Green Cars

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?

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.

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.

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.

Electric vehicle (EV) sales are skyrocketing now in Australia largely thanks to novated leasing arrangements, and new data about the areas where the highest uptake is might surprise you.As it currently stands, EVs priced under the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) threshold ($91,661) that are purchased under a novated leasing agreement are exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT).This type of leasing agreements use pre-tax earnings to pay for the vehicle payments, plus things like insurance, servicing, tyres and charging costs are typically bundled into the pre-tax payments. This brings down your overall taxable income.New analysis from the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association (NALSPA) has revealed which postcodes in the first half of 2026 had the highest EV uptake with an eligible FBT-exempt novated lease.The overall top postcode with the highest EV uptake for eligible FBT-exempt novated leases in the first half of 2026 is Tarneit in Victoria, followed by Werribee, which is a neighbouring suburb in Melbourne’s west.The third highest suburb is Kellyville, NSW, followed by Marsden Park, NSW and Coombs, ACT.Here is a breakdown of the top 10 postcodes:Many of the listed suburbs with the highest EV uptake for eligible FBT-exempt novated leases in the first half of 2026 are notably on the outer edges of major cities like Melbourne or Sydney.Many are also predominantly working-class suburbs, or ones that are having a growth with new housing developments.In these suburbs, many residents will be facing long commutes to work, leaving residents more exposed to the cost of rising fuel prices and seeking more cost-effective alternatives.The following is breakdown per state:VictoriaNew South WalesQueenslandWhile plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) under the LCT threshold are no longer exempt from FBT when purchased through a novated lease agreement, EVs continue to be for now.However, this is set to end on all electric cars by March 2029.EVs priced more than $75,000, but below the LCT threshold, will no longer be eligible from April 2027. Instead they will have to pay 75 per cent of the FBT from that date.“The new rules will encourage manufacturers to offer more affordable and cheaper to run EVs in the Australian market,” said Treasurer of Australia Jim Chalmers and Energy Minister Chris Bowen via The Guardian in May 2026.“The current new vehicle efficiency standards have seen a dramatic increase in the availability of affordable EV models, so now is the right time to focus the FBT exemption on these cars.“We will continue to provide support for families who choose to switch to EVs as we transition to a permanent 25% discount on FBT for these cars.”

A new affordable electric SUV is one step closer to Aussie buyers.Lepas has announced initial details for the L6 mid-size SUV that will land in showrooms in October 2026.The L6 will be Lepas’ first model put on sale, joining Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda under the Chery Group umbrella.These details come after a delayed Australian arrival for Lepas, with the brand originally supposed to launch in mid-2026.The L6 will be officially revealed at the Everything Electric event in Sydney on the 18th of September.It will rival other affordable mid-sizers, including the smaller BYD Atto 3 Evo and the strong-selling Geely EX5 that both start from $41,990, before on-road costs.The Lepas brand targets lifestyle-focused buyers, boasting a more Euro-influenced design, differing from Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda.The L6 rides on Lepas’ new LEX platform that can support electric and plug-in hybrid variants, with the L6 PHEV expected to land in Australia in 2027.The electric L6 will be powered by a single front-mounted electric motor, producing 160kW and 275Nm.The L6 will only launch in Australia in front-wheel drive, and there are no confirmed plans for an all-wheel drive variant to arrive in the future.It will be equipped with a 65kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, offering 440km of driving range, according to WLTP standards.It is capable of DC charging from 30 to 80 per cent in 22 minutes.The cabin’s interior features a 13.2-inch central touchscreen and an 8.88-inch digital driver display, along with an eight-speaker Sony sound system.It comes as standard with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a 50W wireless phone charger.Seats are wrapped in a synthetic leather, with the front ones heated and ventilated.There is a panoramic sunroof, with a slide and title function and a powered sunshade to compliment 19-inch alloy wheels.Lepas will reveal official pricing closer to the car’s launch.Buyers can expect it to be competitive with the $41,990 price tag of the Atto 3 and the EX5.The similarly-sized Jaecoo J7 PHEV starts from $43,990 (drive-away), so the L6 is likely to be more expensive, but still slip under the $50,000 mark.

This Mercedes-Benz SUV just got cheaper in Australia.Mercedes-Benz announced pricing and specifications for the new GLB compact SUV with a price cut of more than $2000 over the outgoing model.It now starts from $65,400 instead of $67,600, before on-road costs for the petrol-powered GLB200.All-wheel-drive power costs more than $10,000 extra, starting from $76,100. The German giant has also introduced a fully electric GLB for the first time Down Under, starting from $74,990, with the range-topping variant starting from $86,200.The mild hybrid petrol version is still more expensive than the Audi Q3 ($61,600), but is now cheaper than the BMW X1 ($67,500).The new Mercedes-Benz GLB is available in Australian dealerships from today. Petrol variants employ a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and mild hybrid set-up that produces up to 140kW and 300Nm.Both front-wheel and rear-wheel-drive variants have an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.The base FWD variant rides on 19-inch alloy wheels, while all other examples feature 20-inch AMG wheels. Electric variants have a single motor, producing 200kW/335Nm in FWD or 260kW/515Nm in AWD. Acceleration from 0-100km can be as fast as 5.5 seconds in the AWD. Electric GLBs are equipped with an 85kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, offering a driving range of up to 626km in the FWD or 609km in the AWD, both according to WLTP standards.The electric GLB uses an 800-volt platform, so it can DC charge at 320kW and add up to 260km of range in only 10 minutes. Inside, there is a 10.25-inch digital driver display and 14.0-inch central touchscreen, with an optional 14.0-inch front passenger display, costing an extra $4000 as part of the Premium Plus pack. Mercedes-Benz also reintroduced physical buttons for key interior functions like audio and climate control to increase functionality and practicality in response to customer feedback.