Your questions answered: What’s wrong with Tesla quality?

A lot of questions have turned up about electric cars, hybrids and even hydrogen power in this week’s carsales email bag.

One of our EV questions focuses on an imminent switch to Tesla and what that’s likely to entail regarding quality.

We’ve also got someone wondering about the future availability of diesel and another asking why they’d make the jump into newcomer Chery.

Plus, we’ve got some traditional questions: people wondering which ute is best and which hatchback they should buy.

Question:

Answer: Tesla quality is certainly a hot topic. In 2019 and 2020 there were some big issues with the fit and finish of the cars. Panels and trim components often didn’t line up properly. In a world where Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Toyota and others have that nailed, it was slightly disconcerting.

But those cars were all built at the Fremont factory in California. Early in 2021 Tesla switched Australian supply to its Shanghai factory in China and there was an instant improvement in fit and finish. Our experience suggests they’re still not quite as well crafted as Japanese cars, but they’re very good.

Of course, that’s only part of the quality equation. The other component comes down to the propensity for the car to have issues.

The reality is any EV has far less to go wrong than traditional petrol or diesel models. The electric motors don’t need servicing and we’ve not heard of any major issues with Teslas or any others.

Batteries are the complex and expensive component of an EV and they come with an eight-year warranty.

The biggest issue we’ve experienced with Teslas is software glitches, similar to what you may experience with a smartphone. It may be one of the functions in the central screen temporarily not working or the remote connectivity momentarily failing to connect to the car.

Most have been short-term issues or things fixed with an over-the-air software update.

Question:

Answer: Yep, Chery is here. Or, more correctly, Chery is back. The Chinese brand was sold here briefly between 2011 and 2014. The sales pitch back then was purely around price.

These days, Chery is hoping to make a big impact around design, technology and driving credentials – as well as value. Ultimately, a sharp price is the easiest way to get on the radar of buyers, as brands such as Hyundai, Kia, MG and Mitsubishi have shown over the years. Undercut the competitors and people will take notice.

We’ve driven the new Chery Omoda 5, priced from just $29,900 plus on-road costs. That said, we can’t deliver our verdict until later this month when the embargo lifts on drive impressions.

The short story is that even if it is an excellent car the Omoda 5 is already up against some excellent contenders, including the Mazda CX-30, Toyota Corolla Cross, Hyundai Kona and Kia Seltos. There are also others muscling in on the space, including the Haval Jolion.

So there’s an enormous uphill battle for the brand.

Keep an eye on our upcoming review for more details.

Question:

Answer: Electric sports cars will have no issue delivering the thrust people expect of a performance machine.

The bigger challenge is getting the alacrity and driving excitement people expect of a sports car into something with half a tonne (or more) of batteries in the floor. It’s a particular challenge for cars such as the Mazda MX-5, Subaru BR-Z and Toyota 86 twins, and anything from Lotus, all of which have built reputations on being lightweight.

The one advantage with those batteries is that they’re down low, often lowering the centre of gravity of the car. That helps with cornering stability and stability.

Of course, getting the tyres to deal with so much weight is where the laws of physics pop themselves into play. You’ve only got to drive a Porsche 911 back-to-back with a Porsche Taycan to realise the challenges. Both are brutally fast cars – the Taycan more so in many situations – but the 911 bounces back on dynamic nous.

As for the Supra – and many other future sports cars that will inevitably switch to EV – we’ll have to wait and see.

History suggests engineers are an innovative bunch who can often come up with clever solutions and improvements elsewhere. The Kia EV6 GT is one example of how engineers have finessed the electronic controls – as well as traditional suspension components – to create one of the best-driving EVs on the market.

Also keep in mind that battery technology is expected to advance enormously over the next decade, including the introduction of solid-state chemistry that could make for lighter battery packs.

Question:

Answer: BMW is one of many brands that has invested heavily in hydrogen fuel-cell technology; Toyota, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Chevrolet are others, while local manufacturer H2X is planning to convert Ford Ranger utes to FCEV this year.

The biggest challenge for hydrogen is not the technology or whether there would be interest in it (there clearly is). It’s having the infrastructure in place so vehicles can refuel.

