Hybrid cars

It’s been a minute since the only cars we would regularly see wearing a strip of blue and white Sillitoe tartan down the side were the Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon and sometimes Toyota Camry.The world of police cars and vehicles has broadened — Ford Rangers, Hyundai Santa Fes, Volkswagen Passats, the list goes on. All must be practical, of course, and for different purposes.But there are new things to consider now, like hybrids and EVs, new ute options and of course which cars will be the PR show cars, the ones that don’t really have to work too hard. Here are five suggestions from across the spectrum.BYD Shark 6Something about a ute in white with police decals and a bullbar on the front just works. Our digital artist Thanos Pappas has rendered the Shark 6 as a police car both in the red dirt of rural Australia, and in the Sydney CBD.Australia and its vastly different environments could be the perfect place to see if the innovative BYD Shark 6 has what it takes to ‘keep the streets safe’ as it were.While its electric ability would make it ideal for city and suburban patrols, its petrol power means range anxiety on longer routes isn’t a concern.The big question surrounds its ability to off-road - CarsGuide’s off-road guru Marcus Craft deemed it suitable for “light to moderate off-roading” only, though we’re not sure how many police chases end up requiring rock-crawls and hill-climbs.Still, it looks good in the livery, and isn’t that the most important thing about policing? Right? Isn’t it?Kia TasmanPerhaps a little closer to reality is the idea of a Kia Tasman police car. Not only is there already a strong relationship between Kia (and Hyundai) and many police services around the country but there’s even a mock-up Tasman cop car already.During 2025 there was even a period that around Australia “multiple jurisdictions considering and are interested” in using the Tasman for policing.Whether that comes to fruition is yet to be seen - a lot of testing has to be done before a car is deemed suitable for police work, perhaps one reason a couple of other cars on this list may fall short in certain areas.Ford MustangThe Mustang is one such car that might have a couple of downsides - the inability to to detain someone safely being one - but police have often had high-powered highway patrol cars or community engagement vehicles that aren’t really built for your everyday patrols.It wouldn’t be the first time this has come up - about ten years ago the NSW Police Force was considering a Mustang GT for highway patrol, but the previous generation car was struggling with some overheating issues under hard testing.The Ford Mustang seems like a good choice given it’s an easy design to admire, it’s actually a very capable sports car, and it’s got a link to the former FPV patrol cars in the form of its Coyote 5.0-litre engine, on which FPV’s Miami V8 was based.Toyota RAV4This might seem like a boring, obvious answer, but the incoming Toyota RAV4 would make a really sensible car for Australian police.The hybrid of it all, not to mention Toyota’s long history of supplying police cars and its reputation for reliability.That and if the current RAV4 is anything to go by, the new one should be a fairly capable and easy-to-use thing.Genesis G70Victoria Police announced in 2017 it would add dozens of BMW 5 Series highway patrol cars to its fleet, so why not a similar rear-drive sports sedan from the sibling brand to Hyundai, models from which police have been using for some time now.A 3.3-litre twin-turbo engine with 274kW and 510Nm, plus some decent handling and dynamics alongside a design I reckon would suit the blue and white (and yellow in highway patrol form).

