BYD E6 Reviews

This Chinese EV has just broken the 500km/h barrier. BYD has claimed its Yangwang U9 Xtreme achieved a top speed of 503.17km/h on a closed section of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed highway in Abu Dhabi. This makes the U9 Xtreme the first production car to break the 500km/h barrier and the record for a single-direction run. It eclipses the 8.0-litre W16 petrol-powered Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ that achieved 490.48km/h in August 2019, but this isn't the first time the U9 Xtreme has bested Bugatti’s hypercar. It became the “fastest car on the planet” in September 2025, achieving a top speed of 496.22km/h on the Papenburg test track in Germany. The U9 Xtreme is a juiced-up variant of the standard U9, and like its sibling doesn’t have a petrol engine, instead it's only powered by electricity. It has four electric motors, one to power each wheel, that produce roughly 555kW each for a total output of more than 2220kW. This is more than twice the power of the standard U9, according to BYD. It's also more power than the Rimac Nevera EV and its track-focused R variant that have 1408kW and 1571kW, respectively. The U9 Xtreme has a power-to-weight ratio of 895kW per tonne, and its set-up can spin at up to 30,000rpm. It rides on BYD’s Yi Si Fang platform that has 1200-volt ultra-high-voltage architecture - the first-ever production car to boast such a platform. The U9 Xtreme is equipped with an 80kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, with a driving range of 450km, according to generous CLTC standards. Although, at 500km/h, you can expect the battery to drain in literally minutes. The standard U9 is already on sale in China, available from 1.68 million yuan, which is about $365,000. The car is about to launch in the Middle East, but it will soon arrive in Europe to battle Bugatti, Ferrari and more on their own turf. It was recently shown off at the Paris Motor Show as a signal of intent. BYD will only sell 30 units of the U9 Xtreme globally, available through private invitation as opposed to conventional retail orders. For now, the U9 remains in left-hand drive, and it’s unclear whether it will ever appear in right-hand drive markets like Australia.

BYD’s Ti 7 has just been approved for sale in Australia, but Jaguar Land Rover has taken issue with the boxy hybrid SUV’s design, seeking to drag its Chinese rival through the courts in Europe. According to media outlets including the UK’s Telegraph and The Guardian, bailiffs acting on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover conducted a raid of BYD’s offices in the Netherlands ahead of an intellectual property court case in The Hague. According to several UK media sources, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) had the court-ordered raids conducted to secure the digital records of the alleged intellectual property theft before BYD had a chance to destroy them. JLR is said to suspect BYD has reverse engineered some of the technology used in its Ti 7 from the Land Rover Defender. The brands faced-off in a court recently, with procedural details of the case being worked through, like how much documentation JLR will be allowed to use, and whether the case even has enough merit to proceed. The case comes as Land Rover seeks to stop BYD from selling the Ti 7 on its home turf in the UK. The car is slated to go on sale in January in the UK, adding to the brand’s existing range which has seen it achieve a similar level of success as it has had in Australia. Without the same protectionist policies as the EU, the UK has seen a mass influx of Chinese automakers, transforming its best-selling vehicle charts. While BYD has experienced explosive growth, so too has Jaguar Land Rover’s joint-venture partner Chery. Chery Group (including its sub-brands Omoda, Jaecoo and Lepas) has captured 8.9 per cent of the UK market in 2026, with the Jaecoo 7 (known as the Jaecoo J7 in Australia) becoming the country’s best-selling new car. Many have likened the design of the Jaecoo J5 small SUV and J7 mid-sizer to Range Rover products, with the J7 attracting the colloquial name of ‘Temu Range Rover’. Chery Group has officially teamed up with Land Rover on the re-booted Freelander marque, now as a separate sub-brand. The Freelander brand, which uses British JLR design mixed with Chinese production, is set to launch in international markets, including Australia in 2027. The BYD Ti7 joins the upcoming Freelander 8 in cashing in on the ‘boxy SUV’ trend taking over China. As Chinese companies seek higher profit