Your questions answered: Can an LDV D90 replace a Toyota Prado?

There are some adventurous readers this week, including one wondering when they can get hold of a new Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series and another considering an LDV D90 as an alternative to a Toyota Prado.

There’s also increasing interest in EVs, with one person wondering whether they should hold out for an electric ute or jump into a diesel-powered one again?

For those looking for some four-wheeled fun, we delve into the hair-churning world of convertibles and look at the timeline of driverless cars.

Question:

Answer: The LDV D90 certainly has price cred, selling for as little as $37,990 drive-away. That’s for the base model that does without some of the gadgets of the Executive. You’re also only getting a two-wheel drive, which in some ways defeats the purpose of getting a vehicle like the D90.

Whereas many seven-seat SUVs (including the Kia Sorento, Toyota Kluger and Hyundai Palisade) are designed for the suburbs, the D90 has proper rough-road DNA engineered to tackle more challenging tracks – at least if you get the four-wheel drive model.

The 4WD model steps up in price to $45,990 drive-away. Even then you’re getting a petrol engine that can be very thirsty. Plus the running costs add up once you factor in it requires premium unleaded.

Really, it’s the diesel D90 that makes more sense given the added low-rev grunt and lesser thirst. But it’s a $50,990 proposition. At that price, you’re tantalising close to the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Ford Everest, the latter a seriously classy machine; what it lacks in showroom fruit it makes up for with a lore more driving polish than the LDV.

Ultimately, it’s driving where the D90 falls short. Those 4x4 genes means it doesn’t settle over bumps as smartly as something like the Everest. And it’s prone to some leaning in bends. That said, the cabin is well presented and there’s no shortage of trinkets.

All of which boils down to: you get what you pay for. The D90 is basic, honest large SUV motoring, but it comes with compromise. And by the time you’re stepping into the most suitable model – the 4WD diesel – a big chunk of its price advantage has been eroded.

Question:

Answer: Yep, your Toyota dealer is telling the truth. Toyota has been slammed with orders for the 70 Series, in part because it’s got the utilitarian market pretty much to itself (the Land Rover Defender was its prime competition but has gone upmarket).

There are also many fleets that want them as well as farmers, 4x4 enthusiasts and people ready to roam around the country. It got to the point where Toyota had such a lengthy wait list that it wanted to shut the books so that it could clear the orders.

It’s an almost unprecedented move from a mainstream brand, but indicative of supply chain issues and booming demand for proper 4WDs.

A senior Toyota executive recently said the company wouldn’t be taking 70 Series orders for at least six months. So maybe in the second half of 2023 you’ll have more luck.

Until then there’s always second-hand models you can look at, although many are selling for more than the new ones.

Question:

Answer: The chances of diesel being dead in utes in five years is zero. Sure, diesel as a fuel is on the way out for passenger cars and many SUVs. But it’s still playing an enormous role with commercial vehicles, especially utes.

Sure, electric propulsion is growing and petrol engines are likely to play a bigger role in some commercial applications that are currently diesel. But even the most optimistic predictions have utes powered by fossil fuels (mostly diesel) at around 45 per cent of the new-car market by 2030.

So almost half of all ute sales seven years from now will still be powered predominantly by diesel. And, of course, there are some who believe the percentage will be way higher than that.

So the short story is diesel is a long way from dead. Sure, its long-term future – 20, 30 or 40 years from now – is on shaky ground. But by then we could have affordable e-fuels designed to run in existing diesel engines while being CO2 neutral. The push to reduce carbon emissions is accelerating and will likely encompass different technologies.

Short story is that I wouldn’t be too concerned about not being able to find a buyer for a diesel ute five years from now. EV is certainly growing and for many people will be the preferred choice, but diesel is still a popular fuel in utes.

Question:

Answer: Beware the convertible bug. Soft-tops can be terrific fun at the right time of the year – which isn’t always summer, depending on where you live – but the excitement can fade once you’ve endured some mild sunstroke and been buffeted at 110km/h for a few hundred kilometres.

That’s when you’re likely to start homing in on the many negatives of a convertible: vision usually isn’t great with the roof in place, they can be noisier and boot space is often compromised because when the roof folds it usually eats up some of the space you previously had for bags and gear.

