Green Cars

Ford’s two biggest names in Australia suffered huge sales declines in August 2026. The Ford Ranger sold just 2440 examples across two-wheel and four-wheel drive variants, equating to a more than 50 per cent drop compared to August 2025. This exacerbates an already challenging year for Australia's best-selling vehicle in 2025. It has sold 32,796 units so far in 2026 compared to 37,183 in 2025 - a near 12 per cent overall drop.Ford said it's a blip on the radar.The Blue Oval was forced to recall almost 14,000 Ranger examples built between November 2025 and July 2026 last month due to a potentially fault airbag.The brand held back deliveries of some of its vehicles to have the issue rectified, contributing to lower figures in August.A spokesperson for Ford Australia said its sales result in August heavily impacted by the temporary delivery and demonstration hold placed on some Ranger dual-cab variants as part of the airbag recall."The hold prevented Ranger Double Cab vehicles in dealer stock from being delivered during August," they said."As a result, Ford’s reported monthly volume was approximately 30% lower than anticipated for the month."The August figure primarily reflects the delayed timing of Ranger deliveries rather than a material change in customer demand."Ford’s Everest large SUV also had a tough August 2026, and was down almost 25 per cent compared to July 2026. Everest has had an even more steep decline on year-to-date data, with a more than 14 per cent drop up to August 2026.The Ranger has been a staple of the best-selling car charts over the past few years, consistently winning out in a tight wrestling match with the Toyota HiLux. August 2026 marked one of few occasions where the HiLux outsold the Ranger - and it has done so by some margin. The HiLux more than doubled the Ranger’s sales in August, registering 4833 units, having also toppled the Blue Oval’s ute in June, but by a smaller gap. Diesel ute sales are expected to only slow from here, so the Ranger will face a serious challenge to reclaim its place at the top of the charts in Australia.  Increasingly stringent emissions regulations and the ongoing fuel price increases are having a material impact on the future of diesel utes in Australia, like the Ranger.The BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid was one of the only utes to experience a meaningful upturn in sales last month, with a near 10 per cent increase. Electrified utes like the Shark 6 have been eating into the sales of established diesel competition like the Ranger since it went on sale in late 2024. Ford sells a PHEV variant of its Ranger in Australia, and the local brand has been contacted to see how many units it sells compared to its diesel sibling. As emissions regulations continue to squeeze big CO2-emitting vehicles like the diesel Ranger out of the market, more hybrid and electric utes have entered the fray. New options include:KGM’s Musso is available as a fully-electric uteToyota offers an electric variant of the HiLux, mainly to fleet buyersGWM's Cannon Alpha is offered with a PHEV set-upJAC recently introduced its Hunter PHEV ute that will rival the BYD Shark 6The pair are soon to be joined by the Stockman diesel PHEV from CheryIt's not just Ranger that is facing more tough competition in Australia.The Everest must contend with a raft of new Chinese competition, including the GWM Tank 500 available in conventional hybrid, PHEV and diesel forms.

Aussie EV owners could soon be facing a battery crisis.The world’s biggest battery maker CATL has warned shortened vehicle-development and validation cycles are leading to wide-scale electric car battery failures, according to reports. CATL Chairman Robert Zeng said China’s battery defect tolerances are too lenient for high-volume Chinese EV production. Chinese carmakers have launched more than 600 new vehicle models this year already, equating to almost three new EVs every day.Potentially rushed development processes could spell trouble for EV buyers down the line.  CATL is calling for defect tolerances to only allow for up to 1000 defective cells for every one billion cells manufactured.Defective electric car batteries don't just stop a car from driving, but they can also give rise to other safety issues.The Chinese GAC Aion S was involved in a “banana battery” swelling issue in mid-2026, impacting 213,000 lithium-iron-phosphate examples, where batteries were physically bending. Australian GAC Aion vehicles use a different battery.This led to cell leakage, insulation faults and power system shutdowns while driving. Supplier CALB was forced to implement extensive quality reforms and inspection measures as a result of the controversy.It doesn’t take much for an EV battery to stop working, according to Zeng, who said packs are only as reliable as the weakest component. Just one defective cell can be detrimental to the performance and safety of the whole pack. There was a high-profile compensation claim from Geely subsidiary Viridi in early 2026, where it sued battery maker Sunwoda for 2.31 billion yuan for defective cells supplied from 2021 to 2023The pair eventually settled for 608 million yuan. EV battery reforms are on the agenda in Australia. A recent report from the Australian Automotive Dealer Network (AADA) called for serious changes to rules around EV battery replacements.The report warned of a “wave of litigation" when EV batteries need replacement outside of the warranty period because their cost could exceed the vehicle’s remaining value. One particular dealer said Chinese-built cars are “not holding their charge” or are “blowing up on fire”.It puts forward that manufacturers should be required to define acceptable battery thresholds or disclose the expected degrading of a unit. If a battery holds at least 70 per cent of its charge after eight years, it would be considered to be performing at an acceptable level, for example. 

