Here's a video you didn't think you'd ever see. We've entered the fat cave with @AutoExpertJC to chat about the BYD Shark, GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV and Ford Ranger PHEV to see which you should have a look at if you're in the market for a plug-in hybrid ute.
We've also shot another video with John where Paul goes through his thoughts on the Shark's ability to tow up hills and why he thinks John's calculations in a previous video may have been wrong.
You can watch the video on John's channel here: https://youtu.be/yCcXi_OrsHE
You can follow John's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AutoExpertJC
LANGUAGE WARNING - this video has some language that isn't suitable for younger ears.
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
01:36 - BYD Shark 6
05:00 - Ford Ranger PHEV
07:46 - GWM Cannon
15:58 - Battery tech
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
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Paul Maric:
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#byd #gwm #ford
We've also shot another video with John where Paul goes through his thoughts on the Shark's ability to tow up hills and why he thinks John's calculations in a previous video may have been wrong.
You can watch the video on John's channel here: https://youtu.be/yCcXi_OrsHE
You can follow John's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AutoExpertJC
LANGUAGE WARNING - this video has some language that isn't suitable for younger ears.
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
01:36 - BYD Shark 6
05:00 - Ford Ranger PHEV
07:46 - GWM Cannon
15:58 - Battery tech
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#byd #gwm #ford
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00G'day, I'm Paul and look who's here.
00:02Well, look where I am, rather.
00:04Yeah, look who's here. What a surprise.
00:06I'm in your fat cave.
00:07A lot of you guys will know John.
00:09He runs the other expert channel.
00:12Arguably less of an expert just based on subscribers,
00:15but, you know, I won't let the banks get in the way of a good story.
00:20Yeah, let's get in early.
00:22No, just kidding. I'm being a bitch.
00:24So we're doing kind of like a collab,
00:27except it's not a sort of icky influencer thing.
00:30And we've shot another video where we went through John's barrage
00:35of fired shots at our BYD Shark content.
00:39And I thought it was quite a robust discussion.
00:41If you do want to check that out, that is on John's channel.
00:43I'm going to leave a link in the description below
00:45and there'll be a card on the screen here as well.
00:48And because we're both nerds,
00:49we've organised to synchronise the publication of these videos
00:52down to the nanoseconds.
00:54Technology.
00:54Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?
00:55And a lot of people think we're like mortal enemies, but...
01:00We are.
01:01Well, yeah, actually.
01:01But in the nicest possible way.
01:05We thought we'd do a video today
01:06on the barrage of plug-in hybrid utes that are coming.
01:10And it kind of...
01:11The sharks spurred us on to get to this
01:13because they're fundamentally different beneath the skin.
01:16And I think they serve different purposes
01:18depending on what you want to do,
01:19how much you want to spend and all that sort of stuff.
01:21So we're going to focus on the GWM Canon Alpha HI4T P-HEV.
01:27And then the Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid.
01:31The BYD shark as well.
01:32Remember when they used to use names like, you know, Cougar?
01:35Yeah, that's it, the VX.
01:37So let's run through the shark.
01:39So we know that the shark effectively is internal combustion engine
01:43that can drive the wheels at above, what, 70-odd k's an hour.
01:47Sort of highway cruising speed thing.
01:49And it's paired with two electric motors
01:51and a 30-odd kilowatt-hour battery.
01:53Which is pretty impressive when you think about it
01:55and very different to what your blue singlet beard-stroking ute buyer
02:00is likely to default to, right?
02:03So this is going to require almost as much of a head explosion
02:07as it does to accept that we're in the same room together
02:10without blood all over everything.
02:13And the thing is, people were buying dual-cab utes like the Raptor
02:17because they wanted all this noise and all this acceleration.
02:20Well, we demonstrated when we shot our drag race video
02:23that the shark is actually quicker than the Raptor.
02:25That was so hilarious.
02:27And I think it destroyed a lot of hearts.
02:28You have to go to, like, Herod Performance
02:30and spend many thousands of dollars to actually retain your title.
02:33But it is effectively now outclassed by a vehicle
02:37with a one-and-a-half-litre turbocharged engine,
02:39which is quite funny.
02:40It's a brain-bender.
02:42Like, it's a total brain-bender.
