Sedan Reviews

If you’re missing the Mazda6 and looking for a new electric car - then Mazda may have the perfect car for you. The all-new Mazda6e Atenza is the flagship of its new electric vehicle (EV) range, with the CX-6e SUV due later this year. The Atenza grade is priced from a very competitive $52,990 and comes equipped with 19-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, tri-zone climate control, ambient lighting, heated and ventilated front seats, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen and a 10.2-inch digital driver display plus a 14-speaker Sony audio system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And to make it feel more premium inside there are leather and synthetic suede seats, a two-tone leather-wrapped steering wheel and more synthetic suede on the dash and doors. The 6e Atenza is motivated by a single, rear-mounted motor which produces 190kW of power and 290Nm of torque. It’s equipped with a 78kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, which Mazda claims is good for an impressive 560km of range. Mazda has included a long list of safety features, including autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring and 360-degree cameras.  The 6e is covered by the same five-year/unlimited km warranty as the rest of the Mazda range, with the battery getting eight years and 160,000km of extended coverage. Service intervals for the 6e are every 15,000km/12 months, whichever comes first, and the car is covered by a seven-year/140,000km capped price servicing plan. 

The Mazda 6e is a crucial new model for the Japanese brand, ushering in a new era of collaboration with its Chinese partners, Changan Automobiles. As such, this is not only the brand’s first Chinese-built model offered in Australia, but only its second electric vehicle. The good news is Mazda has done a very impressive job positioning the 6e in what is a highly competitive electric mid-size sedan market, with the 6e GT priced from $49,990, plus on-road costs. The GT comes standard with 19-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, tri-zone climate control, ambient lighting, heated and ventilated front seats, a 14.6-inch central touchscreen and a 10.2-inch digital driver display plus a 14-speaker Sony audio system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. While the underpinnings of the 6e are shared with the Deepal L07, another major plus is Mazda has had a big influence on the design. That means it looks and feels like a Mazda inside and out, albeit with some unique features that make it stand out a little from the current line-up. The 6e is powered by a single, rear-mounted motor which produces 190kW of power and 290Nm of torque, paired with a 78kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, which Mazda claims is good for an impressive 560km of range. While Mazda has included a long list of safety features, including autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist and more, unfortunately they are not as well-calibrated as they could be for comfortable real-world driving. The 6e is covered by the same five-year/unlimited km warranty as the rest of the Mazda range, with the battery getting eight years and 160,000km of extended coverage. Service intervals for the 6e are every 15,000km/12 months, whichever comes first, and the car is covered by a seven-year/140,000km capped price servicing plan. 

Mazda has been a slow starter in the electric car race, but the brand is accelerating with the arrival of its all-new 6e sedan. Sourced from its Chinese joint-venture, this new addition offers good value and proven EV technology wrapped up in Mazda's trademark design. But is that enough for it to succeed in the competitive EV market? We drive it to assess its merits on-road and judge its value.

The higher of two pure-electric Mercedes CLA models, and the flagship of the five-model line-up is the CLA350 4Matic electric, priced at $91,300, before on-road costs.

The first of two pure-electric Mercedes CLA models, the CLA200 electric kicks off at $72,200, before on-road costs.

The top-spec hybrid model in the new CLA line-up is the AWD 220 4Matic, sitting at $84,300, before on-road costs, which puts it in the same price ballpark as primo versions of its German ‘Big Three’ rivals, the Audi A3 sedan and BMW 2 Series.