A camouflaged prototype of what appears to be the production Nissan Terrano SUV has been spied ahead of its imminent reveal.The images were posted to Instagram by nissanarabian and show the white-painted production-specification prototype with varying levels of camouflage.What is clear is the Nissan badge on the front grille and the Terrano badging on the tailgate, clearly marking it as the production version of the new Nissan Terrano.Virtually all of the vehicle’s boxy SUV looks and design cues have carried over from the Terrano PHEV concept that was revealed in China earlier this year.One particular photo that shows under the bonnet indicates this Terrano features a combustion engine, indicating it’ll likely have a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) set-up, like the concept.It’s understood the Terrano will share a lot of components and its body-on-frame platform with the Frontier Pro/Navara Pro dual-cab ute.The PHEV set-up in the Frontier Pro/Navara Pro marries together a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor with total system outputs of 300kW and 800Nm. Depending on the battery pack, it can offer up to 135km of electric range, according to the lenient CLTC test cycle.It’s unclear whether any other powertrain options will be available in the Terrano. For reference, the Frontier Pro/Navara Pro is also offered with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel.Beyond the boxy SUV exterior of the new Nissan Terrano, a photo of the vehicle’s interior can be seen.There is a large central touchscreen multimedia system, as well as the digital instrument cluster.There also seems to be a series of physical buttons on the centre console and the steering wheel.This version of the Terrano has what looks like a high-spec brown-and-black interior colourway. Other colours are also expected.While the Terrano nameplate has a long history with Nissan, this new version has been developed and will be manufactured in China with the Dongfeng Nissan joint venture.Many of these Dongfeng Nissan vehicles, like the Frontier Pro/Navara Pro ute, NX8 SUV and N7 sedan, have been developed with the Chinese market in mind. However, Nissan is currently ramping up the export of these Chinese-made models.At this stage Nissan hasn’t confirmed which of its Dongfeng Nissan models will be coming to Australia, however vehicles like the Frontier Pro/Navara Pro and NX8 have been earmarked.Nissan has confirmed the new Terrano is “intended for selected global markets”, however it’s unclear whether Australia is on the list. If it does come to Australia it will slot under the Y63 Patrol and be a more rugged successor to the US-made Pathfinder.

Renault has updated the Arkana, introducing a mild-hybrid set up for its small SUV. With a lot of its rivals now sporting full hybrid systems, is this a case of 'too little, too late'?

Having spent three months living with a Volkswagen ID.5 this year and knowing that it’s reportedly set to be discontinued, I can now tell you what I really think of this electric mid-sized SUV.Well, I always tell you what I really think and you can read my long-term review of the ID.5 where I call out where it missed the mark. But it still bothers me that Volkswagen dropped the ball so badly with its first electric car (alongside the ID.4) for Australia.If you don’t know the ID.5 is an SUV about the size of a Volkswagen Tiguan and it’s the coupe-ish version its ID.4 twin. At about $63,000 it's the same price as a mid-range Tiguan, too. The problem is, it's not a Tiguan.Fortunately it appears Volkswagen has realised this and the ID.5 looks set to eventually be axed and the ID.4 will be replaced by a new model called the ID.Tiguan.Volkswagen would be hoping that the overhaul addresses the ID.4 and 5's issues. With Chinese car companies gaining so much ground Volkswagen can’t afford to get it wrong.Really the issues with the ID.5 and ID.4 are to do with practicality and utility which are two of the pillars on which Volkswagen has built its reputation.The ID.4 and ID.5 have poor practicality and utility compared to other mid-sized electric SUVs and there’s absolutely no excuse. We rate cars based on whether they are fit for purpose and neither of those models are fit for purpose as a family SUV.Passenger space isn’t great, cabin storage is almost non-existent, the boot size isn’t large enough and there's no front boot.It boggles my mind that a car with a 2.8m wheelbase (the Tiguan’s is 2.7m) and with no bulky combustion engine, transmission or driveshaft eating into the passenger cell could have such poor cabin space and storage.Again, this is coming from a family car perspective. If you don't require that much space or utility, it's a lovely EV to drive.Volkswagen Group’s Head of Design Klaus Zyciora oversaw the ID.4 and ID.5. He’d been with Volkswagen for 35 years and worked on everything from the Mk IV Golf onwards, including the Tiguan. There are videos of Zyciora walking us through the design of the ID.4 and ID.5 and, like a detective trying to put the pieces of a crime together, I’ve watched them to discover the motive behind this automotive misdemeanour.I do like the exterior design of the ID.4 and ID.5 with its curvy and muscular lines, and the interior is also visually pleasing in a minimalist way, but the car is a perfect example of form over function.Well it’s not Zyciora’s problem any more. He's now Vice President and Global Head of Design for Chinese carmaker Changan. Zycior was replaced by Michael Mauer in 2023 as Volkswagen Group’s new design boss. Mauer arrived having designed every Porsche since 2004 inside and out, and while that also includes the polarising 2007 Cayenne facelift, he also penned the beautiful 991 911, 918 Spyder, Macan and Taycan.With Zycior gone, Mauer would have been part of the clean-up team to fix the ID.4 and ID.5 before handing over the reins to the Group’s current design chief Andreas Mindt in 2026. By the time Mindt arrived in March this year the ID.Tiguan had been snapped cold weather testing in Germany a month before.Will the new ID.Tiguan come with all the practicality and utility problems fixed? It will be based on the MEB+ platform which is an evolution of what underpins the ID.4 and ID.5, so hopefully.It’s likely the ID.Tiguan will be revealed this year and go on sale in 2027. When will it come to Australia? Well, it took the ID.4 and ID.5 five years to reach us after they launched in Europe but I doubt we will be waiting that long this time.But when it does arrive you can bet I’ll be checking to see if VW dropped the ball again or if they got it right.

