Articles by Tom White

Mitsubishi fully details the hybrid ASX successor which may never see Australian shores.

Tesla has announced pricing and features for its post-launch mainstream variants of the updated Model Y.

BYD's luxury arm Denza has detailed its N9 flagship SUV ahead of its Chinese launch.

New Chinese ute upstart JAC is looking to make its mark in Australia, confirming it will unveil an upcoming electric version of its T9 ute in April.Set to debut at the Melbourne Motor Show, the JAC T9 electric ute will best its LDV eT60 forebear by offering 4x4 from the get-go, rather than the LDV’s single rear-wheel drive drivetrain option.The dual-motor T9 EV has a 70kW/176Nm front motor and 150kW/340Nm rear motor, putting out a claimed combined 220kW/516Nm although the total of each motor added together is not usually the 'combined' output for an EV.It is equipped with an 88kWh lithium iron phosphate (or LFP) battery pack from CATL granting it a claimed 330km driving range according to the WLTP standards.Not only will it offer 4x4 from launch, but the T9 EV also has a payload rating of 900kg and a tub which can fit a full-size Australian pallet. It also has an external full-size household power outlet, offering vehicle-to-load (V2L) for such purposes as powering electric tools or camping equipment.The brand says a fast DC charge should take the battery from 15 to 80 per cent charge in 40 minutes. Further specifications, like towing capacity, are yet to be revealed.Additionally, the JAC says to expect the EV to be equipped with a similar array of equipment as its top-spec T9 Haven, including 18-inch alloys, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10.4-inch central multimedia touchscreen, leather interior trim, heated front seats, a surround-view camera, as well as a fully fledged active safety suite.Price will be key. The T9 EV costs from around the equivalent of A$70,000 in its Chinese home market while the equivalent diesel version costs from $38,819.Locally, the T9 starts from $45,670 drive-away.JAC currently offers its T9 with a seven-year warranty, and it was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2024, although there is no guarantee that this will simply transfer across to the EV.The T9 EV will form part of an Australian ute market shake-up as hybrid options from GWM and BYD threaten to rattle the Ranger, HiLux, and D-Max hegemony. In addition, the T9 EV will be joined by LDV’s eTerron 9 electric ute at some point over the course of the year.Not only do traditionally popular Thai-built utes have to face increasing competition from Chinese players, but they are also staring down a need to modernise their usual diesel drivetrains in the face of Australia’s tough new vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) which impose a European-style emissions target regime on them.Each year toward 2030, the average amount of C02 permitted for the company’s entire fleet reduces to near-zero by the end of the decade.As a result, Ford will attempt to reduce its C02 footprint by launching a plug-in hybrid Ranger, while Isuzu has announced it will enter the fray with a fully electric version of its popular D-Max.

Tesla has secured its first permits required to make its future Cybercab autonomous hailing service real.According to Reuters, Tesla received a transportation charter party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities commission, which allows the brand to operate an app-based rideshare fleet service for pre-arranged trips.This is important, as it is the first step in the brand moving toward offering an autonomous rival to the likes of Uber, with Cybercab rides theoretically ordered via the Tesla app, with Tesla owning and operating the fleet.However, it is noted by multiple outlets that this permit doesn’t authorise the company to operate autonomous rides, and the version given to the brand only allows it to provide rides to employees and not the general public.The company will need to apply for multiple different permits which will allow it to run a public ride-hailing service like Uber, but also one to allow it to run autonomous vehicles like Waymo, which already operates several geofenced robotaxi services in multiple American cities.Controversial Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in January the company planned to have self-driving cars on the road in Texas as early as June of 2025, telling Tesla investors that 2025 will be “the most important year in Tesla’s history.”According to a separate Reuters report, there is nothing in Texas law that would stop Tesla from operating a robotaxi service in the state, so long as the vehicles are registered and insured.The Cybercab was revealed in October of 2024 at a Tesla event titled 'We Robot' with Musk saying the driverless vehicle would enter production “before 2027” alleging that the price will be lower than AU$45,000 for private buyers.Musk pitched the Cybercab as a form of “individualised mass transit” which he claimed would be more affordable per mile than a bus to run. He said buyers would be able to rent their vehicle out when they weren’t using it. Strangely, Musk also added that the powerful computers the Cybercab will need for its autonomous driving functions could also be used by the company to be a part of a cloud computing service while the vehicle is not in use.Strangely for a purpose-built rideshare vehicle, the Cybercab takes the form of a two-door two-seat coupe, the version shown even having supercar-like scissor doors.At the time, the brand also showed a Robovan mini bus which could “carry up to 20 people.”Musk also claimed the current Model 3 and Model Y will eventually be able to support robotic taxi functions via over-the-air updates “wherever regulators will approve it” but has since admitted the 'Hardware 3' computer in current vehicles is not capable of supporting the ‘Full Self Driving’ (FSD) software despite the brand continuing to sell it as a $10,100 option on Australian-delivered vehicles.Tesla sales are down a whopping 71.9 per cent compared to this time last year, a drop likely due to several factors, including a general retraction of the EV market in Australia as well as many buyers waiting for delivery of the updated version of its best-selling Model Y SUV. However, the brand’s chances of recovery to the point where it continues to dominate the EV market are questionable, as Musk’s political activities abroad have polarised potential buyers.In the meantime, the brand has also taken the previously-unprecedented step of releasing an even more basic version of the Model 3 in Mexico (swapping the leather seat trim for cloth, as well as removing the rear screen and heated seats). A recent report suggested Chinese-built Model Ys will undergo a similar de-specification as the brand chases further price-competitiveness with an increasing field of Chinese rivals.

