Opinion

If you haven’t bought an EV yet, how much more convincing do you need given what’s happening in the world right now? The fuel crisis has shown us just how ridiculous our traditional energy choices are and the urgent need to switch to electricity to power our cars. The choice to get an electric car used to be about them being better for our environment with zero tailpipe emissions reducing pollution in cities. And while that should absolutely be the core reason for the choice to buy an EV, the war in Iran has exposed another very real and urgent need to go electric - fuel security. Australia sources 90 per cent of its refined fuel from overseas, specifically from South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. These countries get most of their crude oil from the Middle East and nearly all passes through the now infamous Strait of Hormuz, which as you know has been used by Iran as its one and only, but hugely powerful bargaining chip. Like a tap, Iran can turn nearly all of Australia’s petrol and diesel supply on and off. The situation is going to get worse. See, even if the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal operation again, because the ships carrying the oil move so slowly (30km/h max) and with there already being a hold up of more than a month, plus the backlog of waiting tankers, we’re going to experience a shortage unlike anything we’ve seen since the 1970s, or possibly ever. Again this will be temporary and the situation will right itself again… eventually. But it's a warning, to change our ways. In the meantime you need to commute to work, drop the kids at school, drive to doctors appointments — in other words, live your life normally.  And freight needs to move around Australia normally. Food needs to get from the producers to storage, and from there to supermarkets. I’m putting it very simply here, but you know where this is heading. All of this will stop without petrol and diesel. Australia will be brought to its knees in a matter of months. The Australian government knows this and you’ll likely see another address by the Prime Minister announcing a move to Level 3 in its plan to manage fuel use. Level 3 in the government's plan is for targeted action and will focus on ensuring essential services have the fuel it needs while asking the public to limit its usage to preserve what’s left. If only there were cars that didn’t need petrol or diesel. Oh yeah… there’s hundreds of them. Well, there’s 110 different electric models to choose from and that number is growing every month, and so are the sales. March, 2026 saw the highest number of EVs sold in a month ever, with 15,839 finding a new home. That’s almost double the number sold in the same month the year before. The total number of petrol cars and SUVs for March this year totalled 34,694, down 20 per cent on March 2025. The argument that there isn’t a type of EV that suits your needs or lifestyle is becoming redundant. Looking for a small hatchback as an alternative to a Suzuki Swift or Toyota Yaris? There’s the BYD Atto 1. Oh, but you don’t get Atto 1 for the price of the Swift or Yaris. That’s right, Atto 1 costs less than the Swift and Yaris, and by thousands of dollars. Small SUVs instead of a Kia Seltos or Honda HR-V there’s the MG S5, BYD Atto 2, Hyundai Kona Electric.  The Toyota RAV 4, Subaru Forester, Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander have long been the rulers of the mid-sized SUV world and while all offer hybrid powertrains, all still need petrol. There’s fully electric SUV choices galore. There’s BYD’s Atto 3 and Sealion 7, the Geely EX5, Leapmotor C10, Deepal S07 and the Skoda Elroq. Large electric SUV? There’s Kia EV9, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Deepal E07 and Polestar 3, with more models coming in the next 12 months. The choice for fully electric off-road vehicles, both utes and large SUVs, is limited currently, but they’re coming. Toyota’s electric Hilux ute arrives mid-2026 and will join a growing list of others including the LDV eTerron 9 and MG U9 EV. The numbers of new EVs coming to Australia especially from China will continue to grow, and the conflict in the Middle East and the fuel shortage will fast track the uptake of these vehicles.  Is the infrastructure currently in place to cope with a huge uptake of EVs? Absolutely not. But if I’ve learnt anything about humans during my time on the planet we only do things if we have to and private enterprise is champing at the bit to take the lead here and install chargers on anything that doesn't move.  Is the grid capable of handling the load? You ask a lot of questions. But that’s a good one. I’m no electrical grid expert but I can tell you charging a car at my place is the equivalent of running two air-conditioners all night. And going by the power outages caused by cooling homes over summer, then the answer is no. But the grid can be upgraded to be more robust — because it’ll have to be and can be.  So that’s my rant done. If you live in the city and you drive less than 50km a day an EV is a must. Burning petrol or diesel to sit in traffic makes as much sense as a petrol-powered toaster.

