CarExpert Choice winner: Best EV
It beat out its Mini Countryman platform-mate, as well as the second finalist, the recently launched Kia EV3.
The iX1, BMW's most affordable electric vehicle (EV), was praised by the CarExpert panel for its slick technology and enjoyable driving dynamics.
The small SUV has a nimble feel despite its heavy battery pack underneath, while offering the instantaneous thrust expected of an EV.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
The iX1 isn't as spacious as a more affordable Tesla Model Y, but as expected of a BMW it has an upscale look and feel inside and out.
That also makes it a very accessible EV for buyers ditching their combustion-powered cars – this doesn't feel like a science experiment, it feels like a BMW.
As the all-electric version of the third-generation X1, the iX1 arrived in Australia in 2023, and was followed by a more coupe-styled sibling called the iX2.
The iX1 battles not only the likes of the Countryman, but also the Mercedes-Benz EQA and Volvo EX30 and EX40. Winner – BMW iX1
Finalist – Mini Countryman
Finalist – Kia EV3
MORE: Explore the BMW iX1 showroom
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Perth Now
an hour ago
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Why the West has lost to China
These last few weeks I have been driving around in the latest and greatest cars from a number of European and Japanese manufacturers, cars that cost anywhere between $50,000 to around $500,000. While they're exceedingly lovely and do so many things well, it became clear to me as I kept losing my cool at the poor implementation of basic technology and general automotive smarts, that there is now an almost generational gap between where the Chinese automakers are and where the Western and Japanese manufacturers sit. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Want your Apple CarPlay to work wirelessly without dropping out and driving you mad? Don't look to Europe. Want your infotainment system to look like something from this century? Don't look to Japan. Want the screen on your $200,000 European car to have the same quality and responsiveness as what you will find in a $30,000 MG, Chery, GWM etc? Look elsewhere. Want your reversing camera to be in high definition? Japan prefers it in 320p. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Want to be able to control a huge amount of your car remotely via an app that works? Best to look East (or at Chinese-made Teslas). If you're wondering what I'm talking about, because you have bought into the hysteria that Chinese cars are poorly made and unsafe, then you're living about a decade in the past. If you're in the market for a new car, and even if you have absolutely no intention of buying a Chinese car, I implore you to go and drive a few and take a look at the price, warranty, and build quality. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Play with the technology, look at all the things it can do and then come back to a known legacy brand and tell me with a straight face it's a better value for money or a superior technological proposition. Take a moment to realise that the phone, laptop, screen or whatever you are reading this on, is made in China – and soon, most cars will be too. Paul Maric and I recently had dinner with the CEO of a legacy manufacturer who flat-out admitted his company is decades behind and has no hope of catching up in the near future. His literal words were, 'We buried our heads in the sand and now it's too late.' How did we get here? Let's take a walk back in time. The Europeans have had almost 140 years of internal combustion engine, engineering and manufacturing excellence and know-how. The first Daimler/Mercedes vehicle was made in 1886. To say they had a first mover advantage with the automobile would be an understatement. Supplied Credit: CarExpert However, as is the nature of capitalism and short-term greed, most CEOs, executives, and shareholders tend to think only in the short term. There could be no more obvious example of this than the technology and knowledge transfer that has occurred from the West to China in the automotive sector. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) opened its market to Western car companies decades ago, they all rushed in like schoolchildren looking for free lollies and their personal mega-bonuses. However, there was a slight caveat: if you want to sell your product in China, you must form a 50:50 joint venture with a Chinese company. Which, coincidentally, is likely fully or partially owned by the CCP. You could almost imagine all the European CEOs smirking at the time, 'They will learn our ways, but I'm going to make so much money selling in China, I'll be long gone before that is an issue'. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Fast forward three or so decades, and here we are. The issue is clearly apparent if you are a shareholder in a legacy manufacturer in Europe or the United States. The Chinese have taken almost every single industrial, manufacturing, engineering and technological know-how from the West and now not only have similar, if not better, cars, excellent engineering, and know-how… but they have stopped desiring Western cars. In fact, they are actually making (arguably better for the money) cars for the Europeans under European brands! Tell that to someone in the late 1990s, and they would laugh at you. This whole shift of power to the East has been heavily aided by the electric vehicle revolution. You may have recently seen that several German automakers have joined forces to develop software together, a near-admission that if they don't respond to the technological Chinese threat faster, they're doomed. The Japanese, too, are in trouble, but at least they didn't take the initial bait as hard (arguably due to the poor social relations between the countries). Still, we're talking about an insular culture that invented the Walkman and then refused to adapt when MP3s and streaming became a thing. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Where the Chinese differ from the Japanese is their willingness to hire and bring in foreign experts – paying them huge sums of money – to improve their products. To really make a point, think about how many Western car brands the Japanese have bought versus how many the Chinese own? In many respects, the way the Japanese schooled the Americans and Europeans in the late 80s and early 90s when it came to quality and lean manufacturing, the Chinese are now doing on a global scale with respect to technology and electrification. Like my colleagues at CarExpert and across the industry, I attend many events where I get to speak to CEOs of many car companies and I get asked very frequently what I thought of their cars, and more often than not, my first response is 'have you driven a $30,000 Chinese car recently?' You know what? Most of them haven't, and the reason they haven't is because Europe and America have hefty tariffs to stop the Chinese from selling cars, which means most (but not all, with Ford's CEO Jim Farley being the most vocal exception) have no direct experience or idea of just how far behind they are. Australia is an incredibly unique market, where we have no meaningful tariffs and a low barrier to entry. This means that any manufacturer can easily set up shop in half a dozen key cities and experiment in our market. In fact, the aggression with which the Chinese have entered our market suggests to anyone with an economic mind that the goal here is not just profit, but to capture market share at the expense of legacy manufacturers. To drive them out and then, over time, raise prices. This is what China has achieved globally, encompassing everything from technology to core minerals. 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Perth Now
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Zeekr to build a Tesla-style charging network in Australia
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Man of Many
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2025 INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster Could Be the Blokiest Bloke Car, But Will Blokes Buy Them?
