Hybrid Ford Ranger, Volvo scraps diesel and VW's new Tiguan | The CarExpert Podcast - video Dailymotion

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Want to meet the team? FREE tickets to the CarExpert Melbourne Showcase Event HERE: https://car.expert/melbourne-showcase-free-tickets  Sean and Scott are joined by news guru Jack Quick to chat about the demise of diesel Volvo's, Ford's hybrid Ranger and VW's new Tiguan.  Welcome to our new video podcast! While we've been publishing the CarExpert Podcast as an audio podcast for some time, we wanted to change things up with a video podcast! It’s hosted by Sean Lander (one of our videographers), resident CarExpert Scott Collie and our Social Media guru Jade Credentino.  Read Jack's VW T-roc review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2024-volkswagen-t-roc-citylife-review  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Volvo ditches diesel: 02:14 VW T-Roc/Tiguan: 11:57 Hybrid Ranger: 19:49 Picks of the week: 28:20 Outro: 33:17  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Sean and welcome to the Car Expert Podcast.

00:02 We've got a bit of a different show this week.

00:04 Jade's away, so we've got Jack Quick back on the couch.

00:06 He's filling in. How are you, Jack?

00:07 Hello, I'm good, thanks, Sean.

00:08 Thank you for having me yet again.

00:10 And hello to everyone at home.

00:11 Yeah, and a quick question, actually.

00:13 Sorry, I know you're trying to...

00:13 Well, Scott's here, so anyway.

00:15 Hello. Already interrupting, Sean.

00:17 Do you get out of the right lane after you've overtaken someone

00:20 or are you like Jade and do you hover in the right lane?

00:22 I get out of that right lane as soon as I can.

00:25 I am very diligent when it comes to that.

00:27 I hate when people do that.

00:28 So I try my best to not.

00:30 Either a good driver or watched our previous podcast.

00:33 I think let's go with he watched the previous one

00:35 and he's a good driver.

00:36 He did both and so should you.

00:38 Before we jump in, I actually just want to give a shout out.

00:40 A couple of weeks ago, we put a call out about

00:44 if anyone could do the math on how much fuel you could get

00:47 if you bought a Nissan Patrol over a Land Cruiser 300 series.

00:50 Bailey Young on YouTube came to our rescue with these stats.

00:54 $40,000 could buy you 20,618 litres of fuel.

00:58 It's enough to get your XR at home.

01:00 It's just about and that could drive the patrol around 143,000 kilometres

01:05 based on the average fuel price of a dollar ninety four from August 2023.

01:09 And then Ali on YouTube jumped in to add a little bit extra to say

01:12 that 143,000 kilometres is the equivalent to driving around

01:16 Australia about 10 times.

01:18 Now, I'm I'm no great mathematician.

01:21 That is incredible.

01:22 That is amazing.

01:23 Really, really.

01:23 And that was quick.

01:24 They came back with a response really quickly.

01:26 So that's that's deeply impressive.

01:27 Thank you very much for that.

01:28 But even if you had a caravan on the back, maybe a bit of a lead foot

01:31 and the fuel consumption isn't quite at the average.

01:33 That is a lot of petrol you can buy by going for a patrol

01:37 instead of a cruiser, and you're less likely to have to wait.

01:40 And look, I don't know how many people want to drive around Australia 10 times.

01:43 So let's say you do it.

01:44 Let's just say you do it five times.

01:46 You've still got a 20 grand to spend on nice hotels and treats.

01:50 And then someone else actually pointed out,

01:52 and I didn't know down the name, so I apologize to you if you're watching.

01:55 That doesn't take into account

01:58 the equivalent amount of fuel you would use in the Land Cruiser either.

02:01 So that's really true, because that just gets you to the purchase

02:05 price of the Land Cruiser.

02:06 It doesn't include the diesel, which is cheaper at the moment,

02:08 but can be more expensive than petrol before you wait for a Land Cruiser.

02:11 So there's that as well.

02:13 So let's dive straight into it.

02:16 A bit of news out of Sweden slash China this week.

02:19 Volvo have announced that they're going to stop making diesel vehicles

02:22 in their passenger cars.

02:23 Obviously, they're still going to make diesel trucks.

02:25 That would be silly.

02:26 But the diesel passenger cars are going to stop altogether.

02:29 And I think this is starting to become a bit of a trend

02:32 because we saw Hyundai used to have a pretty popular i30 diesel.

02:36 It did sound like a truck, but they dropped that a few years ago.

02:39 Volkswagen don't sell a diesel Golf in Australia anymore.

02:42 So it seems like more and more passenger cars are moving away.

02:44 And Scott, I think you actually wrote a bit of the story on this one.

02:48 Yeah, so Volvo is a bit ahead of the curve on this front.

02:51 It's actually announced it's going fully electric worldwide by 2030.

02:54 And in Australia, it's going to be sooner than that.

02:56 So it's no great surprise.

02:57 But we are seeing more brands move away from diesel because

03:01 I think the reputation is taking a big hit on the back of Dieselgate in Europe.

03:06 Volkswagen for a very long time touted it as the answer or the future.