You can almost feel the warmth, can’t you? You know, as Australia’s many thousands of EV owners bask in their collective smugness as fuel prices shoot skyward and the world continues its hell-in-a handbasket spiral. Sure, their smiles looked a little strained as the queues for public chargers grew and grew over the Easter break, but that aside, you’d have to declare the EV faithful the winners over the past couple of weeks. I spoke to someone from Tesla the other day who told me demand had been running hot, possibly hotter than ever before, since fuel costs began spiking. One of the Korean brands told me that almost all enquiry is focused on its EV models. And in March, EV sales were 86.2 per cent higher than they were in the same month last year. That staggering result inspired FCAI (the organisation that releases the monthly sales data) Chief Executive, Tony Weber, to ponder if “it is too early to determine whether this represents a structural shift in the market. More consumers are considering EVs due to the disruption to fuel supply caused by conflict in the Middle East, along with the review into the fringe benefits tax concession for EVs.” I can answer that for Mr Weber. It is permanent. And if for some reason it’s not, then Australian consumers need their heads read. My favourite question about EV take up (admittedly not one phrased by me) is to imagine a world where the EV came first, and then, some years later, some bright spark pitched a shift to internal combustion engines. “It will be amazing,” they would say. “We only need to replace the low-maintenance electric motor, with its handful of moving parts, with this engine, which has about 2000. Sure, the servicing needed will be much higher, we will need to fill it with oil, and we’ll need to turn fossils into a very expensive, volatile — and, as it turns out, very price sensitive — fuel source. But you will get a louder, slower, harsher and more annoying vehicle as a result.  "And the best part is refuelling them. You know how you currently plug in at home, sometimes using nothing but sunshine? Well now you get to go to a petrol station and pay whatever extortionate number is on the board, and probably be muscled into buying two Kit Kats for a dollar by the person behind the counter." How do you honestly think that conversation would go? Now, I'm not suggesting each and every vehicle in Australia should be an EV. My magic wand would grant an exemption to most supercars, and to a handful of sportcars and hot hatches. Heavy trucking and regional areas would get a pass, too. As would anyone needing to do lots of heavy-duty towing. Some utes get a pass, too. But let's be honest, there are plenty of dual-cab owners who have never carried anything heavier than a bag of groceries. Everyone else? Electric works, believe me. If you drive a beige small car, an SUV of any size, live in a city (which is most of us), and especially if you have access to home charging, an EV is likely the right fit. And it's not just me that thinks so. Look at CarsGuide's Car of The Year awards. Best Small Car Under $50k? Kia EV3. Best Medium SUV Under $60k? Zeekr 7X. Best Medium SUV Under $130k? Hyundai Ioniq 5. Best Ute? The BYD Shark 6. All either electric or partly electric, and all among the very best vehicles in the country. So if you're not on board the EV train by now, the problem is very likely with you.

The new-generation Lexus ES sedan has been approved for sale in Australia ahead of its launch later this year. According to the Australian Government filing, only electric versions of the new 2026 Lexus ES have been approved for local sale thus far. Lexus has previously noted that the ES will initially launch in Australia with the ES500e flagship electric variant. It's powered by a dual-motor, all-wheel drive set-up with a total system output of 252kW. However, the Japanese carmaker has confirmed both electric and hybrid powertrains will eventually be offered in Australia. The only other ES variant that has been approved for local sale thus far is the ES350e which is powered by a single front-mounted electric motor with 170kW of power. Hybrid versions of the ES will likely be approved for local sale at a later point, indicating that they may launch after the electric versions. Globally there are two hybrid versions of the ES, the ES300h and ES350h. They are powered by either a 2.0-litre hybrid or 2.5-litre hybrid powertrain, respectively. Both are offered with either front- or all-wheel drive. Little other information about the ES is confirmed in the local approval filing. It measures in at 5145mm long, 1920mm wide and 1560mm tall, with a 2950mm wheelbase. This makes it around 170mm longer than the outgoing model and slightly larger than a BMW 5 Series. The tare mass is 2180kg in the single-motor version and 2280kg for the dual-motor version. Gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 2635kg or 2735kg, respectively. Either 19- or 21-inch alloy wheels will be offered. At this stage no other specification details have been confirmed, but there is a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 14.0-inch multimedia touchscreen. This eighth generation of the Lexus ES was previewed by the 2023 LF-ZC concept and features an angular design with a fastback silhouette.

