CAR COMPARISONS: Desember 2022

Sabtu, 31 Desember 2022

Solar charge your EV

Want to drive totally off-grid? Here’s your guide to charging your electric car with the sun

Using the sun to charge your electric car is the ultimate way to close the loop on clean footprint motoring.

But while the charging may be ‘free’ in many ways, you need quite a bit of infrastructure and equipment to ultimately bid farewell to ‘the grid’. The upside here is that your car isn’t the only appliance that will benefit.

Here’s what you need to know…

Solar Energy basics

The basic principles of a home-solar system see your solar panels collecting energy during the day and pushing it through an inverter (solar systems are DC – direct current – where your home uses AC – alternating current) through the house and back into the electricity grid. For every kilowatt (kW) collected and fed into the grid each hour, you are ‘paid’ a rebate by the electricity company. This rebate is subtracted from your total electricity use which will reduce your bill.

Example:

Installing a 5kW solar system will (on a sunny day) push a maximum of 5kW of energy into the grid each hour for approximately 10 hours. This is 50kWh worth of energy, and at an average Feed-in Tariff (FiT) of $0.07 per kWh means you’ll earn a credit of $3.50 per day, or approximately $100 per month.

5kW x 10hr = 50kWh : maximum energy fed into the grid each day
50kWh x $0.07 = $3.50 : approx FiT rebate each day
$3.50 x 30 days = $105 : approx FiT rebate each month

However, given the average energy use by an Australian family house is 30kWh per day, the step between the solar inverter and the electricity grid – where you use the energy collected by the solar system, could mean your house runs entirely off the solar array. Happy days!

To save this energy, to use during the night, you can also install a battery where excess energy collected by the solar panels is stored until you need it.

Bottom line, the right solar system with a large enough panel array and a storage battery can mean your home is entirely self-sufficient.

The downside is this isn’t cheap.

Our 5kW example system will cost about $5000 to install. An 8kWh storage battery, enough to run 25 per cent of your daily household needs, will be about $12,000 (with an inverter). Add some labour and you’re looking at around $20k to set this up.

Compare this against the average Australian annual electricity bill of $1500, and you need to think about the long-term gain before you see any short-term wins.

Note though, that most states offer rebates and incentives to install solar, and if you are looking at a new build or renovation, this is a cost that could very easily be rolled into the total construction charges.

Charging an electric car at home

Adding an electric car into the mix doesn’t have to change the system complexity, as your home charger simply draws energy like any other appliance, it just ups the numbers.

On average, an EV will use 20kWh per 100km, and for urban use, will travel an average of 50km per day. This adds 10kWh to your home’s total energy use, stepping things up from 30kWh to 40kWh per day.

You can support this with a bigger (more expensive) storage battery, or work on the principle that every kWh drawn from the electricity grid requires about 3x that number fed in by your solar system to offset any costs.

eg: if your Feed-in Tariff is $0.07 per kWh but your average grid charges are $0.19 per kWh, you’ll need to push through about 27kWh of energy to the grid (rebated at $1.90) to offset the car’s 10kWh draw.

This method could see your bill still equalise, but you need to use the grid to charge your car as the power needs of an EV are so much more than that of your house. For context, fully charging a 73kWh Hyundai Ioniq 5 is equivalent to 2.5x your daily home use. Yikes.

Charging an EV using solar only

If you want to completely disconnect from the grid, you can add another device to your electrical system to ensure your car only uses solar to charge.

A smart charger can be configured to only use energy captured by your solar system. These cost around $2500 and would generally require more battery storage to work effectively, especially if you need to charge more than 10kWh each day.

Is solar charging worth it?

In the same way that choosing an electric car will not deliver an immediate cost saving, a solar charging system needs to be considered as a long-term investment.

For the spreadsheet to start to equalise, you need to think of solar as at least a 10-year proposition.

But if you are happy to invest in the infrastructure as part of your home’s capital value, then the right setup of solar panels and storage batteries can see you unplugging from the grid right now!

The post Solar charge your EV appeared first on Drive.

The new cars stripped of five-star safety ratings from today

Five-star safety scores for some of Australia’s most popular new cars expire today, but the vehicles are not banned from sale.

Some of Australia’s top-selling new cars will be stripped of their five-star safety ratings from today – ruling them out for fleets which mandate top marks – however the vehicles will remain on sale.

The five-star safety ratings for popular models such as the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Prado and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda 2, Mazda CX-3, Suzuki Vitara, Volkswagen Passat – and others – expire from 1 January 2023.