'You can't wash out the inside of your LandCruiser with a hose,' says Joe to a group of his mates as they sit around the campfire after a tough day out on the tracks. He's just spent the last 2 hours explaining why the Carraro solid beam axles, BMW engine, and ZF transmission in his INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster are tougher than Billy's 79 Series LandCruiser. In fact, in Joe's eyes, the only thing tougher than his truck is the case of mid-strength beer that 'big fella' Billy is sitting on. How that case of aluminium supports him, we'll never know. 'Your LandCruiser couldn't pull the skin off a custard,' Joe continues. 'You know, they took the best diesel engine in the world and put it in this truck.' 'Okay, enough about your INEOS,' replies Billy. I'm with him because I've spent enough time around these campfire conversations to know how this is exactly how it goes down. It's tough to own anything but a Nissan Patrol, Ford Ranger, or Toyota LandCruiser off-road. There's almost no convincing your mates that anything besides a Patrol or LandCruiser is fit for the job off-road, but that's exactly where INEOS wants to play with their heavy-duty INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster. Will it work? Well, they've had a very decent crack. I headed to the Victoria High Country to get behind the wheel and see for myself. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS What is the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster? It's tough as nails and comes with all of the good stuff, but there's no mistaking the INEOS as anything but the modern recreation of the Land Rover Defender. The company owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, tried to buy the rights to keep building the original Land Rover Defender before he ended up making one himself. JLR found enough time in the day to put down their colouring pencils, turn their focus away from the Type 00 Concept, and say no! Except, somewhere along the way, they missed the bit where they forgot to trademark the design of the Defender, so now we have a replica, but with tougher, better bits. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS JLR went so far as to take INEOS to court, but they dismissed the appeal of the U.K. Intellectual Property Office, saying that not everyone knows or cares what the original Defender looked like. But that's precisely the issue that INEOS might have fallen into. Not everyone cares or knows what the original Defender looked like… think about that for a second. The obsessed old-school Defenderphiles are in your ear telling you that JLR did them wrong, the dingo ate their baby, and now half of them have bought new Defenders and the other half have coughed up decent change and bought INEOS Grenadiers. Defender sold 3,209 units last year, 3,846 the year before, and their sales are up 34.5% YTD through June 2025. Someone misjudged how well the new, better Defender would sell, and when it's still supremely capable off-road, the writing seems to be on the wall for the INEOS Grenadier. Or is it?! INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS What Does the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster Cost? Warranty : five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty : five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty Service intervals : 12 months or 15,000km : 12 months or 15,000km Servicing costs: $4626 (diesel, 5 years), $4896 (petrol, 5 years) The writing would be on the wall for the INEOS Grenadier, except for the fact that they have a ute variant called the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster, which is priced on the market anywhere from AUD$90,000 drive-away to AUD$140,000 drive-away, depending on options and accessories. That puts it right up against the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, which is a cult-status vehicle that has been serving farmers and adventurers for nearly half a century. It's priced from AUD$83,500 plus on-road costs in GXL + Diff Locks, Diesel, 6 Speed Automatic grade. It's a tough ask, but if the Quartermaster can even chip away at a small portion of the 79 Series sales, they'll consider it a success. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS Why Would You Buy an INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster? You don't particularly like the Toyota LandCruiser and all of its 'quirks,' but you also want more power, more capability, and a more refined experience. Let's start with the engine because the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster is powered by one of the greatest diesel engines to ever be put in a vehicle. It uses the BMW-sourced B57 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo diesel engine that produces 183kW @ 3250–4200rpm and 550Nm @ 1250–3000rpm. Yes, that's down on power compared to some of the BMWs that it comes out of, but it's more than enough to propel the Quartermaster down that road and haul 3.5 tonnes of stuff behind it. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS Speaking of towing, this is an area where the Quartermaster excels, with 832kg of payload capacity, 3,550kg GVM, and a whopping 7,000kg GCM. Those numbers can only truly be matched by the 70 Series before you start looking at the full-size American pick-up trucks. Power is sent to the ground through the fantastic ZF 8-speed 8HP torque-converter automatic, before a Tremec two-speed transfer case takes that power and splits it through a central locking differential. Optional locking front and rear axle differentials are available. Heavy-duty Carraro solid beam live axles are found at the front and rear, while the suspension is a five-link coil-spring layout with Bilstein dampers and Eibach coils. I wasn't joking when I said it has all of the good stuff! INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS How Safe is the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster? There's only one thing that the Quartermaster is missing, really, and that's safety equipment. JLR