With all due respect to GAC and its plans for a new dual-cab ute — please don’t. Same goes for Hyundai, which has been talking up its plans for a ute in recent months, and Chery that has a yet-to-be-named new ute incoming.  We have enough utes in this country. That might sound like a ‘click-bait, hot take’ (and it partially is) but it’s also very much true. The ute market in Australia is getting over-crowded and new additions will make it even more densely packed. Don’t take my word for it, Sean Hanley, the former sales and marketing boss of Toyota has been saying we’ve reached ‘peak ute’ for more than a year. Coming from a man who oversaw the enduring sales success of the HiLux and introduced the Tundra to Australia, that’s a notable position to take.  Speaking in January 2025, Hanley said he wasn’t confident that more utes arriving would equal more sales overall. “I’m not necessarily sharing a view that it's going to grow astronomically because of the new entrants,” he said. “It may, I could be wrong, but it’ll be interesting to watch. “Looking towards the future, we already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly.  “They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result.” That hypothesis was proved correct when the 2025 sales were tallied. The ute segment grew only 2.7 per cent between 2024 and ‘25, despite 12 new entrants from several new brands — including Kia, BYD, MG, Foton and GWM. Go back five years and look at the difference between 2021 and ‘25 and the idea of hitting ‘peak ute’ comes into even greater focus. In that span there was 5.9 per cent sales growth but a 41 per cent increase in the available number of models.  Hanley followed up his January comments with more at the launch of the new HiLux late in 2025. “So when I say the ute market's peaked, what I mean is that, well, exactly that, it's peaked. But it's still a significant market, and it will be for the future,” he told CarsGuide. "But I think that whole ute market's going to be crazy for the next couple of years. So in the end it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what customers think.” Nissan Oceania Managing Director Andrew Humberstone, seemingly along with GAC and Hyundai management, believes the contrary and the ute market has increased volume in its future. “I don't want to really talk specifically about numbers, but we see certainly an increase in volume,” he told CarsGuide in December ‘25. While BYD has made strong in-roads into the ute market with the Shark 6, cementing itself as a top five selling dual-cab, the reality for most of these new players is they are attracting relatively small volumes. Kia, which set a public goal of 10,000 sales by the end of ‘25 managed less than half of that (4196), while despite a competitive price and bigger-than-average size, the MG U9 managed only 472 sales in the few months it was on sale. Foton split 177 sales between its Tunland V7 and V9 since they hit the market in late ‘25. But even some models that were on sale for the full year in 2025 fared poorly. The Jeep Gladiator found just 332 buyers, while the Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Volkswagen Amarok all experienced sales drops. Of course, this story won’t stop the new utes from GAC, Hyundai and Chery coming, nor any other brand that wants to join in, but the reality is none are likely to dramatically increase the size of the overall ute market. Instead, the share of the market will just get divided up into smaller and smaller pieces. In the end, natural selection will play its part and the models that don’t sell will simply be overlooked by buyers and are likely to disappear eventually. One way or another, Australia will not have an endlessly growing number of utes to choose from.