margins in global export markets, they have been building larger, more competitive and more aspirational vehicles which they can sell at a higher price-point. And yet still that price-point undercuts many established names from the world’s biggest ‘legacy brands’. Even Zeekr's next move will be to come after the Defender's success specifically with an as-yet-unseen future off-roader. While it’s hard to say the Ti7 doesn’t borrow at least some inspiration from the Defender, so too do vehicles like the Geely Battleship 700, GAC Yue 7, and iCaur V27 (the latter of which being another Chery Group offering). Meanwhile other popular new off-road options in the market, like the GWM Tank 300 and Tank 500 have designs clearly influenced by the Jeep Wrangler and Toyota LandCruiser respectively. Even more established brands have drawn inspiration from Land Rover’s iconic design, with Hyundai’s CarsGuide Car of the Year award-winning Santa Fe clearly paying homage to the British brand’s Discovery 4x4. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also an existential threat for Jaguar Land Rover. The historic British brand is embattled on multiple fronts. Not only are new and much more affordable rivals eating into its market share across the world, it has also suffered from a debilitating cyberattack, slowing sales in the lucrative Chinese market, increasing tariff barriers around the world, and delays in bringing new models to market to replace once-popular but ageing nameplates. The Defender 4x4, which many rivals are specifically seeking to emulate, is by far the company’s best-selling vehicle, accounting for 33.9 per cent of the company’s total sales in the 2026 financial year. Ironically, recent developments may push JLR further into the embrace of its Chinese Chery partner, which is busy establishing its own manufacturing footprint across Europe and the UK.

BYD’s new tough-looking SUV is one step closer to Aussie buyers. The BYD Ti 7 has just been approved for sale Down Under, as it gears up to tackle the large SUV segment in Australia. The Ti 7 is the giant Chinese brand’s off-road-styled three-row family SUV. It’s a size-up on the popular Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento. BYD Australia has not officially confirmed Ti 7’s arrival, but it’s rare for a car to go through the expensive sales approval process to then not hit showrooms. This news follows the Ti 7 going on sale in the United Kingdom, which often represents the final step before a new car arrives on Aussie shores. The Ti 7 is available in two variants that both use a PHEV set-up. The base car is two-wheel drive, powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and two electric motors that make 200kW. The top-spec grade also uses a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, but has a more powerful dual-motor set-up and all-wheel drive that boosts performance to 300kW. It’s unclear what battery choices BYD will equip the Ti 7 with in Australia, but overseas variants have either a 36kWh or 50kWh unit. In the UK, the Ti 7 has an electric-only driving range of 102 miles (or about 164km) in city conditions and a WLTP range of 74 miles (or 119km). The Ti 7 is bigger than its other family rivals the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, with dimensions of 5146mm long, 1995mm wide, 1865mm tall and a 2920mm wheelbase. BYD only sells the car as a seven-seater and it's bigger dimensions mean it boasts plenty of interior space. It sports a tough exterior look, with bulky roof rails and generally boxy proportions, as well as an externally mounted spare tire. The Ti 7 is not designed to be a heavy-duty off-roader, riding on a car-based monocoque chassis and missing out differential locks. Inside, UK examples have a 15.6-inch central touchscreen display, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a wireless phone charger. It's also available with an optional panoramic sunroof for added natural light in the cabin. The Ti 7 has vehicle-to-load capabilities, so its high-voltage battery can power devices and tools. It’s unclear when the BYD Ti 7 will launch in Australia, with the local branch still to officially confirm its arrival. Buyers can expect more information on the Ti 7 in late 2026, with a launch date likely to be some time in 2027. BYD will reveal pricing closer to the Ti 7’s announcement, but in the UK, the car starts from 47,995 pounds (or roughly $93,000). New cars in the UK are generally more expensive than in Australia, so buyers can anticipate a price closer to $60,000 (before on-road costs) here.