02:43Like, the future just knocked on the door and stepped through
02:46and people are still going blah, blah, blah.
02:48Now, have you driven the shark yet?
02:49No.
02:50Okay.
02:51I was thinking about buying one, though.
02:52Oh, is that so?
02:54Yeah, and then I watched the specs on the GWM
02:56and I thought, anyway, we'll get to that.
02:59Okay, so, look, the shark, over 300 kilowatts of power.
03:02However, it basically is driven as an electric vehicle most of the time.
03:06The internal combustion engine is just working
03:07to keep afloat on the battery.
03:10The shark is a little different to other plug-in hybrids on the market
03:12that will actually read empty, but they're not really empty.
03:16They always have a reserve amount
03:18because these vehicles need to set off with the engine switched off.
03:21Can you imagine the battery actually being allowed
03:23to empty itself to zero and then the stop-go man goes,
03:27go, and you have to be there for five minutes
03:31while the internal combustion engine tops up the battery
03:34and everyone behind you says, sorry, like this, like, come on.
03:38Which is literally what would happen.
03:39It is.
03:40It is.
03:40So, yeah, but the bottom line with all of that
03:43is that the actual technology, the engineering
03:47in these complex systems, it's simplified for consumers
03:52to bend their heads around, but it's more complex than that.
03:56Like, empty in the shark, in the case of camping, means 25%.
03:59Yep, exactly.
04:00Right?
04:00Yeah, exactly.
04:01You're not going to be able to use any more than that
04:03if you're using vehicle to load.
04:04So, the car has all of these safeguards in place,
04:06and while we were able to reach the limits of some of those systems
04:09with edge cases, for most people,
04:12it is going to be an excellent vehicle that does off-road stuff,
04:15it does towing fairly well at two and a half tonnes.
04:17It is going to cover a really wide range of experiences.
04:21Dude, that battery is 30 kilowatt hours, if memory serves,
04:24and that means you've got 22 and a half to burn at a campsite,
04:29and most people would burn, I don't know,
04:3120-ish kilowatt hours at home every day.
04:34So, you could blast Celine Dion out across the campsite
04:38with lights and, you know...
04:40Have a warm bath.
04:41You could piss everyone off.
04:43Right?
04:44Exactly.
04:44Everyone.
04:45Celine Dion.
04:46You know, communing with nature, Celine Dion.
04:49And it will not be over any time soon.
04:51Homicide squad in attendance the next morning.
04:54So, I think we agree.
04:55It's a lot of electricity.
04:56Oh, yeah.
04:56From that point of view, it's great.
04:57And price is good.
04:58Under $60,000.
04:59So, where it differs completely, though,
05:02from the plug-in hybrids, Ranger and Canon Alpha,
05:05and we'll touch on the Ranger,
05:07Ford has really shot themselves in the foot
05:09because plug-in hybrids are considered premium technology
05:12because you have to add a fixed cost of a battery.
05:15Batteries aren't free.
05:16They're expensive, well, relatively.
05:18You have to add that in.
05:20You've got to add electric motors.
05:21You've got a lot of components to add in.
05:22So, by default, it must be...
05:24Complexity factor.
05:25Yeah.
05:25Infinity.
05:25It must be more expensive than your 2-litre diesel.
05:29Sure.
05:30The other problem Ford has as well
05:31is that they're producing this in South Africa and...
05:34Well, they've got lions incentivising the workers, right?
05:36That's it.
05:37You've got giraffes helping on the assembly line and stuff.
05:39Yeah, you're going to have a tariff as well.
05:41So, there is only so many ways they can cut the Ranger up.
05:44That's right.
05:44There'll be import duty.
05:45We haven't got a free trade agreement with South Africa.
05:48So, I mean, it's going to cost you probably an arm and a leg.
05:50And I'm tipping $20,000 to $30,000 more than the Shark.
05:54And I just don't see why, even with a smaller battery,
05:57you would go down that path.
05:58It's got a 12-kilowatt-hour battery.
06:00I mean, it's virtually nothing.
06:03And so, Ford's press release, if memory serves,
06:06they issued this mad press release that basically just said,
06:09the one thing we can do that the Shark can't
06:11is three-and-a-half-tonne tow capacity.
06:13And that was 2,500 words that said, that's all people want, right?