Fuel prices continue to increase in Australia.Hybrid models generally offer better fuel efficiency than a comparative petrol model, but they are also more expensive. Questions remain about how much going hybrid actually saves buyers on fuel and how long it will take to pay off the extra upfront cost. Below is a comparison based on some of the most popular models in Australia offering petrol and hybrid choices and the potential increased savings in the current climate. Figures have been calculated based on the average yearly kilometres driven at 15,000km, and the cost to fill-up based on average NSW pricing data using the official recommended fuel for each model. Small car/sedanHyundai i30 sedanThe Hyundai i30 is one of few passenger car models which are available with petrol and hybrid variants in its lineup. Many of its rivals have become hybrid only, such as the Toyota Corolla and Camry as well as the Honda Civic. The hybrid is cheaper to fill up and goes further on its tank, so it takes around four years to pay off the $4000 hybrid premium - well within the seven-year warranty period for the car. This is also due to the smaller and more efficient hybrid motor compared to the bigger petrol engine.Small SUVChery Tiggo 4 The Chery Tiggo 4 is one of the cheapest SUVs on the market, with a drive-away price under $30,000 for both petrol and hybrid variants. The Hybrid carries a $6000 premium over the petrol, which means it will take roughly seven years to pay off the extra cost. This is part due to the $850 year-on-year saving, which is less than many of the other cars on this list. Unlike the other examples, there is no change in engine capacity between petrol and hybrid variants of the Tiggo 4.  The seven-year break-even point matches the seven-year warranty provided on the car. Medium SUVGWM Haval H6There is a $5000 gap between pricing on the petrol and hybrid versions of the Haval H6, but the smaller and more efficient hybrid engine sees savings of more than $1000 year-on-year. The H6 hybrid offers an average of more than 500km of driving range than the petrol. This means the extra cost of the hybrid can be paid off in just under five years. This falls within the seven-year warranty period for the H6. Large SUVHyundai Santa FeThe Hyundai Santa Fe was CarsGuide’s 2026 Overall Car of the Year, and offers one of the most competitive hybrid/petrol pricing comparisons. This is because the hybrid Sante Fe is less than $4000 more expensive than the petrol and offers more than 400km average driving range. With nearly $1200 of savings each year, it would take around three years to pay off the hybrid premium, and the majority of the car’s seven-year warranty will also still be valid.UteThis comparison uses the cheapest dual-cab variant of the Toyota HiLux Workmate and the single-variant BYD Shark 6. While these utes are obviously not variants within the same lineup, the Shark 6’s petrol status offers savings over the diesel ute. It also has a smaller fuel tank, which makes filling up cheaper. The HiLux is also slightly more expensive to drive-away, costing about $59,500 in NSW.Fuel efficiency on the Shark 6 dramatically decreases when the ute has less than 25 per cent of battery charge, dropping to 7.9L/100km. This still makes it less expensive to run than the diesel HiLux. *Petrol engine only fuel use figure not provided by Ford but calculated over several CarsGuide road tests once battery had been depletedThe plug-in hybrid set-up in the Canon Alpha does make it cheaper to run overall, but the substantial price difference between the plug-in hybrid and the petrol, means it would take eight years to break even on the extra cost. The Ranger PHEV is more of a curve ball, it is harder to hit on exactly how much fuel it will use. It all depends on how ofter you charge the battery. If you don't charge it every night it'll be more expensive to run than the diesel, as it needs to be topped up more often. If you regularly charge it the cost equation flips and it's a wallet saver.You'll need to be vigilant about charging to pay off the $15,000 premium, though.

A determined push by Chinese carmakers towards large luxury SUVs offering a choice of pure-electric and range-extender hybrid power continues to gather momentum as the XPeng GX enters full global production.Exuding an unmistakable Range Rover vibe, the GX joins the Aito M9, BYD U8L, Denza N9, Li Auto L9, MG IM LS9 and Zeekr 9X as similarly sized, specified and priced (not to mention Range Rover-inspired) rivals in the Chinese domestic market.Breaking cover earlier this year, we now know the XPeng GX is a substantial six-seater, measuring close to 5.3m long, 2.0m wide and 1.8m tall with a lengthy 3115mm wheelbase. Kerb weight ranges between 2690kg and 2890kg.Offered in pure-electric (BEV) and range-extender hybrid (EREV) form, the BEV sends a combined 430kW and a solid 695Nm to all four wheels via dual motors and Xpeng’s 800-volt coaxial electric drive system.An 800V AI battery platform supports 5C ultra-fast charging capable of completing a full charge of an 80kWh pack in around 12 minutes.That said, battery sizes for the BEV are yet to be confirmed but claimed ranges across four grades are 635km, 665km, 720km and 750km.The EREV GX also features a dual-motor AWD set up delivering a combined 370kW and a claimed pure-electric range of 320km. A 110kW 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine acts purely as a generator to power a CALB-sourced 63.3kWh LFP battery, but not the wheels. No word from XPeng yet on the EREV’s combined range figure, but a number in excess of 1000km is likely.Specifications detailed by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) point to upper GX grades featuring front- and rear-steer-by-wire tech to assist slow speed manoeuvrability and high-speed stability. And Xpeng has already confirmed the GX will be equipped with four Turing AI chips boasting computing power in excess of 3000 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second).Design details include a split-opening tailgate (a la Range Rover), retractable door handles, a panoramic sunroof and an active front air intake. Wheel size varies between 21- or 22-inch, depending on the version, and the large SUV’s relatively tight front and rear overhangs are 980mm and 1170mm, respectively. Domestic pricing is expected to land between ¥400,000 – ¥500,000 (~$82,000 – $102,000).CarsGuide has previously contacted XPeng for its position on the GX’s potential for Australian sale with the company not making any comment at this stage.

