SUV Reviews

The Ineos Grenadier range has undergone some substantial changes. The steering has been tweaked and the driver-assist tech upgraded as has the air-con system. This body-on-frame 4WD has live axles, a dual-range transfer case and a stack of other features aimed at turning any driver into an off-road expert. The Grenadier in Trialmaster spec even has front, centre and rear diff locks.

Honda’s HR-V small SUV has been an Aussie favourite for more than a decade but a lot has changed lately with the influx of more rivals, many of them new-gen hybrids and electric vehicles.So is the HR-V still outstanding? Or has it been left standing?We’ve tested the newest grade added to the line-up, the top-of-the-range hybrid, the HR-V e:HEV RS. I know, it's catchy right? Let's just call it the HR-V RS from here on.My small family of four lived with it in the inner suburbs for a week and I thought I knew this car well until this test, and there’s a few things you should know, too.First, how much does the HR-V RS cost and is it worth the money? Being the top grade in the HR-V line-up the RS is also the most expensive at $44,400 drive-away, $11,500 more than the petrol-powered entry-grade HR-V, or $4500 pricier than the most affordable hybrid HR-V.    That is a lot of money for a small SUV these days, what with so many feature-packed Chinese SUVs for a lot less.There’s the top grade MG ZS hybrid for $33,888 drive-away, the top of-the-range GWM Haval Jolion hybrid for $38,990 d/a, the top-spec Chery Tiggo 4 hybrid for $34,990 d/a… the list goes on.There are also electric SUVs for less. The Jaecoo J5 is $36,990 d/a, while the excellent MG S5 EV is the pretty much same price at $44,990 d/a.The HR-V hybrid grades are, however, more competitive than the Hyundai Kona hybrid ($36,950-$48,950), and Nissan Qashqai e-Power ($45,640-$54,140), both of which are priced before on-road costs.Features wise the HR-V RS is lacking a few things. The nine-inch media screen looks small now, the seats are heated but you get these on the L grade below, and that goes for almost all the other features, including dual-zone climate control, sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a six-speaker stereo.As for what the RS brings there’s RS body styling elements such as the black mesh grille and the leatherette sports seats.The RS grade doesn’t bring any performance edge to the HR-V. All three hybrid grades have the same output of 96kW and 253Nm, which is plenty of power for a little SUV. Just don’t expect the RS to be any sportier than other grades.The hybrid system combines a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors. The engine’s primary job is to produce electricity to charge the battery and that powers the motors which drives the wheels.The resulting fuel economy is good but not outstanding. Officially, Honda says the combined fuel consumption is 4.3L/100km. After 330km, the trip computer said my fuel consumption was 5.6L/100km. That came down to a lot of motorway miles, which uses battery charge quickly before the engine is called on to help drive the wheels and charge the battery.On the road the HR-V RS is excellent, and this is the area Honda has the edge over its Chinese rivals, which don’t tend to steer, stop, handle and ride as well as this.The engine can be a bit noisy and will often start up and switch off randomly, unrelated to acceleration. But that’s it charging the battery. For the most part, however, the HR-V is quiet with smooth acceleration at lower speeds and it drives like an EV. At higher speeds the engine assists the electric motors.It's easy to drive with good visibility, excellent stability and a feeling of safety, even on highways between big trucks. The driving position and seats aren't as comfortable as I wanted.Just as an aside, I also recently drove the slightly larger Honda ZR-V and found the seats and driving position to be much better.We used the HR-V for all our daily commutes, the school drop offs, sport and grocery shopping. From a practicality perspective the HR-V is excellent as well. There’s more than enough room for a child seat in the second row and space for somebody to sit in the front passenger seat at the same time. The legroom in the second row is great, too.We were thrown at one point when we discovered that there was no middle seat in the second row. Yes, the HR-V is a four seater only, something I’d forgotten since testing it last.Storage is great with cup holders, door pockets, shelves and trays built into the dashboard, and a deep storage area under the front-centre armrest.I also love the HR-V’s 'magic seats' in the rear which fold up to provide a cavernous cargo area behind the front seats for tall objects.The HR-V's only real impracticality is the rear-door handles which are integrated into the door frame. They're too high for little kids to reach and not easy even for adults to use. It bit my hand on one occasion!From a safety angle the HR-V scored four out of five ANCAP stars in 2022 and part of that lower score was the lack of rear auto emergency braking (AEB), which is important for families with small children. There is forward AEB, lane keeping assistance and a blind spot warning.For child seats there are two ISOFX points and two top tether anchor points in the second row.Finally, I like the look of the HR-V. As with all Hondas there’s a premium look and feel, much like Mazdas. That goes for the interior, too, with the high-quality feel and stylish design.