That’s where many manufacturers are looking to governments. They feel that at the very least there needs to be policies in place to encourage the uptake of hydrogen or – at best – governments can start funding the installation of refuelling points.

The general feeling is that hydrogen fuel cells could work well for heavy-duty long-distance travel, such as interstate trucking. There are also clear applications for towing and remote-road driving, where fast-charging infrastructure is currently lean.

For most other applications battery-electric vehicles tend to make more sense with the tech we have today.

With any luck buyers will have the choice sometime in the not-too-distant future. But there will likely have to be some pushing and prodding from governments to get the hydrogen gas flowing.

Question:

Answer: Diesel is around for a long time yet . Sure, much of the new-car hype has been around EVs but about 97 per cent of cars sold today are still powered by fossil fuels. And about 99.5 per cent of the 20 million cars on the road still rely on fossil fuels.

The average age of a vehicle in Australia is about 11 years, so that million-or-so new cars being added to the nation’s fleet each year will likely be around in a decade or more.

The short story is that even if the market transitioned wholly to EVs today – which clearly isn’t going to happen – there will still be demand for petrol and diesel fuels for many decades to come.

We also reckon there’s a chance that fossil fuels could be replaced by synthetic fuels or e-fuels; they’d be able to be used in existing ICE drivetrains but would be CO2 neutral.

So don’t stress it, you’ll be fine buying diesel – or something that replicates it – in 2030. Even 2040 or 2050.

Question:

Answer: Yep, it’s true the new Volkswagen Amarok – which is due around May – will have the same engine as the Ford Ranger. The two were developed together and use the same architecture and running gear. The Amarok will even be coming out of a Ford factory in South Africa. So performance between the two is identical.

That said, there are differences elsewhere: the suspension tuning and steering, for example. The Amarok also gets different seats and steering wheel and mostly different styling.

Perhaps the biggest factor for many will be price and the value equation. Broadly speaking the Volkswagens have more equipment than the Fords but cost slightly more.

There’s another consideration here: availability. There’s a wait on the V6 models from both brands, but our intel suggests the wait for a Ranger V6 is longer.

Question:

Answer: Overloading of four-wheel drives is a huge issue, mainly because it’s often not very hard to exceed the gross vehicle mass (GVM), which stipulates the maximum weight of the car and everything in it.

Some 4WDs can carry as little as 600kg or 700kg. It’s pretty easy to get to that once you add four or five people and all their luggage and camping gear. Taking 100 litres of water also adds 100kg of weight. Then there’s beer, chips and all those other essentials…

Firstly, you need to work out what the vehicle’s payload is. Look up the GVM then subtract the weight of the vehicle (usually listed as kerb weight). That’s how much you can legally and safety carry.

Obviously, the easiest way to determine how you’re going with the packing is take the car and everything on it over a weighbridge; there are public weighbridges dotted around the place as well as others you can pay to use.

Otherwise, you can add up all the individual elements, assuming you know how much each weighs.

Also keep in mind that the trailer will impact how much you can carry. The weight of the trailer on the back of the car needs to be subtracted from the payload (which is the GVM minus the kerb weight of the vehicle).

As for you, your LandCruiser could have a payload as low as 650kg (the base GX is as much as 785kg) and you’ll lose 200kg of that to the trailer (assuming you’ve got 10 per cent of the two tonnes pushing down on the tow ball).

So you’re looking at 450kg – for people, luggage, camp chairs, food, water and everything else.

Pack carefully…

Question:

Answer: The Corolla and Mazda3 were once giants of the new car market. Less so these days as people gravitate to SUVs.

Which is one thing you could consider. The Toyota Corolla Cross and Mazda CX-30 offer more space than their traditional hatchback siblings for around about the same price. You’ll also be sitting a bit higher, so get a better view of what’s going on.

Both are excellent cars. The Mazda has a classier interior, the Toyota gets the option of a more fuel-efficient hybrid drivetrain.

If you really want to stick with a hatchback, then it’s a similar deal between those two. The Mazda3 presents a tad better, the Corolla has better fuel efficiency credentials if you grab the hybrid.

Overall, the Mazda3 came up trumps over Corolla in carsales’ Best First Car mega-test published recently.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

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