Australians love big things, from bananas to pineapples, but mostly what we put in our driveway. Looking at the sales data one thing is crystal clear - Australians love big cars. Medium and large sized SUVs account for roughly 40 per cent the market, with small SUVs adding another 20 per cent, and that’s before we even consider utes. But do we need to all be driving such big SUVs and utes? According to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, as of July 2026 73 per cent of us live in what the government calls ‘major cities’, or broadly speaking an ‘urban environment’.  There is no question we shouldn’t be free to buy whatever type of car we want, as long as it meets safety and other government requirements, so I’m not suggesting any sort of ban on big SUVs and utes in the city. Instead, I wonder if there is a mindset change many of us can make, especially as cost-of-living pressures continue to make life tough for so many Australians and the price of petrol and diesel remains both high and volatile. Do we need to think smaller? They say travel broadens the mind, and a recent trip to Rome has me thinking that perhaps many of us would be better served in smaller cars. Specifically hatchbacks, which have become something of an endangered species in recent years. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Given so many of us live in cities and urban areas, where parking is not growing at an exponential rate, perhaps smaller cars would help make life both cheaper and easier. Obviously it is an extreme example, given the city dates back nearly 3000 years and therefore pre-dates the car by some margin, but walking around Rome I was struck by just how small the cars were. The Fiat Panda is the Roman equivalent of the Toyota RAV4 in terms of popularity, but also in terms of size, if you work on a sliding scale. The original Smart car, Fiat 500 and the new Citroen Ami are a common sight on seemingly every street. Even the police don’t need big cars, happy to get around in Fiat Pandas, Opel Astra and Jeep Renegades.  Cars as small as the Fiats and Smart have never been popular in Australia and our cities are generally more spacious than downtown Rome, but the fact remains so many of us could get away with a small car. Once-popular models like the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Hyundai i30 and Volkswagen Golf face an uncertain future as we continue to abandon them in favour of more and more SUVs. Small cars, which means everything from a Kia Picanto to a Kia K4, now account for less than 10 per cent of the total market. And yet, small SUVs are not that much bigger in terms of cabin space, but are typically slightly larger overall and use more fuel as a result. There’s certainly an argument that SUVs are taller and give you a better view of the road, especially as everyone else is also driving an SUV or ute, but it’s not like a Corolla is as low-slung as a Lamborghini, it still provides pretty good visibility.  The problem is, even if people do change their minds and start to consider small cars as they look to save money, it may already be too late for some brands. Speaking to Hyundai Australia boss, Don Romano, in July 2025 about the potential for a new generation of hatchbacks to replace the i20 and i30 he was succinct and blunt. “No,” was his immediate response. While car companies can change their mind to meet consumer demand, there needs to be a sustainable demand to justify the hundreds of millions of dollars that need to be invested. So cars like the i30 and others in its segment that are also in sharp decline are unlikely to return if they disappear. There is a slight glimmer of hope for smaller cars though. ‘Light’ car sales are actually up this year, thanks primarily to the introduction of more affordable models from China, namely the BYD Atto 1 and Geely EX2. Aside from the Mini Cooper, every other car in the segment is in sales decline. But the Chinese brands clearly see some potential in the small car space and there is an increasing amount of choice. Behind the well-known Corolla, 3 and i30 is a new breed of small hatchbacks - the BYD Dolphin, MG4 Urban, GAC Aion UT, GWM Ora and Leapmotor B05. While none of these are selling in huge volume yet, they are providing a lifeline for those who still appreciate what a small car can offer.  So, if you do live in a city and find yourself struggling to park your SUV on the street or just feel the pain in your bank account when you fill up, perhaps it’s time to think smaller and reconsider a small car…