Sometimes, a vehicle facelift doesn’t amount to much. Maybe a nip here, a tuck there, but to be sure you’re looking at the new version, you need to check the badges.To be honest, the revised Polestar 3 SUV is a bit of that, with very little to visually distinguish the facelift from the previous car. But underneath there are some serious upgrades which, in that oh-so-Swedish understated way, serve to make the Polestar 3 an even more tantalising prospect.The Polestar 3 has now moved to 800-volt technology which not only allows for faster charging, it also opens up the prospect of even more performance. A new generation of lithium-ion batteries also means greater range potential.But it’s nice to see that Polestar hasn’t limited its attention to the drivetrain; there’s now a revised anti-roll-bar system and a recalibration of the power steering assistance. Which just goes to show that even though brands like Polestar trade on being an all-electric solution, there are still some engineers in Sweden who know how the rest of a car should work.Meantime, the medium-large SUV space is a very crowded one right now, so the question is whether the new tech – invisible as it is – is enough to keep the Polestar 3 carving out its slice of that market.

Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, has set its sights on competing against the likes of BMW’s M division, Mercedes-AMG and even Porsche eventually with its new Magma sub-brand. The first installment in this new chapter has arrived, the GV60 Magma. While based on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and 6 N, Genesis has given the GV60 a unique twist. We review it to assess its performance, luxury, value and more.

To say Toyota’s first major mainstream EV, the bZ4X, arrived in Australia with an arm tied behind its back would be something of an understatement. It arrived with both arms removed entirely.It was expensive, didn’t travel as far on a charge as its major rivals and had some tech quirks – and omissions – in the cabin. The fact that Toyota itself had spent much of the 12 months preceding its launch talking down EVs as impractical and unsuitable for much of Australia probably didn’t help much, either.Sales trickled along in minuscule numbers, while brands like Tesla and, later, BYD stole the limelight and the customers.But this is the bZ4X take two. It’s significantly (like $10K) cheaper, will travel much further on a charge, and hosts a more modern-feeling tech package in its cabin. And so I’ll be living with the two-wheel drive variant for the next three months to see if Toyota has at last got an answer to the sales-storming Tesla Model Y, or the BYD Sealion 7, for that matter.First things first: the price. My car opens the range, and you can have it finished in the same Eclipse Black you see in these photos for $61,320, on the road. That’s now cheaper than the cheapest Tesla Model Y, the rear-wheel drive, which is $64,215, drive-away right now. The cheapest Sealion 7, though, is a smidge over $59K, on the road.The Toyota now also outperforms the cheapest Tesla in terms of range. Toyota says my car, with its 74.7kWh battery, will travel 591km on the WLTP combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle, compared with the Model Y RWD’s 466km. In fact, to get a circa-600km range from Tesla, you’ll be dropping almost $75K drive-away on the Long Range AWD. The Sealion 7 offers just 482km on the WLTP cycle.So the price is right, or at least much better and the range stacks up well, too.In terms of power, Toyota has regrettably positioned its single motor on the front axle for front-wheel drive, and it develops 167kW and around 269Nm. Now, this is around two tonnes of metal, and Toyota says it will clip 100km/h from standstill in around 7.5 seconds. In real terms, it feels sprightly enough, but definitely not sporty in the way it goes about it. There is enough torque on offer to break front-wheel traction occasionally, but it’s otherwise a pretty sedate way of getting around.Nuts and bolts aside, the real test for the Toyota will be how well it fits into our family life. We have a home charger, by the way (just a cheap 7.0kW wallbox), so that makes EV life much easier for us. If we couldn’t charge at home, I think a true BEV would be off the list for us.The bZ4X is so far proving big enough for our one-kid family. The back seat swallows the baby seat with no issue, and the boot takes our two-part pram with little