Hyundai has recently introduced a hybrid powertrain option for its popular Staria Load van but does this new petrol-electric technology offer the right mix of performance and economy to win new customers in the mid-size commercial van market?

EVs are more than just cars in Australia.They can charge devices, power houses and even earn their owners money, as Australia's energy grid undergoes a once-in-a-generation transformation.Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is the final step to fully unlock this potential for electric cars Down Under.V2G is a type of bi-directional charging, a technology that comprises vehicle-to-load (V2L), vehicle-to-home (V2H) and V2G.It allows an electric car to use its battery to send its power back into the energy grid, rather than just power external devices, or charge home batteries.V2G allows owners to charge up their EVs at cheaper times and sell it back to the electricity grid at more expensive times.Rooftop solar, of which Australia has some of the highest uptake in the world, can also be used to charge an EV effectively for free and transfer the stored electricity to the grid for pure profit, especially when an abundance of sunlight has home battery systems fully charged.V2G is not far away in Australia, but there remains roadblocks to its full-scale uptake. Many car manufacturer warranties do not support V2G use as they do not cover battery damage caused by third-party set-ups.Rapidly transferring energy on incompatible vehicles can cause substantial wear on the battery and cause other safety issues. There is also debate about which safety protocols V2G should abide by in Australia as the tech faces regulatory hurdles.The latest ISO 15118-20 protocol is deemed safer than the original ISO 15118-2 for example, but it will need longer to be fully implemented in Australia.Manufacturers are starting to alter their warranties and are undergoing extensive trials for the technology with electricity providers. We are likely to see a full-scale uptake of V2G in Australia within the next couple of years, as regulatory approvals and car warranties catch up, but there is still work to do to make them safer and more efficient. Hyundai and Kia are expected to prepare major announcements for the tech within the next few months.Some models already on sale with V2G capability may be able to use the technology via a software, such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, but it is unclear exactly which models will be eligible.The federal government has shown a keen interest in V2G as part of its energy policy and has recently committed substantial investment towards establishing a network through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) which currently helps to fund other EV technologies like public DC fast chargers.