06:19And au contraire, because it's going to be like 30 grand more.
06:23Yep.
06:24Come on.
06:24And the other issue they're going to have is that the GWN
06:28Canon Alpha HI4 TP have...
06:31Did you practice that in a plane?
06:33Yeah.
06:34Over and over.
06:35Yeah.
06:35I think I've just nailed it.
06:36You've nailed it.
06:37You know, I feel so guilty whenever I criticise you.
06:40Because I was such a cock to you years ago.
06:42Oh, yeah.
06:43You've still got the scar.
06:44Yeah, we actually have.
06:45Some people don't know this.
06:47We've got a lot of history,
06:47because John used to be the editor of Car Advice,
06:50which was our old publication.
06:52And I've received some lengthy emails from John,
06:57none of which were nice.
06:59Oh, I don't think they were nasty.
07:02They were just critical.
07:03Very.
07:04But if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.
07:06Exactly.
07:07Yeah, something like that.
07:07You're pretty fucking stronger now, aren't you?
07:08Yeah, look, I can lift all this stuff you have in the fat cage.
07:11Yeah, yeah.
07:12Just do a few curls with that.
07:14That is impressive.
07:14You have, just on a side note, some very cool tools around here.
07:18I like my frankenwrenches, mate.
07:19Yeah, that is cool.
07:20These are amazing.
07:21It's for an ER32 collet.
07:22You don't know what that is.
07:23No.
07:24No.
07:25What is that?
07:26It's a work-holding...
07:28It's like a drill chuck, but more precise.
07:30It's got a bit of concentricity, more likely to find it, you know.
07:33I'm literally about to say that.
07:34Milling machine.
07:35Yeah.
07:35Yeah.
07:36The word's right out of my mouth.
07:37But you need a 42mm wrench, and the default setting is they come this long.
07:41Wow.
07:42You know?
07:43And you only want to hold it like that.
07:44Anyway, we digress.
07:46Yes.
07:46So the GWM, that's a similar arrangement in terms of power and torque for the Shark.
07:51300 kilowatts, 750 newton metres.
07:54Difference is, though, that it uses a two litre instead of a one and a half litre, and
07:57the engine itself will do 180 kilowatts of power, 380 newton metres of torque.
08:01And the powertrain, like it's got a blue singlet Bogan four-wheel drive powertrain.
08:06Yeah.
08:06Hey.
08:07Front and rear diff locks, low range, nine-speed hybrid transmission, whatever that means.
08:11So this is potentially a bit of a knee in the nuts for the old BYD, isn't it?
08:16Yeah.
08:17And the Ranger.
08:18Oh, yeah.
08:19But the Ranger's already been kneed in the nuts by the BYD.
08:22Now, the way this is going to make a big difference, when we did the Shark review, we found that
08:27it struggled, and it was probably a software thing, but it struggled to get up our gravel
08:31hill at the proving ground.
08:32But if you extrapolate it further, you've got climb limits on that vehicle due to the electric
08:37motors.
08:37They don't have stepped gears at the wheels.
08:40The engine itself is effectively a direct drive at above 70 k's an hour.
08:44There's got to be a duty cycle limit to low-speed, maximum torque, meaning maximum current type
08:50operation, right?
08:52You would think so.
08:52And you exploit that off-road all the time.
08:56Yeah, 100%.
08:56So I think the big difference here with the GWM and the Ranger is that they effectively
09:02have the same driveline, so to speak, that the internal combustion version does.
09:07All they're doing is sandwiching an electric motor in that driveline so that you can actually
09:12have that drive the vehicle if required.
09:14And the difference you're going to find is that when you are off-road, you can actually
09:17multiply your torque by having a low-range transfer case and gearing in this instance and
09:21diff locks.
09:22And an electric assist.
09:24And an electric assist.
09:24That's what you're not getting with the BYD, right?
09:28You're getting the electric assist because that's all there is at low-speed.
09:32You're not getting any direct powertrain, low-range thing at all.
09:37So this could be a real wake-up call for the BYD and for every other diesel ute that's so
09:47popular at the moment.
09:47Because which best of both worlds scenario does it not have?
09:52Yeah, exactly.