Geely has unveiled its Galaxy Starshine 7 plug-in hybrid sedan in China, offering a new electrified option in the segment. The model is expected to launch in China in the coming weeks, with no clear plans yet on if or where it will be exported, so there is nothing confirmed about the Galaxy Starshine 7’s potential future in Australia.However, the two current Geely models on sale Down Under also fall under the brand’s Galaxy sub-brand, so it may have a better chance than other cars in the brand's overseas catalogue.A spokesperson for Geely Australia said there is nothing to announce yet, but no model is off the table either.We expect to learn more about whether the Galaxy Starshine 7 is destined for Australia next month at the Beijing Motor Show. It measures 4958mm in length, 1915mm wide and 1505mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2852, seeing it sit on the larger side of the sedan category. It would offer a budget alternative to the plug-in hybrid sedan variant of the Audi A5 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The car is similarly sized to the Toyota Camry hybrid in Australia, which is the dominant player of the segment, so it would be a keen rival to the popular Japanese sedan.We are yet to find out more substantial information about the car, but we know it will be powered by a plug-in hybrid set-up with an all-wheel drive system.The 1.5-litre petrol engine produces 82kW, with the bulk of the power expected to come from the electric motors.It will have battery choices of 19kWh and 28kWh, both offering electric-only driving ranges of 115km and 165km, respectively, according to CLTC but expect closer to 100km for the long-range battery in real-world conditions.It also has a fuel economy of 2.0L/100km, which is half that of the Toyota Camry’s, although the Toyota is only a plugless hybrid. The plug-in hybrid C-Class has a fuel economy of 1.5L/100km, for comparison.The only other information available on the car at this stage is that it can complete the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.4 seconds.

Chery is popping out new brands in Australia left, right and centre. While originally part of the model name that marked the Chinese carmaker’s re-entry into the Australian market, Omoda has now been spun off into its own brand under the Omoda Jaecoo umbrella.The 2026 Omoda 9 is the brand’s flagship model and is currently the most expensive Chery model offered locally.It’s only offered in one trim which is priced from $61,990 before on-road costs. This puts it on par with the likes of the BYD Sealion 8, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, as well as the related Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid.Notably however, the Omoda 9 only comes with five seats, making it more of a budget alternative to the likes of the Lexus RX and Volkswagen Touareg.Available as a sole range-topping grade, the Omoda 9 is filled to the gills with kit. Highlights include 20-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, power tailgate, dual 12.3-inch screens, 12-speaker Sony sound system, head-up display, 50W wireless charger and black synthetic leather upholstery.If this isn’t enough there are luxurious features like a built-in fragrance system as part of the climate control, retractable door handles, walk-away locking, plus heated and ventilated front and rear seats. Now that’s flash for a car that’s under $70K.While there is lots of tech, there is no real defining feature that makes this car uniquely an Omoda. The same can be said for the exterior design, which from some angles can be generic and others it borders on tacky.This extends to the cabin where there's a smattering of interior ambient lighting that can strobe along frenetically to your music if you’d like.While it’s nice having some physical switchgear for features like the climate control and drive modes, it’s frustrating having to tell new passengers where the button is to open the door every time they hop in. The gloss black finish of the steering wheel button sections also get smudgy and gross quickly.Under the bonnet there’s a complex plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and no less than three electric motors – two on the front axle and one on the rear.Total system output is a massive 395kW, which is arguably too much for a car like this. It allows for a 0-100km/h sprint in 4.9 seconds. Pretty wild for a 2.2-tonne SUV.Making up a fair portion of this heft is a ginormous 34kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Omoda claims this allows it to travel up to 169km on electric power alone, which is around the same as what the original Nissan Leaf EV offered. Adding the 70L fuel tank, it’s claimed this SUV can travel up to 1100km, which is useful on long-distance journeys.I took this car on a long-distance trip to my family’s farm, around 350km north west of Melbourne. I could have made it there and back on a full battery charge and tank of fuel, but I