How Chery is making its cars better suited to Australian roads
But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here.
Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions.
Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions.
Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads.
For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia.
Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023.
"We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says.
"Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates."
ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose.
They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver.
Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers.
Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country.
"On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic.
"Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country.
"Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here.
"I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle."
Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle.
From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures.
Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected.
"The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris.
"We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models.
"Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it."
It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is.
Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing.
"Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says.
"It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane.
"On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example.
"I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations."
The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so.
Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy.
But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here.
Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions.
Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions.
Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads.
For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia.
Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023.
"We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says.
"Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates."
ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose.
They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver.
Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers.
Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country.
"On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic.
"Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country.
"Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here.
"I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle."
Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle.
From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures.
Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected.
"The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris.
"We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models.
"Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it."
It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is.
Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing.
"Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says.
"It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane.
"On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example.
"I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations."
The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so.
Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy.
But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here.
Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions.
Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions.
Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads.
For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia.
Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023.
"We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says.
"Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates."
ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose.
They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver.
Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers.
Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country.
"On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic.
"Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country.
"Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here.
"I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle."
Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle.
From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures.
Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected.
"The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris.
"We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models.
"Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it."
It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is.
Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing.
"Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says.
"It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane.
"On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example.
"I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations."
The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so.
Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy.
But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here.
Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions.
Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions.
Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads.
For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia.
Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023.
"We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says.
"Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates."
ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose.
They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver.
Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers.
Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country.
"On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic.
"Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country.
"Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here.
"I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle."
Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle.
From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures.
Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected.
"The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris.
"We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models.
"Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it."
It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is.
Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing.
"Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says.
"It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane.
"On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example.
"I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations."
The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so.
Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
2025 MG 5 price and specs