09:53And we spoke about this in the other video that at the moment, if you novate lease a plug-in
09:58hybrid on an electric vehicle, you're FBT exempt, which is a huge thing to have for anyone
10:03really who wants to reduce their tax.
10:05And if GWM wants to compete with BYD, they will price this thing at the same price as the
10:10BYD, right?
10:11It's got to be just under the threshold for FBT exemption.
10:14So you're going to be paying under $60,000, you're getting FBT exemption, you're lowering
10:18your tax with a novated lease.
10:20I mean, it just seems like a no-brainer.
10:22It's either that or spend...
10:23But when's it going to be launched?
10:24Well, this is just around the corner of the GWM.
10:27The Ford Ranger apparently is Q1.
10:29But you're going to have to pedal like buggery because the FBT exemption for plug-in hybrids
10:34runs out on the 1st of April, like April Fool's Day.
10:38What a funny little joke, that is.
10:38Yeah, appropriately enough for the Federal Government, which is just Errol Flynn-ing itself all over
10:43town, including with this, because hybrids and plug-in hybrids, their sales are geometrically
10:49like this.
10:51Electric car sales are a bit flat at the moment.
10:53But there's real growth in plug-in hybrids, which you can drive like an EV for your normal
10:58driving.
10:58Yep.
10:59And they're going to go and shoot it in the junk on April 1st.
11:03It honestly makes no sense at all.
11:05That stuff just...
11:07Yeah.
11:07You can do a separate thing on that altogether.
11:09But I think that this will really be interesting and...
11:12It's got a bigger battery too.
11:13It's got 25% more battery than the BYD.
11:15So 37.5 kilowatt hours for the GWM versus 12 for the Ranger.
11:23Wow.
11:24Well done, Ford.
11:25Like a third of the size.
11:26Yeah.
11:27Yeah.
11:28So look, I think it is a really interesting time ahead.
11:31I'm very much looking forward to driving these.
11:33One of the downsides of having a step transmission sort of in line with an electric motor, which
11:37I've experienced with Mazda products before, where they decided to do an in-house eight-speed
11:42automatic transmission.
11:43And when it comes to doing stuff in-house, if that isn't your core responsibility or core
11:50advantage in the market, you'd probably just leave it to someone else like ZF or literally
11:56anyone else.
11:57And their setup is not great.
11:59You've basically got a plug-in hybrid that will keep changing gears when it's in electric
12:03mode.
12:03And because the gearbox is inherently clunky, you're getting these jerky moments that just
12:08don't sit well.
12:09I'm hoping with this setup here that GWM's targeting and the one that Ford's doing, Ford's
12:14is even worse.
12:14They have a 10-speed auto.
12:15So you've got all of these extra ratios that it's constantly going to be chugging through.
12:20It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out and how they actually feel behind the
12:24wheel.
12:24You know what it gets me about the 10-speed transmission proposition is if you've got 750
12:30newton meters, how many ratios do you really need?
12:33Exactly.
12:34I just don't understand that logic.
12:36It's got to be, at any speed and in any particular load type conditions, there's got to be three
12:41gears that are good enough.
12:42Exactly.
12:43100%.
12:43Yep.
12:44Yeah.
12:45It really does not make any sense to me.
12:47This GWM, though, it's got a beautiful interior.
12:50It looks amazing.
12:51I mean, we're scrolling through pictures here.
12:52It's got a screen about this big, so no distraction there.
12:54It'd be like being interrogated by the North Koreans, you know, driving at night.
12:59You want to be able to dim it up nicely.
13:01But this yellow colour, I hope it's available in more than just the signature colour.
13:06Well, maybe you might take up taxi driving in Melbourne or something.
13:09Well, possibly.
13:10It's not much of a tradies ute, though.
13:12None of these are.
13:13Like, they don't have the payload.
13:13500-odd kilos of payload.
13:15I mean, even if you're going to tow three and a half tonnes, the second you put any mass
13:18on that down ball, you're going to be eating away at your payload.
13:21Well, you and your apprentice are going to be 200-ish kilos by the time you've got your
13:26packed lunch in the back.
13:27Exactly.
13:27You're basically at your limits there.
13:29You put your toe ball on top of that.
13:31It's going to be 300 kilos.
13:33Then there's your 500 kilos of payload.