The numbers for October 2026 are in, and electric vehicles have officially outsold utes, marking a change in climate for the Australian new car market. A total of 24,845 electric vehicles were sold in October, eclipsing the total ute segment, which accounted for 19,431 units across 4x2, 4x4 and those costing in excess of $100,000. Of those 19,431 utes sold, 327 of them were also fully electric, up 330 per cent from the prior year. There were 6040 electric cars and 19,478 electric SUVs sold in the same period. Electric is now the leading fuel type for cars, and the second best selling fuel type for SUVs after petrol. Electric vehicles are the second best selling fuel type in October, even eclipsing petrol and hybrids for the month, landing within 1000 units of diesel. Year-to-date the Australian market has eclipsed 1 million units, with nearly 1/3rd of them still being petrol (293,298 units) and over a quarter being diesel (258,361 units). Electric vehicles so far account for 205,436 sales, but the fuel type has grown over 175 per cent for the year, where diesel has fallen 16.3 per cent and petrol has fallen 27.6 per cent. The biggest winners in October for electric cars are the Tesla Model Y (3105 units), BYD Sealion 7 (2524 units), Geely EX5 (1789 units) and Zeekr’s 7X (1441 units). Other popular options in the market include the Geely EX2 hatchback (1350 units), Jaecoo J5 EV (1117 units) and Tesla’s Model 3 (945 units). Meanwhile the ute segment is in the midst of a downturn after years of record popularity. Winners for October include the HiLux (5954 units), Ford Ranger (4841 units), BYD Shark 6 (1843 units), Isuzu D-Max (1599 units) and Mitsubishi Triton (1056 units). In total (including 4x4 and 4x2 models) the segment is down 11.42 per cent to 176,240 units from nearly 200,000 units this time last year. The numbers make sense. Diesel has been hit particularly hard by the impact of the war in Iran, which has caused a 94 cent price rise per litre from this time last year. The average price per litre for diesel in Australia is now $2.63, a 55.6 per cent increase on the year prior. This is due to inelastic demand for the fuel type, with private and small business utes competing with the wider commercial sector for the fuel. Meanwhile petrol is currently averaging $2.35 per litre, a more modest 72 cent increase from this time last year. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, this means Australians, on average, are paying $546 more per year for fuel than they were in 2025. Combine this with the government’s current FBT exemption program and New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) forcing an influx of pure electric options to the market, and it’s a potent cocktail for automakers with competitive electric car line-ups. This has benefitted Tesla and newer Chinese brands, which largely have managed to meet the market with hybrid and fully electric vehicles that are at or near price parity with their combustion counterparts from so-called ‘legacy’ brands. A prime example is BYD’s fully electric Atto 1 city car becoming Australia’s most affordable new car earlier this year. For the ute segment specifically, BYD’s PHEV-only Shark 6 and GWM’s Cannon and Cannon Alpha which offer PHEV variants have received significant buyer attention, up 1.6 and 9.2 per cent respectively in a market which has otherwise significantly shrunk.

Australia’s new car market is at a “crisis point”, according to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA).  The AADA has warned dealers are losing money due to the influx of new car brands. AADA Chief Executive Officer James Voortman said Australia needs to stop letting new car brands launch here. “Dealers are facing intense competition, relentless pressure to take more stock and rising business costs. Too often, they are left to absorb the financial consequences of decisions made elsewhere in the supply chain,” Voortman said.  “There are simply too many manufacturers operating in this market and we need a pause on further car brands entering this market. At a time when other countries are trying to slow the rate of change and number of brands, Australia is allowing unfettered access to this market.” New car brands continue to launch in Australia, growing from 39 in 2021 to 67 in 2026, with more on the way in the coming months.  AADA has set out a 10-point plan, with recommendations for the government, suppliers and manufacturers.  