03:10 And when that name was really heavily tarnished,

03:12 brands don't want to be associated with that.

03:14 But also we're seeing in some classes of car, modern petrol engines

03:18 are just as efficient as diesels on the highway and are nicer to drive in the city.

03:22 With that said, I don't know that I want a petrol in everything.

03:25 In my big four wheel drives, I still want a diesel engine

03:28 because they're relaxed and torquey.

03:30 I know I feel that way about the Sportage in particular.

03:32 I'm not a huge fan of any of those petrol engines, especially that turbocharged engine.

03:37 I know that's mainly transmission related just with the dual clutch.

03:40 But I love, as Scott said just then, that effortless highway cruising

03:44 in a diesel engine and even more so in European SUVs as well.

03:48 I think it's also worth mentioning that in Australia, where our fuel

03:53 isn't all that incredible, the quality of it, a modern diesel engine,

03:56 depending on the exhaust treatment and that sort of thing,

03:59 is potentially as clean as an older petrol engine,

04:02 because the quality of our diesel fuel is quite good.

04:05 The quality of our 91 Ron petrol is not great.

04:08 So it's obviously car dependent, but a modern European diesel

04:11 with exhaust treatment and that sort of thing is potentially cleaner

04:15 than an old petrol engine car, despite diesel being seen as the dirty fuel.

04:19 I think the thing to keep in mind, the utes are going to keep using diesel.

04:23 Obviously, large SUVs are probably going to keep using diesel.

04:26 The reason that Hyundai and Volkswagen stopped doing it,

04:29 because people that buy those cars are not doing big miles in Australia,

04:32 unlike Europe, where they might be on autobahns.

04:34 And I think that's probably the same with a lot of Volvos.

04:36 You know, you go out to the bush, you don't see a lot of Volvos on the road.

04:38 You see a lot of old Volvos on the road, but you know, you're not seeing

04:41 brand new XC60s and stuff frequenting the rural highways.

04:45 So I guess it makes a lot of sense that city

04:49 buyers don't really need diesel, do they?

04:51 Well, I think hybrid is also a big part of that answer.

04:54 I mean, if you look at a Volkswagen Polo or a Mazda 2 or something like that,

04:57 for a little while, you could get a diesel.

04:59 I know in the Mazda CX-3 you could up until very recently.

05:01 But in a lot of those cars now, the diesel engine that was the efficient

05:05 option has been replaced by a hybrid or a mild hybrid,

05:08 which is much nicer to drive, doesn't sound like a truck when you turn it on

05:12 and offers some extra performance when you put your foot down.

05:14 So Toyota has really led that charge.

05:17 But for cars that are living mostly in the city and are smaller,

05:20 all of a sudden there's an alternative to diesel

05:22 that is going to save people money at the pump,

05:25 has some real environmental credibility for the brands.

05:27 Whether or not that is deserved is another question.

05:30 And yeah, potentially going forward is going to offer better resale

05:33 than diesel as it gets phased out.

05:35 What do you think, Jack?

05:36 Do you think this is going to affect, especially, you know, rural buyers?

05:40 Potentially, you think this is a problem for them or you think a lot of rural

05:42 buyers are looking at petrol cars now anyway?

05:44 Yeah, well, I think of my my mum in particular.

05:47 She purchased a CHR back in 2017, and she wasn't worried about

05:53 whether it was petrol, diesel and things like that.

05:55 But I do also have a lot of friends that do some serious K's

06:00 and they're looking at things like like diesel Santa Fe's and the like.

06:04 So just for context, Jack, you grew up on a farm.

06:06 I did. Yes. If you didn't know.

06:08 And if I haven't told you already, you know now.

06:10 Yes, we asked him to take his Akubra off for this one,

06:12 but he normally wears one around the office.

06:15 It's kind of funny.

06:15 This story actually came out on the same day.

06:18 The British prime minister is came out saying that he wants to push back

06:22 the petrol ban.

06:23 So initially, Boris Johnson, the previous prime minister,

06:27 hashtag Brexit, he put in a ban of petrol cars in London by 2030.

06:32 And now I'm correct.

06:34 If I'm practicing this before, I was Rishi Sunak.

06:38 I think Rishi Sunak, but he's trying to delay it again.

06:42 I think you wrote the story.

06:43 I just want to get on.

06:45 Yeah. So it's now come out that this is going to happen.

06:48 It's been officially reported.

06:49 Official. Yes.

06:51 And this is on the back of the UK pushing back a number of its climate policies,

06:54 not just to do with cars.

06:56 It's still planning to phase them out, but it's looking like 2035 now

07:00 instead of 2030, which will align the UK with Europe.

07:04 Ironically enough, when you mentioned Brexit,

07:06 I think the fear from the government and also from carmakers

07:10 before these bans came in is that it's going to punish lower income earners.

07:14 If you start removing really cheap petrol and diesel options

07:17 and there's no electric replacement, all of a sudden people hold onto cars

07:21 for longer, they're in less safe cars and potentially they're emitting more

07:24 because their 10 year old car is much dirtier than a new one.

07:27 I think also that there is a fear that maybe the maybe the charging network

07:33 is not going to be ready. This is pure speculation.

