Opinion

Are we headed for a world where petrol is only the fuel of the rich, powering their hypercars and luxury super SUVs? It certainly appears that way. And I don’t like it…This week the car world achieved a major milestone - the average global price of electric vehicles fell below that of hybrids for the first time. And before too long we’ll see the average price of EVs drop lower than the price of petrol cars.There’s nothing wrong with that - we’re watching the evolution of the motor car, and a change in buying habits and taste in real time.What could supercharge this process and fundamentally change what fuel we use, however, is the volatility of petrol prices which have spiked dramatically due to the conflict in the Middle East. Covering car news each day is revealing a trend and I’m not too sure I like it. High-performance and luxury car brands are doubling down on their fossil fuel focus, while mainstream brands are pushing the limits to make the most affordable electric cars.At the start of this year BMW announced it would reverse its decision to pivot away from petrol and return to producing V8 and V12 units due to their customer demands.Rival brand Mercedes-Benz did the same thing and scrapped its plan to go completely electric by 2030 and dived back into making V8s.Porsche, too, changed its mind after receiving a walloping from customers who made it very clear that Porsche to them meant power from petrol, not power from the electricity grid.Lamborghini also did an about face on EVs at the start of this year and went back to petrol, adding a hybrid system but only to make more mumbo.Yep, Lamborghini replaced its V10 Huracan which made 470kW with the V8 Temerario which makes 588kW plus another 220kW from its electric motors.Then there’s the mysterious case of Ferrari giving us the breathtaking 12Cilindri with yes a V12, which was closely followed by the even more gorgeous V8 Amalfi, before giving us the all-electric Luce which hurts to look at directly. It’s as if the brand was sending us some kind of message coded in ugliness about being asked to do something against its will. Of course the super high end brands appear completely unconcerned by prohibitively high petrol prices affecting sales or the climate.Bugatti announced an end to the reign of its enormous 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engines in its cars like the Veyron and Chiron, but before we could even think it was going green trumpeted in almost the same breath that it was doing V16s instead.Which it did with its current Tourbillon hypercar that houses a monstrous 8.3-litre V16 engine. Yes it has a hybrid system with electric motors but it’s not to save fuel, it’s to make more power. If you were to ask bespoke high performance vehicle maker Hennessey if it had electric cars the response would almost certainly be, “never heard of her." The brand just unveiled its US spy plane-inspired Blackbird hypercar with a naturally aspirated V8 and positioned it as the kind of vehicle that allows drivers to cover 1300km a day.Just days ago Aston Martin ran into the room boasting it was delaying its EV plans because it had found a loop hole which meant it could keep making V12s. The loop hole being that the brand had to keep V12 sales under 1000 a year.Low volume sales aren’t a worry for brands like these - not when an Aston Martin Vanquish costs more than $700,000. And unlike you and me, that's not the owner's only car… it joins a garage with five other cars in it… at least. Yes we’re talking millions of dollars and all petrol-powered.Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to work out how we can get into an electric car for less than $40,000 because chaotic fuel prices are hurting us and we’re worried about the future resale value of petrol cars. I’m also highly concerned about the air that my children breathe and the thought of having a car powered by burning oil that just to drives to shops, school and work sounds more and more preposterous to me. It’s like having kerosene lanterns in every room of your house rather than light bulbsTo be completely clear, though, I love petrol performance cars and detest electric performance ones. Petrol has a place.My fear is that petrol’s happy place in performance cars will eventually exclude me as the fuel becomes more expensive, rarer and the food of exotic beasts I can’t afford.So what’s left? There’s the Cupra Leon VZx, Ford Mustang, Honda Civic Type R and Prelude, Hyundai i30N, Mazda MX-5, Nissan Z, Subaru WRX, Toyota GR Yaris and GR Corolla and VW Golf R.Watch these models closely, because they are the final 'affordable' petrol performance cars and they are all now endangered.    

The Australian car industry is in the middle of a major shake-up and not all brands are likely to survive it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say some of the biggest name brands, car makers we have loved for decades, may disappear within the next five years.That’s the hard reality of the dramatic change that is sweeping the industry. The new wave of Chinese car brands have arrived and quickly established themselves with solid market share. But that share has to come from somewhere and the reality is, the brands that are feeling the squeeze more than any other are those smack dab at the heart of the market.Looking at the sales data for the first half of 2026 it’s clear who are the biggest winners and losers. Geely is up 494.6 per cent, BYD has risen 124.1 per cent and Chery sales are 76.8 per cent improved, plus both GWM, MG, Omoda-Jaecoo and Zeekr are also increasing their presence.So where are those buyers coming from? Well, Toyota is down 21.4 per cent, Mazda is 17.2 per cent down and Ford has dropped 10.6 per cent. But I’m not suggesting any of those brands are doomed, Toyota is confident of a second half bounce back and Ford remains atop the all-important ute market. Instead, the bigger concern are the brands in the middle and lower half of the top 10, which are shedding sales at a higher rate and face increasing and long-term pressure from the newer arrivals. Nissan has dropped 32.8 per cent, Mitsubishi is down 25.7 per cent, Subaru down 25.6 per cent and Volkswagen has dropped 16.5 per cent, and there is no clear pathway for them to regain so much lost ground.While I’ve been talking strictly in sale percentage terms, the raw numbers don’t make good reading for those brands. BYD is obviously having a huge year, notching over 52,000 sales, but it’s brands like Geely (10,970 sales), Omoda-Jaecoo (8808) and even Zeekr (5835) that are starting to make serious in-roads on the likes Subaru (14,817), Nissan (13,854) and Volkswagen (12,333).In simple terms, the Australia new car pie is only so big, it typically hovers around the 1.2 million mark each year, so the slice of pie for each brand will get smaller as more and more brands enter the market. Short of a sudden and dramatic expansion of the number of people buying new cars, all of the established brands will need to get comfortable selling less volume. Brands will need to adapt to this new world order to survive and not just the so-called ‘legacy’ brands like Nissan, Subaru, etc, but also the new, predominantly Chinese brands. Since 2021 there have been more than a dozen new brands enter the market from China alone and there are more coming, with Forthing, Lepas, iCaur and Jetour all confirmed for Australia.There simply aren’t enough buyers to make more than 70 car brands viable in Australia so get used to hearing announcements like we have recently with Peugeot and Fiat about ‘reevaluating’ or ‘restructuring’ or just plain ‘leaving’ the Australian market for good.Ultimately who survives and who doesn’t will come down to you, the new car customer, as your choice will dictate which brands maintain enough sales to remain viable - and which ones fade away.