The MG 5 has received a range of safety upgrades for model year 2025 (MY25), but the small sedan is now offered exclusively in top-spec Essence trim. Technically, MG is still advertising the MY24 MG 5 on its website, indicating there's still stock of the pre-update model. However, while the MY24 MG 5 lineup opened with a base Vibe powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the MY25 MG 5 is offered exclusively in Essence trim with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four. This wears a nationwide price tag of $32,990 drive-away, while MG is advertising MY24 MG 5 Essences at between $30,940 and $31,777 depending on the state/territory. The MY24 Vibe is priced between $26,900 and $27,609 drive-away. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new MG 5. Click here to get a great deal. Safety upgrades made for MY25 include the fitment of front and rear outboard seatbelt pre-tensioners, seatbelt reminders for all seats, and whiplash-resistant front and rear seats. The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system now includes pedestrian, cyclist and motorcycle detection, while adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and emergency lane-keep assist are newly fitted. There's also MG's Intelligent Cruise Assist, which combines adaptive cruise and lane-keep functions. The safety upgrades were sufficient to net the updated MG 5 a three-star ANCAP rating, up from its previous zero-star result. Visually and mechanically, there are no changes to the MG 5 for MY25. A facelifted model has been launched in China, but has yet to be confirmed for Australia. The naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine has been axed. Despite having significantly less power and torque (84kW and 150Nm), it had a higher claimed fuel consumption (6.6L/100km). The MG 5 is offered in a single four-door sedan body style. It rides on MacPherson strut front suspension, with a torsion beam at the rear. The MG 5 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. If you service your vehicle within the MG network, this is extended to 10 years or 250,000km. Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km. After it received a zero-star safety rating from ANCAP in 2023, MG made safety upgrades to the MG 5. It was re-tested in 2025, and received a substantially better three-star rating. Standard safety equipment includes: In terms of active safety systems, the MG 5 still lacks blind-spot monitoring and any kind of driver monitoring system. There's also no reverse AEB or rear cross-traffic alert/assist system. The MG 5 Essence comes standard with the following equipment: Only a black interior is offered. Dover White and Royal Yellow are the standard exterior paint finishes, with Black Pearl, Misty Grey and Diamond Red metallic finishes costing an extra $700. Brixton Blue premium paint has been discontinued. MORE: Explore the MG 5 showroom Content originally sourced from: The MG 5 has received a range of safety upgrades for model year 2025 (MY25), but the small sedan is now offered exclusively in top-spec Essence trim. Technically, MG is still advertising the MY24 MG 5 on its website, indicating there's still stock of the pre-update model. However, while the MY24 MG 5 lineup opened with a base Vibe powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the MY25 MG 5 is offered exclusively in Essence trim with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four. This wears a nationwide price tag of $32,990 drive-away, while MG is advertising MY24 MG 5 Essences at between $30,940 and $31,777 depending on the state/territory. The MY24 Vibe is priced between $26,900 and $27,609 drive-away. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new MG 5. Click here to get a great deal. Safety upgrades made for MY25 include the fitment of front and rear outboard seatbelt pre-tensioners, seatbelt reminders for all seats, and whiplash-resistant front and rear seats. The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system now includes pedestrian, cyclist and motorcycle detection, while adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and emergency lane-keep assist are newly fitted. There's also MG's Intelligent Cruise Assist, which combines adaptive cruise and lane-keep functions. The safety upgrades were sufficient to net the updated MG 5 a three-star ANCAP rating, up from its previous zero-star result. Visually and mechanically, there are no changes to the MG 5 for MY25. A facelifted model has been launched in China, but has yet to be confirmed for Australia. The naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine has been axed. Despite having significantly less power and torque (84kW and 150Nm), it had a higher claimed fuel consumption (6.6L/100km). The MG 5 is offered in a single four-door sedan body style. It rides on MacPherson strut front suspension, with a torsion beam at the rear. The MG 5 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. If you service your vehicle within the MG network, this is extended to 10 years or 250,000km. Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km. After it received a zero-star safety rating from ANCAP in 2023, MG made safety upgrades to the MG 5. It was re-tested in 2025, and received a substantially better three-star rating. Standard safety equipment includes: In terms of active safety systems, the MG 5 still lacks blind-spot monitoring and any kind of driver monitoring system. There's also no reverse AEB or rear cross-traffic alert/assist system. The MG 5 Essence comes standard with the following equipment: Only a black interior is offered. Dover White and Royal Yellow are the standard exterior paint finishes, with Black Pearl, Misty Grey and Diamond Red metallic finishes costing an extra $700. Brixton Blue premium paint has been discontinued. MORE: Explore the MG 5 showroom Content originally sourced from: The MG 5 has received a range of safety upgrades for model year 2025 (MY25), but the small sedan is now offered exclusively in top-spec Essence trim. Technically, MG is still advertising the MY24 MG 5 on its website, indicating there's still stock of the pre-update model. However, while the MY24 MG 5 lineup opened with a base Vibe powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the MY25 MG 5 is offered exclusively in Essence trim with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four. This wears a nationwide price tag of $32,990 drive-away, while MG is advertising MY24 MG 5 Essences at between $30,940 and $31,777 depending on the state/territory. The MY24 Vibe is priced between $26,900 and $27,609 drive-away. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new MG 5. Click here to get a great deal. Safety upgrades made for MY25 include the fitment of front and rear outboard seatbelt pre-tensioners, seatbelt reminders for all seats, and whiplash-resistant front and rear seats. The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system now includes pedestrian, cyclist and motorcycle detection, while adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and emergency lane-keep assist are newly fitted. There's also MG's Intelligent Cruise Assist, which combines adaptive cruise and lane-keep functions. The safety upgrades were sufficient to net the updated MG 5 a three-star ANCAP rating, up from its previous zero-star result. Visually and mechanically, there are no changes to the MG 5 for MY25. A facelifted model has been launched in China, but has yet to be confirmed for Australia. The naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine has been axed. Despite having significantly less power and torque (84kW and 150Nm), it had a higher claimed fuel consumption (6.6L/100km). The MG 5 is offered in a single four-door sedan body style. It rides on MacPherson strut front suspension, with a torsion beam at the rear. The MG 5 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. If you service your vehicle within the MG network, this is extended to 10 years or 250,000km. Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km. After it received a zero-star safety rating from ANCAP in 2023, MG made safety upgrades to the MG 5. It was re-tested in 2025, and received a substantially better three-star rating. Standard safety equipment includes: In terms of active safety systems, the MG 5 still lacks blind-spot monitoring and any kind of driver monitoring system. There's also no reverse AEB or rear cross-traffic alert/assist system. The MG 5 Essence comes standard with the following equipment: Only a black interior is offered. Dover White and Royal Yellow are the standard exterior paint finishes, with Black Pearl, Misty Grey and Diamond Red metallic finishes costing an extra $700. Brixton Blue premium paint has been discontinued. MORE: Explore the MG 5 showroom Content originally sourced from: The MG 5 has received a range of safety upgrades for model year 2025 (MY25), but the small sedan is now offered exclusively in top-spec Essence trim. Technically, MG is still advertising the MY24 MG 5 on its website, indicating there's still stock of the pre-update model. However, while the MY24 MG 5 lineup opened with a base Vibe powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the MY25 MG 5 is offered exclusively in Essence trim with a turbocharged 1.5-litre four. This wears a nationwide price tag of $32,990 drive-away, while MG is advertising MY24 MG 5 Essences at between $30,940 and $31,777 depending on the state/territory. The MY24 Vibe is priced between $26,900 and $27,609 drive-away. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new MG 5. Click here to get a great deal. Safety upgrades made for MY25 include the fitment of front and rear outboard seatbelt pre-tensioners, seatbelt reminders for all seats, and whiplash-resistant front and rear seats. The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system now includes pedestrian, cyclist and motorcycle detection, while adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and emergency lane-keep assist are newly fitted. There's also MG's Intelligent Cruise Assist, which combines adaptive cruise and lane-keep functions. The safety upgrades were sufficient to net the updated MG 5 a three-star ANCAP rating, up from its previous zero-star result. Visually and mechanically, there are no changes to the MG 5 for MY25. A facelifted model has been launched in China, but has yet to be confirmed for Australia. The naturally aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine has been axed. Despite having significantly less power and torque (84kW and 150Nm), it had a higher claimed fuel consumption (6.6L/100km). The MG 5 is offered in a single four-door sedan body style. It rides on MacPherson strut front suspension, with a torsion beam at the rear. The MG 5 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. If you service your vehicle within the MG network, this is extended to 10 years or 250,000km. Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km. After it received a zero-star safety rating from ANCAP in 2023, MG made safety upgrades to the MG 5. It was re-tested in 2025, and received a substantially better three-star rating. Standard safety equipment includes: In terms of active safety systems, the MG 5 still lacks blind-spot monitoring and any kind of driver monitoring system. There's also no reverse AEB or rear cross-traffic alert/assist system. The MG 5 Essence comes standard with the following equipment: Only a black interior is offered. Dover White and Royal Yellow are the standard exterior paint finishes, with Black Pearl, Misty Grey and Diamond Red metallic finishes costing an extra $700. Brixton Blue premium paint has been discontinued. MORE: Explore the MG 5 showroom Content originally sourced from:
The Advertiser
18 hours ago
- The Advertiser
How Honda's hybrid can save you time and money
SPONSORED It's been a necessary evil since the birth of the automobile, but does anyone actually enjoy going to the petrol station? Treading on a sticky, diesel-coated forecourt is hardly a red carpet or even a warm welcome mat, and feeling your wallet shrink at the same rate as your fuel tank when filling up isn't a great experience either. Then there's the endless temptation of shiny, sugary treats at the counter, shouting at you to spend even more money. Or the lukewarm yellow food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for God only knows how long. Sure, petrol stations are convenient, and refuelling is quicker than recharging an electric car, but what if there was a way you could visit them less often – like your dentist – to save you both time and money. Sounds good, right? CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Honda Civic. Click here to get a great deal. Well you can, simply by choosing a more efficient car like a hybrid, which combines a lean-burning petrol engine with an electric motor to help reduce fuel consumption. Now, before you run to the dealership to trade-in your old gas-guzzler, not all hybrids are created equal, and some do a better job than others at saving fuel in different driving scenarios. As a general rule though, hybrids provide significant advantages in urban areas where the electric motor does more of the heavy-lifting in stop-start traffic than it does beyond the city limits at highway speeds. So, if you're mostly bound by the suburbs then a hybrid is an ideal fuel-saving solution. To test this out, we set up an experiment with the latest Honda Civic e:HEV, which features one of the most advanced conventional hybrid powertrains available today, to see how long we could avoid a petrol station, and therefore how far we could travel on a single tank of fuel exclusively in urban traffic by replicating the average Australian daily commute. On that topic, according to the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) taken in 2021, more than half (53.1%) of working Australians drive a vehicle to work every day. This, however, is likely to be an anomaly as the ABS recognised the 2021 data is the lowest figure in 40 years, and significantly less than the highest 63 per cent result from the previous 2016 census, most likely due to the dramatic rise in stay-at-home work that was in place during the COVID crisis at the time. Either way, it's clear that the majority of Australians use a vehicle to get to work every day, with twice as many (6.4 million) vehicles on our roads in 2021 than there were in 1981 (3.2 million). According to the same census data, the national average commute from home to work is 16.5km each way, with drivers spending a total of 48 minutes behind the wheel every weekday. With all of that in mind, we set up a daily schedule to complete a consistent loop during peak-hour traffic between 4:30pm and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, which included a broad range of urban driving conditions. The route measured a total of 32.1km – replicating that average daily commuting figure – starting from the suburbs before heading into the CBD and back, taking in arterial roads with an 80km/h speed, suburban streets with 60km/h and 50km/h limits, and dense urban streets with a maximum speed of 40km/h. Across that distance, there was a total of 49 traffic lights, seven roundabouts and four stop-sign intersections. So, there were plenty of stop-start events. As for the car itself, the Honda Civic is now exclusively available as hybrid model, with two variant choices: the entry-level L we're using for this test, which costs $47,990 drive-away, and the flagship LX that commands a $6000 premium in exchange for extra features. Both model grades share the same high-tech hybrid powertrain, which links a lean-burning 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine with a CVT automatic transmission that incorporates a pair of electric motors; one that is primarily used a generator to recharge the 1.0kWh lithium-ion battery mounted under the rear seats, and a more powerful traction motor that assists the petrol engine when driving. The engine alone generates 105kW of power and 186Nm of torque, and while Honda does not quote separate outputs for the electric motors like other automakers, its says the powertrain has a combined maximum power output of 135kW and 315Nm of torque. In most situations, the powertrain acts like a regular series-parallel hybrid with the primary electric motor used to get things moving away from a standstill, before the petrol engine chimes in and they work together. The generator unit is used to recharge the battery pack through regenerative braking and under deceleration, but it can also reverse its flow and provide additional power under heavy acceleration. However, unlike some other systems, the Honda can also decouple the petrol engine at cruising speeds and run entirely on electricity. Now, because the battery capacity is reasonably small, it can't do this for long durations like a plug-in hybrid would. But it does make a significant improvement to its fuel consumption, as Honda claims an average fuel consumption of just 4.2L/100km. With a 40-litre fuel tank, that should deliver a theoretical driving distance of around 950km between refills, which means it would take almost six weeks of Monday-to-Friday commuting before we needed to visit a petrol station again. Sounds too good to be true. However, when filling the Civic for the first time, and resetting the trip computer, its digital dashboard indicated I could travel 752km on a single tank, which seems a little more realistic. So, with that, let the experiment begin. Thankfully, the latest 11-generation Honda Civic is a very nice car to spend a lot of time in thanks to a spacious and comfortable cabin that is equipped with the latest in digital conveniences. From the driver's point of view, the cloth-trimmed seat has plenty of adjustment to suit all types of drivers and is both sumptuous in its cushioning and supportive in its bolstering. In fact, the Civic is a high-water mark for comfort in the small-car class. On top of that, there's excellent vision through the glasshouse, the large wing