The association wants the government to consider a capped licensing regime and pause the entry of any new brands into Australia.  It has called for the implementation of proposed dealer protections to be fast-tracked and liability of Australian Consumer Law breaches to be repositioned onto manufacturers, with new brand entries paused until this has been achieved.  It also wants at least a 12-month price freeze to guard against “severe pressure” on dealer profitability.  Among the changes for manufacturers is the agreement of realistic sales targets, allowing dealers to decline excess stock without facing commercial penalties.  AADA has previously raised concerns around long car repair and refund wait times in Australia as well as a "wave of litigation" when EV batteries need replacement outside of warranty. Australia’s market provides a near-perfect environment for new car brands to launch, because they are not subjected to major tariffs or prohibitive fees. It’s seen brands from around the world, especially China, flood into Aussie showrooms offering buyers very competitive prices.  Many Chinese brands operate with extensive sub-brand networks. There could be as many as nine Chery sub-brands in Australia by the end of 2027, while BYD and GWM also continue to actively add to their line-ups. These brands have capacity to produce copious amounts of stock, but selling them isn’t as simple a task, according to Voortman.  “Pushing excessive stock onto dealers is fuelling a race to the bottom. Aggressive discounting erodes margins and devalues vehicles while dealers carry the financing costs and risk of unsold vehicles,” Voortman said. “Strong headline vehicle sales can conceal serious financial distress at the businesses making those sales. Dealers cannot keep absorbing higher costs, lower margins and greater stock risk indefinitely.” This news follows reports that some Chinese brands are losing money on cars sold. Hyundai Australia Chief Executive Officer and President Don Romano told CarsGuide in July 2026 BYD’s approach to the Australian market wasn’t sustainable.  "I think if I were to lose money and dump cars, and if my stock price was down 40 per cent, I could do the same," Romano said.  "I think there's a big difference between growth at any cost and growth organically, so I'm not surprised. I would be if it was sustainable.”

Toyota flexes its muscles as it dominates the top of the sales charts in October. Australians bought a little more than 100,000 new cars in the past month, but one in five of them wore a Toyota badge. The Toyota HiLux was the best selling vehicle with 5954 examples finding a new home and the RAV4 was the third best seller with 4718 registrations. These two bookended the Ford Ranger (4841). Tesla Model Y was the best of the rest with 3105, followed by the electric BYD Sealion 7 (2524), Toyota Prado (2397), Chery Tiggo 4 (2178), BYD Atto 2 (1943), BYD Shark 6 (1843) and Geely EX5 (1789). Toyota is still the dominant force in Australian new cars, but there is no other Japanese or Korean model in the top 10 sellers list. Outside of Tesla, the rest of the top 10 were Chinese brands, with BYD mimicking Toyota with three entrants in Australia’s favourite new car list. BYD sold more than 10,000 vehicles in the past month, which was a feat usually reserved for Mazda or Ford at their peak. The October sales also showed Australia’s love affair with utes and SUVs was stronger than ever, with those two body shapes making up the entirety of the top 10 list. China also maintained its top position as the biggest source of new cars in Australia. More than 35 per cent of all new cars sold were imported from China, followed by Japan (22.3 per cent), Thailand (17.9 per cent) and South Korea (9.2 per cent). Almost one in four new cars sold in October was electric, which is about three times higher than it was in the same month last year. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries boss Tony Weber said electric car sales were driven by high fuel prices and government subsidies such as the FBT tax exemption. “Consumers are making rational choices and are attracted to options that reduce their costs. Despite continuing pressure on household budgets and higher borrowing costs in 2026, the October result shows there is extraordinary resilience in new vehicle demand," said Weber. “This increase in new vehicle demand, especially BEVs, must be supported by reliable and accessible charging infrastructure that keeps pace with demand.”