fuss, as well. But be warned, that’s about all it takes. For such a big car — around 4.7m long – the boot is a little underwhelming, and it’s hard to fold the seats flat when you need the second row for baby seats and the like.Toyota says you can expect 452L of luggage space, which is down significantly on the 500L-plus offered in the RAV4 Hybrid, chipping away at this EV’s family credentials.Another perk for my wife and me is the familiarity of the Toyota's cabin. I know some might view this as a negative, but I think the fact there are physical buttons for most core functions – things like your drive modes, mirror adjustments and core climate settings – is a major win.Now, no matter how much range your EV offers, if you're anything like me, you will find yourself running on the battery equivalent of fumes at some point. For me, that came when I was leaving my parents' place for the 29.8km journey home. For reasons known only to Murphy and his infernal law, I was unable to plug in during my visit, so I was forced to rely on the remaining juice to get home.No problems there, with some 45km of range remaining. Now, as I discovered so you don't have to, that estimate is very much a glass-half-full situation and – to my increasing horror – would drop in chunks of 5.0km at a time, seemingly at random.After much holding of breath, we made it back to our charger with about three per cent battery remaining, and the power output automatically throttled back as the Toyota went into make-it-home-somehow mode.Fully topped up, my in-car reader was telling me I had more than the maximum range at my disposal, some six-hundred-and-something kays. So take those readouts as a guide, not as gospel.Acquired: June 2026Distance travelled this month: 427kmOdometer: 4667kmAverage energy consumption this month: 13.5kWh/100kmNote: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

Affordable cars from China have overrun the Australian market, forcing once favourites from Japan out of the top-10, and putting pressure on the rest hailing from South Korea to Europe.Yet amongst this, one Indian manufacturer is hoping to ride the affordable Chinese wave as an alternative.Mahindra has had a resurgence in Australia, releasing an array of surprisingly competitive new products as part of a renewed global push toward a wider audience.The car we’ve nabbed for this long-term test, the oddly-named XUV 3X0 is the brand’s latest.It’s a crossover SUV which represents the entry-point to the Mahindra line-up, starting from a very keen $23,990, drive-away.As rival Chinese brand Chery might know, though, just being affordable isn’t enough. The cars have to be good, too.Does the XUV 3X0 have what it takes or will you be wishing you spent a little more? Read on to see what I found in my first month.Okay, let’s set the scene before we get into impressions. You can have one of these from the aforementioned starting price, but the one we have is top of the two-variant range, the AX7L, which is priced at $26,990, drive-away.For exactly the same money, you could get into the best selling Chery Tiggo 4, also in top-spec Ultimate form, with the larger MG ZS Turbo (basic Vibe form, $25,990, drive-away), and Haval Jolion (basic Premium form, $26,990, drive-away) also options.If you’re looking for something from a longer established brand, your options include the ageing Hyundai Venue (auto - $25,750, before on-roads) or the Suzuki Fronx ($28,990, before on-roads), both of which are more size-appropriate in this city crossover space.So your choices are a larger, better equipped car from China, an older car from Korea, or a more expensive car from Japan.Some food for thought is the equipment list, which stays just on the right side of good, with a few omissions.The 3X0 ticks all the key boxes - 17-inch alloys, LED headlights, synthetic leather interior trim, dual 10.25-inch screens for the digital dash and the multimedia touchscreen, wireless phone connectivity and charging, as well as a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree parking camera, and Harman Kardon premium audio on this top-spec one.It might not have a few luxuries such as heated and power adjusting seats like a high-spec Tiggo 4 for example, but for a small basic car it feels the part.Looking at the 3X0 from the outside, I’m pretty impressed with its sharp design. From a brand once known for its particularly hideous takes on the standard SUV archetypes, the 3X0 is