Five-star ratings were created three decades ago to give consumers more detailed information about the varying levels of safety of new cars in showrooms.

Crash tests have consistently shown you cannot determine the true level of safety of a new car based on the number of airbags alone; rather it is how the airbags, the body structure, and other safety systems perform during a crash that can impact – or protect – occupants.

In addition to being a safety guide for consumers, five-star safety ratings have been mandated by fleet operators, mining companies – and businesses big and small – for the better part of a decade due to stricter occupational heath and safety guidelines.

The independent watchdog – the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) – has since introduced six-year expiry dates on safety scores so consumers have a better chance to compare like-for-like results.

Before the expiry dates were introduced, there was nothing to stop car companies advertising a five-star result that was 10 or more years old – alongside a new car that had earned a five-star rating against more recent and more stringent criteria.

The first deadline under the new guidelines – 31 December 2022 – has wiped the oldest safety ratings of more than a dozen new vehicles still on sale in Australia today.

Under the new system which comes into force from today – 1 January 2023 – a five-star safety score is valid for six calendar years (plus the year in which the vehicle was tested) rather than being endless.

Top-selling utes such as the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 are not affected by the change come 31 December 2022 – and the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series is also in the clear – because their five-star safety scores are more recent. There is no ANCAP score for the current-generation Nissan Patrol.

Fleet experts have told Drive five-star scores for work vehicles already in use prior to the expiry date of 31 December 2022 will remain valid – and those vehicles will next year be allowed on worksites with five-star mandates.

However, it remains to be seen whether an identical vehicle delivered from today onwards – 1 January 2023 – will be allowed on sites with five-star mandates.

Car company representatives have told Drive the standard safety equipment on vehicles such as the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, and Toyota Prado – all of which are popular with fleet companies and mining operators who have five-star safety mandates – has not changed from last year to today.

However, these vehicles will not have a five-star safety score if delivered new from 2023 onwards.

Drive has been told by car company executives that new-model replacements for the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Prado were due in showrooms by now – avoiding the expiry of the five-star safety scores on the outgoing models.

However, final engineering development on the new model replacements for these vehicles had been delayed over the past two years due to the pandemic.

“While many private and government fleet operators are across the upcoming changes, a lot of contractors to mining sites – or other worksites that have five-star safety mandates – have no idea this is coming,” a fleet industry expert told Drive last year.

“The key point is, even though a vehicle may be technically identical – and still have the same safety features and crash performance – taking delivery in December 2022 versus January 2023 could make all the difference between a vehicle being allowed on site and not.”

Drive is unaware of any major fleet or mining operators considering making an exception to their five-star safety mandate.

“This change has the potential to catch a lot of contractors out. That said, there are still plenty of other brands of vehicles in these categories that do have five-star ratings,” the fleet expert told Drive.

A prolonged investigation by Drive since expiry dates were announced in February 2022 repeatedly canvassed affected manufacturers whether they plan to make costly safety upgrades to affected vehicles this late in their model cycle – or persevere with an unrated vehicle until a new model arrives.

To date, no vehicle manufacturer has resubmitted their vehicles to a new round of tests this late in their model lifecycles.

A statement from Nissan Australia said: “Navara vehicles with a build date of January 2023 onwards will no longer be covered by a current ANCAP rating, and the Nissan Navara rating will be expired and the vehicle will be listed as unrated by ANCAP.

“With seven airbags, fatigue detection, forward collision warning, and emergency braking, the Navara is equipped with features and aids that prioritise the safety of all occupants.”

Dearer versions of the Nissan Navara are also equipped with blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert and tyre pressure monitors.

Nissan says it has no plans to remove the advanced safety systems it added last year, even though the vehicle’s safety is now listed as “unrated”.

The boss of Mitsubishi Australia, Shaun Westcott, told Drive: “We continue to strive for the most appropriate level of safety for the market. The reality, though, is that we are in the process of reviewing our model line-up and a new Triton is in development.

“Unfortunately for us, (the five-star safety expiry) changes came in late in the lifecycle of the current Triton and … the next-generation Triton was delayed due to COVID.”

Mitsubishi Australia has three models impacted by the five-star safety score expiry – the Triton ute, its Pajero Sport four-wheel-drive wagon sibling, and the ASX city SUV.

“The bottom line is, our cars are as safe the day after the ANCAP score expires as the day before. We have not removed any technology from our vehicles,” said Mr Westcott.