Zeekr is storming up the charts in Australia, targeting luxury and mainstream rivals, proving Chinese brands can be more than just budget-oriented.While rival premium brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes have such distinctive designs tied to their identities though, you might have noticed Zeekrs all look a bit different.Explaining this quirk of the brand, the head of Zeekr’s design studio in Shanghai Javier Garcia-Gallardo explained why the company had such diverse designs in its portfolio, and how things were going to evolve going forward.“It’s to do with the evolution of Zeekr and how the brand was born,” he said.“You could say we’ve been through three main chapters - the first chapter is the vehicles with heritage from Lynk & Co like the 001, 009 and the X. They are vehicles which transparently were designed to be part of the Lynk & Co brand and transitioned across to the Zeekr brand.“But they weren’t fully there yet, the Zeekr X, for example, still has the dual DRLs from Lynk & Co.”Lynk & Co is Zeekr’s sister company, both premium marques under parent company Geely’s umbrella.Lynk & Co existed first, dating back to 2016, but it has now been re-organised to sit under Zeekr ownership. Zeekr’s first vehicle, the 001, was originally revealed as the Lynk & Co Zero concept in 2020, before Zeekr’s formation in 2021.“The second chapter is where we introduced the ‘Hidden Energy’ language.” Garcia-Gallardo continued, “This is for the 7GT, the 7X and the Zeekr Mix.”This design language originally debuted in 2023 on the 007 sedan on which the 7GT wagon is based.“It was the first exclusively Zeekr design.” Garcia-Gallardo said. “For this, we wanted a shift of mindset for the customer. We wanted it to be very progressive, targeting Generation Z. They are digital natives and perceive technology in the car in a different way from previous generations.“Chapter three is ‘Powerful Elegance’ - our first cars represented by this are the 8X and 9X. These vehicles are targeted at a more material customer and have more traditional automotive design cues, but you can also see some cues from the 009 as well. The grille is very dominant and gives a kind of architectural design to the cars.”Going forward, things are set to line up to the brand’s main two designs, with smaller vehicles to stick to the ‘Hidden Energy’ and larger ones to sport the ‘Powerful Elegance’ look. This is particularly because Zeekr intends to have a more distinctive and instantly-identifiable look going forward as it builds its recognition globally.“The market is flexible, but a consistent design language is important for brand awareness," Garcia-Gallardo said, “we’ve spent the last couple of years evolving and exploring these different languages for different customer bases. What you can expect to see is the design languages will get closer together.“They won’t be ultra-dogmatic between them though - you’ll see some features from the 9X for example being interpreted in a different way on the 7 series vehicles and vice versa.“One example is the detail line which follows the ambient light through the digital instrument panel across the dash from door to door. It’s not as clear on the exteriors yet, but you’ll start to see a bit of horizontality introduced across our model range going forward.”Garcia-Gallardo hinted at other changes and tweaks to the model range going forward, too, which would be based on global feedback as Zeekr becomes more of an international brand.As for the Lynk & Co and Zeekr split, the two could be thought of as the Chinese side of the Volvo/Polestar equation (two similar brands with different purposes), although Lynk & Co and its sportier and largely hybrid offerings remains squarely aimed at Europe where it is headquartered for the time being rather than right-hand drive markets like Australia.Instead, we’ll be an important export focus for the Zeekr brand, which is headquartered in China. A plan to re-badge certain Lynk & Co models as Zeekrs for markets like Australia has been reportedly cancelled, as each brand establishes its own identity.The pair continue to diverge in their design, with Lynk & Co models continuing ownership of the split-DRL design on the new 08 PHEV mid-sizer and 900 large PHEV SUV.Meanwhile Zeekr will power ahead with its more high-end offerings in Australia into 2027, with the 8X and 9X hybrids due here over the next year, adding to its current range which consists of the X small SUV, 7X mid-sizer, 009 people mover, and incoming 7GT station wagon, all for now as electric cars.

Say what you like about the new Chinese brands infiltrating every volume market sector right now. Because love them or hate them, they are pushing down the price of admission to those segments. The plug-in hybrid dual-cab ute segment might be a relatively new one, but it's already a hotly contested battleground. And with the Australian-ised JAC Hunter PHEV now rolling in, it just got hotter.

For the first time ever in Australia, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) surpassed every other powertrain type for a month.Combining both the latest VFACTS and EV Council sales data, a total of 27,078 EVs were sold during the month of August.EVs notably outsold petrol (25,824, down 32.6 per cent YOY) and diesel (23,608, down 22.5 per cent YOY) vehicle sales, however when you combine the two pure combustion powertrain choices they still well and truly outperformed EVs.Additionally, 24.9 per cent of overall vehicles sold in August were EVs, meaning almost one in four. This is also a new record.While EVs had a sharp uptick in sales compared to August 2025, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) had an even sharper growth. A total of 10,591 examples were sold during August 2026, which is up 171.1 per cent year-on-year.During the month of August, the best-selling EV by far was the Tesla Model Y. A total of 6414 examples were sold, which is up 176 per cent year-on-year.This was followed by the BYD Sealion 7 (2213, up 56.6 per cent YOY) and the Geely EX5 (1947, up 385.5 per cent YOY).The following is a breakdown of the top 10 best-selling EVs during the month of August: While EVs outsold petrol- and diesel-powered cars in August 2026, the year-to-date (YTD) sales figures paint a different picture.Until the end of August, a total of 154,304 EVs were sold, which is up 139.7 per cent year-on-year.For context, a total of 243,673 petrol vehicles and 207,541 diesel vehicles were sold over the same period, which is down 25.7 per cent and 16.2 per cent, respectively, year-on-year.If trends do continue we could expect to see EV sales overtake petrol or diesel around early-to-mid 2027. There are a lot of factors that may change this, but it’s clear that EV demand in Australia is higher than ever.