maybe its best looking car yet, featuring sharp contemporary headlight designs, a cohesive design front to rear (the larger Scorpio is yet to feel so tidy), angular design motifs with some nice highlight detailing and trendy touches like the two-tone roof and diamond-cut alloys.You could hardly tell from the outside that the 3X0 is an older Korean car underneath. Yep, that’s right, the 3X0 can trace its underpinnings back to the SsangYong Tivoli thanks to the South Korean automaker’s time being owned by Mahindra.It’s much more obvious inside, where some switchgear is identical to the SsangYong, while other bits, like the lower portion of the centre console also share a familiarity.The digital dash and multimedia touchscreen, however, feel much more modern, giving the cabin an up-to-date touch courtesy of Mahindra’s latest software, which is easy to use.Aesthetically, the screens are pretty much the only thing keeping the 3X0’s interior in this decade, with old-school plastics and too much of the much-maligned piano black cladding the dash, but there’s something refreshing about the simplicity of it all.Those paying attention would have noticed the glorious abundance of buttons and dials making everything in this car easy to control and proving you can still build an affordable car without hiding all the climate functions in touchscreen sub-menus.My initial impression continues behind the wheel where the 3X0 feels like a car from 10 years ago but somehow in a good way.Let me explain. Too many compact SUVs in this class are dynamically a mess and dull to steer thanks to their continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), or are otherwise unintuitive in daily traffic thanks to fuel-saving dual-clutch automatics.Generally, you have to splash for something more expensive or to a hybrid to make many options in this class nice to drive.Not so in the 3X0. Don’t get me wrong, this car isn’t particularly special in what it offers, but it’s the refreshingly straightforward combination of a gruff little 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine (82kW/200Nm) and a real old-school six-speed automatic transmission which makes it a surprising pleasure to steer.Its relative light weight and firm suspension keep it tidy in the corners, while little boosts of turbo surge are enough to put a smile on your face without getting out of sorts.Even the steering is a straightforward power assisted set-up without an annoying amount of artificial software weighting as in some of its Chinese rivals.I even found myself not needing to scroll through a bunch of sub-menus to turn off the usual array of poorly-calibrated safety systems. The 3X0 either doesn’t have them, or they’re not annoying enough to warrant turning off.In a way, this is a brand new car for someone who wants an old car. Tired of the annoyances of many modern vehicles, the 3X0 is a fun, basic little car to hop into as a palette cleanser.Our little crossover isn’t doing so great on the fuel consumption front. According to my calculations (which I had to do because the computer only shows the consumption in km/L rather than L/100km), the 3X0 is drinking around 7.4L/100km which is too high for such a compact unit.Perhaps it's the fact I drive it a little more aggressively than I would otherwise, as I try to push the turbo surge and resulting fun out of the meagre 82kW on offer, but it’s still a number I’d expect to see out of an older non-turbo model.One cost of having a six-speed auto, it seems, is driving style will weigh more heavily on how much fuel you use.It’s also a bit of bill shock having to refuel this car sooner than expected and during a fuel crisis. The roughly 450km travelled on my first tank of fuel cost me a whopping $61.33 at the pump, three times what it might cost me to travel the same distance in a larger EV.Next month we’ll talk about practicality, some quirks I’ve found and see if we can drill down on that fuel consumption a little more.Acquired: June 2026Distance travelled this month: 446kmOdometer: 6880kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 7.4L/100km

When you're spending the best part of $200K on a family SUV you want more than a little luxury and performance to go with its day-to-day practicality. Add in petrol-electric plug-in hybrid efficiency and the Range Rover Sport Dynamic HSE P460e starts to look like a compelling proposition. We spent a week behind the wheel to test its credentials.