Many Aussie have bought their first ever EV in 2026 and it’s changed the new car market forever. The Iran war's impact on fuel prices is often put forward as a key reason why more people than ever are making the electric car switch, but that's not the full story. Ed Harvey, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Australasian home EV charger manufacturer Evnex, told CarsGuide it was fuel security that started to sway buyers. “It flipped the argument,” Harvey said. “The fuel prices have not just really strengthened the cost-saving argument, but also I think it's the first time that people really started talking about energy security or transport security.” Range anxiety has put many buyers off EVs.  It combines a fear of running out of charge with having nowhere to charge it. Harvey said the fuel crisis brought about by the Iran war and the closing of the integral Strait of Hormuz in March 2026 started to change buyer perception. Buyers can now save as much as $3600 a year in just fuel costs by making the EV switch, according to Evnex's research, but Harvey said fuel security also started to cause anxiety with panic fuel buying leading to localised shortages. The federal government relaxed fuel standards and released reserves, while launching a $20 million “Every little bit helps” fuel conservation advertising campaign. Harvey said it was fuel availability not fuel prices that "flipped the script" for many buyers. Drivers worried about where they could fill up as opposed to where they could charge up, for the first time. “I think that really changed how people thought about energy security and our reliance on imported fossil fuels,” Harvey said. “I knew some people with petrol or diesel vehicles that were asking friends to borrow electric vehicles for the holiday period because they were nervous they might not be able to get where they needed to go.” BYD Australia’s Chief Operating Officer Stephen Collins told CarsGuide higher fuel prices and fuel shortages contributed to exponential EV uptake earlier in 2026. Collins described the early stages of the fuel crisis period as a “pivotal point” and an “unprecedented time”. “That March, early April period - I think it was genuinely only a four-week period where we saw a big spike in orders,” Collins said. “I think there were a lot of people that were on the cusp of buying an EV and that tipped a lot of people into ‘I’ll just make the decision now’. “It was a pretty tumultuous time, so I think there’s some truth to that.” The Electric Vehicle Council’s (EVC) 2026 ‘State of EVs’ report found buyers purchased one EV every 100 seconds in the first half of 2026. Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales contributed to more than a quarter of all new car sales in the first half of the year, compared to roughly one in every 10 in the first half of 2025. Where there are competitive EV choices, buyers are making the switch, such as the mid-size SUV segment. The BYD Sealion 7, Geely EX5 and Tesla Model Y have consistently featured among the best-selling cars in Australia in 2026, and have experienced unprecedented growth. There hasn’t been the same growth in some other large segments of the market, and this is because competitive EV choices are still emerging, according to Electric Vehicle Council Chair and Origin Energy E-mobility GM Chau Le. “In each of these segments, EVs are becoming competitive, but we're not quite there yet in some of the segments,” Le told CarsGuide. “We're still a bit out, but with more EV models coming in and improvement in battery technology, it's only a matter of time until we're competitive across all segments.” There are no electrified utes that reach the balance of affordability, capability and driveability that their diesel counterparts have yet. Diesel-powered utes like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux continue to be a significant component of the new car market. Once competitive electric ute choices emerge, the ute segment will likely follow a similar transformation to the rest of the new car market. New car buyers' priorities have shifted permanently, and there's nothing fuel prices or supplies can do to change it.

Australia’s EV buying growth has just been put on a global scale. AutoNews has released its “Global EV Report” looking at electric vehicle uptake around the world. Combined fully-electric and plug-in hybrid sales in Australia grew from just one per cent in 2025 to 15 per cent by 2025. The report confirmed BYD as the world’s leading EV manufacturers, with Tesla and Geely also making major contributions, which is reflected in their sales performance Down Under. It’s forecast that more than 66 per cent of the world’s EVs will be built in China in 2026.  Australia’s EV sales grew by 14 percentage points between 2020 and 2025, according to the report, which is more than South Korea, the United States and New Zealand for the same period.  Australia’s EV uptake still lags behind many of the world’s biggest markets.  China’s EV sales have grown by 47 points, while EV sales in the United Kingdom grew from 11 per cent to 35 per cent.  This news follows the Electric Vehicle Council’s “State of EV’s” report that found one in four new vehicles sold in the first half of 2026 were either fully-electric or PHEV in Australia. The EVC noted sales must still increase tenfold to reach a targeted five million EVs on Aussie roads by 2035.  