Crash test ratings from 2015 and earlier, expired 31 December 2022:

Toyota Prado, tested 2011, five stars
Volkswagen Amarok, tested 2011, five stars
Mitsubishi Triton, tested 2015, five stars
Nissan Navara, tested 2015, five stars
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, tested 2015, five stars
Mitsubishi ASX, tested 2014, five stars
Mazda 2, tested 2015, five stars
Mazda CX-3, tested 2015, five stars
Suzuki Vitara, tested 2015, five stars
LDV G10 van, tested 2015, three stars
LDV V80 van, tested 2013, three stars
Suzuki S-Cross, tested 2013, five stars (vehicle discontinued from showrooms; the score applied to the 2013 to 2022 model only, not the recent facelift)
VW Passat, tested 2015, five stars
Mini Cooper, tested 2014, four stars
BMW i3, tested 2014, five stars (vehicle discontinued from showrooms)
Alfa Romeo Giulietta, tested 2011, five stars (vehicle discontinued from showrooms)
Fiat 500, tested 2008, five stars

Crash test ratings from 2016, expiring at the end of 2023:

Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series cab-chassis, tested 2016, five stars
Mazda CX-9, tested 2016, five stars
Mazda MX-5, tested 2016, five stars
Jeep Cherokee, tested 2016, five stars (vehicle discontinued from showrooms)

Crash test ratings from 2017, expiring at the end of 2024:

LDV T60 Ute, tested 2017, five stars
LDV D90 SUV, tested 2017, five stars
Suzuki Swift, tested 2017, five stars
MG ZS, tested 2017, four stars
Hyundai i30, tested 2017, five stars
Jeep Compass, tested 2017, five stars
Kia Rio and Kia Stonic, tested 2017, five stars

The post The new cars stripped of five-star safety ratings from today appeared first on Drive.

Volkswagen weighs up Ford Everest-style wagon, with a catch

The German car giant says it is open to the idea of expanding its Ford Ranger-Volkswagen Amarok joint venture with a version of the Ford Everest – but it could have a surprise under the bonnet.

Volkswagen is reportedly considering a four-wheel drive wagon twin of the Ford Everest – expanding the recent joint venture with the Ford Ranger and VW Amarok utes – however it depends on what type of engine is under the bonnet.

Petr Sulc and Waldemar Bauf, global product managers for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, told Drive at the preview of the new Volkswagen Amarok in South Africa, their preference for a Ford Everest-based model would be electric rather than diesel.

“I think in the next 12 months, we will have more of a decision about this topic.” Mr Bauf told Drive.

“If you ask me, if I bring (an electric Amarok), then I will bring both (Amarok ute and wagon),” Mr Sulc added.

If an electric Volkswagen Amarok ute (and Ford Ranger) gets the green light in the future, it is expected to continue to use Ford’s updated T6 platform that underpins the latest versions of the Ranger, Ranger Raptor, Everest and Amarok.

While the new Ford Ranger went on sale locally in the second half of 2022, the 2023 Volkswagen Amarok is due to arrive in Australian showrooms from this April.

Although jointly developed, Australia-bound Ford Rangers are made in Thailand whereas the new-generation Volkswagen Amarok is made in the Ford Ranger factory in South Africa.

The post Volkswagen weighs up Ford Everest-style wagon, with a catch appeared first on Drive.

What are we looking forward to in 2023?

What will the new year bring? The Drive Team stare into the magic cauldron to predict what lies along ahead for the next 365 days!

Will this be the year of the properly affordable EV? The year more ‘new’ brands break through? Or just a year when your long-awaited car arrives?

There are plenty of changes happening across the automotive landscape, but will any of this driving future become driving fact?

The Drive Team share their thoughts…

James Ward

It’s going to be a big year, and avoiding ‘company talk’ of even more TV, more improvements to the site, and of course, a lot more brilliant content production (big and small), I think we’ll see a few big changes in our local market.

The normalisation of electrification will see more hybrid systems (mild and closed loop) filter across popular vehicle segments, and we’ll see even more full electric options hit the showrooms for consumers.

Buyers will better understand the benefits and challenges of an electric choice, and we’ll see far more demand at the ‘lower’ end of the EV spectrum as people choose a cheap(ish) EV as an urban partner to a more traditional large SUV or 4×4 to form the new Australian two-car garage.

I’d wager the hardest cars to get your hands on will be the new MG4 or GWM Ora.

That wont slow our love affair with utes though, which will continue to top sales charts, but I think we’ll see stronger activity from the more value-oriented brands and models as rising costs push some of the high-price range-toppers outside many household budgets.

My tip here, if you’re in the market for a Ford Ranger Raptor, Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series or new Range Rover Sport, is to stay close to your local dealer as we’ll see a number of ‘spendier’ vehicles fall victim to cancelled orders as prospective buyer priorities change.

Sam Purcell

I’m mostly looking forward to testing out the long-awaited Ineos Grenadier next year.

It’s a new vehicle with an old soul, and promises to sing from a completely different hymn sheet. It won’t be for everyone in many respects (things like comfort, safety and technology), but will be the perfect choice for a small, welded-on fan base.

Some will decry it for simply being a warmed-up copy of the old Land Rover Defender, but I kind of see that as a compliment.

Ben Zachariah

One of the most exciting launches for 2023 is the Cupra Born – the first purely-electric car sold in Australia by a Volkswagen Group brand. It has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 7.0 seconds – a time on par with hot hatches from a decade ago – as well as a claimed range of 511km, and both the exterior and interior look very, very sharp.

If Cupra Australia can keep the price of it at a reasonable level when it launches in the first half of 2023, it should be a winner.

Rob Margeit

Electric cars for ordinary people. Look, I love how the age of electrification has pushed the boundaries of tech and design, each successive carmaker cramming their EV offerings with features that make you not only exclaim ‘wow’, but also ‘why?’.

Cutting-edge design, in terms of cabins and technology, is cool and all, but it comes at a price. And it’s a price out of reach for ordinary people like you and me.

And if you think there’s no appetite for cheap EVs, think again. Earlier this year, Nissan released the Sakura, a cutesy electric Kei car priced at around ¥2.4million, or around $AUD26,000. It sold out in months, with Nissan no longer taking orders as wait times blow out to over a year.

Nissan took in 23,000 orders for the tiny little car with a 20kWh battery pack and a driving range of just 180km. That order book is greater than the entire number of EVs sold in Japan in 2021.

Sure, 180km of range might not suit everybody, but I’d wager there are an awful lot of people living in urban environments where 180km would cover their weekly needs and then some. That it is, in the scheme of EVs, affordable for the average person, is just icing on the cake.

Hand on heart, I would buy a $26k EV with 180km of range today if one became available locally.

Glenn Butler

Freeway self-driving: Don’t shoot me, I still love driving cars. I moved to a CBD satellite city in 2022, so my commute has ballooned from 25 minutes to 90 minutes on a good day. I’m looking forward to a time when I and all other freeway drivers can hand over the freeway commute to a benevolent Skynet, for three main reasons.

Our post-Covid Work-From-Anywhere business model means I will be able to log on in the car and do emails, write articles, attend virtual meetings and more, all while the car does the commute for me.
Because of this, I will no longer need to leave home at 6.45am to be ‘at my desk’ by 8.30am. I can leave home at 8.20am and be ‘on the job’ at 8.30. It also means I can leave the office at 4pm, work the 90 minutes home and clock off at 5.30 to be a parent before the boys hit the sack.
I also suspect that once we all submit to Good-not-Evil-Skynet, lane chopping will stop, as will phantom braking, poor freeway etiquette and all other driving misdemeanours that contribute to traffic jams on our major arterials, so the trip may actually be quicker.

Emma Notarfrancesco

Less diesel and more EV’s. Having said that, I’m eager to see various newcomers, especially a number of cheaper vehicles from China that will hopefully make the marketplace more competitive.

Charging infrastructure is always a hot topic but there isn’t enough! With the uptake of EVs growing in Australia, we’re expecting to see a large rollout of charging stations across the country. Let’s be honest, there has to be. NSW alone has promised 500 new fast chargers across the state.

With the federal government making commitments to infrastructure and EV incentives, 2023 could be the year that Australian’s really embrace going electric.

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of reprieve for chip shortages or supply issues in 2023.

Kez Casey

There doesn’t seem to ever be a year when I’m not looking forward to a hot hatch or sports coupe. In 2023 this is no different. The old Honda Civic Type R was one of the sharpest and most fun hot hatches, be it on a race track or public roads. Unfortunately, it was always a little too wild to look at.

While it won’t suit all tastes, the new Civic Type R looks a million bucks, with its svelte new exterior and much more subtle sports styling. Under the bonnet, the same beating heart and handling package – with some minor tweaks – ensure this new Type R should be a sure-fire hit.

Tom Fraser

I cannot wait to see how the sphere of alternative fuels develops. As a car lover I’ve been nervously watching how sports cars will adapt in the age of electrification, but it might not turn out to be a problem with the advent of new fuels.

Porsche has invested huge amounts of time and effort in establishing its claim to synthetic fuels, and even Toyota is experimenting with an internal combustion engine powered by hydrogen. It sounds great, too.

Susannah Guthrie

More affordable electric cars! It’s awesome to see brands like BYD and MG – even Tesla and Polestar – attempting to give consumers more palatable entry prices.

They’re still expensive compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, but we’re starting to make some headway towards price parity.

Imagine a world where newly-licensed 18-year-olds were able to spend their savings on an EV as a first car, rather than a six-year-old Corolla?

Alex Misoyannis

There are lots of great new cars headed for Australia next year – Cupra Born, Kia EV6 GT, Ineos Grenadier, Toyota GR Corolla, Volkswagen Amarok, et cetera – but I reckon one really has the potential to make waves: the MG 4.

If what we’ve seen in government approval documents holds true, this electric car might launch in an entry-level spec with 350km of range and a modest electric motor – which, with the right balance of standard features, could make it a $40,000 drive-away car.

That’s not far off the price of a top-of-the-range Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Kia Cerato, and line-ball with a Volkswagen Golf – for a smartly-styled, decently-sized electric car. This could be a hit.

About the artwork

Something else that rose rapidly in 2022 was the advent of using artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool to create ‘imagined’ artworks.

All the images in this article were created by AI (using the Midjourney App) based on some basic description parameters. As you can tell, the artificial elements are still more dominant than the intelligent ones, with some wacky detail elements visible once you ask the AI to enhance an image.

Some of the visualisations are pretty cool though.

In order down the page, the AI requests were:

future car in australia
cheap and basic electric car in the city
new Ineos Grenadier driving off-road in the jungle
hot hatch electric car Cupra Born at racetrack
cheap electric car SUV
driverless car on a freeway
electric cars in a vending machine
cyberpunk Honda Civic Type R
future racing Porsche refuelling at Le Mans
electric cars at charging station
electric car MG4

The post What are we looking forward to in 2023? appeared first on Drive.

Jumat, 30 Desember 2022

2022: In the bin! Goodbye and good riddance!

What a crazy year we’ve just had. The Drive Team reflect on what we saw, and could quite happily never see again…

That 2022 sure was a time! Straight out of lockdowns into one of the busiest and outright craziest years we’ve seen in… years!

While there were a lot of good things to come out of 2022, there were a few things that we’d be happy to never see again…

James Ward

The stupidest flash in the pan we’ve seen for a long time, Automotive NFTs seem to have fallen from their favoured position into near obscurity already. And that’s a good thing.

The fact that the initial concept of paying real-pretend money for a pretend-real car soon moved to a bundled ‘buy the NFT, get the car for free‘ pitch, basically meant the auto NFT’s days were numbered right out of the gate. Even trying to explain what a token was and even what ‘fungible’ meant pushed these into a hyper-niche category of buyers who were riding the crypto train into the dark unknown.

The fact that a rather cool one-off sketch by Peter Varga, Director Exterior Design at Porsche, was sold as an NFT for $36k at auction in August 2021 (along with the physical artwork), and is now attracting offers of $1800 shows that even the crypto community doesn’t take these seriously.

Rob Margeit

Carmakers the world over have invested untold billions in self-driving cars, promising motorists a future where they will be able to relax and read a book, do a crossword, watch TV or any number of leisurely pursuits from the comfort of their cars, as said vehicle plots and navigates a path to a set destination without any human input.

But, is this really what motorists are hankering after? Anyone who enjoys driving will see self-driving cars as anathema to the art of driving while anyone who doesn’t enjoy driving to the point that they’d place their lives in the sensors of a bunch of cameras and some zeroes and ones, well, they can catch a bus. Or a train.

Carmakers, and the world in general, would be better served to invest those same untold billions towards improving battery technology. I don’t want to scroll on my phone while my car, if I’m lucky and don’t get killed along the way, takes me to where I need to be. I want an electric car with 1000km of range that can be recharged in five minutes. Or, a tiny EV with only 180km of range that costs around $26,000. Either option would be money better spent by the world’s carmakers than pursuing cars that can drive themselves. Badly.

Glenn Butler

I had hoped to be able to say goodbye to a lot of outdated legislative baggage by now, but in true bureaucratic fashion, the government has failed to phase out import tariffs, and EV incentives, and get real about the luxury car tax (LCT).

I’m guessing none of this will be popular with Drive readers, so feel free to respond in the comments below. Surely the import tariff which was designed to protect Australian automotive manufacturing has no place in a modern Australia without local manufacturing?

EV incentives are stupid, plain and simple. Firstly, why incentivise the purchase of goods that are in short supply with long waitlists? Secondly, changing consumer behaviour is historically proven to be better served by disincentivising less desirable purchases rather than incentivising desirable purchases.

As for LCT, we already have a GST that adds 10 per cent to the purchase price, so why do we need an additional, punitive, poorly conceived tax?

Sam Purcell

I’m looking forward to the eventual demise of poorly tuned lane-keep assistance systems, which continually bong, pinch and veer you around in a lane during normal, everyday driving.

I get the importance of these systems from a safety point of view, but they lose their impact when they’re so bloody infuriating to live with.

And on that note, can we please look at a way to reduce the number of bings, dongs and dongs on a new car? Few things – aside from my kids – make me rage more than the endless string of audible warnings in some new cars.

Ben Zachariah

After four generations spanning more than two decades, in 2022 Toyota Australia announced it had killed off the horrendously ugly hybrid pioneer – the Prius.

While I shed no tears and lost no sleep over the decision, it came months before Toyota unveiled an all-new plug-in hybrid Prius that is expected to deliver around 70km of purely-electric driving and looks pretty damn good to boot.

Be careful what you wish for.

Emma Notarfrancesco

I’d like to see the crazy used car market prices decline, however, unless new car supply strengthens, I don’t see these changing dramatically.

Something else I’d like to say goodbye to is infotainment systems that solely rely on touch where most functions are buried in menus.

Bring back buttons and dials in 2023, please.

Kez Casey

If there’s any chance 2023 could spell the end of the long-lead, that would be great.

Stock and supply shortages have made 2022 something of a new car battleground, and for the sake of consumers, it would be a massive relief to see the situation right itself, and a more stable and easy-to-navigate marketplace return.

Tom Fraser

I’m glad that some brands, such as Volkswagen, are getting rid of touch-based car controls. It tried them out in its model range including the Volkswagen Golf, everyone expressed their displeasure with the finicky switchgear, and the brand has subsequently admitted it was a wrong move and will revert to physical, clicky buttons.

Can’t wait.

Susannah Guthrie

The ongoing semiconductor shortage saw carmakers get creative with removing or tweaking standard equipment offerings.

It made for really confusing specification sheets, less bang-for-buck in flagship cars and a few bizarre ‘subscription’ models for features that really should be included as standard.

I get it – it’s a balancing act and a tricky time for the automotive industry. Still, it felt like the real losers were consumers, who had to navigate endless options packs and fine print, along with ongoing stock shortages.

At the very least, let’s aim for more transparency in the new year.

Alex Misoyannis

Touch-sensitive buttons in cars – either on a touchscreen, or a capacitive-touch button or slider – need to go, pronto.

These can be integrated well – big shortcut buttons high up in your peripheral vision, for example. But in almost all scenario touch-sensitive buttons (or icons on a touchscreen) require more brain power, and take your attention off the road for longer than a physical switch or dial.

Some brands – including one of the biggest fans of touch buttons of late, Volkswagen – are starting to see the light and return to physical controls. But others, unfortunately, are just getting started.

The post 2022: In the bin! Goodbye and good riddance! appeared first on Drive.

DeLorean takes ‘Back to the Future’ owners to court over lost royalties

DeLorean’s new owners claim they are owed five per cent of the revenue generated by toy and clothing sales from the Back to the Future franchise – nearly 40 years after the film’s release.

The DeLorean which played a starring role in the Back to the Future film franchise is at the centre of a legal battle in the US, with the defunct car-maker’s new owners alleging it has not been paid the royalties it is owed.

The Los Angeles Times reports the current owner of the DeLorean Motor Company trademark has filed a lawsuit against NBCUniversal – the parent company of Universal Pictures, which owns the rights to Back to the Future.

DeLorean claims it has a right to five per cent of the revenue generated by merchandising and commercial agreements related to Back to the Future – such as toys, posters, lunchboxes and clothing – due to a 1989 agreement between the car-maker’s original founder, John DeLorean, and Universal Studios.

According to the LA Times, NBCUniversal has denied such a deal was arranged.

In Back to the Future, Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) builds a time machine out of a DMC DeLorean, which subsequently transports Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) to various points in time.

The three Back to the Future films – released in 1985, 1989 and 1990 respectively – were a box office hit, reportedly taking in more than $US388 million ($AU580 million) combined.

The success of the movie franchise provided a financial boost to Universal Studios, but it also turned the DMC DeLorean into a cult classic – despite the coupe going out of production three years before the first film was released.

DeLorean Motor Company produced the DMC DeLorean in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1981 until it declared bankruptcy in 1982, following a lack of sales – and the US Government charging John DeLorean with drug trafficking.

In 1997, the car-maker’s remaining stock was purchased by Texas-based UK businessman Stephen Wynne. The left-over items were subsequently distributed through his own business, also called the DeLorean Motor Company.

Mr Wynn’s company has subsequently traded under the DeLorean name and has been involved in prior legal disputes regarding the car-maker’s original rights.

In 2014, John DeLorean’s widow, Sally Baldwin, sued the Wynne-owned company for misuse of trademarks which she alleged had not been purchased after the original car-maker went bust.

The lawsuit resulted in Ms Baldwin being paid an undisclosed amount in exchange for the Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company acquiring the rights to use the name, trademarks and logos.

It also included provisions which allowed Mr Wynne’s DeLorean to benefit from royalties generated by Back to the Future, which was clarified when Ms Baldwin attempted to sue the reborn car-maker in 2018.

In May 2022, DeLorean revealed the Alpha5, an electric car which it claims will go into production – although when and if it does remains to be seen.

The post DeLorean takes ‘Back to the Future’ owners to court over lost royalties appeared first on Drive.

Top 10 timeless collaborations between car companies and watch-makers

There’s something about cars and watches that goes hand-in-hand – here are some of the most interesting and iconic partnerships over the years.

Cars and watches have always enjoyed a close relationship, with wristwatches gaining popularity at roughly the same time as motor vehicles, in the early 20th century.

These days, the relationship between the two industries is big business, allowing companies to reach more buyers thanks to cross-branded collaborations.

While this list could have easily been three times longer than it is, here is our Top 10 collaborations between car-makers and watch-makers – including some of the most quirky and interesting, as well as the most iconic.

10. Swatch and Smart Car

As fans of the brand may know, the Smart car of the late 1990s was a collaboration between quirky watch brand Swatch and German automaker Mercedes-Benz – a venture that reportedly lost $US4.6 billion before the project ended.

The Smart car brand was recently revitalised as a new joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Chinese car giant Geely – owner of Volvo and Lotus – with the first new-generation electric car being released in limited markets in recent months.

The Swatch Smart Car watch, reference GZ154, was launched in 1997 to commemorate the opening of the assembly plant – a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by then-French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

While the abstract dial design left us scratching our heads, it was Drive’s Production Editor Kez Casey who deciphered it as being a combination of the Smart ForTwo’s alloy wheel design and front-end look.

If you’re a Smart enthusiast and would like a quirky watch to match your vehicle, these pieces occasionally crop up online for less than $200.

MORE: 2023 Smart #1 review: International first drive

9. G-Shock and Toyota LandCruiser

It’s difficult to imagine two more different products that enjoy such a similar reputation. The Toyota LandCruiser is well known for its dependability, reliability, and capability in extreme environments – all traits shared with Casio’s G-Shock line of watches.

In early 2022, the two came together for a special G-Shock, based on the Mudmaster – a favourite watch of special operators from the military and law enforcement due to its ability to withstand multiple hits, continuous shocks, and mud.

Team LandCruiser is a factory-backed Dakar Rally team which has competed in the gruelling event in a LandCruiser 200 Series for a number of years, and is now transitioning to a latest 300 Series model.

The Toyota Auto Body Team LandCruiser x G-Shock, reference GWG-2000TLC-1AJR, is available to buy new for $1599 through G-Shock, or earlier variants can be found for less than $1000 online.

MORE: Toyota HiLux twin turbo V6 petrol comes to life, with a twist

8. Citizen and Toyota Crown

Long before proximity keys were widely available on new cars, car giant Toyota partnered with local watchmaker Citizen to create a timepiece which allows an owner to remotely lock, unlock, and start the engine on their car.

Known as the Toyota Crown Smart Key watch, the watch was only available for the domestic buyers of the 12th-generation Crown sedan – one of the most luxurious and technologically-advanced models from the manufacturer.

These watches aren’t well known by those outside the Toyota Crown community and are notoriously difficult to track down, with most having to be sourced from Japan.

MORE: 2023 Toyota Crown range revealed, not for Australia

7. Grand Seiko and Nissan GT-R

In 2019, arguably the most well-regarded Japanese luxury watch brand released a collaboration to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nissan GT-R.

That year Grand Seiko was also the 20th anniversary of its Spring Drive technology, and offered the anniversary edition as an automatic chronograph housed in a ceramic and titanium case, with a silver-white textured dial and Bayside (Wangan) Blue highlights – an iconic colour from the Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R of the 1990s.

Only 200 of the watches were made, and had a recommended retail price at the time of approximately $30,000.

MORE: Rare Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R sells for almost $AU1 million, sets new record

6. Richard Mille and McLaren

Avid Formula One fans may have noticed Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle often has a non-traditional watch on his wrist during broadcasts, as well as McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Typically reserved for sports superstars and the ultra rich, Richard Mille watches partnered with supercar company and F1 team McLaren to create the RM 11-03 in 2018.

Designed in collaboration with McLaren Design Director Rob Melville, the body is made from a carbon material interlaced with layers of the car maker’s signature orange, housing a skeletonised (see-through) automatic movement and titanium pushers.

Just 500 were made and sold new for approximately $267,000 – but used prices are currently between $800,000 and $900,000.

MORE: Daniel Ricciardo confirms departure from McLaren F1 team, future uncertain

5. Ice Watch and BMW

Interesting watches don’t always cost as much as a house. In 2013, Belgian brand Ice Watch was the hot new thing in horology (the study of clocks and watches), and quickly found a friend in BMW.

BMW has had a number of different watch partnerships over the years, but it was possibly its venture with sponsor Ice Watches that spawned an iconic livery in the DTM racing series in Germany, as well as a line of affordable and attractive watches.

At the time, the 53mm chronograph could be purchased for $339 new, and featured a canvas strap, stainless steel body, BMW roundel in the dial, and ‘BMW Motorsport’ text in the bezel – now buyers can find them fairly easily from around $100.

MORE: BMW 3.0 CSL revival coming as hand-built 418kW birthday special

4. Panerai and Ferrari

The partnership between Ferrari and luxury watchmaker Hublot may be more recognised, but for a period of five years the supercar maker joined forces with diving watch specialist Panerai – and it made a lot of sense.

Both brands are Italian, instantly recognisable, and can claim some of the most devoted and passionate fans on the planet. Those who wear the large ‘rounded-square’ Panerais are often the same who have a Ferrari in the garage for the weekend.

Prices have remained relatively flat for the Ferrari-stamped Panerais, with plenty available on the used market for between $5000 and $30,000.

MORE: First images emerge of Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in new biopic

3. IWC and Mercedes-AMG

Another collaboration that makes a lot of sense is that between Mercedes-AMG and Swiss brand International Watch Company.

Their relationship dates back to 2004 – making it one of the longest collaborations between automotive and horological industries – with the two companies sharing a dedication to engineering and performance with typically-understated designs.

Over such a long period, it’s understandable that IWC have produced many models in partnership with AMG, with prices typically between $5000 and $20,000 – though a limited-edition model from F1 team boss Toto Wolff can run into six figures.

MORE: Mercedes-AMG One breaks Nurburgring production-car lap record

2. Breitling and Bentley

Even older is the series of Bentley for Breitling watches, which launched in 2002 – just four years after Volkswagen Group acquired the luxury British carmaker, and shortly before the launch of the all-new (for the time) Continental GT.

The Swiss watch company designed the dashboard clock for the Continental GT, and began offering special Bentley watches in the years following.

While their official partnership dates back 20 years, Willy Breitling – watchmaker and grandson of company founder Léon Breitling – was an avid Bentley fan in the late 1940s.

MORE: 2023 Bentley Continental GT Mulliner W12 revealed

1. Tag Heuer and Porsche

Both the Porsche 911 Carrera and Tag Heuer Carrera were named after the same race: the Carrera Panamericana – a Mexican border-to-border race held between 1950 and 1954, which was considered by many at the time to be the most dangerous race in the world.

Tag Heuer designed the watch at the time for racing car drivers, while Porsche saw success at the events with its 550 Spyder.

The two companies have come together on a number of timepieces over the years, but most recently launched the Tag Heuer Carrera x Porsche RS 2.7 in celebration of the iconic German sports car, using the famous Porsche Carrera badge on the dial and strap.

Given the original Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 is now worth more than $2 million, the watch’s $11,200 price tag seems almost reasonable.

For tech junkies, the Tag Heuer Connected x Porsche Edition offers a more modern alternative for just $4000, being a fully-digital ‘smartwatch’ with the ability to display how much battery is available on the owner’s electric or plug-in hybrid Porsche.

MORE: Up close and personal with a $2-million Porsche icon

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