The House of the Trident is grabbing its golden opportunity with both hands – and its timing is impeccable.In the very month production of the petrol Macan ends, Maserati is launching its facelifted three-year-old Grecale, the mid-to-large SUV that it hopes will soak up sales from those in the market for a fast, classy Porsche substitute.In the flesh, the updates are largely a success, with the replacement lower front apron and fresh 19- and 20-inch rims all adding extra visual drama that was previously missing from the current model, drawing inspiration from no less than the firm's wild track-only MCXtrema.The new aero tweaks are also said to both cut drag and improve cooling, while a new pair of air curtains and further revisions beneath the skin boost efficiency.Under the bonnet, engineers have tweaked the powertrain offering to match the former Macan.The former entry 221kW mild-hybrid 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder that powered the base GT has been axed and replaced by a 243kW high-output version of the same engine that once powered the Modena.Peak torque remains identical at 450Nm, but it means the most affordable Maserati now accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.3 seconds.The middle-rung Modena, meanwhile, gets a special detuned version of the flagship Grecale Trofeo – the same high-tech twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 'Nettuno' engine that was first rolled out in the sublime MC20 supercar.Producing 287kW and 500Nm of torque, engineers claim the more affordable V6 will seduce you with its soundtrack while sprinting from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds.At the top of the Grecale tree remains the 390kW/620Nm Trofeo that takes just 3.8 seconds to launch from rest to the 100km/h benchmark.All come with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission, plus an electronically controlled rear differential.There's also the option of a battery-powered 410kW Grecale Folgore, but despite having a range increased to a decent 580km due to aerodynamic revisions, fresh low-rolling-resistance tyres and a front-axle disconnect, it remains an also-ran due to its outdated 400-volt electrics.In comparison, the Macan EV is quicker to charge while offering higher levels of performance.Since first being introduced in Australia in 2023, according to engineers, the Grecale has been subject to continuous improvements, with one claiming both quality and reliability have been improved significantly.Upgrades as part of the facelift include new metal gear selectors that provide haptic feedback and a fresh steering wheel that now has flat upper and lower sections.The Grecale's trademark centrepiece carriage clock has been overhauled and is now octagonal in shape and can display everything from the time, driving mode and even g-forces.One last addition is a driver attention monitor that was needed to pass inbound Euro safety regulations that can struggle to detect eyes when a driver is wearing sunnies.Inside, the Grecale feels better built than those early launch cars we drove, while the build was nearly flawless and some of the high-grade materials employed are impressive, even at its elevated price.While some might lament the familiar Android Automotive-based UConnect infotainment system, which is common to other more affordable Stellantis products, the Maserati's system – which blends a lower 'comfort' touchscreen for the climate functions – is all intuitive, responsive to touch and makes the Maserati easy to live with, even if it doesn't wow with its size or resolution.We're sure many families will also appreciate the larger dimensions of the 4.9-metre-long Grecale that provides rear-seat passengers with more than ample leg- and headroom, plus a large 570-litre boot, although the entry mild-hybrid sacrifices 35 litres of that luggage capacity to house its battery.Climb behind the wheel of the Modena V6 and it's remarkable how different it initially feels compared to the more urgent Trofeo.Engineers have worked hard on cultivating a worthy soundtrack for the lower-powered V6, with a deep growl low down in the rev range that, occasionally, thrums a little like a turbo-diesel. Pick up the pace and the twin-turbo sounds far more appealing and enthralling.In its default GT mode, the detuned Modena feels a little too lazy and lacklustre, with a dull throttle response blunting it, which doesn't quite compute with the Maserati badge, but switch to Sport and the supercar-like scalpel responses return, as well as strong acceleration that lives up to the badge and price.Ride comfort is decent in GT mode with our car's adaptive air springs, although sometimes you'll find yourself shifting the adaptive dampers to a firmer setting for a bit more body control, undoing some of the plush ride.If you've stepped out of a Macan, you might also miss that car's more direct and precise steering and greater sense of agility, but the faster Trofeo adds some of that back with its more reactive rear e-diff.For those not in the mood, the Grecale is a quiet and comfortable place and provides a high driving position that we think many owners will appreciate.In European markets like Italy or Germany, pricing for the 2027 Grecale has carried over largely unchanged.In Australia, that means the entry grade - now simply called Grecale - with the 2.0-litre turbo is likely to still cost around $122,500 (plus on-roads), the new Modena V6 from $148,000 and the Trofeo a punchy $188,500.That means the Maserati will continue to sit at $24,600-$46,800 higher than the outgoing Macan – which could prove a hurdle, not least when you consider the high cost of options.Previously, the base Grecale came with 19-inch alloy wheels, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch Android Automotive-powered infotainment, with a head-up display and a powerful 21-speaker 1285-watt Sonus Faber sound system.Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were available, while adaptive cruise, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist and rear cross-traffic alert were all standard.The Modena added active dampers and larger 20-inch alloy wheels, while the flagship Trofeo came with 21-inch rims, performance brakes, adaptive air suspension and an additional Corsa driving mode.The updated configurator now suggests the head-up display, premium sound system plus the 12-way or 14-way electrically adjustable premium leather seats will all be costly options.Then there are the glorious ways you can personalise and make your Grecale a true one-of-one bespoke build, which will prove irresistible to many.Since Maserati is a low-volume carmaker, the Italian firm hasn't volunteered its mid-size SUV for either Euro NCAP or ANCAP evaluation, but the Alfa Romeo Stelvio that shares the same platform was awarded the full five stars for protection back in 2017, suggesting that with its more modern driver-assist tech the newer, updated Grecale has the potential to deliver an impressive result.Perhaps predictably, running costs will be high, as the Maserati only averages 10.6L/100km on the combined WLTP test cycle.The Maserati Grecale comes with a short three-year unlimited-kilometre warranty that can be extended twice, but there are some eligibility requirements. The limited extended warranty also only offers protection for the engine and transmission.There's also the firm's Extra10 warranty program, which covers powertrain components up to the 10th year for unlimited kilometres, but only if they've been covered by all previous extended warranties.Other rivals, still available at a lower price point, include the more mainstream BMW X3 M50 xDrive ($126,900 plus on-roads) and the Mercedes-AMG GLC53 ($140,600) or the impossibly powerful 500kW GLC 63 S E-Performance ($194,000).