ended up refuelling just as I neared Melbourne as I was testing how the engine charges the battery on the move.My sister, who was a passenger for the journey, enjoyed the comfort and plushness the Omoda 9 provides. However, we both noted how high the front seats are positioned and how pinched the seat bases are.If you’re not a car person and view a car purely as a means of transportation, you’ll likely enjoy the driving characteristics of the Omoda 9. It’s insulated, quiet and disconnected from the road, allowing you to be in your own bubble.However, this also means that the Omoda 9 has little feel from behind the wheel. It has some of the lightest steering I’ve experienced. It feels like I’m driving in a video game rather than real life as there’s virtually no resistance.The same can be said for the ride. While wafty and soft, there is a lack of body control and it can get bouncy in the cabin. You do need to remember how heavy this big SUV is, though.In order to counter this there are adaptive dampers as standard. In ‘Normal’ mode it rounds off speed bumps nicely but it takes the car multiple movements to settle over high-speed undulations, whereas in ‘Sport’ mode it’s a little more controlled, but still not enough.The Omoda 9 received a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2025. Standard kit includes eight airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera.A lot of the safety features work well and stay in the background, only activating when required. The only outlier to this is the driver attention monitor which struggles to detect your eyes when wearing sunglasses. This needs to be turned off using the touchscreen every time you drive the car.Owners are covered by an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with eight years of roadside assistance. Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km and the first eight services totals $3343, which averages out to about $418 per service. Not too bad for a big, plug-in hybrid SUV.

Fuel prices in Australia are soaring, meaning fuel efficiency in vehicles is a more important consideration than ever. Hybrid cars offer the potential for superior fuel efficiency compared to internal combustion power without the big price premium if fully electric or plug-in hybrid options. This makes them an increasingly attractive option for buyers given the current global climate. Hybrid sales are already booming in Australia, but will increases in fuel prices accelerate the shift away from pure internal combustion cars? NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said that while hybrid sales are increasing, an even swifter transition is less than clear. “If you’re driving a standard vehicle with a 55-litre tank, compared to what we were paying before the war began to now, it’s a $45 increase on one tank of petrol. That applies regardless of whether it’s hybrid or petrol,” Khoury said. “Historically speaking, looking at what happens after an oil shock, it certainly opens up their consideration. “No doubt that if this crisis continues and these prices hang around for weeks or months, Australians will look at those alternatives more seriously.” Below is a comparison between popular petrol and hybrid choices in each segment to see how they stack up in a changing fuel context. Fuel cost has been calculated using current data from the New South Wales’ government’s average fuel price for unleaded 95 petrol and diesel. Toyota’s Corolla hybrid hatch offers superior fuel efficiency and driving range compared to the Kia K4 petrol model. The Corolla is also cheaper to fill up with fuel thanks to its smaller tank and offers a substantially bigger driving range. The Kia Seltos is a petrol-only variant, but despite its bigger fuel tank, it has less driving range than the Toyota Corolla Cross, courtesy of the hybrid powertrain. The bigger fuel tank means the Seltos is also more expensive to fill up. The mid-size CX-5 has a non-turbo charged petrol engine, which sees it offer an impressive estimated driving range of more than 800km, but once again the Toyota competitor’s fuel efficiency wins out in the RAV4 hybrid. The Toyota Kluger continues the Japanese juggernaut’s fuel efficient theme, with a hybrid set-up offering a driving range of more than 1122km, which is significantly more than the MQ QS, despite both cars costing a similar amount to fill up at the bowser. Utes are some of the worst affected by the fuel price increase as many of them are powered using diesel engines, with diesel fuel rising more than petrol. It has now risen to well beyond the $2.60 mark per litre. The BYD Shark’s plug-in hybrid set-up uses petrol, which makes it an affordable option, given the price of diesel. It should be noted that the Shark 6’s fuel efficiency is significantly reduced when the battery is not charged. It’s a similar story for the GWM Cannon Alpha, which should be noted is no longer on sale, but remains one of limited plug-less hybrid utes in Australia. 