13:35You're done.
13:35You can't have anything else in the vehicle.
13:36So I think a lot of people will do or offer a GVM upgrade for the GWM, and then that will
13:43assist with that.
13:43But you're always going to be limited.
13:45I love this tray, the split tailgate.
13:47It basically allows it to open in several different ways, and I think that's a pretty
13:51sort of clever setup.
13:52The vehicle itself, the Shark 2, is big.
13:55Like, you think a Ford Ranger's big.
13:57Both of these are actually quite sizeable.
14:00I know.
14:01They're like five and a half metres long.
14:02You're going to see more of these on the road.
14:04So one question I've got for you, and this is just my engineering mind thinking about this.
14:09Jesus, if you're looking at me for an answer here, you're at the bottom of the barrel
14:13scraping, aren't you?
14:14Have a look at the kerb weight.
14:152.8 tonnes.
14:16Shark is 2.7 odd tonnes.
14:18Yeah.
14:18These things are fucking huge.
14:21Sure.
14:22So I'm not sure we...
14:23Well, okay.
14:24So I'm not sure we're saving the planet.
14:26Yeah.
14:272.8 tonnes of precious raw materials at a time with a service life of like 10 years
14:35or less because, let's be fair, these things are the first generation of this style of
14:40thing.
14:40Yeah, exactly.
14:41So they're likely to just do the whole lemmings off the cliff thing with your dove.
14:45So you'll be able to brag about it enthusiastically for 18 months or something, but after that,
14:50it might be painful.
14:52And how we're saving the planet exactly nearly three tonnes at a time.
14:55I don't get that.
14:56And you're going to have long term the same issue that you have with electric vehicles
14:59where battery capacity degrades.
15:02So you're going to be lugging around this thing that isn't as effective as it was when
15:06you bought it.
15:06It's a fuel tank that weighs the same empty.
15:08And imagine if you bought, I don't know, a Hilux GR thing out and every year you lost
15:18three to five percent of your fuel tank capacity and your payload or something of that nature.
15:24There'd be marches, there'd be blue singlets marching in the street, stroking their beards
15:28indignantly, demanding the ACCC Act.
15:32Yep, 100%.
15:33So I just think that it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
15:36But if there's a step change in battery technology too.
15:38Yeah, that'll change everything.
15:39That will fuck every existing owner.
15:41And we're always told it's a little bit like fusion power, isn't it?
15:44That, you know, the next big thing in batteries is just around the corner.
15:48Yep.
15:48But I haven't seen it yet.
15:50Just like my diet.
15:51Yeah, yeah.
15:51For Monday, I will not eat KFC.
15:53I'm turning things around.
15:54Yep.
15:54Yeah.
15:55Me and alcohol, it's over.
15:57It's not happening.
15:59Yeah, with battery tech, I think it was Nissan, although they're running into a couple of
16:03financial issues at the moment.
16:04Oh, you think?
16:05Just a bit.
16:05Imagine having to beg Honda to bail you out.
16:08Oh, thank God.
16:08That's something.
16:09Couldn't have predicted that one.
16:11But yeah, they were talking about 2024, they would have a production line running of
16:16solid state batteries.
16:18And they told us this in October.
16:19They're like, no, no, there's still time left in 2024.
16:22And it's now not 2024.
16:24And there is still no production line with solid state batteries.
16:27You know, they could have built it at the base on Mars that was also going to be up and
16:31running in 2024.
16:33With the autonomous driving Teslas on their way there at the moment.
16:36Yeah, yeah.
16:37And that toaster thing that's a minibus.
16:39I love that too.
16:40Like, how innovative.
16:42Yeah.
16:42So, look, I don't know.
16:43I think the battery tech, I think, will absolutely evolve over time.
16:46But it is taking in cars a little while.
16:49Because there are some unique challenges.
16:51Batteries at home, and I'm sort of just speaking off the top of my head here, but your load
16:58cycles daily are fairly similar.
17:00You know, you load it up, you use X amount of energy, it charges either through the grid
17:04or through your solar.
17:05Yeah.
17:05It's all fairly gradual.
17:06With cars, especially cars that will generate 300 kilowatts of power, you are creating sudden
17:12current draws constantly on this vehicle.