You’ve no doubt heard the term ‘design by committee’, which is another way of describing what happens when too many people have too much input in a creative project, and so the end result has had any unique or interesting features beaten right out of it.Well, I have another term for your lexicon. And that is ‘design by France’. And that, it seems, is the complete opposite, where just one person says ‘I think our family focused electric SUV should look like a muscular hot hatch. Throw those 20-inch alloys on it, too. Oh, and I want so many stalks behind the steering wheel that it feels like the driver is lost in a corn field.”Case in point? The Renault Scenic E-Tech Esprit Alpine (even the name is faintly ridiculous). On paper, none of the above would make much sense. But in an electrified world awash with same-same design (take amorphous blob, apply wheels), the Renault is a breath of fresh air.The matt grey paint and black roof of our test car (+$1300) surely helps, but the Esprit Alpine looks good/different, and its tough, muscular design only further grew on me.Inside, the good/different continues with Renault making some clever material choices, including the couch-like fabric (which turned out to be kenaf, a plant fibre) stretching across the dashboard and up the A-pillars. It gives the cabin a warm, modern and more environmentally conscious feel than the usual slabs of black plastic or synthetic leather.Less immediately positive is the congregation of stalks behind the steering wheel, with the gear selector, windscreen wiper stalk and separate media-control unit all clustered together. Add to that one of the flappy paddles that controls the regen braking and it's a busy place behind the wheel.Truthfully, it’s fine and fairly intuitive once you know where everything is, but it is confusing at first.In more good news, Renault hasn’t buried everything behind the vertical 12.0-inch central screen and horizontal 12.3-inch digital driver display (all angled toward the driver), either. There are physical air-con controls, steering-wheel buttons and mercifully the ability to adjust your wing mirrors from the driver's window panel.The tech generally works well, too. Wireless Apple CarPlay was flawless on test, and there’s a wireless phone charger that holds your phone in place, which is rarer than you might think. There’s also a deep storage area under the centre console, more space under the armrest and twin USB-C ports up front, though the single cupholder reminds you this is still a fairly compact-feeling vehicle in places.The front of the cabin can feel a little tight in terms of width and not all of the materials are winners. Some of the door plastics feel cheap, and that is even more obvious in the back seat, where the door trims and some of the other plastics don't feel overly premium.But space in the back is impressive. Sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I had enough knee room to properly stretch out and the flat floor means the middle-seat passenger isn’t forced to straddle a transmission tunnel.There are two ISOFIX points, rear air vents, twin USB-C ports and a very clever fold-down centre armrest with cupholders and some extra storage built in.The boot isn’t huge in length, but it is deep and tall, and will swallow a total of 545 litres with the rear seats in place, or 1670 with them folded flat. A bit like the rest of the 4470mm-long, 1864mm-wide and 1565mm-high Scenic, then, in that none of it feels massive, but it does feel cleverly packaged.The nuts and bolts are positive, too. While lesser Scenic models get 125kW and 280Nm, this flagship model ups that to 160kW and 300Nm, produced via a front-mounted electric motor that delivers a sprint to 100km/h in 7.9 seconds.It gets the biggest battery, too, an 87kWh lithium-ion unit that delivers an impressive WLTP range of 625km. Charging is 11kW AC, or 150kW DC, the latter below average in a world of faster-charging EVs.On the road, the Scenic is a more complicated thing. It has all the ingredients that should make it one of my favourite driving cars. The steering is quite natural feeling, there's a firmness to the suspension that doesn't disconnect you from the road below and the acceleration is perky enough without being brutal.But it's the way those ingredients are put together that takes more getting used to than I expected. It feels as though the sensitivity has been dialled right up to the point where it can feel overly reactive to inputs, and as the brake pedal doesn't always feel linear in its application, it can end up feeling a