Chery’s comeback from zero to hero in Australia is truly remarkable, but what has been the secret to its second-time lucky success?  Did Chery stumble onto a genie’s lamp while it was lost in the wilderness and wish for sales success? Because somewhere between 2015 and 2026 the car company, which left Australia with a reputation for low-quality, unsafe vehicles, returned a decade later with a line-up of outstanding cars that have won over Australia.Australian sales until the end of July show Chery to be the eighth best-selling car brand in Australia, with 29,579 vehicles sold. The Tiggo 4 small SUV was the fifth most popular car in Australia last month.This means Chery has overtaken mainstream brands such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Honda and Subaru. It is even starting to creep into the Mazda (currently on 46,960), Hyundai (45,581) and Kia (48,399) bracket.Chery will get even closer to these brands, as they are losing sales and Chery’s market share is increasing. And its ute hasn’t even arrived.When the Chery Stockman arrives it won’t just be another ute, it’ll likely have the same success as BYD’s Shark 6 because it’ll offer the benefit of being a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The edge the Stockman will have over the Shark 6 is it’ll be a diesel PHEV, not a petrol, which will make it popular for off-road use and towing. The addition of Stockman will increase Chery’s sales by at least 1000 per month. Whether it catches Hyundai, Kia and Mazda before the end of the year is yet to be seen, but Chery has come from a lot further back.This time last year Chery had sold only 17,272 cars, and the current year-to-date sales represent a doubling in market share to 4.2 per cent.Toyota is the final boss of the Australian car market and its year-to-date sales of 115,550 make everybody else’s results seem minuscule, even BYD that has reached 60,192. Chery is probably not gunning for the top spot right now, unless that was specifically wished for when it found the magic lamp.For Chery to even reach where it is today in the three years since it returned to Australia in 2023, with one car and no sales in almost a decade seems nothing short of magical.The truth is Chery’s stellar comeback is down to five factors: elevating quality perception through design but keeping retail pricing low; hiring outside automotive designers and engineers from European, United States and Korean car companies; investing big in next-gen electric and hybrid platforms, and mostly important and the reason for all of this - focussing on exports.That’s it! Oh, and just add excellent timing and money, lots of money.The importance of Chery’s export focus can’t be overstated. Exports bankroll the business. Not a lot of profit is made in Chery’s local Chinese market, while bigger than our Australian brains can comprehend, it’s so cut-throat that vehicle manufacturers are struggling to make a decent profit. So ruthless was the price war that in February this year the Chinese government banned car makers from selling below production cost, which they had been doing just to compete with each other. The stomach was eating itself.Chery realised this and put most of its energy into exports and this meant lifting the quality to a standard oversea markets had become accustomed to set by Japanese car makers such as Toyota, Honda and Mazda.This meant hiring designers and engineers from outside China, senior executives from European, Korean, Japanese and American car companies    Steve Eum, Korean born but raised in the United States, is now Chery’s Vice President and General Manager of Global Design having worked for Kia, Hyundai, General Motors and even Ford where he was based in Australia and worked on the Falcon.Eum succeeded Kevin Rice, who had worked on the MX-5 and helped develop the BMW 3 Series and 4 Series.Keeping that premium feel but pricing the vehicles to be among the most affordable vehicles offered in a market is guaranteed to be a sales winning combination anywhere, especially in Australia.Chery’s been smart enough to add sub-brands such as Jaecoo, Omoda and Lepas, which bring more luxury, sportiness and premium electric choices. The Jaecoo J5 for instance is often mistaken for a Range Rover when spotted on the road. That the hybrid and electric technology is outstanding, was also important. Chery’s super hybrids such as the Tiggo 9 and Tiggo 8 are incredibly fuel efficient.   Chery’s timing of having a wide range of affordable electric and hybrid vehicles at precisely the same time as Australian buyers were switching to EVs in record numbers was also key. The fuel crises caused by the war in Iran pushed EV sales to more than 23 per cent of all new cars sold in June and continued through July when it was above 21 per cent.In July 2026 Chery became the first Chinese car maker to surpass 20 million global sales. Sales in Europe for Chery were up by more than 200 per cent and in the UK Chery came in at No.2 for sales in July beating local favourite Ford.And the company hasn’t even started selling in the United States yet, but it will within the next two years.Chery has been very fortunate this time around, but luck is only when opportunity meets skill as they say.Or maybe Chery did find a genie’s lamp. In which case I wonder what its two other wishes were? 