They cost too much. They cause range anxiety. There aren’t enough chargers. There is still a lot of negativity and anxiety around electric vehicles (EVs) and it has kept sales at approximately 10 per cent of the market for several years now. There have been attempts to increase sales of EVs from both the car makers and governments around the country, but regardless the sales have always hit that invisible 10 per cent cap, more or less. But that could be about to change. In fact, if it doesn’t change in the very near-future, we may be waiting a decade or longer before EVs truly become mainstream. Put simply, if EVs are to take a leap forward in terms of sales, it’s now or never (or at least, now or in the distant future). That’s because interest in EVs (and hybrids) have never been higher as fuel prices have spiked since the US and Israel began the conflict with Iran, which has had a major impact on the price of oil and the global supply chain. It has also raised the questions of Australia’s fuel security, with local refineries not currently capable of producing fuel to the same standards as the fuel we import. Geo-politics aside, Australian motorists are simply feeling the financial pain at the pump with unleaded over $2.50 per litre in much of Australia and diesel above $3 per litre and running low in supply in many areas. Searches on CarsGuide classifieds for EVs rose 230 per cent since petrol prices spiked, while searches for hybrids are up a whopping 943 per cent. Autotrader is reporting a 631 per cent jump in people searching for a new EV to buy, with a 221 per cent increase in those looking for a hybrid. Obviously these search results won’t translate to a one-for-one sale increase, but the next few months will be telling for how much Australians are willing to embrace EVs to save at the pump. Skoda happened to launch more-affordable variants of its Enyaq and Elroq EVs in mid-March, which is seemingly perfectly timed to take advantage of the current trouble times. But Skoda Australia director, Lucie Kuhn, cautioned about getting too excited too quickly on a potential dramatic sales shift towards EVs. “Maybe short term, if you're speaking about the conflict in the Middle East, of course it triggers the customers if they shouldn't start considering an electric vehicle as their future car,” she said. “If increased interest will last to such an extent, I think it depends how long the crisis will take. “But already before it has happened, we observed that out of this, in the market 65-70 per cent of customers are still driving combustion .I think already 70 per cent out of them consider, for the next purchase, to start thinking about the electric vehicle. “It doesn't mean that they will necessarily buy an electric vehicle, but they give it a serious thought and we observe that. Many customers in spite maybe in the end go for a combustion engine or maybe for the PHEV as an interim step, they at least consider having and purchasing an EV.”  But what this fuel crisis may do, is get those people who have considered an EV or hybrid previously but hesitated because of the above-mentioned concerns about price, charging or range anxiety. The reality is EVs are now on-par, or in some cases cheaper, than petrol or diesel models. For example, the new MG4 Urban EV is cheaper than the similar-sized Toyota Corolla Hybrid. That doesn’t mean all EVs are cheaper than petrol or diesel equivalents, but the criticism that EVs are for “snobs that live in the eastern suburbs”, as NSW Premier Chris Minns said recently, is simply not true. Range anxiety feels like a hangover from the earlier EVs, which had less than 200km of range and needed regular charging. Most EVs on sale today are capable of 300km or more, which means a weekly charge is most likely what’s required for the majority of Australian motorists. While the concerns over the lack of public charging infrastructure is also overblown in the minds of many, with more than 1250 spread across the nation. Are there as many EV chargers as petrol bowsers? Of course not, but given the current rate of EV sales growth, the public network is growing accordingly. If you live in an urban area, there is likely to be several public chargers available, assuming you don’t have off-street parking so you can’t simply charge at home (which many Australians are capable of doing).  So if you look beyond the anti-EV sentiment and put your prejudices aside, the reality of actually owning an EV is starting to look more and more appealing. They are increasingly cost-effective and help Australia wean itself off foreign oil dependency, so it’s a win-win in many respects. No, they still aren’t for every or every market (electric utes are likely to remain as popular as a steak at a vegan restaurant) but for many, namely those in urban areas, now might be the ideal time to make the switch. Whether they will or not remains to be seen. Fuel prices began to increase at the very end of February and March sales date won’t be available until after the Easter long weekend. Even so, March figures aren’t likely to show the full extent of the potential switch to EVs and hybrids. Instead, we will have to watch closely in the coming months to see if the current crisis has a significant and lasting impact on the popularity of EVs in Australia.