In 2021 there was the Porsche Taycan soon followed by its closely related corporate sibling, the Audi e-tron GT. The era of the large, powerful pure-electric, four-door GT had arrived and they were due to be joined around the same time by the subject of this review, the Polestar 5. But Covid threw a spanner in those works and here we are in 2026 getting behind the wheel for the first time. The 5 instantly leap-frogs Polestar up towards those heavyweights as well more recent newcomers like the BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE, with an initial two-model range - the Dual Motor at $171,100 and the Performance at $193,100 (both before on-road costs). Due in Aussie showrooms in the second half of this year, it’s ultimately very close to the design of the Polestar Precept concept that previewed the 5 way back in 2020. And at close to 5.1 metres long, just over 2.0m wide and a bit over 1.4m tall with a 2970mm wheelbase it’s a confidently sleek machine with a broad stance and an ultra-slippery 0.24 drag co-efficient. It’s underpinned by the bonded aluminium ‘Polestar Performance Architecture’ platform and clad with all alloy body panels to minimise weight and improve torsional rigidity. Kerb weight is still 2.5 tonnes, though.  The interior is Scandinavian minimalism at its finest, but not at the cost of useful storage including generous door bins, a large central box, cupholders and wireless charging. The beautifully sculpted seats have been developed in collaboration with German specialist Recaro, the split-level dash is dominated by a central 14.5-inch portrait media screen, with a 9.0-inch driver display behind the wheel supported by a 9.5-inch head-up display. It looks cool and clean. Standard equipment highlights include a vast panoramic glass roof, top-end audio (up to a 21-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system), adaptive cruise, Pixel LED headlights, ambient cabin lighting, power-adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, four-zone climate control and heaps more. Lots of breathing space up front and the back seat is impressive. There are four primary seating positions, but Polestar positions the car as a ‘4+1’ so if you want to carry a fifth passenger (on shorter journeys) the enormous rear centre armrest/storage unit lifts up to a vertical position. And at 183cm I’ve got plenty of legroom, lots of headroom (helped by the height of the panoramic roof) and there’s a lot of storage in the doors, plus vents in the back of the front centre console as well as the B-pillar and hard shell map pockets in the seatbacks. Boot space is a passable 365 litres with the rear seats upright (including 52 litres under the floor), expanding to 1128 litres with them folded and there’s 62L in the frunk. But no spare, just a tyre repair kit, which is not good enough. Both grades are powered by dual permanent magnet synchronous motors, the entry-grade Dual Motor packing 550kW/812Nm and the Performance delivering no less than 650kW/1015Nm. More on those fireworks shortly… The drive battery in both models is a 112kWh lithium-ion pack, the car’s 800-volt electric architecture allowing DC charging at up to 350kW for a 10-80 per cent charge in as little as 22 minutes. An external charging indicator on the C-pillar is a cool touch.  WLTP combined cycle energy consumption is around 18kWh/100km for the Dual Motor and a tick under 21kWh/100km for the Performance, for official ranges of 670 and 565km, respectively.  For increased efficiency the rear motor of the Polestar 5 disconnects when not required. Behind the wheel, even the entry-grade Dual Motor is able to run 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds and the aptly named Performance drops the number to an eye-widening 3.2sec. They are both properly quick! The front seats are equal parts comfortable and supportive. Superb location and not a twinge after several hours behind the wheel. Bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tyres are designed specifically for the chosen Polestar 5 wheel combinations ranging from 21s on the Dual Motor to 22 inches on the Performance. They are as quiet as they are grippy, which is to say, very. Then you can add ‘Active Road Noise Cancellation’ and the slippery shape means there’s virtually no wind noise, even up at highway speeds. Suspension is by double wishbones front and rear with ‘MagneRide’ adaptive suspension in the Performance. And while the roads we covered for this roughly 300km drive from Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast to Copenhagen in Denmark, were high quality there were multiple bumpy, patched sections and even the Dual Motor soaked them up effortlessly. You can cover big distances in this car with ease. The steering is accurate, quick to respond and adjustable through three modes. But that doesn't modify road feel, which I’d put somewhere in the middle - not the worst, not the best. There are three levels of regenerative braking (if you count zero regen as one). The most aggressive is a single-pedal mode which pulls the car up rapidly. The physical brakes feature Brembo lightweight 400mm two-piece discs up front clamped by four-piston calipers and it decelerates strongly. Worth noting the 5 uses the same camera-based virtual rearview mirror as the Polestar 4 because, as with its sibling, there’s no back window. Takes a bit of getting used to because there’s no depth of field. Also pays to be aware this car’s turning circle is 12.3 metres, so not exactly a micro car in terms of its ability to park and manoeuvre in smaller spaces. Active crash-avoidance tech is extensive with 11 HD cameras, a driver monitoring camera, a mid-range radar and 12 ultrasonic sensors onboard Everything from blind spot monitoring and lane keeping assist to rear cross-traffic alert and tyre pressure monitoring are also present and correct. There are eight airbags if a crash is unavoidable. The Polestar 5 will be covered by Polestar’s five-year/unlimited km warranty with roadside assist included, which is still the norm in the luxury segment. The traction battery is covered for eight years/160,000km and there’s a 12-year corrosion warranty.

The first rung up the Mercedes CLA ladder above the entry-level 180 is this CLA200 at $68,100, before on-road costs, which puts it in the same price ballpark as its German ‘Big Three’ rivals, the Audi A3 sedan and BMW 2 Series.

The Mercedes CLA line-up kicks off at $66,500 for the entry-level 180, which puts it in the same price ballpark as its German ‘Big Three’ rivals, the Audi A3 sedan and BMW 2 Series.

The CLA coupe-style compact sedan has been a minor player in the Mercedes-Benz passenger car portfolio... until now. An all-new version offering hybrid and pure-electric power is designed to step out of the shadows and take the fight up to its premium Euro rivals.