had to stop making the old-school Defender because it couldn't meet the strict crash regulations, Toyota had to reclassify the 79 Series as a light truck for the same reasons, and the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster follows the same recipe. No ANCAP safety rating, no autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, or traffic sign recognition. You get six airbags, front park sensors (optional), electronic stability and traction control, trailer stability assist, rear park assist, tyre pressure monitoring, an immobiliser, a steering wheel, and convenience features like a rear-view camera, heated exterior mirrors, and heated windscreen washer jets that make the car easier to live with than an old-school Defender. We could spend more time on the lack of 'nanny state,' active safety systems that might save you when you're trying to figure out what all the buttons do. However, most people are fed up with all of these things, and Toyota doesn't offer them on the 79 Series, so we'll leave it there. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS What's the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster Like to Drive? The INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster is much nicer to drive than a dual-cab 70 Series Toyota LandCruiser, but that wasn't very hard. Honestly, I was expecting much worse from the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster. They hid this car away from the press for so long that I thought it was going to be awful, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. It's unfair to compare the ladder-frame architecture of the Quartermaster to a modern monocoque vehicle like the new Defender. Instead, I spent my time comparing it to its key rival in the 79 Series LandCruiser, which it does very well against. Yes, the steering is particularly vague on the freeway, but it's still better than the LandCruiser. Yes, the coil-sprung, live axle suspension crashes over bumps and bounces across undulations in the mid-corner more than a 300 Series, but it's still better than the leaf-sprung LandCruiser. On-road, the Quartermaster drives like a 2,700kg modified dual-cab ute, which is the nicest way to say that it's average, but not terrible. Off-road, it's a completely different story, however, and we spent most of our time exploring the tracks around Mt Buller in the Victorian High Country. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS Like only a Jeep Gladiator can, the Quartermaster gives you this constant feeling that you can't find a track tough enough to get stuck. On many occasions, I left the car in its basic off-road mode, with the centre differential locked, and never went anywhere near the double diff-locks that were available because the electronic traction control was so effective. When you're in 'Off-road mode,' the annoying bings and bongs turn off, including the door-chime, disables parking sensors, auto stop/start function, and seatbelt warnings, and this is a great addition for those who want to use this as their work truck. Things like 'Wading mode' are clever in stopping the fan from spinning when you're wading up to the maximum depth of 800mm. Like an old-school Defender, the transfer case allows you to cruise around in both high and low range with the centre diff unlocked, which makes it easy to park a trailer at the campground off-road. Still, the turning circle is not very good, which does make it difficult to navigate tighter tracks. We couldn't find a track on our trip that required both diff-locks, spotters, etc. although I hazard to guess that most INEOS owners won't spend as much time on 'Jeep tracks,' as Patrol and 80 Series LandCruiser owners do. That does ask one huge question of the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster. INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster | Image: Supplied / INEOS Who Should Buy the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster? This is the question that INEOS has to answer, and after spending a few days behind the wheel, I'm not sure that I have a straight answer for the Grenadier Quartermaster. It does enough on paper to convince an on-the-fence 79 Series LandCruiser owner that the half-century-old farm truck is a bit overpriced. It's more powerful, better equipped, and significantly more comfortable for long journeys around the country, but the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster can be $20,000-40,000 more expensive than the already expensive LandCruiser once you start ticking options boxes. The rebuttal to this is that 79 Series owners will often spend tens of thousands to upgrade their rig to modern standards with seats, coil conversions, and all of those things that the INEOS comes from the factory with, but that's half the fun. You could do the same with the Quartermaster, but expect to pay big money for it. Old-school Defender owners are few and far between in Australia, and the modern Defender sells extremely well, so there are few sales to be found here. Hardcore off-roaders would appreciate the diff-locks and long list of Off-road features, but it's too expensive to point at a particularly serious section of track, and those who can afford to do so are more interested in touring around the country with a van on the back. However, a 300 Series LandCruiser would do a better job at this. Overall, the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster impressed me, and if you're ready for a lap of the country and want to put a tray and canopy on the back filled with all of your stuff, this could be the best way to do it without spending thousands on upgrading the flaws of a 79 Series. You'll want to like the heavy-duty nature of a ladder-frame vehicle, you'll want to value off-road prowess over on-road performance, and you probably dislike 79 Series LandCruisers and full-size American pick-up trucks. It's a niche market, but that's entirely the point of a niche brand. Whether it's enough to stick around is a question for the bean counters.