Don’t for a second put up with politicians trying to shift any of the blame for fuel shortages onto panic buying or people filling up a few jerry cans. The government has not only known about the possibility of running out of fuel, but it ensured it happened through a risky practice that it had been warned about for years. As the war in the Middle East escalates and enters its second month the global economy is creaking under the pressure of petrol and diesel shortages, with Iran permitting very few oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz - the crucial shipping lane linking oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE to the world.  Iran’s holding 20 per cent of the world’s oil hostage wasn’t unforeseen. Fuel security experts have been well aware of the risk for decades.  Six years ago CarsGuide published the story I wrote of the risk of a war with Iran causing a fuel shortage. In the story former Royal Australia Air Force Deputy Chief John Blackburn, now a consultant on defence and national security, said Australia's lack of larger fuel reserves was a huge risk. As of late March, 2026, Australia had 30 days of diesel and 39 days of petrol left. Jet fuel was down to just 30 days, too. “The issue is the government doesn’t mandate that industry has to hold minimum stock levels. Most other developed countries do,” Blackburn said. “My view is the government isn’t keen on doing it because it has a free market approach. Now if there are no risks around, then that makes economic sense. But this idea that during peace time we’ll just let the market run and in war time we’ll do something else is outdated because there is no such thing as peace time any more.” So the government knew the risks and was willing to take them and work it out later if a problem ever arose. And when I say government I’m not referring to Labor or Liberal, I’m mean both, because it has been the same policy of both sides over successive governments.   The problem is now here and you can hear the concern in politician voices - this is an incredibly worrying situation that won’t right itself the day after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.  And there has been no attempt by any successive government over the years to change this practice. As Blackburn said, if we were to take up electric cars, which are powered by the electricity we made ourselves, then the fuel supply would be as secure as it could get. "If you want to reduce demand you need to diversify the types of energy cars and trucks use… electricity will be absolutely critical to this. The good thing with electricity and also hydrogen vehicles is that we can generate the electricity and the hydrogen in Australia – 100 per cent of it. We don’t have to be 90 per cent dependent on imported diesel, unleaded and jet fuel as we are today.” And as the Government scrambles to produce modelling that will tell us exactly how long we have left before the Hunger Games start, there still doesn’t appear to be any thought going into how we can decouple from petrol and diesel and transition to electric. Because the cars are here and the infrastructure is now rolling out fast. I’ve been writing car news for 15 years and I’ve watched the big take up of EVs and I’ve also watched the government do nothing to incentivise it as well. Chinese brands such as BYD, Geely, Zeekr, Chery, MG and GWM have such production capability that we’ve been told quietly that vehicle supply is not a problem - name a number and it’ll be here on the next boat. That’s a frightening prospect to the Ford, Honda and even Toyotas of this world that are scrambling to work out what to do and which Chinese brand to join because beating them is no longer an option.  Look, I have no doubt everything will be fine, but I can’t stress enough that we shouldn’t be letting it get this close again to realise that electric vehicles are the only way to secure our country better from fuel threats. And hydrogen will work for long haul trucks no problem at all - it’s already being tested by big names you’re familiar with already and is just around the corner. In the meantime don’t accept the blame for the fuel shortage - it’s not you using too much, it’s them not buying enough in the first place.