Australia’s market is well set up for large-scale EV uptake because it has limited import restrictions and associated costs compared to other countries.  This differs from Europe, for example, which has placed hefty tariffs on Chinese imported EVs as it aims to protect its local carmaking industry.  Australia's open market allows Chinese automakers to rapidly roll out new models Down Under, several of which have become top sellers. The predominantly China-built Tesla Model Y mid-size SUV is the best-selling EV in Australia, while the closely-rivaling BYD Sealion 7 isn’t far behind.  Other EVs, including the Geely EX5 and Zeekr 7X have also taken the market by storm in 2026, at the expensive of some Australia's previous petrol- and diesel-powered favourites. Nepal led global EV market share growth between 2020 and 2025 with a 58 percentage point jump, with electric and plug-in hybrid representing 68 per cent of all new vehicle sales.  Vietnam also saw substantial growth, going from no EV sales to 41 per cent in the five-year period.  Singapore saw a comparable surge, climbing from three per cent in 2020 to 40 per cent in 2025. Norway had an incredible 97 per cent of its new car sales that were represented by EV and PHEV in 2025. The United States has one of the worst EV uptake rates for the period, according to AutoNews.  It only grew from two per cent to 10 per cent across the five years, with only Canada and New Zealand recording less growth.  This slower uptake is due to trade barriers such as the US government’s 100 per cent tariff on Chinese-made EVs, as well as national security and surveillance concerns restricting imports further.  While BYD, Tesla and Geely produce the most EVs, Volkswagen also registers a strong contribution, along with Leapmotor and Hyundai.

China has revolutionised new cars and it is only the beginning. The China Society of Automotive Engineers has come together to show carmakers and third-party suppliers aren’t sitting on their laurels and are planning a big 2027. These are the trends and tech to revolutionise it all again in 2027, according to the gaggle of engineers. This game-changing technology is becoming a reality. The futuristic cells are entering the pilot production stage with an energy density of 400Wh/kg, which is more than double that of conventional electric car batteries. Solid-state batteries are said to be more energy dense, less fire prone and faster to charge than current batteries. This means range can be doubled, or carmakers can use batteries half the size for the same driving range as current EVs. This will allow for lighter, more efficient EVs and will make electric utes, 4WDs and sports cars more palatable.  Nearly every carmaker and battery supplier on the planet is working on this. Watch this space. Harnessing the stored energy inside a car’s battery to power homes and neighbourhoods during times of high power demand and emergencies is the holy grail of EV capabilities. This technology isn’t just being trialled in China, but is also being tested in Australia where is is arguably more valuable. V2G when paired with solar can effectively allow owners to live off the grid and to earn money by sending power back to the grid during peak times. The infrastructure is what is holding it up, the majority of electric cars are not yet set up to handle V2G and it can void the warranty if owners try to use the tech now. Chinese carmakers such as BYD, Geely, MG and others are trialling die-casting using a magnesium alloy which is lighter, stronger and better at reducing vibration than current materials. The die-casting method will make for more affordable construction methods thanks to reduced components, while the material will make EVs more efficient and pleasant to drive via increased structural rigidity and reduction of NVH. This new tech could revolutionise mining operations with a group of trucks following a prescribed route - from the mine to port for example - with one elad vehicle and several following it along major roads. This helps reduce the cost of freight, improve safety and reduce fuel use due to the following vehicles benefitting from reduced drag. 3D printing is common, but an emerging tech is 3D printing using metal. It can be used to make vehicle structures and complex single-piece mouldings. There are numerous constraints currently with the technology, but it has the potential to reduce weight from fewer parts used. It can improve strength, durability and crash safety performance by creating a stiffer structure with fewer welds. The engineers society believe there will be significant breakthroughs next year. Low-cost metal powders are expected to be used as building materials, plus layer thickness to make sturdier structures and improved printing performance. This works by cars and infrastructure all talking to each other to help make collaborative scenarios.  This can help improve road safety with advanced identification of hazards and reduced crash scenarios. It can also help reduce traffic with traffic lights prioritising the flow of traffic in real time rather than on set parameters. It also allows for better pedestrian safety with the cars able to effectively see around corners and other blind spots thanks to integration with static infrastructure and public cameras.