Show Notes
This week I'm covering more ground than a dual-motor MG U9 with a full tank of electrons. Renault's stunning Renault 5 can't come to Australia because of a child seat rule that'll cost them $5 million to fix. Meanwhile MG just got approval for an electric ute that tows 3,500 kg and Toyota responded with a Hilux BEV that tows 2,000 kg and does 245 km on a good day ,with the wind behind it and they expect to sell 500 of them. Bold strategy. MG also launched their cheapest EV yet at $31,990 drive-away, Mercedes is bringing a luxury SUV with 750 km of real-world range, BMW dropped prices, Mazda confirmed the CX-6e, and somehow we're still debating whether EVs are viable. Plus the FBT exemption lives, Tesla Supercharger prices are dropping while petrol hits $3 a litre, BP Pulse is building a 24-bay charging hub at Melbourne Airport, and Japanese scientists may have just broken the laws of physics with a solar panel that's more than 100% efficient. Also: used EV prices are going through the roof, Google Maps now does proper EV route planning, and China sold 15,000 Xiaomi SU7s in 34 minutes. Thirty-four minutes. It's a big one. Grab a coffee.
More from The Sydney EV Podcast
BYD has issued a grovelling apology and a pile of refunds over a "model year mix-up." Spoiler alert: The difference between a 2025 and a 2026 model is a sticker. Meanwhile, the ACT has officially hit 55% plug-in vehicle sales—earning the title of "Australia's Little Norway" (complete with the frostbite and roundabouts). Also on the show: MG considers bringing a 100-kilowatt electric blender to Australia, Kia brings the EV3 AWD but commits a culinary sin by withholding the GT, and BYD releases a bigger Atto 1... reminding us all that the Atto 2 still doesn't exist. Plus: 40-ton electric ninja trucks invade the waterfront, Geely unveils a battery that threatens the eastern seaboard power grid, and Swedish data proves your EV battery ages better than a vampire in a moisturiser factory. In this episode:🚗 BYD’s 2025 vs 2026 compliance plate drama🏛️ ACT hits 55% plug-in sales (Fossil fuels are the minority!)🍹 The MG2: A city car with 100kW of pureed pumpkin power🚗💨 Kia EV3 AWD arrives, but where is the GT?📏 The BYD Atto 1 hits puberty (RIP Atto 2)🚛 Silent 40-tonne rigs are sneaking up on dock workers🧱 Geely’s "Golden Brick" 1000kW charging madness📉 Swedish study shows less than 8% battery degradation after 100,000km
Australia just hit a milestone nobody’s talking about loudly enough: internal combustion engine vehicles have peaked. After 116 unbroken years of growth, the ICE fleet is going backwards, and EVs are why. This week on the show: 🇦🇺 NSW declares Peak ICE , the total ICE fleet hit its all-time high on February 27 and has been shrinking ever since. Pure EVs hit 23.5% of new car sales in June. The tide has officially turned. 💸 Lexus drops the price of the RZ by up to $42,000, yes, really. The posh electric SUV now sneaks under the Luxury Car Tax threshold. Coincidence? Absolutely not. 🚛 Australia’s first locally-made electric prime movers roll out of Brisbane Volvo’s Wacol factory handed ten heavy-duty electric trucks to Linfox, with up to 700km range. Big rigs. No smoke. Albanese showed up. ⚡ Xpeng G6 opens Australian reservations 800V architecture, 10-80% charge in 12 minutes, four variants from $51,800. It charges faster than you can make a decision in a drive-through. 🆕 Xpeng Mona L03 confirmed for Australia RAV4-sized, coupe roofline, priced around $46K. The EV price war just got another combatant. 🪨 Bentley names their first EV after a pile of limestone the Torcal. FIVE POINT FOUR METRES LONG. oh, and 1500nm torque. Also they’ve quietly abandoned their 2030 all-electric pledge. Shocking scenes. 🚌 And finally: America has weaponised the school bus 6,700 electric school buses are now acting as grid-connected power brokers, and in Florida they’re keeping hurricane shelters running. The yellow menace has evolved. The Ice Age is ending. The Plug Age is here. Pull up a charger.