We’re more than halfway through 2026 and I can definitively say that this year's new cars are the ugliest to date.Sure you can argue the plastic fantastic cars of the late 1990s and early 2000s, or the asthmatic land yachts from the mid-to-late 1970s looked the worst, but so far this year what carmakers have been revealing is an assault to the eyes.Suspect number one is the Ferrari Luce.The Italian carmaker’s recent car design has been rather indistinguishable from model to model. For example, if you told me to tell you the difference between a 849 Testarossa and 12Cilindri and Amalfi, I’d really struggle. I say this as a die-hard car fan.But the Luce marked a jagged change in direction for Ferrari. It was designed by creative collection LoveFrom, which was founded by former Apple exec Sir Jony Ive.I’ll admit the interior of the Luce is stunning and the blending of digital and analogue elements is ingenious, but the exterior is a bloated mess. It’s made even worse with the fact it has a Ferrari badge on it.The Luce would make so much more sense with any other badge attached to it.This is just the tip of the iceberg. Five days before the Luce was revealed, Mercedes-AMG revealed its all-new AMG GT 4-Door.Mercedes did receive some negative press regarding the AMG GT 4-Door’s design, it was arguably saved by the reveal of the Luce as the news cycle and people’s attention shifted very quickly.Its design deserved to be roasted more. Like the Luce, the new AMG GT 4-Door is all-electric and it looks just as horrific. The Mercedes is much more flashy and tacky, though.I’ll admit that the overall silhouette is slick and low-sprung, like a performance car should, but the front grille and lighting signatures are a hot mess.Then inside, if you take the Mercedes-Benz badge away, the AMG GT 4-Door doesn't have anything distinguishing it specifically as a Mercedes model.Sure you could argue that the circular air vents or the screen set-up is a Mercedes design trait, but there is more to design language than this.Lastly there’s the new Nissan Juke, which is all-electric and a European-focused model, meaning it’s not coming to Australia.The Juke has always had a polarising design, but this new-generation takes it to the next level.There are so many creases and lines on the outside that it looks like the car has been pre-crashed or perhaps hasn’t fully rendered yet.I will admit that with certain colour combinations the new Juke does look cool, but the lighting, especially the tail lights look silly. They’re mounted so low and are too large.While the new Juke stands out too much, there are a plethora of gargantuan Chinese SUVs with range-extender (REEV) powertrains that are indistinguishable from each other. They’re all large blobs on wheels with ginormous grilles.Examples that have been revealed so far in 2026 include the IM LS9 Hyper, Wey V9X, XPeng GX and the Zeekr 8X. Many more will likely pop up before the end of the year.Although there have been some shockingly bad-looking cars revealed this year, there are still some diamonds in the rough. 2026 also seems to be the revival of the wagon.Some highlights include the new Audi RS5, which is available in liftback and wagon, as well as the new A6 allroad, which has some of the best and most exaggerated rear wheel arches that I’ve seen on a production car for a long time.The new Dacia Striker is a beautiful-looking car that has just the right amount of wagon and crossover SUV design elements. It’s segment-busting in the same way as the Peugeot 408 and previous-generation Subaru Outback are.It’s worth noting once again that 2026 is only halfway through and there is still another six months to go. There’s still time to turn things around in terms of new car design, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Modern-day off-roaders are impressive, no doubt about that: they’re generally quite comfortable on-road and often quite capable off-road.But are they so good at doing 4WD things that they effectively rob any off-roading challenge of, well, the challenge part? Are they such a great blend of driver-assist tech and 4WD mechanicals that the driver is merely along for the ride?Read on.Off-roading in a contemporary off-roader (AWD or 4WD) can be such smooth sailing that you’d be forgiven for thinking “What’s all the fuss about?”Driver-assist tech with direct off-road applications – such as the 360-degree camera or vehicle-info read-out (displaying driveline/diff lock indicators, steering, pitch and roll angles etc) – is taking on ever more significant roles as it all improves.But invasive technology, finely-tuned off-road traction control and even overbearing drive modes can turn what might have been a technically difficult section of 4WDing into almost a point-and-enjoy-the-ride kind of driving experience because new off-roaders are simply that good.Don’t get me wrong, driver-assist tech is great, especially when it works as it should: being consistently effective when it really counts.Off-road traction control, hill-descent control, track cameras, transparent bonnet functions and more are welcome additions to any off-road vehicle.The Kia Tasman is a good example of a 4WD with an off-road traction control system that is so smoothly well calibrated the driver is nigh-on redundant.But if a vehicle’s off-road traction control system is patchy in its