Mazda has confirmed its next electric vehicle (and first since the MX-30) will launch in 2027 on a newly-developed in-house platform.

Jeep to take another shot at mid-size SUV glory with incoming hybrid Cherokee.

Hyundai’s Ioniq 9 is already priced in its home market of South Korea, but will the upcoming upper-large electric SUV work in Australia if its pricing is reflective of local specs?Riding on the same large-format E-GMP underpinnings as Kia’s dramatically styled EV9, the Ioniq 9 wears a more curvy visage topped and tailed by the Ioniq sub-brand’s signature pixel-style LED lights.Hyundai has previously indicated to Australian media the Ioniq 9 will kick off from under $100,000 when it arrives locally around the middle of 2025, although with Korean pricing and specs we might have a better idea of what exactly that might look like.The Ioniq 9 is available in three grades in its home market, the base Exclusive, which starts from the equivalent of $76,733, the mid-grade Prestige which starts from $83,580, and top-spec Calligraphy which starts from $89,036.However, all grades in Korea start with the basic rear-wheel-drive motor option (160kW/350Nm) and it is more likely that higher grades in Australia will be dual-motor all-wheel drive (226kW/605Nm), which for the Korean market adds an additional $4000 to the price. And there are many optional equipment items on Korean-delivered vehicles which may be packaged up as standard on Australian versions, adding additional numbers to the price, and likely pushing at least the Calligraphy variant over the $100,000 mark.For reference, the Kia EV9 range spans from $97,000 to $121,000 before on-road costs in Australia.Either Ioniq 9 drivetrain gets a large, 110kWh battery providing a combined driving range of 532km for 2WD versions or 503km for AWD versions, according to the Korean measuring standard. By comparison, the long-range Kia EV9 is currently capable of 512km, although this is to the more internationally recognised WLTP standard.Luggage space is a massive 620 litres (although this is to the more lenient SAE standard compared to the more widely accepted in Australia VDA standard), which expands to 1323L when the third row is folded flat. Towing capacity to Korean standards is 2500kg.Like other Ioniq products, the Ioniq 9 comes with vehicle-to-load technology as standard, and it can top up from 10-80 per cent in a claimed 24 minutes when connected to an ultra-fast 350kW DC charging pylon.Some features standard on Korean versions we might expect to see in the Australian market include a power tailgate, recycled plastic yarn rooflining, and heated seats for the first two rows. Higher grades get cooling for the front seats, a premium Bose sound system, remote parking and the top-spec Calligraphy grade even gets self-levelling suspension, two-tone interior colour schemes with suede headlining, and a digital reversing mirror.Speaking to CarsGuide at an international preview event for the Ioniq 9, the brand said the Hyundai three-row EV would separate itself from the EV9 thanks to a focus on increasing interior space and aerodynamic efficiency, although the objective was to benchmark premium SUV rivals rather than beat-out its sister brand’s large EV offering.Expect to learn more about the Australian versions of the Ioniq 9 closer to its mid-year launch window.

Mitsubishi's Triton range will expand to once again include work-ready Cab Chassis models, including a manual 4x4!

Suzuki's new 'hybrid' swift looks good on paper, but what is it like to live with?