07:35 But Boris Johnson made some big claims about how much they were going to spend

07:38 on charging infrastructure and how many charges they were going to have

07:41 and whether or not that's going to be borne out remains to be seen.

07:43 I think for me, I'm going to look from a different perspective.

07:47 And I suppose I'm kind of looking from the bad guys perspective,

07:50 but like the manufacturers, if the if this target is continually moving

07:54 and they say, for example, I know that you said that this UK

07:58 is now aligning with the EU, but if it goes beyond 2035

08:02 and the carmakers were planning to only have EVs by that stage,

08:07 they spent all of this money developing and ramping up these production plants.

08:11 And I suppose, in a sense, that cost is going to be passed

08:15 back onto us as consumers, which is unfortunate if that is the case.

08:19 It's really interesting.

08:20 Jaguar, which is probably the first brand that comes to my mind

08:23 when I think of British car brands, even though it doesn't sell in huge numbers

08:26 in Australia or it's owned by the British anymore.

08:28 Well, there's that as well.

08:29 Yeah, it's owned by Tata.

08:31 Jaguar has announced that it's going fully electric.

08:34 It started phasing out its petrol new cars.

08:36 The F-Type is going.

08:37 I wonder if it would have phased that out as soon as it is.

08:41 Had it known 2035 was the time in the UK instead of 2030.

08:45 Maybe it would have.

08:46 But I mean, the development cycle in a car is generally seven to 10 years.

08:49 So they're just they're looking at that sort of timeline anyway, I'd imagine.

08:52 But it is the decisions governments make do have an impact on car makers.

08:56 We've seen it in Australia with the slow rollout of electric cars.

08:58 And then now in Europe, with it planning to ban petrol and diesel sales,

09:02 car makers are going, well, we're going to have to stop selling them

09:04 and start developing electric cars.

09:07 I wonder if maybe that decision in the UK did impact the timeline

09:11 that was set by British car makers and whether there's some frustration there

09:14 that now those goalposts have moved, they've already started pouring money into it.

09:17 So where does it leave us in Australia?

09:20 I don't think there's really any firm policy on this.

09:22 Still a couple of 14 hour flights away.

09:25 OK, and so let me ask you guys and I'll start with you, Jack.

09:29 Where do you think we should as a as a nation, as Australia?

09:33 Where do you think we should go?

09:35 What direction and I guess a timeline?

09:37 What should we be looking at?

09:38 Oh, I don't know, actually.

09:40 Like Jack's down the Prime Minister.

09:42 Yes, you're in charge. Listen, everyone.

09:44 I really like given Australia is so large,

09:49 I think having a large selection of petrol, diesel,

09:54 hybrid, electric fuel cell, all of those giving us the option right now

09:59 would be good.

09:59 I don't know if I have a time frame in my head and I don't know what

10:04 at this stage, what would suit best for Australia.

10:07 My partner has a Tesla Model three and he can do a lot of travelling

10:11 around Australia in that, but that's not the best solution for everyone.

10:15 And it's a really, really complicated.

10:18 How does it work with your Tesla at the moment?

10:20 So your family's farm is what, four hours from Melbourne where we are now?

10:23 Yeah. How does it work when you take the Tesla?

10:25 Yeah. So we have to charge up.

10:27 It's four hours away, halfway to Adelaide.

10:30 And we just for safety sake, we charge up in Ballarat

10:33 just to have that peace of mind.

10:36 And how long does that take roughly?

10:38 15, 20 minutes, half an hour.

10:40 It's like a top up.

10:42 But then once we get to the farm, we don't have enough to turn around

10:45 and come back. So we've like reached the point of no return.

10:48 And we have to charge up just with a PowerPoint out there.

10:51 And that takes 15, 20 hours or less than it all kind of depends

10:57 how much we charge up at Ballarat and to then do the reverse

11:01 on the way back to Melbourne.

11:02 So it's a bit of a process, but it's not the end of the world.

11:06 I think you're onto something really clever there, because although

11:09 we don't make cars in Australia anymore, so whatever technology comes,

11:13 we're taking it. We don't have a choice.

11:14 But I think car makers are going to start seeing Australia

11:18 as a mix of somewhere like Europe and the US, which are going electric.

11:21 And then somewhere maybe like South Africa, where the market's

11:24 not quite as developed, there's less infrastructure

11:26 and we still need diesel and petrol.

11:28 And they don't have consistent electricity.

11:29 Well, there's that as well.

11:31 Which depending on where you are in Australia is also an issue.

11:33 Yeah, I think we sit somewhere in the middle.

11:35 And provided there are some brands still offering options for people

11:39 who need to go long distances, tow big, heavy things with diesel power,

11:42 we're in a pretty good spot.

11:43 Cool. Well, I'd like to know what you guys at home think about this.

11:47 Do you think that we should be sticking with diesel?

11:49 Do you think we should be phasing it out?

11:51 Do you think we should be having a stronger push towards electric?

11:53 Leave a comment. Let us know.

11:55 We'll move on to the next topic.

11:56 Now, Jack, you've been away on a few launches recently.

11:59 Yeah, I've been around town, up, down, turning around.