17:14Yeah, well, I've got a 20 kilowatt hour battery just up there, on the roof of the fat cave,
17:19essentially.
17:20And it discharges at a maximum rate of five kilowatts.
17:24Right.
17:25Right?
17:25Which is safe.
17:25So it's 20 kilowatt hours discharging at five.
17:29Yep.
17:29You can have a 60 kilowatt hour battery in an electric car discharging at 160, 150-ish kilowatts,
17:39which is a completely different ballpark when you think that what you're asking is a particular
17:46mass of reactive chemicals to just churn and burn and produce electricity.
17:51And you're asking for a shit tonne more churning and burning when you want an electric car.
17:58The lights go green.
17:59Yep.
17:59And you want to embarrass...
18:01You're next to a Raptor.
18:02...some dickhead in a Raptor, the ultimate tool carrier, right?
18:07And, you know, you do want to embarrass the shit out of him, but those chemicals are just
18:14getting flogged, man.
18:15They're getting flogged.
18:16Absolutely.
18:16It's very different.
18:17So I think that's why in homes, battery tech is evolving and it's really sort of getting
18:21somewhere.
18:22But in these things too, like these things are a constant load.
18:25Yeah, exactly.
18:26Yep.
18:27So, and despite the fact that tradies managed to kick them off ladders and all that stuff,
18:32you hardly ever hear about batteries like this doing the Vesuvius thing.
18:36Yep.
18:37But I think we're in a position now where batteries are in danger of getting a really bad rep,
18:43you know?
18:44Yep.
18:45And they don't have to because if a battery's well engineered with control architecture and
18:51all that stuff, it's pretty safe.
18:53Yep.
18:54Absolutely.
18:54You know, it's just...
18:55Absolutely.
18:55Did you see that on New Year's Eve, the best one of all time was on New Year's Eve in
19:00a subway car in Toronto, some dipshit...
19:03That's right.
19:03...some dipshit food delivery dickhead takes his e-bike and the e-bike, the manufacturer
19:10says, you know, not to be used in winter and not to be used for commercial purposes.
19:14So he's Uber eating it in the middle of winter in Canada, gets on the subway and then three
19:20seconds, smoke starts coming out of the battery and there's this huge fireball and it was
19:25just serendipitous that the car was pulling into the station and people could get out...
19:30Could evacuate and breathe.
19:31...alive, right?
19:33Just unbelievable.
19:34That's actually where a lot of those fires are happening at home.
19:36People are getting shitty charges on their shitty e-bikes and then house goes up because...
19:42But you live in an apartment, right?
19:43Yeah.
19:43Yeah.
19:43Okay.
19:44So where would you put an e-bike?
19:46It'd go in the vestibule somewhere or in the laundry and that'd be between the living
19:50area and your only means of escape.
19:52100%.
19:53Yeah.
19:53And that is precisely what's happening.
19:56But cars have got solid BMS systems and, you know, that's why they don't burn very often.
20:02Exactly.
20:02You know, the funny thing is, just digressing ever so slightly, my brother is an electrician.
20:07He bought a wrecked BYD at 03, had 300 kilometres on the clock when it was rear-ended.
20:14They wrote it off because it was too hard to fix.
20:16He bought it for $2,500.
20:18So he basically took it to his warehouse, pulled the battery out and is now using the
20:24battery to run the warehouse for a separate BMS.
20:27But it is basically a brand new battery on a car that did 300 kilometres that was all
20:32perfectly intact.
20:33Nice big battery to run a warehouse.
20:35Huge.
20:36But that's my thing, that these things are really good at home purposes.
20:41I just wonder how we're going to be 10, 15, 20 years down the track when they're sort
20:46of just sitting around.
20:47Cars these days, you look at, you often see it on Marketplace, people selling like an EB
20:51Falcon.
20:52It was a car that was launched in the 90s that is still sort of driving someone somewhere.
20:57Yeah.
20:57I wonder if it'll be the same thing with electric cars down the track, but, you know.
21:02Well, the CSIRO's got a pretty good report about the looming environmental catastrophe
21:07of lithium battery waste.
21:10And they don't just mean cars.
21:12They mean, you know, these kind of batteries, laptops, everything that's battery powered.
21:16I mean, look, we live in a battery powered world.
21:19Yep.
