on sale Down Under.Whether the ES90 completely replaces the S90 remains to be seen, but given Volvo’s push to full electrification by 2030, and the slowing market for internal combustion sedans, it’s likely.Pre-production has already begun in China, suggesting that it will be built there. Volvo is owned by Chinese automotive giant, Geely Holdings. While sedan sales have dropped in recent years, electric sedans have given the old school body style a second chance against the influx of high-riding SUVs.Some of the biggest selling EVs in Australia are sedans. This year alone, Tesla has sold 14,600 examples of the Model 3, while the relatively new BYD Seal has already found 5033 homes. Even the more premium BMW i4 has shifted 1454 units.Given the teaser campaign for the ES90 has just begun, expect more tidbits to be dropped by Volvo in the coming months.

Volvo has breathed new life into the ageing XC90 large SUV with a serious makeover to help it keep pace with its rivals.The seven-seat premium family-hauler has been on the market since 2015, with a number of updates along the way, but this upgrade will ensure the XC90 will be with us for a while yet.Australian launch timing is unclear, but Volvo is also in the process of launching the EX90 - an electric sibling to the XC90. The EV will land in Australia in April.The refreshed XC90 will, however, be electrified. The main powertrain variant confirmed is the plug-in hybrid T8, but 48-volt mild hybrid B5 and B6 grades will continue as well. The Australian 2025 XC90 line-up is yet to be outlined.The updated PHEV has an electric driving range of 70km on the WLTP cycle, and according to Volvo has a combined petrol-electric range of more than 800km.Volvo has not provided any more detail about the powertrain, so it’s unclear if it will have the same 288kW/640Nm outputs as the current model. It will be all-wheel drive.Volvo Australia has previously committed to becoming an EV-only brand by 2026 - much earlier than Vovo’s global target of 2030.However, the Chinese-owned Swedish brand is still selling plenty of non-electric models so the XC90 update makes sense. This will appeal to family buyers that aren’t quite ready to commit to a fully electric model.Volvo said in the XC90 press release the model mix is appropriate for right now, but suggested some markets are taking longer to embrace EVs.“This balance between fully electric and plug-in hybrids is the right portfolio for the market of today, as the premium fully electric market is still developing in several key markets. Plug-ins remain critical to our sales and profit growth plans over the coming years.”Whether this means Volvo Australia will include PHEVs as part of its plan to be electric only is unclear for now.The new 2025 XC90 ushers in a fresh front-end design, incorporating a modern take on the 'Thor's Hammer' LED headlights, and a new bonnet and grille with an updated diagonal logo spread across the car's face, giving it a sharper, smoother and more up-to-date look.Volvo hasn't messed with the signature LED tail-lights, aside from making them a little darker. Inside the XC90 gets a refreshed cabin and adopts the user experience from the EX90 and its smaller EX30 stablemate.It gains a larger 11.2-inch central touchscreen with higher resolution and Volvo says this “improves the user experience and opens up a world of new features, apps and of course regular over-the-air software updates”.In fact, Volvo says it will roll out this updated UX via a free over-the-air software update for any existing models that have Google built-in. That could be up to 2.5 million customers on cars built as early as 2020.Other interior tweaks include more practical storage spaces, particularly in the centre console, a horizontal dash design, restyled air vents and ‘premium’ recycled materials for the dash panels and trim.Under the skin, Volvo has made changes to the suspension setup to help improve ride quality. An optional air suspension is available with adjustable ride height.Local pricing hasn’t been confirmed but the current XC90 range runs from $100,990 before on-road costs for the B5 Bright, to $128,990 for the T8 PHEV.The all-electric seven-seat EX90 is expected to be priced north of $130,000 when it lands next year. The XC90 rides on Volvo’s SPA architecture, while the EX90 uses the SPA2 platform, shared with the incoming Polestar 3 SUV.The XC90 will continue to compete against the likes of the Lexus RX, BMW X5, Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLE, Genesis GV80 and Mazda CX-90.The current XC90 landed in 2015, replacing the first-gen model that went on sale in 2006 becoming a global hit for Volvo.