mirrors provide a wide view to adjacent traffic (which is always good in heavy traffic), and the three-spoke steering wheel falls nicely to hand with a logical array of fingertip controls (all the audio settings are on the left side and the cruise control is on the right). Plus, it is heated which makes for a nice way to start on a chilly winter's morning. The digital instrument cluster is also easy to read due to crisp, clean graphics that include a traditional speedometer on the right and a power meter on the left, which makes it easy to monitor when the powertrain is drawing from or replenishing the battery. If you're interested, that is quite literally the only way you can tell when the petrol engine is active as the transition from electric to hybrid power is totally seamless. Unlike other hybrids, in which it is obvious when the petrol engine comes to life – either through a jerky motion, more sudden acceleration or audibly – the Civic's engine is supremely quiet and smooth. And it also feels punchier than its power outputs suggest, with instant response and decent acceleration when you mash the throttle pedal from any speed, which we did on several occasions during this experiment. In fact, we didn't lightfoot the Civic at all, as it was important to replicate normal driving behaviour during this experiment. We also used its dual-zone climate control system the whole time and tapped into the wireless Apple CarPlay via its 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display to listen to music or podcasts for entertainment – just as you would normally. The end result took longer than we anticipated. After driving the same loop at the same time every day during the working week, we covered just over 700km before the fuel light came on. And we still had more than 50km of driving range available before it was completely empty. In total, it took 21 days, and 13.5 hours, of driving at an average speed of just under 50km/h to achieve a final fuel consumption figure of 4.4L/100km, which is pretty close to Honda's claimed figure. So, that equals a full month between visits to the petrol station for the average Australian if you just drive to work and back. It would be even longer if you live closer or had less congested traffic. If you calculate that out, with the current price of standard unleaded petrol, it costs around $800 a year for fuel to run the Civic Hybrid, which is peanuts. And considering Honda only charges $199 for each annual service, that makes it even more attractive. So, if you want to steer clear of petrol stations more often, the latest petrol-electric powertrains like the one in the Honda Civic e:HEV are proof that fuel-saving technology also saves you time and money. MORE: Everything Honda Content originally sourced from: SPONSORED It's been a necessary evil since the birth of the automobile, but does anyone actually enjoy going to the petrol station? Treading on a sticky, diesel-coated forecourt is hardly a red carpet or even a warm welcome mat, and feeling your wallet shrink at the same rate as your fuel tank when filling up isn't a great experience either. Then there's the endless temptation of shiny, sugary treats at the counter, shouting at you to spend even more money. Or the lukewarm yellow food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for God only knows how long. Sure, petrol stations are convenient, and refuelling is quicker than recharging an electric car, but what if there was a way you could visit them less often – like your dentist – to save you both time and money. Sounds good, right? CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Honda Civic. Click here to get a great deal. Well you can, simply by choosing a more efficient car like a hybrid, which combines a lean-burning petrol engine with an electric motor to help reduce fuel consumption. Now, before you run to the dealership to trade-in your old gas-guzzler, not all hybrids are created equal, and some do a better job than others at saving fuel in different driving scenarios. As a general rule though, hybrids provide significant advantages in urban areas where the electric motor does more of the heavy-lifting in stop-start traffic than it does beyond the city limits at highway speeds. So, if you're mostly bound by the suburbs then a hybrid is an ideal fuel-saving solution. To test this out, we set up an experiment with the latest Honda Civic e:HEV, which features one of the most advanced conventional hybrid powertrains available today, to see how long we could avoid a petrol station, and therefore how far we could travel on a single tank of fuel exclusively in urban traffic by replicating the average Australian daily commute. On that topic, according to the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) taken in 2021, more than half (53.1%) of working Australians drive a vehicle to work every day. This, however, is likely to be an anomaly as the ABS recognised the 2021 data is the lowest figure in 40 years, and significantly less than the highest 63 per cent result from the previous 2016 census, most likely due to the dramatic rise in stay-at-home work that was in place during the COVID crisis at the time. Either way, it's clear that the majority of Australians use a vehicle to get to work every day, with twice as many (6.4 million) vehicles on our roads in 2021 than there were in 1981 (3.2 million). According to the same census data, the national average commute from home to work is 16.5km each way, with drivers spending a total of 48 minutes behind the wheel every weekday. With all of that in mind, we set up a daily schedule to complete a consistent loop during peak-hour traffic between 4:30pm and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, which included a broad range of urban driving conditions. The route measured a total of 32.1km – replicating that average daily commuting figure – starting from the suburbs before heading into the CBD and back, taking in arterial roads with an 80km/h speed, suburban streets with 60km/h and 50km/h limits, and dense urban streets with a maximum speed of 40km/h. Across that distance, there was a total of 49 traffic lights, seven roundabouts and four stop-sign intersections. So, there were plenty of stop-start events. As for the car itself, the Honda Civic is now exclusively available as hybrid model, with two variant choices: the entry-level L we're using for this test, which costs $47,990 drive-away, and the flagship LX that commands a $6000 premium in exchange for extra features. Both model grades share the same high-tech hybrid powertrain, which links a lean-burning 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine with a CVT automatic transmission that incorporates a pair of electric motors; one that is primarily used a generator to recharge the 1.0kWh lithium-ion battery mounted under the rear seats, and a more powerful traction motor that assists the petrol engine when driving. The engine alone generates 105kW of power and 186Nm of torque, and while Honda does not quote separate outputs for the electric motors like other automakers, its says the powertrain has a combined maximum power output of 135kW and 315Nm of torque. In most situations, the powertrain acts like a regular series-parallel hybrid with the primary electric motor used to get things moving away from a standstill, before the petrol engine chimes in and they work together. The generator unit is used to recharge the battery pack through regenerative braking and under deceleration, but it can also reverse its flow and provide additional power under heavy acceleration. However, unlike some other systems, the Honda can also decouple the petrol engine at cruising speeds and run entirely on electricity. Now, because the battery capacity is reasonably small, it can't do this for long durations like a plug-in hybrid would. But it does make a significant improvement to its fuel consumption, as Honda claims an average fuel consumption of just 4.2L/100km. With a 40-litre fuel tank, that should deliver a theoretical driving distance of around 950km between refills, which means it would take almost six weeks of Monday-to-Friday commuting before we needed to visit a petrol station again. Sounds too good to be true. However, when filling the Civic for the first time, and resetting the trip computer, its digital dashboard indicated I could travel 752km on a single tank, which seems a little more realistic. So, with that, let