12:04 Feels like the last little bit.

12:05 I'm finally back in the office for the first time in a little bit.

12:08 You say that like you didn't come in complaining this morning.

12:11 Yes, you frequented Melbourne Airport quite a few times the last couple of weeks.

12:14 But there's one particular one I'd like to talk about.

12:16 It's the Volkswagen T-Roc City Life.

12:19 You went to drive in Sydney City last week.

12:22 Tell us a little bit about that.

12:23 Yeah, so the the T-Roc City Life is a new special edition,

12:27 if that's what you want to call it.

12:29 It's very conceptually similar to the Tiguan All Space Adventure,

12:34 where it's a special edition that's going to be last

12:36 in the range for a few months.

12:40 This T-Roc City Life will be offered into 2024,

12:43 so it's not going away anytime soon.

12:46 But this new T-Roc variant forms as a new entry level variant to the range

12:51 at the enticing price of 36,990, drive away.

12:54 Reading my review from my head.

12:56 Directly out of a Volkswagen commercial, the enticing price.

13:00 Hashtag not sponsored.

13:02 No, absolutely not.

13:03 But yeah, this undercuts the existing style,

13:07 which recently got a few spec upgrades.

13:10 So this is the complete bone, bare stock,

13:14 like whatever entry level point.

13:16 Given we're talking about the T-Roc, that's a kind of new Volkswagen name.

13:19 Where does it actually fit in the context of the range?

13:22 Is it a Golf replacement?

13:23 Is it Tiguan size?

13:25 Yeah, so it's technically like a Golf based SUV.

13:29 If the platform it's based on is Mark 7 Golf.

13:33 So the last one.

13:34 Yeah, the old one.

13:35 So it sits in between the T-Roc, this is sits in between the T-Cross,

13:39 which is what Volkswagen now dubs the entry level point to the range,

13:43 not the jacked up Polo.

13:45 And then the Tiguan is that bit larger than the T-Roc.

13:49 So City Life in the name very much what they're aiming at with this.

13:54 The thing that we will come back to the City Life.

13:58 I just wanted to make a point here of Volkswagen

14:01 also unveiled the new Tiguan, the next generation Tiguan.

14:03 It looks exactly like the T-Roc as far as I'm concerned.

14:07 We'll put them side by side on the screen now.

14:10 Having just spent a few days with a T-Roc and then seeing the new Tiguan,

14:14 how did you feel about it?

14:15 I have to somewhat disagree just a smidge.

14:17 I don't think they look necessarily identical.

14:20 I think the Tiguan definitely looks, the new Tiguan that is,

14:23 looks a lot like the ID4.

14:26 I totally agree.

14:27 It's round, sort of ambiguous.

14:30 It is an SUV.

14:32 It is that, yes.

14:34 It's about four and a half metres worth of car.

14:36 Yes. And it has five seats.

14:38 And the interesting thing, and we just spoke about how Volkswagen dropped

14:41 diesels, there is no other engine options.

14:45 It's just a petrol engine with it, isn't it?

14:46 Yeah, that's what we know at this stage.

14:48 So, yeah, Volkswagen in Europe has done some pretty advanced plug-in

14:51 hybrids on the new Tiguan.

14:53 You can get 100 k's of range.

14:54 It's got DC fast charging.

14:56 And V-Dub initially, sort of late last year, early this year,

15:00 from memory, said that we'd get that in Australia.

15:02 It's now said we're only going to get two petrol engine options.

15:05 They make 150 and 195 kilowatts.

15:07 It seems that Volkswagen thinks the market has gone past plug-in hybrids.

15:12 It also could be down to the fact

15:14 they're going to struggle to get them from Europe.

15:15 It might be a combination of the two.

15:17 Yeah. OK, so so conflicting results,

15:20 and especially, and we'll touch on this later in the podcast.

15:23 Another major manufacturer disagrees completely with that.

15:26 But we will get to that.

15:28 So just on the city life, how was it actually driving around town in that thing?

15:31 Well, it's funny because the city is where it feels the most

15:35 relevant and best where it would be to drive.

15:38 Technically, it only has a torsion beam rear suspension,

15:43 so it's less sophisticated than a multi-link setup,

15:46 which you can get in the higher spec T-Rocks.

15:49 But I couldn't tell that it was torsion beam.

15:52 It was really, really comfortable.

15:54 It handled all speed bumps and pimply city roads like nothing.

15:58 And I think that's also due to the fact that it has smaller

16:02 17 inch alloy wheels with a really chubby tire.

16:05 So it's really soft and supple in urban environments.

16:09 There you go, Volkswagen.

16:10 Feel free to use that soft and supple.

16:12 The new T-Rocks city life.

16:15 1.4 litre petrol, 110 kilowatts, 250 Newton metres.

16:19 This is a base engine.

16:20 But in my experience, basic Volkswagen engines punch above their weight.

16:23 They're really ripper little engines.

16:24 They're great. Yeah.

16:25 I love that engine.

16:27 Locky, my partner, had it in his Golf before he stepped up to the Model 3.

16:31 And it was it is it continues to be a fantastic engine.