bit jerky on the road.It just takes some getting used to with your inputs to smooth out the drive experience, and I should point out that my test was exclusively in greater Sydney, and the Scenic feels like a car that would really shine on flowing roads out of town.Still, it feels a cut above plenty of newcomer EVs from behind the wheel. There is a connection to what's going on beneath the tyres that's missing from some newer brands and there's very little in the way of motion sickness-inducing body roll from the Scenic's chassis.And perhaps best of all, I covered plenty of kilometres and all sorts of road conditions, and the active safety systems remained mostly quiet, calm and blissfully quiet throughout.Downsides? The reversing camera is poor. It has a weird fisheye effect that makes judging your surroundings harder than it should be, to the point where you end up relying on mirrors and old-fashioned shoulder checks instead.At five years or 100,000km, the warranty is way off the pace, too.And it isn't challenger-brand cheap. My car is $65,990, before on road costs, and before you add the $1300 in paint and roof. That’s real money. The longer-range Tesla Model Y is $68,900 MSRP. But the mid-tier Kia EV5 Earth is $64,990, and adds a second motor and AWD. That said, though, there is a cheaper Renault, still with the long-range battery, that starts below $60k. Still, what price a little joie de vivre?

Proving the current popularity of plug-in hybrids (PHEV), one of Chery Group’s many brands, Omoda Jaecoo, is giving buyers another option. Following the launch of the petrol-powered J8 large SUV a year ago, Jaecoo has added the J8 SHS (Super Hybrid System).It’s a plug-in hybrid and, unlike the petrol J8, this one has seven seats. Jaecoo says it’s more of an occasional seven-seater, rather than a dedicated three-row family hauler. More on that later.It’s available in one highly specified Summit grade from $59,990, before on-road costs (BOC), which is the same price as the mechanically identical Chery Tiggo 9 Ultimate Super Hybrid.The Summit is a $5000 bump over the priciest petrol J8, but it is compelling when lined up against other three-row large PHEV SUVs like the BYD Sealion 8 ($56,990-$70,990 BOC), Kia Sorento ($71,175-$86,115 BOC) and Mazda CX-80 ($55,700-$93,419 BOC).Jaecoo has loaded the J8 Summit with standard gear including heated and ventilated front seats with a massage function, head-up display, 14-speaker Sony sound system (two speakers are housed in the driver’s headrest), a 50-watt wireless charger, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via one of the two 12.3-inch displays, a panoramic sunroof with a sun shade, acoustic glass and luxuries like quilted leather seats, ambient lighting and a built-in fragrance system.Design wise, the Jaecoo J8 is not an unattractive car, it just lacks anything that helps it stand out or identify it as a Jaecoo. The brand is still finding its feet when it comes to design.Inside, the speakers, door-mounted seat controls, air vents, dash panels and even the quilting on the leather seats look to have been borrowed from Mercedes-Benz. It’s not an unpleasant space, it’s comfortable and looks good, but there are issues.The integrated dash element that flows into the door is misaligned. Not a great look. I couldn’t find my perfect driving position because the driver’s seat doesn’t lower far enough. The centre console is too wide and sits too high, meaning you feel a bit hemmed in.But the lovely looking steering wheel feels nice in hand and has clearly identifiable controls. Storage wise you get a huge central bin with a cooling function, under-console space, big door bins for bottles and more.It has dual 12.3-inch screens - exactly the same size as Hyundai/Kia’s setup - and the driver display is clear and well calibrated. The central display is not intuitive and you have to dig through menus or swipe down for high-use functions.Beyond the dial on the console, the drive mode set-up is confusing and takes some time to navigate, while my co-driver and I could not find the regen braking settings, despite deep dives into the menus.The system’s processing speed is excellent, so it responds quickly to inputs and the graphics are good. I don’t need an automated voice shouting when changing drive modes, however.The second row is well appointed, with air-con vents at knee and chest level, some climate controls, big door bins, central armrest and cupholders, USB ports and more. You also get sun shades for second-row windows and the panoramic sunroof has a solid blind.There’s