An upgraded version of the Denza B8 from BYD’s luxury arm has been uncovered in China thanks to a filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.The new version of the B8 large off-roader, which only just launched at the beginning of 2026 in Australia, also has various styling tweaks, like new wheel designs and bumpers, as well as what appears to be an upgraded safety suite for the Chinese market.The new battery pack moves from 36.8kWh, which granted it 115km of range (NEDC), to 46.7kWh, which grants it a range of 150km (according to the WLTC cycle).The new version of the car maintains the same 2.0-litre petrol engine mated to electric motors as before, with the engine producing 200kW and the motors producing 200kW in the front and 300kW in the rear.In Australia the current 2.0-litre dual-motor set-up provides a combined output of 425kW/760Nm.As with all Chinese regulatory filings, the interior of the updated car is yet to be revealed, although a range of wheel types and exterior trims were also revealed.Locally the current car is offered in just one trim level, which starts from $91,000 for the seven-seat version, moving to $97,000 for the more luxurious six-seater.Sales in full are yet to kick off for the B8, with only nine units registered in the first two months of 2026. Meanwhile, a boatload of the smaller Prado-rivalling B5 has arrived, with the brand adding 300 units to its tally.Denza has ambitious plans to be a dominant player in the emerging Chinese luxury car segment, where it will serve as a rival to Geely’s Zeekr, and the upcoming Wey brand from GWM.While the brand offers two more off-road oriented models currently in the B5 and B8, it will also add the D9 people mover and potentially a version of the Z9 GT sports car later in 2026.BYD and Denza’s plans locally aren’t limited to cars either, the brand has also earmarked an expansion into the charging infrastructure game, with the possibility of introducing its new megawatt-level charging stations to Australia.These stations can charge at up to (or even over) 1000kW, even without the requisite grid support thanks to a buffer battery, removing the usual limitations which see most DC chargers in Australia limited to around 350kW.This will serve as an advantage not just for BYD products, but also other vehicles which have charging capabilities beyond that of Australia’s current network.BYD itself has plans to crack the top-three in Australia by the end of 2026, and is on the warpath to doing so, having already overtaken GWM and MG in Australia’s charts so far this year.

The enduring family workhorse of the small SUV segment, the ageing Suzuki Vitara finally goes hybrid for its second facelift, adopting a mild-hybrid 48V ISG (Integrated Starter-Generator) set-up similar to the one proven on the smaller Swift supermini, to bring consumption down whilst keeping prices reasonable. But, has the Japanese engineered and European-built small SUV changed enough?

