Tag: hybrid

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HAVAL H7 VANTA HEV

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Haval has gone for a rugged, almost retro-look with its new the mid-sized H7 Hybrid, emphasised by bolt-on mudguard flares. Well, they look like they bolt on, but despite the rugged exterior it is actually front- wheel drive and shares its underpinnings with the softer H6 plug-in hybrid that we tested recently — though you can’t plug this one in. Which is kinda funny, we had planned to grab a charge spot across the road from the Orpheum Theatre in crowded Cremorne — until we discovered it doesn’t have a… Read more

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CR-V DRIVING TO THE LETTER

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The folk at Honda, it seems, have long memories. Back in 1995 the Japanese company developed one of the first compact sports utility vehicles on the market – the Comfortable Runabout Vehicle, or CR-V, as we know it. Landing Down Under in 1997, in the 30 years since, the CR-V has sold almost a quarter of a million units here and won numerous awards, including Australian Car of the Year in 2023. Why wouldn’t anyone wish to continue to bask in the glow of such storied ancestry? Welcome to the… Read more

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PEUGEOT 5008 HYBRID GT PREMIUM

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Now in its third generation, the ”all-new” Peugeot 5008 was launched early 2024, but took a while to get here. Based on the Stellantis group’s STLA Medium platform, it is essentially a stretched version of the smaller 3008. Cast your mind back and you may recall this car originally came with a turbo petrol or turbo diesel engine. Back in 2013 it was described as a people mover, presumably because it offered seven seats. Now a large SUV, the latest version is a hybrid and has seven seats too. There’s… Read more

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ALFA JUNIOR ADDS CLASS TO HUMBLE HYBRID

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The first thing you notice about the Alfa Romeo Junior is the absence of chrome brightwork. That’s not to say the new small car is a ‘plain Jane’; it literally bears the Alfa Romeo stamp in words and brand marks all over. The car is iconic Italian design down to the ground and marks Alfa’s return to the compact car segment, all the while with the latest in electrification. The Junior comes in two variants – Ibrida (hybrid) and Elettrica (electric). The entry-level Ibrida comes to market from $45,900, plus… Read more

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CHERY PLAYS MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH ITS NEW OMODA BRAND

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It’s getting quite difficult to keep track of the constantly evolving brands and sub- brands within the giant Chinese Chery group. The most recent development is the establishment of what is effectively a new sister brand to Chery called Omoda Jaecoo, a premium brand that operates independently of their shared parent company. We recently reported on the two Jaecoo models (J7 and J8) that are currently on sale in Australia. This time we’re reviewing the first of the dedicated Omoda vehicles the Omoda 9 that went on sale here in… Read more

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BYD SHARK IS COMING FOR YOU

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It’s BYD’s Shark and it’s coming for you. At least it is if you’re in the market for a ute because the Shark, or Shark 6 to be exact, has been a runaway success for the Chinese company. BYD has sold more than 10,000 examples of the dual cab utility since launch 12 months ago and just to set the record straight, it’s not an electric vehicle — but rather a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). That makes the Shark rather special but not quite unique with competitors such as the Ford… Read more

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FRONX … A UNIQUE NAME FOR AN APPEALING LITTLE CAR

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    Not sure what to make of the Suzuki Fronx. It shares a platform with the Suzuki Swift, so it could be described as the crossover version of Swift. The Fronx name is a portmanteau of “Frontier Next”, which was trademarked by Suzuki way back in 2014. They are a bit slow off the mark but apparently the idea was to create an SUV that is widely accepted by the market with existing resources, which could explain some things. Suzuki describes Fronx as the most comprehensively equipped Suzuki model… Read more

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HISTORIC INSIGHT INTO HYBRID HONDA

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It’s not surprising that one of the world’s largest engine builders, in 1999, was among the first to bring electric power to the production automobile. What is surprising is that the company, Honda, persisted with its poor selling petrol/electric powered Insight, whereas rival, Toyota’s hybrid Prius went on to capture the world’s imagination and massive sales. The Insight limped on to a third generation in 2018. Based on the tenth-generation Civic sedan the new Insight used Honda’s third generation two-motor hybrid powertrain, featuring a 1.5-litre Atkinson Cycle petrol engine, combined… Read more

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LEXUS UX 300H REVIEW

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The Lexus UX range of compact SUVs has been on sale in Australia since 2019, originally as the UX 250 with the choice of petrol or hybrid powertrains. A fully electric variant was added in 2021 with the current UX 300 replacing the UX 250 and dropping the petrol option. The UX 300e was discontinued earlier this year. We’re told the name stands for Urban Explorer which, sort of, identifies its target audience. A compact SUV, the UX 300 sist on the same platform as the Toyota Corolla hatch, Corolla… Read more

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REAR VIEW IN FORESTER FOCUS

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The new Forester: Ah, that takes me back. While Subaru’s most popular model has taken up with the hybrid age, changes are mostly cosmetic, including cabin layouts that have not changed much over the past four years, no impediment to the many Forester fans of which there are many. Needless to say, there is an impressive list of standard equipment in the Forester, right down to the bargain basement. Things such as Subaru Intelligent Drive (Intelligent and Sport modes), X-Mode with hill descent, front cornering lamps and steering responsive headlights,… Read more