Welcome back! Today we are looking at the local and international EV news, which is currently a delightful mix of "cars that look like spaceships" and "desperate corporate price wars." First up, we dive into the brand new, 7-seater Skoda Peaq and its ridiculous 647km range. But it’s not all good news—we look at the depressingly slow charging speeds of the upcoming KGM Musso EV ute, the shape-shifting madness of the Deepal E07 (an SUV that transforms into a ute at the push of a button), and the race to the absolute bottom of the budget barrel with the sub-$35k Leapmotor B05. Plus, is Cupra’s latest EV about to make the Tesla Model Y look vastly overpriced? In international news, we check in on BMW’s multi-billion-dollar nervous breakdown as they attempt to redeem themselves with the new 700km range "Neue Klasse" iX5... which features a dashboard display so wide you could watch an IMAX movie on it. Finally, we tackle the absolute circus that is EV geopolitics. From Australia bringing a very nice, artisanal butter knife to a global battery howitzer fight, to the mind-boggling logic of the US government banning the South Carolina-built Polestar 3 while subsidizing the identical Volvo EX90 built on the exact same conveyor belt. And if you live in an apartment in NSW? Congratulations, you’ve officially been handed the legal right to enter a legally binding thunderdome with your strata committee just to plug your car in. What do you think of this week's lineup? Would you buy a transformer ute or brave a strata committee meeting for a charger? Let me know in the comments below!
Big week. Mitsubishi, the brand that gave us one of the first modern EVs back in 2009 , has officially announced they're done building their own electric cars. Meanwhile 2,000 Australians have already put deposits on a Mazda they've never sat in. And sodium batteries are quietly matching Tesla's lithium benchmarks while some politicians are still out here demanding more coal. Standard Tuesday, really. Local cars this week: The Geely EX2, Geely's best-selling hatchback with 465,000 units sold in China last year , has been approved for Australia, arriving mid-to-late 2026 at around $30,000. It comes in beige and pink, tows absolutely nothing, and will probably outsell everything you'd expect it to. Xpeng dropped the X9, a seven-seater people-mover that charges 10-80% in twelve minutes, does 615km WLTP, and has an AI chassis that sees obstacles 30 metres ahead. It also tows 1,500kg, which means it will absolutely be used to tow a new camper trailer directly to its permanent resting place in someone's front yard. Mazda already has over 2,000 firm orders for the 6e and CX-6e and nobody's even sat in one yet. This is either peak Australian enthusiasm or the world's most successful cult. Possibly both. Mercedes is bringing the CLA Shooting Brake EV to Australia before year's end , "bargain luxury" in their words, which means you might only need to sell one kidney instead of two. And the Polestar 4 is now taking orders from $78,500 the one with no rear window, because apparently visibility is for people who don't appreciate Scandinavian minimalism. Internationally: Ford has produced its first American-made LFP battery cells in Michigan, licensed from Chinese tech, because nothing says manufacturing independence quite like that. Honda is going tiny and quirky with the Super One. Mitsubishi is outsourcing their entire EV future to Nissan and Foxconn. And Jeep has opened orders for the new Compass EV with 674km WLTP range and genuine off-road capability, because apparently even Jeep figured out that silence doesn't mean soft. Battery and tech: Sodium-ion batteries from Hina Battery are now matching key Tesla lithium benchmarks, cheap, abundant, doesn't require mining half of Chile. In Western Australia, home batteries are flattening the solar duck curve and helping slash the need for peaking gas. Your neighbour's Powerwall is doing more for the grid than your local coal lobbyist, and that's just where we are now. And finally , EVs can't go around corners. I know. I've heard. I addressed it. The physics laughed. Still dailying an OG i-MiEV like a true masochist. Catch you next week.
Hi, I’m Rob, and in this episode I’m taking the piss out of Australia finally joining the EV revolution at the pace of a very well-paid committee. I break down Porsche’s ridiculously expensive new electric Cayenne (yes, the ‘Turbo’ EV that costs more than a house in regional Victoria), Chery’s upcoming Lepas L6 that’s coming for the Model Y crowd, and the genuinely impressive Windrose E700 electric prime mover that’s already hauling 49 tonnes and full loads of toilet paper from Sydney to Canberra, all while being 85% cheaper than diesel. Overseas, I look at Ford’s upcoming affordable electric pickup, BMW’s wild new electric M3 with fake engine noises, and BYD’s luxury Great Tang SUV that’s already got 150,000 pre-orders with nearly 950 km range and 5-minute flash charging. Plus, we dive into infrastructure with 1,500 kW monsters landing in Europe, Australia’s own mobile ultra-fast charging trucks, record-breaking 34.4% efficient solar panels, and solid-state batteries pushing toward 500 Wh/kg that are about to change everything. Sharp, sarcastic, and full of 2026 optimism, if you love EVs and hate slow progress, this one’s for you.