the experiment begin. Thankfully, the latest 11-generation Honda Civic is a very nice car to spend a lot of time in thanks to a spacious and comfortable cabin that is equipped with the latest in digital conveniences. From the driver's point of view, the cloth-trimmed seat has plenty of adjustment to suit all types of drivers and is both sumptuous in its cushioning and supportive in its bolstering. In fact, the Civic is a high-water mark for comfort in the small-car class. On top of that, there's excellent vision through the glasshouse, the large wing mirrors provide a wide view to adjacent traffic (which is always good in heavy traffic), and the three-spoke steering wheel falls nicely to hand with a logical array of fingertip controls (all the audio settings are on the left side and the cruise control is on the right). Plus, it is heated which makes for a nice way to start on a chilly winter's morning. The digital instrument cluster is also easy to read due to crisp, clean graphics that include a traditional speedometer on the right and a power meter on the left, which makes it easy to monitor when the powertrain is drawing from or replenishing the battery. If you're interested, that is quite literally the only way you can tell when the petrol engine is active as the transition from electric to hybrid power is totally seamless. Unlike other hybrids, in which it is obvious when the petrol engine comes to life – either through a jerky motion, more sudden acceleration or audibly – the Civic's engine is supremely quiet and smooth. And it also feels punchier than its power outputs suggest, with instant response and decent acceleration when you mash the throttle pedal from any speed, which we did on several occasions during this experiment. In fact, we didn't lightfoot the Civic at all, as it was important to replicate normal driving behaviour during this experiment. We also used its dual-zone climate control system the whole time and tapped into the wireless Apple CarPlay via its 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display to listen to music or podcasts for entertainment – just as you would normally. The end result took longer than we anticipated. After driving the same loop at the same time every day during the working week, we covered just over 700km before the fuel light came on. And we still had more than 50km of driving range available before it was completely empty. In total, it took 21 days, and 13.5 hours, of driving at an average speed of just under 50km/h to achieve a final fuel consumption figure of 4.4L/100km, which is pretty close to Honda's claimed figure. So, that equals a full month between visits to the petrol station for the average Australian if you just drive to work and back. It would be even longer if you live closer or had less congested traffic. If you calculate that out, with the current price of standard unleaded petrol, it costs around $800 a year for fuel to run the Civic Hybrid, which is peanuts. And considering Honda only charges $199 for each annual service, that makes it even more attractive. So, if you want to steer clear of petrol stations more often, the latest petrol-electric powertrains like the one in the Honda Civic e:HEV are proof that fuel-saving technology also saves you time and money. MORE: Everything Honda Content originally sourced from: SPONSORED It's been a necessary evil since the birth of the automobile, but does anyone actually enjoy going to the petrol station? Treading on a sticky, diesel-coated forecourt is hardly a red carpet or even a warm welcome mat, and feeling your wallet shrink at the same rate as your fuel tank when filling up isn't a great experience either. Then there's the endless temptation of shiny, sugary treats at the counter, shouting at you to spend even more money. Or the lukewarm yellow food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for God only knows how long. Sure, petrol stations are convenient, and refuelling is quicker than recharging an electric car, but what if there was a way you could visit them less often – like your dentist – to save you both time and money. Sounds good, right? CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Honda Civic. Click here to get a great deal. Well you can, simply by choosing a more efficient car like a hybrid, which combines a lean-burning petrol engine with an electric motor to help reduce fuel consumption. Now, before you run to the dealership to trade-in your old gas-guzzler, not all hybrids are created equal, and some do a better job than others at saving fuel in different driving scenarios. As a general rule though, hybrids provide significant advantages in urban areas where the electric motor does more of the heavy-lifting in stop-start traffic than it does beyond the city limits at highway speeds. So, if you're mostly bound by the suburbs then a hybrid is an ideal fuel-saving solution. To test this out, we set up an experiment with the latest Honda Civic e:HEV, which features one of the most advanced conventional hybrid powertrains available today, to see how long we could avoid a petrol station, and therefore how far we could travel on a single tank of fuel exclusively in urban traffic by replicating the average Australian daily commute. On that topic, according to the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) taken in 2021, more than half (53.1%) of working Australians drive a vehicle to work every day. This, however, is likely to be an anomaly as the ABS recognised the 2021 data is the lowest figure in 40 years, and significantly less than the highest 63 per cent result from the previous 2016 census, most likely due to the dramatic rise in stay-at-home work that was in place during the COVID crisis at the time. Either way, it's clear that the majority of Australians use a vehicle to get to work every day, with twice as many (6.4 million) vehicles on our roads in 2021 than there were in 1981 (3.2 million). According to the same census data, the national average commute from home to work is 16.5km each way, with drivers spending a total of 48 minutes behind the wheel every weekday. With all of that in mind, we set up a daily schedule to complete a consistent loop during peak-hour traffic between 4:30pm and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, which included a broad range of urban driving conditions. The route measured a total of 32.1km – replicating that average daily commuting figure – starting from the suburbs before heading into the CBD and back, taking in arterial roads with an 80km/h speed, suburban streets with 60km/h and 50km/h limits, and dense urban streets with a maximum speed of 40km/h. Across that distance, there was a total of 49 traffic lights, seven roundabouts and four stop-sign intersections. So, there were plenty of stop-start events. As for the car itself, the Honda Civic is now exclusively available as hybrid model, with two variant choices: the entry-level L we're using for this test, which costs $47,990 drive-away, and the flagship LX that commands a $6000 premium in exchange for extra features. Both model grades share the same high-tech hybrid powertrain, which links a lean-burning 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine with a CVT automatic transmission that incorporates a pair of electric motors; one that is primarily used a generator to recharge the 1.0kWh lithium-ion battery mounted under the rear seats, and a more powerful traction motor that assists the petrol engine when driving. The engine alone generates 105kW of power and 186Nm of torque, and while Honda does not quote separate outputs for the electric motors like other automakers, its says the powertrain has a combined maximum power output of 135kW and 315Nm of torque. In most situations, the powertrain acts like a regular series-parallel hybrid with the primary electric motor used to get things moving away from a standstill, before the petrol engine chimes in and they work together. The generator unit is used to recharge the battery pack through regenerative braking and under deceleration, but it can also reverse its flow and provide additional power under heavy acceleration. However, unlike some other systems, the Honda can also decouple the petrol engine at cruising speeds and run entirely on electricity. Now, because the battery capacity is reasonably small, it can't do this for long durations like a plug-in hybrid would. But it does make a significant improvement