Will the current war in Iran mean a ban on petrol and diesel vehicles? My view is no, it won’t directly cause a ban on combustion cars. But the ban is still coming and the Middle East conflict will fastrack it.  For starters a date has already been set for ban on petrol and diesel cars in the United Kingdom, where from 2030 sales of new vehicles with combustion engines will cease. The European Union has a 2035 ban but previous to the Iran war this was watered down. China, which in February was our main source of vehicles, is also focused on building and developing electric cars. As for Australia, only the ACT has set a goal of phasing out the sale of new combustion powered cars by 2035. That could all change now and by this I mean be fastracked. Until now the reasons for switching to electric vehicles were mainly ethical and environmental, with emissions and cleaner air being the carrot. The problem is nobody really  wants to eat a carrot, even if it’s good for us.  But faced with the prospect of not eating at all because the weekly fuel bill for two cars is now $300 and the price of groceries is going up because of the soaring cost of transport, that really changes things. Interest in electric vehicles has never been this strong. We can see it in real time by the traffic coming to carsguide.com.au and we know our competitors are witnessing the sharpening of this focus on EVs, too. Towards the start of 2025 there had been a slow down in global interest in EVs and a renewed take up of hybrids. The price premiums attached to electric cars, the limited driving range and lengthy charging times were to blame, but all things early adopters, and even slightly later ones, were willing to endure.  The rest of the car buyers were too put off by the downsides of EVs and stuck with the convenience and familiarity of petrol or perhaps bought a hybrid. But now the price of convenience appears to be reaching a point where suddenly an EV sounds like a good idea. At the time of writing 95 RON premium unleaded was $2.70 per litre. An increase of about $1 per litre or 60 per cent in the space of a month.  The prohibitive cost now of petrol combined with the looming threat of Australia running out of it in less than three weeks, plus reports of servicing stations already running dry now make an electric car suddenly seem like not such a bad idea after all, even to the most hardcore fans of fossil fuels. The problem is bigger than just consumers not being able to afford petrol, it’s the soaring cost of goods, which are distributed through Australia’s enormous freight network that relies on diesel. The Australian government is responsible for setting such low minimum fuel reserves all in the name of a free market. The current situation could see it either mandate that the industry maintain a higher level or reduce the risk entirely of being held hostage like this again and ban petrol and diesel car sales in favour of electric ones, which can be powered by a fuel we can produce ourselves. The second option wouldn’t be the choice of the $6 trillion-a-year global oil and gas industry. And an industry that’s worth that much has enormous sway. But then the collapse of entire economies wouldn’t be the choice of most governments. Decoupling from oil and gas is impossible in less than 50 or even 100 years. Whether we like it or not the industry pervades every part of our lives. Killing the industry would also see the collapse of entire economies. Plenty of car companies are ready for electric vehicles, especially new Chinese brands, but for many vehicle manufacturers EVs are a side hustle. This scenario play into the hands of new electric brands such as Zeekr with the 7X mid-szied SUV, BYD with the Sealion 7 SUV and even the established Koreans such as Kia with the EV3 small SUV. Does it mean the end of diesel SUVs such as the LandCruiser? Possibly, unless Toyota has an electric version up its sleeve ready to be pulled out in the next 10 years. So what you'll probably see is the EU and UK setting new firm deadlines for the discontinuation of sales for new cars with combustion engines at about 2035 or sooner. Australia will likely follow suit. Industry, freight and agriculture will be exempt until hydrogen infrastructure is in place and that will take much longer. What we may see in the short term is a temporary ban on the use of petrol and diesel passenger cars in order to preserve fuel stock for industry, freight and vital services such as emergency vehicles. That’s a real possibility if the war moves into an uncontrolled phase. So while the permanent ban of new petrol and diesel cars won’t be directly caused by the Iran war, it will be a catalyst for the ban.  In the meantime, it’s probably wise anyway to purchase an EV anyway and provide a bit of security and future proofing for your own household, not to mention saving thousands in fuel bills each year.

