What's the difference?
It’s about time for a change. Since the beginning of the EV era, Tesla has been the dominant name, and not without good reason.
Tesla made electric cars popular, cool, and above all, accessible. To this day, the Model 3 and Model Y remain excellent purchases in their respective categories.
And yet, the tide seems to be turning. Many buyers haven't been thrilled by Elon Musk's antics, how popular the Tesla brand has become or maybe they never liked the look and feel of Tesla to begin with.
For those prospective EV buyers, it looks like BYD is set to be the next big thing in electric cars.
Offered at a far more accessible price-point, the Chinese brand still stands out with its distinctively styled vehicles and innovative features.
And the new car we’re looking at for this review, the Dolphin hatchback, could be the one to elevate the brand to the levels of popularity and recognition Tesla currently enjoys.
At the time of writing, it was also the most affordable electric car you can buy in Australia. But is it more than that? Read on to find out.
Toyota Australia is on the record as saying it doesn't want to push one form of electrification over another, and to that end wants the market to choose whether it wants hybrids, plug-ins, full battery or hydrogen vehicles.
While hybrid options have well and truly arrived in models like the RAV4, Corolla and Camry, and we’re all still waiting for the full-electric and plug-in vehicles, Toyota has now brought in its second-generation Mirai hydrogen FCEV.
But with Toyota, and Hyundai with its Nexo, the only brands pushing hydrogen into the mainstream, is it good enough to hold its own against battery electric models like the Tesla Model 3 and Nissan Leaf?
Chinese manufacturers have been impressing us lately with the strides they’ve been making, and BYD is no exception with its Dolphin.
Not only does this hatch help bring the price down for prospective EV buyers, but it leaves a solid impression of a cohesive, well-built car, which is also quite a bit of fun to drive.
It’s not the fastest, nor is it the most practical, and there are a handful of downsides to its design and software, but when it comes down to it, this is simply a great value entry-level electric car.
Believe it or not, the Mirai represents a pretty big gamble for Toyota, a company who has been known in the past for being relative conservative with its vehicles.
In recent years though, with models like the GR Yaris and even the RAV4 Hybrid, it seems like Toyota is more willing to go out and take a chance on something that would not be considered a safe bet.
The Mirai represents this willingness to experiment, but it is still too early to say whether it will a winner or a failure.
It drives well, looks good and its powertrain is a potential gamechanger for electric cars in Australia, but whether hydrogen takes off locally with customers is beyond Toyota’s control and up to those willing to invest in refuelling infrastructure.