GWM Tank 300 vs Lexus Es350E

What's the difference?

There’s a lot to like here. The GWM Tank 300 in any of its forms is a competent vehicle from the helm and backs up its off-road claims with real ability. The ride quality, in particular, is a highlight, and it’s a good size for couples or young families. Its value for money is also quite brilliant.

Add this plug-in hybrid driveline to the mix and the performance is quite astounding, while the petrol engine and EV potential have arrived at a critical point in history where such things carry more weight than ever before. It remains to be seen what happens globally and what effect that has on fuel prices, specifically the price gap between petrol and diesel. There’s also the question of what happens electronically when you dunk the Tank into Nolan’s Brook on the track to Cape York. But for now, this is a car whose time appears to have come.

But while the overall concept deserves praise, there’s still some work required in terms of the way the car drives and in its attempts at keeping its occupants safe. The calibration of both the throttle response and some of the driver aids is, frankly, in need of some final polish. And though it sounds odd, the Tank 300 would be a better thing to live with if GWM ditched the contentious driver aids and took the points hit on its ANCAP rating. Even better would be to stick with the tech but refine it to the point where it works in the background and not as an irritant.

Since launching in Australia in 1992, the ES has always felt like what it clearly was: an overpriced and overblown Camry that never quite drove well enough to justify its premium positioning.

It felt sub-Lexus in most of the ways that mattered.

The ES350e, however, builds on the Camry basics with unique styling, packaging, steering, suspension and powertrain, while evolving the technology and luxury with the times.

A few ergonomic missteps aside, this is by far the best version ever, and an exceptional value proposition to boot.

In EV guise at least, four decades and eight generations in, the ES has finally come of age.