to its fuel consumption, as Honda claims an average fuel consumption of just 4.2L/100km. With a 40-litre fuel tank, that should deliver a theoretical driving distance of around 950km between refills, which means it would take almost six weeks of Monday-to-Friday commuting before we needed to visit a petrol station again. Sounds too good to be true. However, when filling the Civic for the first time, and resetting the trip computer, its digital dashboard indicated I could travel 752km on a single tank, which seems a little more realistic. So, with that, let the experiment begin. Thankfully, the latest 11-generation Honda Civic is a very nice car to spend a lot of time in thanks to a spacious and comfortable cabin that is equipped with the latest in digital conveniences. From the driver's point of view, the cloth-trimmed seat has plenty of adjustment to suit all types of drivers and is both sumptuous in its cushioning and supportive in its bolstering. In fact, the Civic is a high-water mark for comfort in the small-car class. On top of that, there's excellent vision through the glasshouse, the large wing mirrors provide a wide view to adjacent traffic (which is always good in heavy traffic), and the three-spoke steering wheel falls nicely to hand with a logical array of fingertip controls (all the audio settings are on the left side and the cruise control is on the right). Plus, it is heated which makes for a nice way to start on a chilly winter's morning. The digital instrument cluster is also easy to read due to crisp, clean graphics that include a traditional speedometer on the right and a power meter on the left, which makes it easy to monitor when the powertrain is drawing from or replenishing the battery. If you're interested, that is quite literally the only way you can tell when the petrol engine is active as the transition from electric to hybrid power is totally seamless. Unlike other hybrids, in which it is obvious when the petrol engine comes to life – either through a jerky motion, more sudden acceleration or audibly – the Civic's engine is supremely quiet and smooth. And it also feels punchier than its power outputs suggest, with instant response and decent acceleration when you mash the throttle pedal from any speed, which we did on several occasions during this experiment. In fact, we didn't lightfoot the Civic at all, as it was important to replicate normal driving behaviour during this experiment. We also used its dual-zone climate control system the whole time and tapped into the wireless Apple CarPlay via its 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display to listen to music or podcasts for entertainment – just as you would normally. The end result took longer than we anticipated. After driving the same loop at the same time every day during the working week, we covered just over 700km before the fuel light came on. And we still had more than 50km of driving range available before it was completely empty. In total, it took 21 days, and 13.5 hours, of driving at an average speed of just under 50km/h to achieve a final fuel consumption figure of 4.4L/100km, which is pretty close to Honda's claimed figure. So, that equals a full month between visits to the petrol station for the average Australian if you just drive to work and back. It would be even longer if you live closer or had less congested traffic. If you calculate that out, with the current price of standard unleaded petrol, it costs around $800 a year for fuel to run the Civic Hybrid, which is peanuts. And considering Honda only charges $199 for each annual service, that makes it even more attractive. So, if you want to steer clear of petrol stations more often, the latest petrol-electric powertrains like the one in the Honda Civic e:HEV are proof that fuel-saving technology also saves you time and money. MORE: Everything Honda Content originally sourced from: SPONSORED It's been a necessary evil since the birth of the automobile, but does anyone actually enjoy going to the petrol station? Treading on a sticky, diesel-coated forecourt is hardly a red carpet or even a warm welcome mat, and feeling your wallet shrink at the same rate as your fuel tank when filling up isn't a great experience either. Then there's the endless temptation of shiny, sugary treats at the counter, shouting at you to spend even more money. Or the lukewarm yellow food that's been sitting under a heat lamp for God only knows how long. Sure, petrol stations are convenient, and refuelling is quicker than recharging an electric car, but what if there was a way you could visit them less often – like your dentist – to save you both time and money. Sounds good, right? CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Honda Civic. Click here to get a great deal. Well you can, simply by choosing a more efficient car like a hybrid, which combines a lean-burning petrol engine with an electric motor to help reduce fuel consumption. Now, before you run to the dealership to trade-in your old gas-guzzler, not all hybrids are created equal, and some do a better job than others at saving fuel in different driving scenarios. As a general rule though, hybrids provide significant advantages in urban areas where the electric motor does more of the heavy-lifting in stop-start traffic than it does beyond the city limits at highway speeds. So, if you're mostly bound by the suburbs then a hybrid is an ideal fuel-saving solution. To test this out, we set up an experiment with the latest Honda Civic e:HEV, which features one of the most advanced conventional hybrid powertrains available today, to see how long we could avoid a petrol station, and therefore how far we could travel on a single tank of fuel exclusively in urban traffic by replicating the average Australian daily commute. On that topic, according to the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) taken in 2021, more than half (53.1%) of working Australians drive a vehicle to work every day. This, however, is likely to be an anomaly as the ABS recognised the 2021 data is the lowest figure in 40 years, and significantly less than the highest 63 per cent result from the previous 2016 census, most likely due to the dramatic rise in stay-at-home work that was in place during the COVID crisis at the time. Either way, it's clear that the majority of Australians use a vehicle to get to work every day, with twice as many (6.4 million) vehicles on our roads in 2021 than there were in 1981 (3.2 million). According to the same census data, the national average commute from home to work is 16.5km each way, with drivers spending a total of 48 minutes behind the wheel every weekday. With all of that in mind, we set up a daily schedule to complete a consistent loop during peak-hour traffic between 4:30pm and 6:00pm Monday to Friday, which included a broad range of urban driving conditions. The route measured a total of 32.1km – replicating that average daily commuting figure – starting from the suburbs before heading into the CBD and back, taking in arterial roads with an 80km/h speed, suburban streets with 60km/h and 50km/h limits, and dense urban streets with a maximum speed of 40km/h. Across that distance, there was a total of 49 traffic lights, seven roundabouts and four stop-sign intersections. So, there were plenty of stop-start events. As for the car itself, the Honda Civic is now exclusively available as hybrid model, with two variant choices: the entry-level L we're using for this test, which costs $47,990 drive-away, and the flagship LX that commands a $6000 premium in exchange for extra features. Both model grades share the same high-tech hybrid powertrain, which links a lean-burning 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder engine with a CVT automatic transmission that incorporates a pair of electric motors; one that is primarily used a generator to recharge the 1.0kWh lithium-ion battery mounted under the rear seats, and a more powerful traction motor that assists the petrol engine when driving. The engine alone generates 105kW of power and 186Nm of torque, and while Honda does not quote separate outputs for the electric motors like other automakers, its says the powertrain has a combined maximum power output of 135kW and 315Nm of torque. In most situations, the powertrain acts like a regular series-parallel hybrid with the primary electric motor used to get things moving away from a standstill, before the petrol engine