16:35 Apparently, it's almost 12 years old now, but it's still a fantastic engine.

16:40 Torque, all the torque is available from a thousand five hundred revs.

16:45 So like you put your foot down, it's just there and ready to go.

16:47 It's really effortless and super economical as well.

16:50 Across my testing with the T-Roc City Life,

16:53 which included a lot of city and like out of suburbs

16:57 and a bit of spirited driving to just for the.

17:00 To translate from motoring journalists speak spirited driving means

17:03 gunning it through

17:06 through some twisty turns at a national park

17:09 just on the outskirts of Sydney for that particular launch.

17:11 The I am averaged six litres per hundred K's, which is under the claim from memory.

17:16 I think it's six point three.

17:18 But I have experienced that engine in a whole heap of Volkswagen group cars.

17:22 And you see a lot of fives and maybe even like low

17:27 high fours if you're really, really hypermiling it on the freeway, too.

17:31 OK, so it's a good thing.

17:32 So would you say out of looking at the smaller Volkswagen groups,

17:36 would you say T-Roc's actually kind of pick of the bunch now?

17:38 Or would you still be more inclined to look at either a Golf or a Tiguan?

17:42 I would. That's a tricky question.

17:44 I don't know exactly, but I think I have a friend that's currently looking

17:49 for a small SUV and I was pointing them towards the T-Roc.

17:52 I don't know if I'd go for it myself, because I think I want just that little bit.

17:57 More size. I didn't love the second row.

17:59 I thought it was a tiny little bit cramped.

18:01 The boot was fine, but I think just having that peace of mind and extra space,

18:05 I'd be going for maybe a Tiguan.

18:08 Or if I had to choose, I would want I'd want a Golf Wagon.

18:12 I can't get it.

18:13 You can't get that.

18:14 As we spoke about recently. Yeah.

18:15 Scott, what about you? Where would you land?

18:17 I'd have one over a Golf.

18:19 The new Golf looks much flashier inside and outside.

18:21 It's got that really incredible dual screen setup, but I find it harder to use.

18:26 I also think the new Golf is expensive.

18:28 Volkswagen has just killed the base model in Australia,

18:31 so we've now only got a more expensive starter.

18:33 When you look at what you get in the T-Roc, with the exception

18:36 of some safety equipment, I know you've mentioned in your review,

18:38 you get pretty much everything, but it just feels a bit more conventional.

18:42 And I think it's priced better.

18:43 Yeah, cool.

18:43 I will put a link in the description to Jack's T-Roc City Life review.

18:47 If you want to read it, leave a comment and tell him how good of a writer he is.

18:50 I do have a quick question for you guys.

18:53 I know I struggle to find time to really do anything outside of work.

18:56 How about you? Do you have much time?

18:58 Even at work sometimes.

19:00 Do you have much spare time outside?

19:01 No.

19:02 So how would you find time to make it to different car dealers?

19:05 If you want to look for a couple of different cars,

19:07 would you be able to actually have time to do that?

19:09 I think I'd struggle.

19:10 And I actually know from trying to help family members,

19:13 these dealers aren't open on Sundays for the most part.

19:15 So the one day I do have to play with, usually you can't do it.

19:18 Well, thankfully, online, they are open 24/7.

19:21 And we have a great way to actually help you find a deal on a brand new car.

19:25 Head to Google, type in Help Me Car Expert,

19:27 and we can take all the hassle out of traveling around to dealerships.

19:30 We put it all in one very convenient place.

19:32 You see some great pictures of Paul and he can help you find a new car,

19:35 lock in a great price and connect you to a dealer to get that into your new car quicker.

19:40 So head to Google, type in Help Me Car Expert.

19:42 And if you do buy a car through there, leave a comment.

19:44 Let us know what did you buy and how was the experience?

19:46 OK, so big news this week, guys.

19:50 Ford did what we've all been expecting for a while now and announced a hybrid Ranger.

19:55 But it wasn't just a hybrid Ranger like Toyota have said, a hybrid.

20:00 But not a hybrid. This is actually a hybrid.

20:02 It is a full plug in hybrid Ranger.

20:05 Details are still a little murky.

20:06 We're not sure what specs it's going to come on yet.

20:08 We're not sure pricing.

20:10 But Scott, tell us what we do know.

20:12 What do we know about it?

20:13 So we know it's going to be here in 2025 here being Australia.

20:16 We know it's got about 45 K's of electric range

20:19 and we know it's got a 2.3 litre petrol engine under the bonnet,

20:22 which is shared with Mustang, old Focus RS, kind of.

20:26 And then the Volkswagen Amarok.

20:27 And it's a ripper engine.

20:28 It's a great little engine. Yeah.

20:30 Beyond that, we don't know a heap, but we do know that Ford has focused

20:33 on making it still have the same capability as a diesel Ranger,

20:36 which means it should be comfortable off road.

20:38 It's going to be able to tow and it's going to have a decent payload.

20:41 Let's talk 700 Newton metres.

20:43 Which is a heap of torque.

20:44 It's more than you get even from the V6.

20:46 I think the challenges they're going to face and maybe part of the reason

20:49 we haven't heard more about exact payload and towing figures is weight.