no transmission tunnel so the middle seat is useful. The second-row seat base slides and the backrest reclines slightly which is a neat feature. However, the Jaecoo has a big flaw that impacts its status as a seven seater.The 60/40 split-fold second row is configured for left-hand drive markets - the J8 is built in China - so the single-seat entry point offering the best third-row entry is on the driver’s side of the car, which, in Australia, is the road side.This should have been changed to the kerb side so it’s safer for parents to get their kids in and out of that third row. You can climb over the seats on the kerb side, but it’s cumbersome. The J8’s Chery Tiggo 9 PHEV twin has the same issue.Boot size is a J8 strong point, swallowing 200 litres with all three rows in place, expanding to 738L with the third row folded. There are hooks, lights and power outlets in there, too. But there’s another packaging issue. There’s no spare wheel and because the PHEV mechanicals take up so much space, there’s no under-floor storage. So the tyre repair kit and charge cable sit in the boot with other luggage.Powering the J8 is a plug-in hybrid powertrain consisting of a 105kW/215Nm 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine combined with three electric motors - two at the front and one at the rear. The total system power and torque is hefty 315kW/580Nm, the same as the Tiggo 9.This set-up allows for all-wheel drive traction and it uses a three-ratio dedicated hybrid transmission. Maximum braked towing capacity for the PHEV is 1600kg, but, oddly, the petrol J8 is not rated for towing.Jaecoo has not tested for WLTP EV driving range so could only provide the NEDC figure which is more lenient. It is a healthy 169km, with 1000km possible factoring in the petrol engine’s 70-litre fuel tank.The 34kWh battery can be charged up to 70kW on a DC fast charger. Energy consumption is 19.3kWh/100km and Jaecoo says the official combined cycle fuel use figure is 1.2 litres. As with any PHEV, take that figure with a big grain of salt as it requires the battery to always be charged.The 6.6kW Type 2 charge port is on the rear passenger side of the car and charging from 10 to 100 per cent takes five-and-a-half hours.That powertrain is one of the Jaecoo’s most impressive features. It is technologically advanced, powerful, offers a useful driving range and is mostly smooth.However, on the road the J8 is a mixed bag.It is very quick off the mark, hitting 100km/h in just 5.8 seconds. So straight-line performance is solid. But when accelerating out of a tight corner or a roundabout there’s some hesitation from the powertrain.The J8 SHS has adaptive dampers as standard, which is usually a good thing, but combined with the size and heft of the car, it makes for a wallowy, floaty ride. Go over a speed bump and the front end will feel like it’s bouncing up and down.At urban speeds on completely flat roads, the Jaecoo is composed and lovely to drive. But at higher speeds on a highway or motorway with bends, that boat-like floatiness reappears.Of the three drive modes - Normal, Mid and Sport - the latter is best at keeping the big SUV more tied down, but it never loses the wallowy feeling entirely.It’s not a fan of corners, leaning heavily even on pretty average bends. This is one top-heavy vehicle, and you feel it in the cabin, moving around as it leans.On the flipside, it handles potholes and road imperfections well, mostly soaking up some sizeable holes. It rides on Michelin tyres hugging the 20-inch alloy wheels.Steering lacks any real engagement or connection to the road but it has a bit more feel in Sport mode. Chery Group Australia would benefit from a local ride, handling and steering tune similar to GWM and Kia’s programs.The Jaecoo standard safety list is impressive, and the advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) are not as intrusive as some rivals. The lane keeping aid can get a bit excited but you can adjust the level of some ADAS features via settings. There’s no ANCAP crash rating for the Jaecoo as yet.A big tick for the Jaecoo is its warranty and servicing offer. It comes with an eight-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, eight-year battery warranty, eight years of roadside assistance and eight years of capped-price servicing.The schedule is every 12 months of 15,000km, whichever occurs first. Service pricing ranges from about $300 to $670, depending on the year, but it will cost a total of $3881 all up. That’s pretty competitive pricing when lined up against the BYD Sealion 8 and Mazda CX-80.