They’re often also inferior dynamically to the coupes they’re based on due to the lack of rigidity without a roof in place. Oh, and since they’re two-doors, a third person is going to need to be flexible. So go in eyes wide open and realise that a convertible is not always as fun and carefree as it looks.

That said, there is also great fun to be had in a convertible, especially on balmy summer nights or crisp autumn days.

With that in mind, we’d be going for the Mustang over the Audi. Sure, it doesn’t have the polish and European class of the A5 Cabriolet, but the brash V8 in the GT works beautifully with the roof down and there’s enough tech (including a snazzy digital instrument cluster) to earn it some points back.

Another one to stick on your consideration set is the Mazda MX-5. It’s a terrific soft-top and is a joy to drive every time you get behind the wheel. It’s only got two seats, but it’s also more affordable than the other two you’re considering.

So maybe you could hold onto your current car and keep the Mazda as a weekend fun-mobile? That way you’ll get the best of both worlds.

Question: I want to make my next car an EV but am concerned about how far I’ll get between charges as I’ll be driving at night a lot. With the headlights running constantly does that mean the battery will drain quicker? If so, does an EV make sense for me? – Jane G

Answer: Let’s assume a pair of headlights draws something like 50 watts of electricity, so over one hour of operation it would use 50Wh of electricity.

If you averaged 50km/h during that hour when you had the headlights on then you will use something like 10kWh of electricity, possibly less. That’s 10,000Wh, which suddenly dwarfs the 50Wh consumption of the headlights.

To put it another way, you’d have to run the headlights for about four hours to knock one kilometre off the driving range.

So, yes, the headlights will consume some energy, but you’d be lucky if you lost a few kilometres of range before you’ll need to recharge again due to driving.

Question:

Answer: That really is a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question. EV charging times depend on the charger, the car, how much charge the car had when it was plugged in and even the ambient temperature.

Slow charging an EV from a home power point can take as long as 40 or 50 hours, although for an average 40km daily drive it would be more like four or five hours.

DC (or direct current) chargers are the fastest way to charge and those chargers can supply up to 150 times more power than your home power point. But the charging rate will vary depending on the temperature of the battery and how much charge is in the battery; batteries charge fastest when their state of charge is less than about 20 per cent. The closer they get to 100 per cent, the slower the charge is.

The fastest-charging EVs on the market (such as the Kia EV6 and Hyundai IONIQ 5) will add around 300km of driving range in 18 minutes – again, if all the charging planets are aligning. Another EV using the same charger could take double that time – or longer – because the car will limit how much electricity it will accept at any time.

Which is why there really is no exact answer to how long it will take an EV to charge. Hit us with a specific EV you’re looking at and we’ll be able to give you more insights into how long it should take to charge.

Question: I’ve been hanging out for a car I don’t have to drive. I seem to remember a car-maker saying they’d be on sale by now? Are they running late? If so, how soon will they be here? – Liam N

Answer: Plenty of car-makers – Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others – had promised we’d be gliding along in driverless cars by now.

Since then, they’ve all worked out that there’s a heck of a lot to getting a car to do everything a human does behind the wheel. Sure, they can fairly easily make cars drive along a well-defined route. But getting it to deal with all the unknowns that can pop up on the road – a pedestrian that appears from behind a parked car, an obstacle that’s partially hidden way off in the distance or a newly-formed pothole – is a lot trickier.

In short, they’ve realised the enormity of the challenge and backed down from those early claims. The path most are taking is adding more (and smarter) driver assistance systems that can help avoid crashes in certain instances or temporarily take over driving duties. Those systems will continue to evolve over coming years.

Regulators around the world are also in no hurry to allow driverless cars without strict governance, even if the cars are ready to go.

As for your question about when we’ll see a fully autonomous car – we’re talking one where there is no steering wheel or pedals – then it is many, many years away. We’d be stunned if there was one in Australia doing everything Australians expect of their cars by 2030, possibly even 2040.

There’s a chance driverless drones that can whiz people around our cities without traffic congestion will beat driverless cars to market. Just putting it out there…

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