Although the Ford Ranger is currently the best-selling vehicle in Australia for two years running, there's no denying BYD has had a lot of success with the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute.It’s even more of a big deal when Ford CEO Jim Farley comes to Australia to test it out, along with other key rivals to see how they stack up against the Ranger.“They’re totally different animals,” said Farley to Australian media, including CarsGuide, when asked how the Ranger compares to the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV.“The [BYD] Shark is a ute, but if you put 500kg in the back, it’s not a Ranger, it’s not a HiLux.“But for someone who doesn’t do that every day and they want electrification, you know, it’s a pretty competitive product.“I have no idea how they make money.“The Great Wall is a very competitive product and I’ve talked to a lot of customers of both and those customers are very educated.“Yet again, [BYD and GWM] haven’t been doing it like our Ranger or the HiLux for decades, so they don’t have all the chassis and all the towing payload and all the experience.“So they’re coming at it with a huge deficit, but it’s a good, solid, competitive product.“I mean I much prefer the Ranger for real work. It’s no competition, but not everyone in buys a Ranger to do the kind of work that we design it for.“There’s a lot of different kinds of customers here.”The BYD Shark 6 ute is by far the best-selling PHEV ute currently in Australia. In 2025 a total of 18,073 examples were sold, making it BYD’s best-selling vehicle for the year, while also outselling a number of diesel-powered rivals like the Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara and Volkswagen Amarok.While it has a body-on-frame chassis, the Shark 6 has an electric-heavy PHEV powertrain layout with no driveshaft down the middle of the vehicle and no locking differentials. It also has a slightly reduced braked trailer towing capacity of 2500kg.GWM has had success to a lesser extent with the Cannon Alpha PHEV in Australia, but due to how its PHEV drivetrain is configured, it allows for a mechanical four-wheel drive system plus a higher 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity.It’s worth noting the Ford Ranger PHEV also has a similar PHEV layout as the Cannon Alpha PHEV and similarly allows for a segment-meeting 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity and a mechanical four-wheel drive system.Ford doesn’t publicly disclose sales figures that split out Ranger PHEV sales from the wider Ranger family, which now also includes the beefy Ranger Super Duty. It’s therefore unclear how popular the Ranger PHEV has been in Australia to date.On paper, where the Ranger PHEV is let down over the Shark 6 and Cannon Alpha PHEV is pure-electric range. It only offers up to 49km of electric range, whereas the Shark 6 offers 100km and the Cannon Alpha PHEV offers 115km, all according to NEDC testing.Another notable disadvantage for the Ranger PHEV over the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV is pricing.The Ranger PHEV currently starts at $71,990, before on-road costs, for the XLT and extends to $79,990, BOC, for the Wildtrak.The Shark 6 on the other hand is currently offered in one trim level, priced at $57,900, drive-away.The Cannon Alpha PHEV starts at $51,490, drive-away, and extends to $58,490, drive-away, thanks to a pricing offer that’s set to end at the end of March.

The hybrid version of Honda’s CR-V family SUV is now $10,000 cheaper, thanks to a reshuffled line-up in Australia.The CR-V e:HEV hybrid is now available from $49,900 drive-away, having previously only been available in the range-topping RS variant of the SUV. These cheaper hybrid grades are front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive still only available at the top of the range.This cheaper base hybrid pricing for the CR-V means it is now more price competitive with a comparative front-wheel drive Toyota RAV4, with a starting price of $45,990 (before on-road costs).The RAV4 dominates the medium hybrid SUV segment as one of the best-selling cars in Australia, with the CR-V one of many rivals chasing its tail.While hybrid CR-V variants have become more affordable, petrol units have seen an increase in price as a result of the range reshuffle.The cheapest CR-V, the VTi X, now starts from $44,900 (drive-away) when it used to start from $41,900 - a $3000 increase - with the seven-seat variant up $2600 to $47,300.The next grade up, the CR-V VTi L7, has also seen a price jump and now from $54,900 (drive-away).The rivalling petrol-only Mazda CX-5 has become an even more affordable alternative, starting from under $40K (before on-roads).Range-topping RS hybrid pricing now starts from $64,400, up from $59,900 (drive-away). 2026 Honda CR-V pricing Australia These changes reflect a shrinking of the line-up for the CR-V in Australia, with the brand cutting some of its petrol variants to replace them with hybrid alternatives.The CR-V hybrid has a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol plugless hybrid set-up, producing 135kW and 335Nm, which is a similar power output to the RAV4, while petrol grades get a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine producing 140kW and 240Nm.The CR-V is Honda’s best-selling car in Australia, accounting for a significant proportion of the brand’s sales ahead of other favourites such as the Civic sedan and HR-V and ZR-V SUVs.