Despite petrol being more expensive than caviar right now, it could be an opportune time to buy that Ford Mustang or Ranger Raptor, as car dealers will be fighting an uphill battle to persuade customers into high performance cars. I’m well aware that my CarsGuide colleague Tim Gibson has penned a story citing the Mustang and Raptor as two of the biggest petrol blackholes in the known universe but my question to you is: since when was a high performance vehicle a rational purchase?  Mind you, this is coming from somebody who has never made a rational car purchase, or possibly any rational purchase for that matter. The same somebody who is currently trying to work out a way to acquire a 1968 Mustang Fastback probably by selling one of her other irrational car purchases to fund it. I’m not suggesting you buy an old petrol car, not unless you like being let down by a car that doesn’t see driving reliably as a priority, but I do think it’s about to be a very good time to buy a new petrol one. See if this situation continues or gets worse, car dealers will start to have rapidly aging stock in their forecourts and that gives you bargaining power.  We’re approaching the end of March and that’s significant for three reasons.  First it’ll be one month since the Iran war started and fuel prices started to climb, indicating that this thing might not be over as soon as some suggested.  Second, the end of any month is known for being a smart time to buy with dealers under the pump to get their sales figures locked in.  And third, dealers are still doing plate clearance sales in March — which means they are trying to get rid of 2025 model year cars before nobody wants last year’s model. Combine all of these factors with more people than ever thinking maybe now is the time for electric vehicles, and those car makers without many or any EVs might be starting to stress and dealers feeling the pressure to drop prices on petrol models to encourage buyers. Ford has only one electric car — the Mustang Mach E SUV — and a very limited passenger model range really only consisting of the Ranger, Everest and Mustang sportscar. We’ve been saying for yonks that despite Ford selling enormous numbers of the Ranger, only one hiccup to the model could be a big problem for the brand, which counts on it almost entirely. And now we have the hiccup, which is fuel being outrageously expensive, and Ford not having a decent hybrid or electric version of the Ranger for buyers to go to while other brands such as BYD have the Shark 6 and MG with its soon to launch MU9 EV ready to swoop into the space. What I’m saying Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Honda and even Toyota will likely be under pressure to lower prices and that could mean picking up a Mustang or Ranger Raptor, Mazda MX-5, Nissan Z, Honda Civic Type R or Toyota GR Yaris for less. Having been through plenty of fuel hikes in my time I can tell you that providing the war doesn’t escalate completely out of control then petrol prices will recede to around what they were before now.  Besides with the surge in electric cars and the limited infrastructure in place to charge even the current number, you might find EVs aren’t the perfect solution to avoiding high petrol prices. Don’t get me wrong, EVs are fantastic and make far better city commuter cars than those with combustion engines, but I think the knee jerk reaction going on is pretty severe. And we’re feeling the pain of high petrol — we have a regular family car that we drive every day and it costs $150 to fill its 55L tank. We’re more conscious of fuel consumption than ever and it’s making us use the car less.  So with this information you might be in a position to get a good deal on a petrol car that you would have bought anyway if you were already in the market.   It’s easy to get caught up in the panic and want to ditch petrol for electric. Psychologically we’re designed to follow what everyone else is doing, so it makes sense especially when fuel costs are rising so high.  Moving towards electric is the right way to go long term, but right now if you’ve always wanted a petrol performance car then buy the Mustang, save some money and catch the train until petrol prices return to normal. Which, of course, they will.

Is the Ford Ranger Super Duty actually as good as you've heard? Let's take a look.

If you spend any time on the road you’ll see plenty of utes being used for work – but you also see just as many, if not more, vans being used as the conveyance of choice for couriers, tradies and the like. So which is actually better as a work vehicle: a ute or a van? It’s an age-old debate likely to generate more than a few raised voices. I’m ute-biased because I own a ute and use it for my other job(s), but I know plenty of people who are quite happy with their van. So, let’s tackle this touchy subject, shall we? Is the popularity of utes simply a result of hype? Are ute owners actually using entirely the wrong vehicle for work? Not at all. Vans and utes are close in terms of engine and transmission, power and torque outputs, the efficacy of driver-assist technology and even day-to-day useability. But the load space area – the business end of any work vehicle – is where the major difference lies. A ute’s tub or tray, as standard, is not