21:20And they're disposable now as well.
21:21Yeah.
21:21All this stuff, you'll just go buy another one.
21:23You won't.
21:23Yeah, but you listen to the politicians and they say, oh, the batteries are recyclable.
21:27Right?
21:28Yeah, they are.
21:28They're potentially recyclable.
21:30But who's actually doing that?
21:32And at what cost?
21:33Yeah.
21:33How much does it cost?
21:34And if they're so recyclable and the materials are so fucking valuable, why aren't the purchasers,
21:42the recyclers, why aren't they queued up over the horizon offering to pay you for your used
21:47battery so they can extract these valuable metals?
21:50Yeah, that's the problem.
21:50It is true you can recycle most of that battery, but it is very time-resourced and energy-intensive,
21:56cost-intensive.
21:58And just like any other business in the world, no one is going to do that unless there is
22:02money to be made.
22:03Yeah.
22:03And at the moment, there's no money to be made.
22:05Well, we digress on that.
22:06And there's a dirty big one of them coming up in the GWM.
22:09And I'd be looking forward to having a play with that when it comes out.
22:14But you know what we should do, given the nature of these collaborations?
22:18We should get you down to the proving ground and we should get these vehicles and figure
22:21out a bunch of tests that we can do to actually figure out which is best.
22:27We can bleed on the floor bilaterally in an exotic location.
22:31Just wait till you see the fucking flies.
22:33They are on another planet.
22:37It's a new experience in the busted-ass scrub of Australia.
22:43There's funnel-web spiders right from the sky three times a day.
22:46Australia is such a unique place, but...
22:48Yeah, that's very kind.
22:49Yeah.
22:49That's very diplomatic.
22:50Well, we'll make it happen.
22:52All right.
22:52And finally, Ranger.
22:53Look, I mean, the Ranger will be using a larger 2.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
22:59So it's more of a...
23:01Yeah, it's a decent engine.
23:03But in the context of hybrids, this is like plug-in hybrid light in the context of these
23:09three vehicles.
23:09Yeah, exactly.
23:10It's got the reputation.
23:12Yeah.
23:12Everyone knows Ford.
23:13Is it a good one or a bad one?
23:16Well, you bought one.
23:17Well, look, I...
23:18Well, aside from the diff needing to be replaced, which I don't think was my fault, I think,
23:24my car has been reliable.
23:26So...
23:27But I know people have had issues, so...
23:29Yeah, look, people get the wrong idea about reliability, I think, because even the shittest
23:35reliability examples in the country, most of those cars are reliable.
23:41Yep.
23:41The majority remain reliable.
23:42You look at how many they sell, right?
23:43Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:44If you're selling, you know, tens or hundreds of thousands of these cars, yes, some will fail,
23:48but you've got to look at the percentage of...
23:50If 50% of them were failing, I'd be like, well, we've got a problem here.
23:53And even if that...
23:54Even if there's a relatively high failure rate, what really matters more than anything
23:58else is, what level of support do you get at the dealership and what level do you get
24:02from the importer?
24:04Because, you know, if you have a failure and your car arrives at the dealer on the back
24:09of some truck and someone walks out and says, sir, that's terrible, we're on it, here's
24:14a replacement car, terribly sorry for the inconvenience, and then later on they say,
24:19yeah, we got to the bottom of that, it's fixed, you go, you turn into an ambassador,
24:24right?
24:24100%.
24:25But if they try and throw you under the bus, right?
24:27If they say, that bull bar there, that's not genuine.
24:30That's it.
24:30And your fuel tank's got a leak in it, so we're not covering that.
24:33Yep.
24:34That scent thing you've got on the mirror, that completely destroyed the engine.
24:38You fit a snorkel, you.
24:41Yeah, that's what concerns me, especially in this segment with dual cabs.
24:44I say to people all the time that, yeah, great, go and fit whatever you want to the vehicle,
24:48but know that the first thing they will do is try and pin that accessory on whatever has
24:54failed.
24:55Yeah.
24:55They will go, they're like insurance companies, if they can get out of...
24:59Look for a reason.
24:59Oh, they will just, they will screw you over every time.
25:02There needs to be, there needs to be a reason, there needs to be some sort of good faith,
25:07reasonable balance.