chimes in and they work together. The generator unit is used to recharge the battery pack through regenerative braking and under deceleration, but it can also reverse its flow and provide additional power under heavy acceleration. However, unlike some other systems, the Honda can also decouple the petrol engine at cruising speeds and run entirely on electricity. Now, because the battery capacity is reasonably small, it can't do this for long durations like a plug-in hybrid would. But it does make a significant improvement to its fuel consumption, as Honda claims an average fuel consumption of just 4.2L/100km. With a 40-litre fuel tank, that should deliver a theoretical driving distance of around 950km between refills, which means it would take almost six weeks of Monday-to-Friday commuting before we needed to visit a petrol station again. Sounds too good to be true. However, when filling the Civic for the first time, and resetting the trip computer, its digital dashboard indicated I could travel 752km on a single tank, which seems a little more realistic. So, with that, let the experiment begin. Thankfully, the latest 11-generation Honda Civic is a very nice car to spend a lot of time in thanks to a spacious and comfortable cabin that is equipped with the latest in digital conveniences. From the driver's point of view, the cloth-trimmed seat has plenty of adjustment to suit all types of drivers and is both sumptuous in its cushioning and supportive in its bolstering. In fact, the Civic is a high-water mark for comfort in the small-car class. On top of that, there's excellent vision through the glasshouse, the large wing mirrors provide a wide view to adjacent traffic (which is always good in heavy traffic), and the three-spoke steering wheel falls nicely to hand with a logical array of fingertip controls (all the audio settings are on the left side and the cruise control is on the right). Plus, it is heated which makes for a nice way to start on a chilly winter's morning. The digital instrument cluster is also easy to read due to crisp, clean graphics that include a traditional speedometer on the right and a power meter on the left, which makes it easy to monitor when the powertrain is drawing from or replenishing the battery. If you're interested, that is quite literally the only way you can tell when the petrol engine is active as the transition from electric to hybrid power is totally seamless. Unlike other hybrids, in which it is obvious when the petrol engine comes to life – either through a jerky motion, more sudden acceleration or audibly – the Civic's engine is supremely quiet and smooth. And it also feels punchier than its power outputs suggest, with instant response and decent acceleration when you mash the throttle pedal from any speed, which we did on several occasions during this experiment. In fact, we didn't lightfoot the Civic at all, as it was important to replicate normal driving behaviour during this experiment. We also used its dual-zone climate control system the whole time and tapped into the wireless Apple CarPlay via its 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display to listen to music or podcasts for entertainment – just as you would normally. The end result took longer than we anticipated. After driving the same loop at the same time every day during the working week, we covered just over 700km before the fuel light came on. And we still had more than 50km of driving range available before it was completely empty. In total, it took 21 days, and 13.5 hours, of driving at an average speed of just under 50km/h to achieve a final fuel consumption figure of 4.4L/100km, which is pretty close to Honda's claimed figure. So, that equals a full month between visits to the petrol station for the average Australian if you just drive to work and back. It would be even longer if you live closer or had less congested traffic. If you calculate that out, with the current price of standard unleaded petrol, it costs around $800 a year for fuel to run the Civic Hybrid, which is peanuts. And considering Honda only charges $199 for each annual service, that makes it even more attractive. So, if you want to steer clear of petrol stations more often, the latest petrol-electric powertrains like the one in the Honda Civic e:HEV are proof that fuel-saving technology also saves you time and money. MORE: Everything Honda Content originally sourced from:
The Advertiser
18 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Why Chery Australia is bringing its Toyota Kluger rival with only PHEV power
Chery Australia has just launched Super Hybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of its previously petrol-only Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs, and now the next model in the lineup is set to go without petrol options altogether. The Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is due in Australia in the third quarter (July to September) of 2025, and it has now been confirmed that it will only be available in this PHEV guise – a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol powertrain, available overseas, won't be offered here at launch. Speaking at the local launch for the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 Super Hybrids, Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris confirmed to CarExpert that the brand will "only introduce the Super Hybrid variant of Tiggo 9" and outlined several reasons why. "Frankly, I think it's a better car. We, as a global business, are much more focused on moving towards new energy, which is obviously Super Hybrid and BEV (battery-electric vehicle)," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. "The Super Hybrid Tiggo 9 performance is exceptional, I think we'll be able to price it – like our other products – very competitively, and to be able to deliver great value. "I'm just not sure that in our lineup, if you look at all the way from Tiggo 4 right through to Tiggo 9, it doesn't make sense in that lineup to introduce an [internal combustion] Tiggo 9." Chery Australia hasn't confirmed performance, range or economy figures, but has confirmed the local Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid will use a turbo 1.5-litre engine mated with a three-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission, like the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8. For context, the petrol powertrain available overseas features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, paired with an eight-speed Aisin automatic transmission, with drive sent to all four wheels. "If we were to introduce [the petrol] hypothetically, it probably would end up being priced very similarly to a Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid, for example," Mr Harris told CarExpert. "In which case, it doesn't make much sense, and the driving experience in those Super Hybrids is just so much better than any ICE vehicle. I just don't think it would add any depth to the product range by offering too many models." Pricing for the Tiggo 9 has yet to be confirmed, though the smaller Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is priced from $45,990 to $49,990 drive-away. The Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is therefore expected to be more expensive, likely around $55,000, although it could still significantly undercut rivals such as the Mazda CX-80 P50e (priced from $76,245 before on-roads) and the Kia Sorento PHEV (from $84,660 before on-roads). MORE: Chery taking on Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-80 with new plug-in hybrid large SUV MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery Australia has just launched Super Hybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of its previously petrol-only Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs, and now the next model in the lineup is set to go without petrol options altogether. The Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is due in Australia in the third quarter (July to September) of 2025, and it has now been confirmed that it will only be available in this PHEV guise – a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol powertrain, available overseas, won't be offered here at launch. Speaking at the local launch for the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 Super Hybrids, Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris confirmed to CarExpert that the brand will "only