20:52 Obviously, when you add a big battery, you add a couple of hundred kilos of weight

20:56 and that then potentially comes out of the payload or the gross combined mass,

21:01 which is relevant to the towing capacity, obviously.

21:03 So it's going to be interesting to see how Ford manages

21:06 to balance the electric capability with what you would expect of a ute.

21:10 But based on what we can see, it's sort of a halfway house

21:12 between something like the mild hybrid Hilux and then a fully electric

21:16 ute like a Silverado AV designed to be the best of both worlds.

21:20 I'm not sure I actually want it, though.

21:23 I'm curious to know your thoughts.

21:25 I kind of see this from the perspective of my dad, who's a farmer.

21:29 I've already spoken about it.

21:32 You're from Farm Jack.

21:32 Yeah, funnily enough.

21:34 He's always talking about going off grid and he loves the fact of

21:39 he wants to put up solar panels, battery packs.

21:41 And I think having a plug in hybrid Ranger or something along the line,

21:46 he he always says, Oh, Jack, I want an F-150 Lightning

21:49 because he'd be able to use the battery pack as like a vehicle

21:54 to home to load whatever to power whatever he needs out doing whatever.

21:59 So he's building a fence, you got an angle grinder or something.

22:02 Yeah. You don't have to have a noisy diesel clattering away.

22:05 So that'd be a nice change.

22:06 Do we think 45 kilometers is going to be enough for the average

22:10 you'd buy to actually use the electric power properly?

22:13 Because that's always my problem with plug in hybrids.

22:15 You're always carrying around the battery

22:17 and you're always carrying around the petrol engine,

22:20 but it's rare you're actually using both their full capability.

22:22 I think it depends on how they tune it, right?

22:25 I know recently I spent some time in an Escape plug in hybrid

22:28 and it was not very good in terms of a plug in hybrid.

22:32 It's also going from Australia now. It's been boosted.

22:34 Thankfully, it was terrible.

22:36 It just didn't use its its electric capability very well

22:39 compared to something like an Outlander where it can actually

22:42 it feels like an electric car when you. Yeah.

22:45 So I think that depends on how they tune this thing, right?

22:47 Yeah, I feel quite similarly.

22:50 I imagine a lot of range owners currently load their ranges up

22:54 to the wazoo and they're towing a whole heap of whatever.

22:57 I'm wondering if it will ever be able to use the electric motor,

23:02 if that'll be enough to get things actually moving

23:05 and if it'll be considerably less than 45 K's.

23:08 And then what is the point besides being a mobile

23:13 power station?

23:14 What I can think of is, I mean, you talk 700 Newton meters.

23:17 If you are towing a three and a half ton boat or caravan or whatever it is,

23:21 having electric power off the line is going to make it significantly easier

23:25 to get it up boat ramps and get it off the mark, because that is obviously

23:28 where electric motors do their best work.

23:30 I think it's also going to be interesting off road.

23:33 What we've seen from some of these off road

23:34 utes is that they can use their electric motors to do things like tank turns

23:38 and sort of have crazy torque vectoring.

23:40 I wonder if Ford is going to lean into that with the electric motor

23:44 in the Ranger and actually give it more ability off road than the petrol has.

23:47 That sounds like a raptor fev to me.

23:49 It does sound like a raptor fev.

23:50 Yes. Well, look, Ford aren't the only ones playing this game.

23:53 LDV have their fully electric T60.

23:56 There's also a new LDV four wheel drive ute coming to Australia next year.

23:59 Which is going to be way too expensive.

24:01 It's called the GST in China.

24:02 Yeah, right, that's a bit more of that.

24:04 I should buy one here.

24:06 I think that's the problem, though.

24:07 The T60 is as new as makes a difference.

24:09 A hundred thousand dollars.

24:10 Best guess on this Ranger is probably going to be up around that sort of price

24:13 as well. Given a wild tracks, what, 75 or 80?

24:15 Exactly. Platinum is 85.

24:17 You know, Chevy have their electric Silverado, as you mentioned.

24:21 Ram have one. Ford have their F150 Lightning.

24:24 So this is a thing and it is coming.

24:26 I'm curious from you guys.

24:28 I know neither of you are tradies, but do you think there is actually a future,

24:33 a solid future in electric utes, or do you think that

24:37 the ute will die when the diesel dies?

24:39 This comes back to the conversation we had at the start about fit for purpose.

24:43 There are definitely people where a diesel only ute is the only option.

24:47 But if you really think about what most people do with their utes around Melbourne,

24:51 where we all are and around the capital cities in Australia.

24:54 Yes, some of them go into the wilderness on the weekend and tow.

24:58 But there are plenty that just go from worksite to worksite in the city

25:00 and barely go above 40 k's an hour.

25:02 So I think it comes back to the diversity of options.

25:05 There's plenty of people which, yeah, an electric ute makes a heap of sense.

25:08 But we just need to keep a diesel option there as well

25:10 in case you need to go further.

25:12 What about you, Jack?

25:13 Well, I think a lot of like lower spec

25:16 fair vutes would make a lot of sense,

25:19 especially in like when they're just sitting there for a mobile power station.