25:08Totally.
25:08Because some owners are just comprehensive muppets.
25:11Yeah, they'll skip services, don't, you know, replace oil.
25:14Or cut the back off their wagon with an angle grinder and turn it into a ute.
25:18You know what I'm talking about.
25:19Yeah.
25:19And then they'll front up to the dealer and say, oh no, I haven't modified it at all.
25:25No, it was like that when I bought it.
25:28Yeah, and even when it comes to servicing your new car, you don't have to get it serviced
25:32at your dealership.
25:34But if you do take it to a mechanic, take it to someone who has half a clue of what they're
25:37doing and will use either genuine parts or stuff that is permitted by the manufacturer.
25:41Because that is, again, if they pop your bonnet and you've got a $3 oil filter, that will get
25:47you every time.
25:48I get these emails from people and they say, I've serviced my car on time.
25:53Yeah.
25:53Right?
25:54And what they haven't said is that, yeah, but they've driven 100,000 k's in between those
25:58services.
25:59They've been bang on time every 12 months.
26:00Yeah.
26:01But they've just driven 100,000 k's a year, right?
26:03And so half of the people who complain about this kind of thing, in my experience, are
26:10the only deficiency is between their ears.
26:12Yep.
26:13Like the problem is intellectual.
26:15Yep.
26:15And the other half is legitimate people who should rightly deserve support from a carmaker
26:23and they're just not getting it, which is unacceptable.
26:25It's literally those two things.
26:27Yeah, it's literally those two things.
26:28They tend to be extremes.
26:30No.
26:30And I reckon those guys email everyone, because what we find is I'll get an email through
26:36my website, which I've just stopped accepting emails on because it just gets out of control
26:40with people wanting help.
26:41Sure.
26:42And I just can't respond to everyone.
26:44And nine times out of 10, I will go and inquire with the manufacturer, because I genuinely want
26:49to help someone if they have a problem.
26:50Yep.
26:51And nine times out of 10, they've skipped like two services, not had the oil changed on their
26:56car and it shit itself.
26:57I've had so many back channel conversations with car makers in exactly like that.
27:03It's like, hey, you need to know that this guy has skipped three services in a row and
27:08you know, his car's done 150,000 k's, he should have had 10 services, he's had four.
27:13Yep.
27:13You know.
27:13And it's like, well, what do you expect?
27:15They don't tell you to come and service it.
27:17Well, maybe Toyota does because they do it every six months, but they don't tell you to come
27:21and service it for fun.
27:22But it's a contract, right?
27:23Exactly.
27:23You've got a contract and your warranty, your warranty is a contract.
27:27It depends on you doing the right thing.
27:29And it depends on them doing the right thing.
27:31If you do the right thing.
27:32So.
27:33Absolutely.
27:34All right.
27:34Well, fuck, we've spoken about a lot of stuff here.
27:36So yeah, let us know in the comments section below.
27:39What do you reckon about these dual cab utes?
27:41Which one are you leaning towards?
27:42Have you bought a shark?
27:43The first delivery of one was the other day and the picture they published of the bloke,
27:48he rocked up in a suit to pick it up.
27:50And I'm like, James Bond or something.
27:53So that was interesting.
27:55Have you got a shark?
27:55How's it going?
27:56Let us know.
27:58And do head over to John's channel as well so you can see the other video that we shot.
28:01We're going to work on doing some fun stuff.
28:03And tell us how shocking it was to see the other expert in the wrong fat cage.
28:08Jesus Christ.
28:08My heads are exploding all over Australia.
28:10Genuinely amazed at this and we're going to show as much of the cool stuff you have here
28:14as we can without revealing too much.
28:16But I think it is a very cool setup.
28:18No, I think it's always worse.
28:21It's like meeting one of your heroes and you figure out they're a scumbag just like you.
28:26That's it.
28:27It's like the fat cave.
28:28Is this all it is?
28:29Yeah, that's it.
28:30Where are the hookers?
28:31It's just a garage full of shit.
28:35Anyway, thank you for watching again.
28:37And if you did enjoy the video, make sure you like it.
28:39Subscribe to the channel.
28:40Head over and check out John as well.
28:42Can I do the wave?
28:43Oh, yeah, go on.
28:44See you later.
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