Your questions answered: where is my BYD Shark 5?

EV agonising, AdBlue additive angst and no Shark sightings this week in Your Questions Answered.

Got an automotive question but you don’t know where to find the information you need? Never fear, email us here at editor@carsales.com.au.

After years of electric vehicle analysis I have got my potential electric car purchase down to three possible vehicles. Notwithstanding the plethora of Chinese electric vehicles currently in the market; I am still not convinced about their longevity.

The vehicles I am considering are (in no particular order):

I am interested in reading your thoughts and analysis to help me decide which one to purchase. – Marty

Answer: Hi Marty… it’s not easy at the moment, is it? That’s an interesting and well considered list, and as always, the final choice will come down to which car suits your needs the best.

It’s interesting that you’ve included the Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) as an electric vehicle (EV); I personally think that Toyota has done a bang-up job of convincing everyone that it is an electric car when it’s patently not. Anything that blows carbon dioxide out the back – even if it’s a reduced amount – doesn’t count as an electric in my book.

The company has just updated the Toyota bZ4X 2WD, cutting prices and adding range which makes it a much more appealing choice. You must feel for the customers who bought the previous one!

Smaller wheels add comfort; more powerful motors add to the drive experience and nearly 600km of claimed range – let’s call it 540km in the real world – is pretty handy.

The Skoda Elroq 85 Select is a quiet achiever in the crowded EV space. If I was choosing between the bZ4X and the Skoda Elroq, I would be leaning towards the latter.

The Skoda Elroq’s party trick is that it doesn’t feel like a space-age electric car; it has a relatively normal gear shifter, lots of buttons and a relaxed, easy manner way in how it drives.

It’s not perfect, of course. For example, turning it ‘off’ can be harder than it should be and there’s no spare wheel in the boot. But it’s got a lot more character than the Toyota.

Why aren’t buyers of diesel made aware of this, and why isn’t anti-crystallisation additive as readily available in Australia as it is in Europe and the US? – Paul

Answer: Hi Paul, sorry to hear that! AdBlue, or diesel emissions fluid, is used by various manufacturers to reduce emissions in diesel-powered cars. This fluid requires owners to top up a separate tank with it every 10,000km or so.

I’ve seen the damage. A leaking AdBlue hose can wreak havoc on the serpentine belt array in a Volkswagen engine, so prevention is definitely better than cure.

I’m not a diesel mechanic by any means, but I do know that oilers like to run long and warm for their systems to function properly. As it happens, I have a 2018 diesel Passat that has racked up more than twice the kilometres of yours… and I do wonder if that’s part of the issue.

If your car is only used for short runs into town and the like, and isn’t given a solid 20 minutes to get up to temperature, it may well have had a knock-on effect on the quality of your AdBlue reserves.

I’ve never used an additive, and opinions on its efficacy vary from ‘useful in cold weather’ to ‘nothing more than snake oil’. You’re right in saying it’s not easy to find locally, but Repco can order it, and a few specialist diesel shops do keep it in stock.

This is a country that loves utes and compact SUVs, so vehicles like the Shark 5 – along with the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz – should be absolute no-brainers for our market. Smaller, more efficient utes would likely replace a big chunk of the oversized, high-spec dual-cab utes that spend most of their lives empty and sitting in traffic.

The cynical take is that manufacturers are deliberately keeping these vehicles out of Australia because they’d eat into sales of larger, more expensive models. It feels like choice is being limited to protect margins rather than meet real-world demand. – Taber

Answer: Hey Taber, I’m with you… a stylish, affordable mini ute could be a hit for the company brave enough to bring it in. Unfortunately, it’s that word ‘affordable’ that would be the biggest stumbling block.

It doesn’t matter how big or small a car is, it still needs to comply with emissions and safety regulations. The smaller the car, the harder it is for safety regulations to be met (such as, front-centre airbags), and the harder it is, the more expensive it becomes.

The same goes for emissions – especially in today’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES)-dominated world. A tiny petrol-electric hybrid sounds like the perfect solution, but again it comes down to the effect on manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP).

And while I agree with your assertion that car companies favour profit margins over interesting product lines, the fact remains that our dual-cab obsession is largely driven by their classification as commercial vehicles, which means they aren’t as beholden to the stricter regulations imposed on passenger cars.

I wonder, though, if this will change once the profit-eroding effects of the NVES are really felt in a couple of years.

The views stated in this advice column are advisory only. Questions may be edited for clarity and length.

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