introduce the Super Hybrid variant of Tiggo 9" and outlined several reasons why. "Frankly, I think it's a better car. We, as a global business, are much more focused on moving towards new energy, which is obviously Super Hybrid and BEV (battery-electric vehicle)," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. "The Super Hybrid Tiggo 9 performance is exceptional, I think we'll be able to price it – like our other products – very competitively, and to be able to deliver great value. "I'm just not sure that in our lineup, if you look at all the way from Tiggo 4 right through to Tiggo 9, it doesn't make sense in that lineup to introduce an [internal combustion] Tiggo 9." Chery Australia hasn't confirmed performance, range or economy figures, but has confirmed the local Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid will use a turbo 1.5-litre engine mated with a three-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission, like the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8. For context, the petrol powertrain available overseas features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, paired with an eight-speed Aisin automatic transmission, with drive sent to all four wheels. "If we were to introduce [the petrol] hypothetically, it probably would end up being priced very similarly to a Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid, for example," Mr Harris told CarExpert. "In which case, it doesn't make much sense, and the driving experience in those Super Hybrids is just so much better than any ICE vehicle. I just don't think it would add any depth to the product range by offering too many models." Pricing for the Tiggo 9 has yet to be confirmed, though the smaller Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is priced from $45,990 to $49,990 drive-away. The Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is therefore expected to be more expensive, likely around $55,000, although it could still significantly undercut rivals such as the Mazda CX-80 P50e (priced from $76,245 before on-roads) and the Kia Sorento PHEV (from $84,660 before on-roads). MORE: Chery taking on Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-80 with new plug-in hybrid large SUV MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery Australia has just launched Super Hybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of its previously petrol-only Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs, and now the next model in the lineup is set to go without petrol options altogether. The Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is due in Australia in the third quarter (July to September) of 2025, and it has now been confirmed that it will only be available in this PHEV guise – a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol powertrain, available overseas, won't be offered here at launch. Speaking at the local launch for the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 Super Hybrids, Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris confirmed to CarExpert that the brand will "only introduce the Super Hybrid variant of Tiggo 9" and outlined several reasons why. "Frankly, I think it's a better car. We, as a global business, are much more focused on moving towards new energy, which is obviously Super Hybrid and BEV (battery-electric vehicle)," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. "The Super Hybrid Tiggo 9 performance is exceptional, I think we'll be able to price it – like our other products – very competitively, and to be able to deliver great value. "I'm just not sure that in our lineup, if you look at all the way from Tiggo 4 right through to Tiggo 9, it doesn't make sense in that lineup to introduce an [internal combustion] Tiggo 9." Chery Australia hasn't confirmed performance, range or economy figures, but has confirmed the local Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid will use a turbo 1.5-litre engine mated with a three-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission, like the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8. For context, the petrol powertrain available overseas features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, paired with an eight-speed Aisin automatic transmission, with drive sent to all four wheels. "If we were to introduce [the petrol] hypothetically, it probably would end up being priced very similarly to a Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid, for example," Mr Harris told CarExpert. "In which case, it doesn't make much sense, and the driving experience in those Super Hybrids is just so much better than any ICE vehicle. I just don't think it would add any depth to the product range by offering too many models." Pricing for the Tiggo 9 has yet to be confirmed, though the smaller Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is priced from $45,990 to $49,990 drive-away. The Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is therefore expected to be more expensive, likely around $55,000, although it could still significantly undercut rivals such as the Mazda CX-80 P50e (priced from $76,245 before on-roads) and the Kia Sorento PHEV (from $84,660 before on-roads). MORE: Chery taking on Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-80 with new plug-in hybrid large SUV MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from: Chery Australia has just launched Super Hybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of its previously petrol-only Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 SUVs, and now the next model in the lineup is set to go without petrol options altogether. The Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is due in Australia in the third quarter (July to September) of 2025, and it has now been confirmed that it will only be available in this PHEV guise – a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol powertrain, available overseas, won't be offered here at launch. Speaking at the local launch for the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 Super Hybrids, Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris confirmed to CarExpert that the brand will "only introduce the Super Hybrid variant of Tiggo 9" and outlined several reasons why. "Frankly, I think it's a better car. We, as a global business, are much more focused on moving towards new energy, which is obviously Super Hybrid and BEV (battery-electric vehicle)," he said. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. "The Super Hybrid Tiggo 9 performance is exceptional, I think we'll be able to price it – like our other products – very competitively, and to be able to deliver great value. "I'm just not sure that in our lineup, if you look at all the way from Tiggo 4 right through to Tiggo 9, it doesn't make sense in that lineup to introduce an [internal combustion] Tiggo 9." Chery Australia hasn't confirmed performance, range or economy figures, but has confirmed the local Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid will use a turbo 1.5-litre engine mated with a three-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission, like the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8. For context, the petrol powertrain available overseas features a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, paired with an eight-speed Aisin automatic transmission, with drive sent to all four wheels. "If we were to introduce [the petrol] hypothetically, it probably would end up being priced very similarly to a Tiggo 8 plug-in hybrid, for example," Mr Harris told CarExpert. "In which case, it doesn't make much sense, and the driving experience in those Super Hybrids is just so much better than any ICE vehicle. I just don't think it would add any depth to the product range by offering too many models." Pricing for the Tiggo 9 has yet to be confirmed, though the smaller Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid is priced from $45,990 to $49,990 drive-away. The Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid is therefore expected to be more expensive, likely around $55,000, although it could still significantly undercut rivals such as the Mazda CX-80 P50e (priced from $76,245 before on-roads) and the Kia Sorento PHEV (from $84,660 before on-roads). MORE: Chery taking on Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-80 with new plug-in hybrid large SUV MORE: Everything Chery Content originally sourced from:
