This week on Chasing Cars: Genesis goes EV-only, Defender reviewed and Qashqai Hybrid all but confirmed

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I’m a firm believer that cars should be a positive distraction from our day to day lives so it brought me great delight this week that we could bring you reviews on cars such as the Land Rover Defender and news on the uber-cool Genesis GV60 that both offer loads of personality.

We also did some groundwork in the office and wrote up a deep-dive on the Nissan Z to find out just how ‘new’ it really is and had a chat with Volkswagen about the chances of the ID4 coming to Australia.

In electric news, SA has followed suit with other states and decided to hand out a $3,000 rebate for EV buyers and delayed the EV tax until mid-2027 and Nissan confirmed that hybrids are coming down under.

But there’s so much more to get into, so let’s just jump into it.

Genesis goes all-electric

Audi, Volvo and now Genesis have all set a date when they will only sell EVs and the latter has chosen 2025 to be the first year it will no longer launch new combustions cars.

Its existing lineup of petrol and diesel cars and SUVs will likely carry on until 2030 when Genesis aims to become a 100 per cent zero emissions brand.

The Korean brand plans to build an eight-strong lineup of EVs and released a teaser image showcasing what appears to be four SUVs, three sedans and a mysterious two-door coupe.

Great favour was shown to the X Concept within the presentation so perhaps Genesis is gearing up to put it in production to give itself a true hero car.

Nissan Qashqai Hybrid almost confirmed

This week Nissan confirmed it would bring a car or SUV with a hybrid system of some form to Australia next year but neglected to tell us what exactly it was.

However, it doesn’t take much deduction to figure out what it is when they specifically rule out most other options and the next generation of the Qashqai small SUV arrives next year.

Nissan’s e-Power is actually pretty different from a traditional hybrid system that uses an electric motor and petrol engine in conjunction, with e-Power taking the range extender route for increased efficiency.

Essentially this means a four-cylidner engine is in charge of keeping the battery topped up and nothing else, the electric motors are what drive the wheels meaning it acts more like an EV than the hybrids you might be used to driving.

Land Rover Defender reviewed

If you want to pick up a rugged two-door off roader your options are sporadic to say the least but the Land Rover Defender definitely sits at the top of the Suzuki Jimny and Jeep Wrangler tree. 

We got our hands on the short-wheelbase Defender 90 P400 HSE form and found it was a bloody good thing both on and off the road, but you’d hope so when you’re paying over six figures.

While a short wheelbase gives the Defender a better break-over angle and makes it far easier to park, we found the chassis was a touch too twitching on the road for our liking.

It still seats four people comfortably and contains all the modern amenities and rich leather that will make it a gorgeous experience to drive every day – but so does the four door version.

Other car and SUV news we covered this week

• Kia gave us the details on the Aussie-spec Sportage midsize SUV which will land here in October with a hybrid version set to arrive later.

• After heated backlash and subsequent delays, South Australia has officially postponed its EV tax until 1 July 2027, or when EV sales reach more than 30 per cent of the market – plus they now offer a $3,000 rebate to EV buyers.

• We caught up for a quick chat with Volkswagen who told us the ID4 midisze SUV had overcome some big hurdles as states, such as SA, ditched EV taxes which has warmed its headquarters to the idea of bringing the EV SUV to Australia but it hasn’t been confirmed just yet.

• Genesis dished out some more images of the GV60 small SUV and explained some of its eye-catching styling cues but our main takeaway is it looks significantly better in white.

• How different is the 2022 Nissan Z from the 370Z? Well, we set out to answer that exact question and while not everything in the car is brand-spanking new that doesn’t mean it will be in any way slow.

• Isuzu announced a few changes for the 2022 D-Max, the biggest of which is the introduction of a 1.9L four-cylidner engine developing a pretty health  110kW of power and 350Nm of torque.

• Mazda has given the CX-30 small SUV a subtle hybrid system for the first time and added a few more toys on some grades, including a leather steering wheel for the base model.

• It also gave the Mazda 3 the same hybrid option which combines a 114kW/200Nm 2.0-litre engine with a 24-volt hybrid system, great! But not as great as the turbo version we all want.

• Hyundai has added a new base grade to the Palisade lineup offering a cheaper $55,000 price of entry with the choice of the petrol V6 or turbodiesel four banger and a decent amount of kit still left over.

Other cars we reviewed this week:

Despite lockdown, we’ve been smashing out reviews for you guys to take a look at over on the Chasing Cars YouTube channel which has almost hit our 100k subscriber target so please go subscribe!

• First up we did a comparison with newcomer Genesis GV70 and what is often remarked as the default luxury midsize SUV choice in the Audi Q5.

• The S-Class was the vehicle that defined Mercedes-Benz and yet the current model could be the last of its kind, if so we can be grateful that this one is so damn good.

• The Hyundai Tucson with the 1.6L turbo engine has finally arrived so we gave it a review in top-spec Highlander guise and discuss why it might be worth considering.

• We got a walkaround review with its twin under the skin, the Kia Sportage, and discussed what’s to like about this extroverted take on a family classic.