application, safe controlled momentum from a reliable base of traction is difficult to accomplish or sustain – and that can be annoying at best and dangerous at worst.The flip-side of that issue is that if the off-road traction control system is so finely tuned the only danger may be that the driver is rendered near-obsolete. The onboard tech does all the thinking for the driver, as well as adjusting engine output, transmission settings and traction control to best suit the terrain. So if you’re the driver you have an existential crisis on your hands in the form of “Why am I even here?”The same goes for hill-descent control; if you’re not in charge of modulating the vehicle’s speed and direction down a hill then shouldn’t you be in a passenger seat enjoying the view?Can you even call yourself a 4WDer if your vehicle does all the work for you?And what if your off-road vehicle has its own eyes watching the track ahead?A track camera (aka 360-degree view camera, or surround-view camera) has the potential to greatly enhance driver vision while you’re 4WDing on bush tracks, cresting steep hills, or traversing sand dunes on beach adventures.What started as more of a novelty for me, the track camera has taken on an increasingly important role. Sure, I still prefer to get out of the vehicle and check the track ahead myself or get a human spotter to do the work for me, but the view afforded by a track camera / 360-degree view camera will usually help the driver to maintain vision, especially if forward visibility is compromised, say for instance up and over the crest of a steep rocky hill, or if your vehicle is edging towards a steep rocky drop into a creek bed and you can’t discern your driving line.Helpful, but still robbing the 4WDer of another bit of responsibility, purpose and challenge.The same can be said for the transparent bonnet function. Can’t figure out what that is even though the tech’s function is literally in its name? (Literally.)Let me explain.This driver-assist tech is designed to help the driver see the correct driving line to take through challenging terrain or over an obstacle without being able to see with their naked eyes what’s under them.Being able to see the track in front of your vehicle is a definite advantage and visibility in some off-roaders is impacted due to the forward-view-restricting design of the cabin or the size of the vehicle’s bonnet, but the transparent chassis function is designed to address that issue.As with onboard cameras, I still prefer to stick my head out the window and have a look at the track, or actually stop the vehicle, get out and have a decent look at the track ahead before I proceed.If your off-road vehicle is working the gears for you, adjusting the speed for you and even looking for you, then how dare you have the audacity to sit in the driver’s seat.The problem with all of this tech – beyond its annoying over-effectiveness – lay in the fact that it’s all more difficult to address failures or damage in the great outdoors than it is to bush-repair an older traditional 4WD.Modern 4WDs are a mass of electronics, sensors, wiring, motherboards etc and those components may be vulnerable to damage, especially in harsh Australian conditions.And the efficacy of driver-assist tech may be impacted by the ingress of bulldust, mud or water. If onboard sensors are compromised or damaged in some way, then you’re at the mercy of nature.Imagine this: You and your family are on a weekend trip away in the bush and you’re currently 80km from the nearest town. You drive through an innocuous-looking creek crossing – the water seems to be about shin-deep. However, some of that muddy water splashes onto one of the vehicle’s onboard sensors and your 4WD automatically goes into the equivalent of ‘limp home’ mode.Bloody uh-oh.Old-school 4WDs can be more easily fixed in remote areas as opposed to trying to get a new vehicle running again which may require someone in your touring group to have a computer engineering degree or have a team of specialists choppered in from Germany.And that’s why old-school 4WDs – or even new old-school 4WDs (like the Suzuki Jimny or Jeep Wrangler) – continue to enjoy such enduring popularity and still fetch sky-high prices on the second-hand market.A real purpose-built 4WD with a full ladder-frame chassis, rigid (live) axles front and rear, and diff locks has always been admired by those in the know; basic and solidly reliable powertrain and mechanical components are the way to go.Any serious 4WDer has a soft spot for something like a Toyota LandCruisers (70, 80,100 Series, anyone?), Nissan Patrol, Land Rover Defender (the old ladder frame kind), Mitsubishi Pajero, even Jeep Gladiator. The old way of doing things is even sought after by some newer examples on the market like the Ineos Grenadier, Jimny and Wrangler.Resolving issues on those old-school 4WDs can be completed with a little bit of common sense, some ingenuity and a bit of hard work. A stack of spares, duct tape, cable ties and some welding skills will help you get a whole lot further than nothing at all and you’ll likely be able to patch up your 4WD, continue your trip and reach civilisation or at least the nearest town.The good news is no matter how clever your off-roader’s software, cameras and sensors are, it’ll still need you to press the ‘Start’ button.Or will it?

We are living in an unprecedented era of automotive innovation and change that is constantly reshaping what and how we drive.For that we should be grateful, since the ongoing electrification of everyday cars, SUVs and utes means we have cleaner air, quieter streets, safer vehicles that are cheaper to run and less reliance on petrol stations.But in Australia, we’ve also lost as well as gained due to this relentless march of progress.For proof, look at any new-car guide from 10 years ago. What’s gone is shocking.Here are seven reasons why motoring in 2016 was better than it is today.In 2016, Australians could buy a handful of new small cars costing under $20,000 when converted to today’s money.Sure, we’d steer clear of the Mitsubishi Mirage from $11,990 and Holden Barina Spark from $12,890, but the Suzuki Celerio from $12,990, Nissan Micra from $13,490 and Honda Jazz VTi, Hyundai Accent Active, Mazda 2 Neo and Toyota Yaris Ascent from $14,990 apiece back then all offered comfortable, capable and reliable transport for not much money.But the only new car under $20,000 in 2026 is the Kia Picanto Sport manual from $19,190 (all prices are before on-road costs unless otherwise stated), though the MG 3 Vibe from $21,990 drive-away is actually marginally cheaper in some states after taxes.Plus, all the old entry-level small cars have vanished from Australia except for the Mazda2 (which is essentially exactly the same car) and Yaris (one generation newer), coming in at a rude $27,290 and $29,190 respectively today.It’s worth noting that a number of light SUVs do cost less than the cheapest back in 2016 (Mazda CX-3 Neo manual from $19,990, or nearly $28K today), including the Chery Tiggo 4, MG ZS, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra XUV 3XO, GAC Emzoom, Jaecoo J5 and Haval Jolion, but still cost more than the aforementioned small cars did a decade ago.At the start of 2016, there were 36 small cars of Toyota Corolla size available in Australia; that number has halved today. And they’re hanging around a lot longer than before.Toyota recently announced that it was extending the lifespan of most models from seven to nine years.We’d already noticed. The current Corolla launched in 2018 and is still going. The previous one was done in six years, while four years was common before that.Meanwhile, the Mazda 2, CX-3 and Mazda 3 arrived in 2014, 2015 and 2019 respectively and are still on-going. The Hyundai i30 hatch surfaced in 2017. As did the existing Volkswagen Polo. And even today’s VW Golf 8.5 is a reskin of the 2012 Mk7.What’s happened? Buyers have abandoned passenger cars for SUVs, so carmakers have been forced to keep their models in production longer for a better return on investment. Or, as in Ford’s case with the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo, they drop them altogether, relying on utes and SUVs instead.In 2016, buyers could purchase a new large, rear-wheel-drive family car designed, developed and built in Australia, like the Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore from under $50,000 in today’s money, or the slightly-smaller, front-drive Toyota Camry-based Aurion as a locally-made alternative.Along with the Skoda Superb that is the only one left standing in 2026, all were defined by their size, space and power.Too large for you? There were another 16 mid-sized sedans that offered almost as much, for a little less. Camry, Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata are the only names that are hanging on today.Chrysler, meanwhile, imported the 300 series, while in the upper-large segment, the Holden Caprice faced the Hyundai Genesis and, from the following year, the woefully underrated Kia Stinger. Such sedans are now history.Likewise, consumers can no-longer buy a monocoque-bodied workhorse/weekend-plaything ute as defined by the Holden and Ford Falcon utes, though the KGM Musso EV is the start of something new.And there’s more. Where have all the coupes gone since 2016? There were nearly 30 under $100,000. Why are there only four convertibles left under $100K? And from a dozen people movers under $60,000, that number has also plummeted to four, losing icons like Tarago, Odyssey and Stavic along the way.All have been replaced by dozens of EVs in hatchback, liftback/sedan or SUVs of differing sizes, with sleek, homogenised silhouettes, screen-heavy dashboards featuring minimised buttons, silent electric powertrains and every shade of white through black, or silvery blues, greens and browns.Just remember: 20 years ago, your Commodore could be had as a sedan, wagon, Monaro coupe, Adventra crossover wagon, ute, cab-chassis, Crewman dual-cab ute and long-wheelbase Statesman or Caprice, in regular or HSV performance upgrade guises, some with all-wheel drive and all with V8 options to the standard V6, with the latter also offering a liquid petroleum gas alternative. Today Holden is history.Besides the locally-designed and developed Falcon and Commodore, we also had the Falcon-derived Ford Territory to call Australia’s Own (and only-ever) SUV.These vehicles, along with the T6 ute-based Ford Ranger, Ford Everest and Mazda BT-50 made in Thailand and elsewhere, were created and engineered across this country, and were thus better-suited to our environment than their imported alternatives.And many supported Australian suppliers as a result. Most of all that has now since also gone.This one’s heartbreaking for car enthusiasts – or those who want to feel more connected with their vehicle.In 2016, we counted over 170 different makes and models available with a manual gearbox. Today that number is down to around 30 and falling.Both tallies include everything from Morgans to Mahindra Pik-Ups.Earlier we said the least expensive Toyota today – the Yaris – started from nearly twice as much as the 2016 Ascent manual’s $14,990. At least it’s a much better model than back then. And hybrid to boot.But that’s nothing compared to how much the least-expensive new Ford costs today.The 2016 Fiesta Ambiente kicked off from $15,825 (about $21,300 in 2026), while its cheapest passenger vehicle equivalent today is the Everest Active 4WD SUV from $58,990.And if it’s a non-commercial vehicle-based Blue Oval product you desire, that would be the Mustang Mach-E Select from $65,990.The proliferation of touchscreens, with their distracting sub-menus and absorption of buttons that would previously have controlled the climate system, drive modes, side mirrors or even the glove box, has been so widespread – and we have Tesla to thank for starting this craze – that independent safety organisations like EuroNCAP now penalise new vehicles it tests that do not offer clear and unimpeded access to important functions.You wouldn’t read a book whilst driving along a highway. Staring at a screen instead of the road is much the same thing.The 2026 Toyota RAV4, meanwhile, scores highly for its user interface but then drops the ball with an infuriating trigger-happy and never-ending driver-distraction warning. No thanks.Countless other new vehicles suffer from advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) interference technologies. Designed to help, they also serve to harass and annoy the driver, leading to greater fatigue and further risk of distraction.Stupid electronic door handles that just do not work intuitively are another sore point, as is the deletion of a spare wheel because the electrification technology takes precedence over personal security when stranded with a blowout far away from home.Thoughtless excuses to help carmakers save money, this is not progress but the devolution of the car we never saw coming back in 2016.

When is a car no longer a car?That’s a good question, as you’d initially think that a car needs four wheels, some seats and a steering wheel.Dig deeper and a car may only require three wheels, one seat and perhaps no steering wheel whatsoever. There’s a lot of flux to the definition of a car.The steering wheel point is particularly controversial as if there is no steering wheel, you’re technically not driving anymore and are a passenger. Therefore I’d argue this isn’t necessarily a car anymore and merely a shuttle for transportation.This feeling arose when I experienced Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software for the first time late last year.This was in a Model 3 electric sedan which can be fundamentally defined as a car. It has four wheels, five seats and a steering wheel.You’re also able to drive the Model 3 like a regular car, but with the push of a button it drives itself. Sure, you need to supervise it and take back control if it starts heading in the wrong direction, but for the most part you aren’t touching the steering wheel or pedals.It’s a bizarre sensation handing over all the driving inputs, especially when it can tackle complex scenarios like roundabouts, traffic lights and the infamous hook turns in Melbourne.The technology will likely reach a point where a steering wheel is no longer needed. Tesla is already planning for this with its Cybercab autonomous vehicle.Although production versions of the Cybercab have already started to be produced, they are in small numbers for testing purposes. It’s unclear when they’ll be publicly available for purchase.Tesla is far from the only company developing autonomous driving technology. I was recently a passenger in an autonomously driven Nissan Ariya in Japan. The technology to allow this has been developed in partnership with Wayve, which also has a partnership with Stellantis.Nissan is currently aiming to begin a robotaxi service with these autonomous vehicles in Japan by the end of 2026. It’s also eventually aiming to roll the technology out to customer vehicles as an optional extra.Additionally, Waymo is already operating an autonomous robotaxi service in select cities in the US. There are also plans to introduce it in the UK and Japan.Ultimately the goal with this kind of autonomous or self-driving technology is to have a lounge room on wheels. In some respects we are already there.In the era of software-defined vehicles, many cars now revolve around the central touchscreen multimedia system and the experience they provide. Arguably for some carmakers there is more emphasis on this and the actual driving experience is secondary.In some respects this is warranted as in electric vehicles (EVs) you may be spending your time in the car while it’s charging at a public charger but at the end of the day it’s a car, not a lounge room.Going back to Tesla, the main interface in its current vehicle line-up is the central touchscreen. It dominates the dashboard and you’re required to use it to adjust virtually function.There are also so many novelty and convenience features that span beyond the driving experience. Think of the games you can play while you’re parked, the light show and the comical fart noises you can get the car to play.The list goes on and for many carmakers, especially newer Chinese ones, it seems like a heavier focus is being put on features like this, or services relating to the touchscreen, than the overall driving experience.As a result, it feels like some cars are more glorified iPads with flashy lights on wheels.I know that many people can’t function without technology now and in many respects it’s critical to many areas of cars, particularly safety, however at the end of the day a car is meant to be driven.It would be lovely to see a renewed interest in how a car actually is to drive compared to how flashy and cool its technology is. I’d argue this is wishful thinking though, especially given autonomous vehicles appear closer on the horizon every day.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming much more popular and mainstream in Australia, however one EV category has seemingly faltered before it even properly started.The utility, or ute for short, is an incredibly popular body type in Australia and examples have been the best-selling vehicle for over a decade now, but there have only been a handful of electric utes on offer to date Down Under.The first was the LDV eT60 which launched in late 2022 and was priced from an obscene $92,990 before on-road costs, which was more than double the amount of the standard, turbo-diesel-powered T60 dual-cab ute at the time.The eT60 also only offered 330km of WLTP-claimed range, was rear-wheel drive and had a braked towing capacity of just 1000kg.For context, the most popular utes in Australia offer all-wheel drive, as well as a braked towing capacity around 3500kg.LDV admitted the eT60 was aimed primarily at government and business fleets, with only a minimal number of early adopters expected to fork out the cash for one.Since then only two other electric utes have launched in Australia.The KGM Musso EV launched locally in 2025 and unlike many utes, including the regular turbo-diesel-powered Musso, that have a body-on-frame architecture, it has a monocoque platform which is related to the Actyon and Torres SUVs.As a result the Musso EV is much more car-like to drive, but it still offers all-wheel drive and up to 420km of WLTP-claimed range.This monocoque platform does limit the braked towing capacity to 1800kg though, however payload is up to 905kg, depending on the variant.The Korean ute is limited in its potential as a towing rig and makes it better suited for lighter-duty or lifestyle applications.The most recent addition to the electric ute stable in Australia is arguably the most important yet.Toyota has now introduced an electric version of its popular HiLux ute, dubbed the HiLux BEV.In Australia there are three versions of the HiLux BEV, the SR dual-cab chassis, SR dual-cab pick-up and SR5 dual-cab pick-up.Pricing starts at $74,990 before on-road costs and goes up to $82,990 before on-road costs. Each variant is $17,000 more expensive than the turbo-diesel-powered equivalent.While the HiLux BEV has dual electric motors offering all-wheel drive, it only has a braked towing capacity of 2000kg and up to 345km of NEDC-claimed range, depending on the variant.Similar to how LDV positioned the eT60, Toyota has said the HiLux BEV is primarily aimed at government fleets and mining and construction sectors. Only a sliver of projected sales will be from private buyers.For now that’s all the electric ute options in Australia and none offer the same amount of braked towing capacity as its turbo-diesel-powered equivalent. However, that’s soon set to change.China’s MG is launching an electric version of its U9 dual-cab ute in Australia in the second half of 2026.According to approval documents, the MG U9 EV will offer a braked towing capacity of 3500kg.Power will come from a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up with a total system output of 325kW.The full details haven’t been confirmed yet but overseas it's offered with a 102kWh lithium-ion battery pack with up to 430km of range, according to WLTP testing.LDV had previously confirmed that it would launch the eTerron 