25:24 A lot of the similar reasons that I described that my dad would want it.

25:28 I find it really interesting that Ford has only chosen to show off a dual cab version.

25:33 I think it'd be cool to see if it's possible.

25:36 I don't know whether it would be whether a single cab fair would be really cool.

25:40 That really entry level.

25:42 And I don't know if that's possible or would it be financially viable

25:45 given Ford wants to recuperate the cost?

25:49 It does do a very basic version of the F-150 Lightning in the US.

25:52 It's sort of aimed at people who want to use this for work, not for play.

25:57 Well, every council you see, every council worker,

26:00 they're all driving around in what's essentially a workmate

26:02 version of the F-150.

26:04 They're also the people, when I say them, the council workers,

26:08 fleet drivers, that sort of thing.

26:09 They're the people that actually probably right now electric and plug in

26:12 hybrid power is best suited to because they know exactly what they're

26:15 going to do every day.

26:16 Well, also, they have to.

26:17 There's a lot of push for government agencies to actually

26:19 reduce their emissions.

26:21 And the obvious reduction of emissions is to move into something that is hybrid,

26:25 which there isn't an option.

26:26 And so I guess that's the thing.

26:28 The T-60 being $100,000 is not a viable option for councils

26:32 to fit out their crews with.

26:34 Not for all councils.

26:35 But if you have a Ranger XL in single cab or even like a super cab version

26:40 with FEV, the guys could sit there all day with their stop slow signs,

26:45 running on electric power.

26:47 They still have their tunes going, their pie warmer will still work.

26:49 It'll work better, I would say.

26:51 But they're not going to have to run around in a diesel all day.

26:53 I mean, it does seem kind of crazy that, and again, we're talking dual cab,

26:56 they marketed with what looked a lot like a Wildtrak.

26:59 Why we're not seeing this push from them to lower end

27:02 utes for this sort of stuff?

27:03 It's all down to money.

27:04 Yeah. Ultimately, I mean, a Ranger Wildtrak or a Toyota Hilux SR5

27:08 or a Navara Pro 4X, all of those top spec utes,

27:11 they are a license to print money for carmakers because ultimately

27:15 underneath, it's a ladder frame chassis vehicle.

27:17 It's got some nicer leather and materials in it,

27:19 but it's built by the same people in Thailand as the cheap ones.

27:22 And the cost to make it look and feel nice is much lower than,

27:25 you know, you would expect.

27:26 There's huge profit margins in them.

27:28 So if they're trying to recoup the cost of these batteries

27:31 and that sort of thing, the development going in,

27:33 they're going to go to the higher end where the margins are so fat,

27:35 they're not getting cut completely.

27:37 All right. So question to you guys,

27:39 would you rather a FEV ute or a fully electric ute?

27:42 I'm going fully electric.

27:44 Fully electric, Jack?

27:45 I want full electric because I know in Victoria right now

27:48 with a road user charge, you have to pay to use the petrol engine

27:52 or whatever engine.

27:53 The hybrid, yeah.

27:54 So regardless of whether you're using electric power or petrol power,

27:58 like just go all electric in that sense, I don't really get the point.

28:02 I kind of hate that law or rule.

28:04 Very silly. I do see you in a Hummer EV though.

28:06 I can definitely see you getting around to one of them.

28:09 How many times do we have to charge on the way to the farm

28:11 in this 4.5 tonne Hummer ute?

28:13 But you could load his Jimny in the back and take it with him.

28:15 All right, guys, we'll move on.

28:19 We're very close to the end here.

28:22 We're going to talk about our picks of the week.

28:23 So I'll throw straight to Jack as he's our special guest.

28:26 What did you see this week that caught your eye, mate?

28:28 Yeah, so throwing it back to the 1980s, setting the scene.

28:31 You might.

28:32 And how many decades after 1980s?

28:36 Were any of us born in the 1980s?

28:38 I think I was the closest.

28:40 Jack was definitely the furthest away.

28:42 Honda had this really cool foldable scooter

28:45 that went into the back of a little hatchback called the City,

28:48 which was new at the time.

28:50 It was called the Moto Compo.

28:52 And you see a lot of them around at like cars and coffee

28:55 shows and things like that.

28:58 People get them out and go for a little zip.

29:00 It was essentially a suitcase with a motorcycle inside, right?

29:03 Yes, absolutely.

29:04 So Honda has chosen to reinvent that for the modern day.

29:08 It's called the Moto Compacto, and it is an all electric version of this.

29:13 It's like a revival of sorts, retro more than anything

29:16 of this original Moto Compo from the 1980s.

29:19 And it looks very cool to me.

29:21 Also, it folds in.

29:23 When it does, it looks a little bit like a MacBook charger.

29:26 It's just a white square.

29:29 But then it all pulls out.

29:31 There's a handlebars seat and the wheels all come out and things like that.

29:35 It's very similar to like it's just an e-scooter.

29:38 Essentially, it has around about 20 K's of range

29:41 and a top speed of about 25 K's an hour.

29:45 So you're not going to be going anywhere quickly or very far.

29:49 But it's enough.

29:50 That's a really viable last mile solution.