closed-in so the extent of your packing is not limited by your vehicle’s roof-line as it is in a van. You can load beyond the top edge of a ute’s tub, and tall or awkwardly shaped loads aren’t a problem so long as they are safely secured. A ute also offers superior and more flexible load-carrying capabilities than a van. However, if a ute has no cover on its tub/tray, security from thieves and protection from the elements remain a serious issue. The good news is that there are OEM or aftermarket tub coverings available (hard or soft tonneau covers, roller shutters, aluminium lids etc) for utes, so that’s a potentially easily resolved issue. Or you can purchase an aftermarket canopy to be fixed to your ute tub, and some of those options are lockable. The problems is a canopy is not an engineered-at-vehicle-origin solution, so while it offers much better security, water- and dust-proofing than having no cover at all, it’s no match for a van’s factory built-in load space. And, besides, installing a cover on a ute’s tub – whether it’s a tonneau, roller shutter, canopy, or a bit of tarp over the top – defeats the purpose of owning an open-topped ute, because by doing so you’re robbing the ute tub of its load-carrying versatility. On the others side of the fence, vans have plenty of positives in their favour, even as standard. Take, for instance, the Ford Transit Custom Trail which I recently road-tested. Firstly, focusing on the cabin, the Trail can be optioned as a two-seater with hard-wearing plastic everywhere – ready for the messiness of work and life – as well as charge points (USB-A and -C) and storage (including a van-favourite dash-top slot for logbooks etc, outboard moulded cupholders and a nifty pop-out cupholder). Secondly, the load space includes access via a barn door at the rear and the Trail can be optioned up to have a sliding door on both sides. The cargo area is substantial – 3002mm long (to the bulkhead; 3450mm long if load-through hatch is used), 1392mm wide (between wheel arches) and 1425mm high (floor to roof). Easily big enough for work equipment or recreational gear. It can cope with four Euro pallets (1200mm x 800mm each) and it has a listed maximum load volume (with the bulkhead) of 6.8 cubic metres. Load height through the rear barn doors is 531-585mm, depending on how much weight (driver, passenger etc) is already onboard. The load space has a metal bulkhead (with window and load-through hatch), load area protection kit (full height walls and moulded floor), LED lights and eight tie-down loops. It has plenty of potential as a work and/or recreational vehicle with ample scope for modifications inside and out. Back to vans and utes in general, payloads in vans can range upwards of 1000kg, while payloads in utes (e.g. a single-cab) can be upwards of about 1000kg. (US pick-ups can manage more – with listed payloads of 1759kg and up – but in this yarn we’re focussing on mainstream utes.) But a van’s rear load space could be considered a distinct advantage – or at least a major point of difference – over a ute. A van can be big, for example the cargo space in a 2021 long-wheelbase Mercedes-Benz Vito 116 is 3061mm long, 1709mm wide, and 1391mm high; with 1265mm between the rear wheel-arches, so a 1165mm standard Australian pallet will slot in, no worries. Official cargo volume in the Vito is 6.6 square metres. Vans are built to carry loads and as such there is plenty of space in the rear, and amenities back there include tie-down points (with which to secure your load), lighting systems (halogen or LED), wood panelling on the interior walls and rear door, rubber or vinyl matting, or other grippy protective surface on the floor of the cargo area, and even power points. The load spaces in vans are ripe for customisation: maybe shelves for a tradie, or bedding and extra storage for an adventurous person or couple. And the rear load space may provide open access to the driver and front passengers(s), or it may be separated from the cabin of the van by a bulkhead with a built-in cargo barrier. Access to that fully secure load space may be via sliding doors on either side of the van or by using the rear door, which might be 180°-opening rear twin barn doors (with window), or a single lift-up tailgate, and either of those can be fully locked open so, importantly, a forklift can be used to place a heavier load in the cargo area. So while there’s no problem with permitted access, the load space is fully lockable, so theoretically secure, and the contents may be concealed. The cabins of utes and vans are similar in that they can be set up as mobile offices, with an immediate ease of use and comfort as priorities: think cloth seats, durable plastic surfaces and storage spaces aplenty including a lockable glovebox, dash-top slots (for log books, general paperwork etc) as well as door pockets and bottle-holder, a cup-holder at each end of the dash, and a centre console bin. But each type of vehicle has its own particular advantages, as well as exhibiting characteristics that may count against it when it comes to their potential as work vehicles. As mentioned, I’m well and truly in the ute camp but I know lots of people who wouldn’t swap their van for a ute as a work vehicle. To each their own… but to me utes still have the edge.