9, which is an equivalent to the MG U9 EV, in Australia however this has now seemingly fallen off the radar.Beyond this there are no other electric utes that are locked in for an Australian launch currently.Isuzu previously noted that it plans to introduce the D-Max EV in Australia, but it still hasn’t provided any timeline for when.It’s already offered in other markets, like the UK, and offers a 3500kg braked towing capacity and 1000kg payload, but only 263km of WLTP-claimed range.Additionally it’s unlikely that the full-size American electric pick-ups like the Tesla Cybertruck, Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV and Rivian R1T will ever come to Australia as demand for these kinds of vehicles is declining in the US and they would need to be re-engineered for right-hand drive applications.This may change with Ford’s upcoming mid-size ute that’s based on its new universal EV platform, as well as the forthcoming Slate small electric ute, but neither are confirmed for right-hand drive production.While all the electric ute options in Australia currently are flawed in some way or another, the sales charts show that punters are still keen on reducing their fuel bills and CO2 footprint with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) utes.The biggest winner thus far is firmly the BYD Shark 6 which is now available in three variants - Dynamic dual-cab chassis, Premium dual-cab pickup and Performance dual-cab pickup.The latter variant offers a benchmark 3500kg braked towing capacity, whereas the others offer a 2500kg braked towing capacity.Depending on the trim, the Shark 6 offers up to 100km of NEDC-claimed electric range.Likely a key reason for its sales success is how much it costs. The line-up starts at $55,990 before on-road costs and extends to $62,990 before on-road costs. This puts it roughly at the same price as mid-spec diesel versions of the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.We’ll have to wait and see whether Australians embrace electric utes, however they’ll likely remain a niche offering for fleets for the time being.

You’re a new-energy world leader Australia, don’t let anybody tell you any differently. You’re on the cusp of a cheap electricity boom which will only supercharge the transition to electric vehicles.I really don’t like the term “new energy” and I’m embarrassed I used it at all, let alone in the first four words of this story.Forgive me, but it’s now what the industry is calling electricity in relation to EVs and hybrid cars. There’s nothing new about electricity, it’s been keeping the lights on for 150 years, although its success in powering vehicles took longer and this was partly due to not being able to store it in batteries.There’s a lot of emotion in how electricity is produced and also in the viability of electric cars and I don’t really understand why. If I hear another EV naysayer roll out the tired old line about energy prices being prohibitive to running an electric car I’ll ask them which oil companies or coal mines they own.And the same goes for those who talk about the electricity grid not having the capacity to handle the uptake of EVs. Because neither view is based on actual evidence - well not current evidence.That's because currently batteries installed in both private homes and public community locations are creating the next big change that'll see energy prices drop.Australia is a world leader in both the home installation of solar panels (photovoltaic) and the uptake of home batteries to store the electricity the solar generates.According to the Clean Energy Council, at the close of 2025 a third of residential homes in Australia had roof-top solar.  As of 2026, according to International Energy Agency data, Australia leads the world in photovoltaic (solar) uptake per capita.The affordable price of home solar panels of about $8000 on average for a 6.6kW system (after the Federal Government rebate) has made the technology accessible and popular.  Australia also leads the world when it comes to battery installation. Global energy consultancy Rystad Energy says energy storage in the form of batteries is surging, with Australia, China, the UK, US and Germany the main drivers.Batteries small enough to power homes or large scale to power entire suburbs store energy from solar or wind. It’s these batteries that take the unpredictability out of renewable energy.The arguments of solar not being readily available at night or on cloudy days are no longer valid when the energy from the previous month has been bottled and ready for use.It’s this availability that's expected to bring energy prices down. That’s because in times of high demand fossil fuel power stations are expensive, especially gas-fired power stations which are often brought online in times of high demand. This is a major cause of high electricity prices.Storage of electricity in batteries works on the same principle as rainwater in a dam for public use or a tank attached to a house for home use.Home batteries are on the pricey side up front, with a decent-sized unit (10-15kWh) costing up to $16,000, but the Federal Government battery rebate can reduce that by $252 per kWh, or about $4000.Yes, that’s an initial outlay of $20,000 for solar and a battery but you won’t be at the mercy of energy providers any more because you’ll be storing whatever you don’t use. If you’re running an electric car and have a wall unit installed you’re laughing.Not everybody can afford that outlay and many houses aren’t new enough to support larger batteries. The good news is massive public batteries are being introduced. They’ll store electricity from renewable sources and supply it to households.It’ll have to be supported by the old ways too - coal and gas-fire power stations - but change doesn’t happen overnight.The cost of construction of a large-scale battery storage station is now equal to that of building a gas-fired plant. This is really important and will help motivate the shift for an industry that’s resistant to change.A report this week by Japan’s Nikkei Asia quoted data showing battery energy storage stations in China cost A$111 per megawatt hour in 2025, a drop of 27 per cent compared to 2024. That cost is almost equal to the A$110 per megawatt from a coal-fired plant. The key to cost-effective renewable generation and supply of electricity in a way that meets the growing demand of our lives with all our home technology and increasing uptake of electric cars is batteries.Battery tech is now advancing at a rapid pace and that development is led by countries like Australia and China. And this will mean a reduction of consumer energy prices because the cost of its generation is coming down.The final piece of the puzzle are electric vehicles which also operate as mobile power stations. The vehicle-to-load (V2L) function is becoming more common.V2L is offered on a number of models such as the Volkswagen ID.5, Kia EV3, Hyundai Ioniq 5, MG S5, Geely EX5 and BYD Sealion 7, and allows owners to store power in the car or use the electricity in the car’s battery to run appliances. It’ll be a long time before coal and gas is phased out and it will play a backup role for the new system for many years (or decades) ahead, but it’s nice to know that it now looks like our energy will be cleaner and cheaper. 