29:54 And unfortunately, this one hasn't been designed around a car.

29:58 This time, it's just being sold alongside the electric SUVs

30:03 and only in the US for now.

30:05 Disappointing.

30:06 That said, there is seems to be quite a vendetta against electric scooters

30:10 in this country, which is a real shame.

30:12 But, you know, you never know, Jack.

30:15 We'll put on your Christmas wish list and one day it might be fulfilled.

30:18 I think really hopefully it happens.

30:20 All right, Scott, what's your pick of the week?

30:22 Not even remotely close to what Jack's was.

30:24 Not an electric scooter.

30:25 No, funnily enough.

30:26 But it does have eco in the name.

30:28 It's Thailand's Super Eco, and it's a racing series

30:31 that has popped up on my Instagram, which is a whole lot of basic

30:34 Suzuki and Honda hatchbacks by the looks of it going absolutely flat out

30:38 around a track.

30:39 At one point, they're five wide and the commentators, I don't actually speak Thai,

30:43 so I don't know what they're saying, but they sound really, really excited.

30:46 Ty Martin Brundle and Ty David Croft screaming.

30:49 I'm assuming at some point one of them goes through, goes Hamilton very excitedly.

30:52 I want to do something like that.

30:54 It looks like low cost, affordable motorsport, and it has eco in the name,

30:57 which means we can get funding.

30:58 Oh, I might have something for the week.

31:00 Yes. A very, very cheap version.

31:03 Yes. So keep an eye out.

31:05 Subscribe and you might see us go very cheap racing.

31:08 My pick of the week.

31:10 This is a big shout out to some Swiss

31:12 German speaking university students from ETH Zurich.

31:16 They built their own little electric car.

31:18 It kind of looks like halfway between a Formula Ford and a go kart

31:21 with the intention to break the world record to go from zero to 100.

31:25 It might as well be break their own ribs and ruin their internal organs.

31:28 It's that fast.

31:29 So the previous record was one point four odd seconds.

31:32 Slow.

31:33 That is stone age compared to what these guys are doing.

31:37 These guys set out zero to one hundred zero to one hundred in zero

31:42 point nine five six seconds.

31:45 Starts at zero.

31:46 It's more than half a second quicker than the previous record.

31:48 This is a proper record as well.

31:50 This is not that US thing they do where you have a one foot rollout

31:54 or anything like that, where Bugatti sets a record and then they go,

31:57 No, but we went faster.

31:58 You just we weren't filming.

32:00 So there's no rollout. There's no cheating.

32:01 There's no way to make the machine, you know, look or feel better.

32:05 It just is standing still and then snap your fingers and it's doing 100.

32:09 Yeah, it is. It's insane.

32:10 Out of this world. That is crazy.

32:12 Yeah. The the girl who drove it,

32:15 she took a helmet off and her skin was all peeled back here.

32:17 I think it's settled back now.

32:18 But the wind was blowing and she stayed like that.

32:21 Yes, it was. Yeah, it's a phenomenal thing to watch.

32:24 So I think that's really cool.

32:26 We're not going to see that in a road car any time soon.

32:28 But I think it's really cool that there are people out there

32:29 pushing the boundaries to to break those sort of limits.

32:32 You know, something that they did in the 50s and the 60s.

32:34 And it sort of died off.

32:35 I want to know what needs to happen now to go faster,

32:37 because like we have now reached a point where there's not much faster

32:41 you can go. You're sort of teleporting.

32:42 There's no there was no rocket.

32:43 This is purely an electric motor and like very powerful.

32:47 With a skeleton made of steel.

32:48 The car with the person weighed 180 kilograms.

32:51 Wow. So the only thing you could do is lessen the weight.

32:53 And I suppose bigger.

32:55 Enthusiasm.

32:58 About that. Positive attitude.

33:00 Kept you a long way. Yes.

33:02 Yes. Well, that pretty much wraps up the podcast this week.

33:04 Jack, thanks so much for filling in for Jade this week.

33:07 It's a pleasure to have you here.

33:08 Thank you again, Sean.

33:09 And Scott, any final thoughts you want to leave us with this week?

33:11 No, not really.

33:13 If you think you can go from zero to 100 faster than that, please call us.

33:17 I want to drive your car.

33:18 Yes. Write to us at I'm a lunatic at CarExpert.com.au

33:21 But no, if you do have any feedback, we'd love to hear it.

33:24 Let's send us an email podcast at CarExpert.com.au

33:27 If you haven't already subscribe, give us a like, leave a comment.

33:31 And next week, Jade will be back.

33:33 Just a reminder as well.

33:35 We there's a link in the description for the event that Jade is

33:38 putting on in Melbourne here.

33:39 You get tickets. They are free.

33:41 And you're going to see a few of these guys there and a few pretty cool new cars.

33:45 So make sure you get your tickets for that.

33:48 Until next week, guys.

33:49 Jack, thanks for coming along.

33:50 Scott, as always, good to have you here.

33:52 And thank all of you for joining us. We'll see you next week.

Hybrid Ford Ranger, Volvo scraps diesel and VW's new Tiguan | The CarExpert Podcast

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