Caravans and camper trailers take the adventure out of adventure travel.There I’ve said it.What is supposed to be an activity that takes you away from the comforts of home, offers up some wild challenges and ultimately brings you closer to nature has merely become a temperature-regulated and coddled process of transporting all of the comforts of your home – or at least approximations of them – to another, supposedly more nature-based location.Some caravans are equipped with everything you could ever want – including the kitchen sink – as do some camper-trailers.Camper-trailers are similar to caravans in that they have to be towed, but they do generally have fewer amenities than a caravan, such as a toilet and shower.A caravan is essentially a self-contained house on wheels, with kitchen facilities, beds, seating, storage and some, depending on their size, even have toilets and showers. It has to be towed behind another vehicle.A campervan is a vehicle-and-accommodation package that you drive, but it generally has fewer amenities than a caravan or motorhome – for example, no toilet and shower (unless it’s an outdoors one) – and it is not as big as a caravan or motorhome.It may have a basic kitchen and counter-top, as well as seats that can be moved and folded to become a bed of sorts.There are myriad problems with caravans and camper-trailers and those problems start long before these behemoths turn up at your camp ground to ruin your weekend.The problems start with the drivers.Think about it.Some of these vehicle-and-caravan combinations cost upwards of $200,000 and may weigh in excess of 7000kg. And many of the people who are towing these massive car-and-caravan set-ups actually don’t know how to tow. You don’t need a special licence to tow, or even training or any experience. And people who tow should have to accumulate all of those things before they’re allowed to even think about towing.It takes skill to tow and a lot of these people don’t have any.Best-case scenario, people who tow are annoying; worst-case scenario, they’re downright dangerous. Check out any towing fail videos online and you’ll soon get the idea.Then those same people roll into your camp ground and set up their monstrosity, replete with beds, bathrooms, awnings, chairs, satellite dish, camp kitchen, entertainment area, outdoor shower cubicle, solar panels, dirt-bike trailer, and watercraft storage facility. Not to mention any generators or stereos at full volume.So, what’s the point of travelling away from your home to rough it and have some adventure when you actually take the equivalent of all of your home comforts with you?That’s right, there is no point to it.These recreational road-trains also have a monumental negative impact on natural locations as well because they’re big, heavy and ill-suited to any terrain beyond sealed surfaces, no matter how outlandishly positive the marketing of your “off-road” caravan, camper-trailer or motorhome is.The weight alone is responsible for severe damage to unsealed roads, bush or sandy tracks and combine that with incorrect tyre pressures and the trundling terror behind your 4WD is ripping up the track and ruining it for everyone else.That’s one of the core problems with caravanning: there’s too much stuff. Now you can stay fed and hydrated, heated or cooled, entertained and mollycoddled to your preferred comfortable state of being in the great outdoors. If you have slide-out drawers, a TV, a microwave, a bushy bed and, yes, even the ubiquitous kitchen sink with a stove-top, why should you even bother leaving your house?There's too much technology. How can you enjoy the serenity of the great outdoors when the people in the caravan next door are watching an NRL game at maximum volume on a big-screen TV or blasting Slim Dusty’s greatest hits over their stereo at 9pm?Really, camping should be about small-scale logistics and large-scale fun.Camping in swags, tents, camper-trailers or even caravans should be about enjoying the outdoors in as minimalist a way as you can and without making a fuss.The simpler the better, I reckon. The key is not to overthink, over-plan or over-budget it.One of the great things about camping and caravanning is that you can scale your trip to suit you. The degree of difficulty and discomfort is entirely up to you.Start out small in terms of duration, go on a day trip or an overnighter, and not too far from home to see if you even enjoy camping. Some people simply don’t like it.Start out small in terms of logistics. Just take what you can pack in your car, or if you insist on towing, tow a smallish camper-trailer, just to get a feel for how much skill towing requires. I recommended that you get proper training before you do anything: head to www.tow-ed.edu.au and https://www.getabout.edu.au/Develop your skills, get some experience but, most of all, have fun.