Episode 82; Quick Charge: Mitsubishi ASX VR-e, Battery-Backed Charging & Cheaper Aion UT

In Episode 82 of Plugged In Australia: Quick Charge, Australia gets an unusual new ultra-fast charging installation in Perth that combines a large battery with solar and a relatively modest grid connection.

Mitsubishi finally reveals the identity of the Australian-tuned electric SUV we first reported on back in June, confirming the ASX VR-e for a fourth-quarter launch with four local grades.

GAC confirms an even cheaper version of the Aion UT is coming before the end of 2026, CUPRA rolls out a finance offer covering the Terramar VZe plug-in hybrid, and a Chinese government filing gives us our first proper look at GWM’s Ora 5 plug-in hybrid Touring.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Intro
00:37 — Battery-backed ultra-fast charging goes live in Perth
04:27 — Mitsubishi ASX VR-e confirmed for Australia
06:56 — Cheaper GAC Aion UT coming this year
08:34 — CUPRA Terramar VZe finance offer
09:41 — GWM Ora 5 PHEV Touring revealed
11:51 — Outro

Disclaimer:

All specifications, pricing, and information discussed in this episode were correct at the time of recording. The electric vehicle market moves quickly, so we recommend you always check the latest details directly with manufacturers, dealers, or official sources.

This podcast provides general news and information only, based on publicly available sources and Australian Consumer Law guidelines. It is not legal, financial, or professional advice. For advice specific to your situation, please contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or seek independent professional guidance.

Plugged in Australia and its hosts are not responsible for any decisions, misunderstandings, or purchases made based on the content of this show.

Sourcing & Transparency

At Plugged in Australia, all our stories are sourced from publicly available news articles and reports. We do not receive any advance information or briefings from brands or manufacturers.

Any analysis or opinions we share are based solely on this public information.

Our main sources include (though we also use many others, and they vary by episode):

• https://www.carsales.com.au/
• https://www.carexpert.com.au/
• https://thedriven.io/
• https://www.carsguide.com.au
• https://autotalk.com.au
• https://www.carsguide.com.au
• https://evcentral.com.au
• https://www.drive.com.au

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

G'day, welcome back to Plugged in Australia Quick Charge, the shorter version of the show for when you want the main EV news without the full deep dive. And this is episode 82 for Tuesday, the 11th of August 2026. And today we've got a really interesting charging installation going live in WA. Mitsubishi has finally put a name and launch window on the Australian Tuned EV we first talked about back in June. GAC is preparing an even cheaper Aeon UT. Cooper has a finance deal covering the Terramar plugin hybrid, and we've now got our first proper look at GWM's Aura 5 plug-in hybrid touring. Let's get into it. Okay, we'll start in Western Australia because a new ultra-fast charging site in Cockburn demonstrates a very different way of building high-powered EV charging infrastructure. An Illumina DS400 has now gone live at 32 Paletti Road in Cockburn, south of Perth, and the important qualification here is the Australian First Claim. This is not the first battery-backed EV charger ever installed in Australia. What makes this installation unusual is that it is being described as an Australia's first customer-owned DS400 Ultrafast Charger, privately funded and commissioned for public use. The DS400 combines the charger with a large lithium-ion phosphate battery. The standard unit has around 350 kWh of integrated storage and can deliver up to 400 kW. But the installation has been configured a little slightly different. There are two dispensers with two charging cables each, allowing four vehicles to charge simultaneously. With one car connected, the vehicle can receive up to 250 kW. With two charging, it can receive 180, three vehicles up to 120 each, and while four simultaneous sessions can run at up to 90 kW per vehicle. What makes the system interesting is what happens on the other side of the charger. Instead of requiring a massive new grid connection, capable of continuously supplying hundreds of kilowatts, the battery can be replenished much slowly. The site has a 70kW grid connection, a large rooftop solar system, an additional 240 kWh SIG energy battery system, and a direct solar connection into the DS400 itself. And just to put that 70kW grid connection into a little bit of perspective, that really isn't an enormous electrical supply. Where I am in New South Wales on the Endeavour Energy Network, I personally have an 80 amp per phase three-phase grid connection at home. So in theory, that gives me somewhere around 55 to 57 kilowatts of grid capacity, although the exact usable figure can vary depending on things like actual supply voltage, power factor, and how evenly the loads are balanced across the three phases, and quite a few other things as well. So on top of that, I've got about 16 kilowatts of rooftop solar and 25 kilowatts of dispatchable energy from the battery. So in theory, I could do a supply of 97 kilowatts. Obviously, that's never going to happen, and the main fuse in the house is less than that. So, but just to give you a little bit of sort of perspective on that, and now the solar and batteries don't make my grid connection any bigger. That grid connection is still limited by the 80 amps per phase, but they can increase the amount of power available to the property at any given moment. So when you hear that this ultra-fast charging site is operating around a 70 kilowatt grid connection, it sounds huge at first, but in electrical infrastructure terms, it is really nothing exotic. It's very small. Commercial and industrial properties can have much larger supplies again. I think that it's actually what makes this installation so interesting. The clever part isn't having some enormous grid connection capable of supplying hundreds of kilowatts continuously. It's using battery storage to take a relatively modest grid supply, build up energy over time, and then deliver short bursts of ultra-fast charging power when a vehicle actually needs it. So the batteries can they gradually accumulate energy between charging sessions and then as I said release it at a much higher rate when the vehicle arrives. That could be extremely useful at Australian sites where installing a conventional 300 or 400kW charger would require an expensive network upgrade. It does not magically create electricity, of course, if enough vehicles arrive continuously, eventually the stored energy has to be replenished. However, for locations where charging demands come in bursts, battery-backed charging could allow genuinely fast charging from sites that otherwise couldn't support it. And that makes this installation worth watching well beyond Perth. Next, Mitsubishi has finally revealed the identity of the electric SUV we first talked about back in episode 60. At the time, Mitsubishi had confirmed that a Foxtron developed EV was coming to Australia before the end of 2026 with substantial Australian testing and suspension tuning. But the company had not revealed its local name. We now have it. The new model will be called the Mitsubishi ASX VRE, and Australian deliveries are due during the fourth quarter of this year. There will be four grades locally: the LS, Aspire, Exceed, and GSR, already very familiar model designations in Australia. And despite the ASX badge, this has nothing to do with the Renault Captor-based ASX Petrol that is currently sold here. The VRE has been developed through Mitsubishi's partnership with Foxtron Vehicle Technologies, the electric vehicle joint venture involving Foxconn and Taiwan's Yulon Motor. The underlying vehicle is closely related to the Foxtron Bria, with styling originating from Pinnafarina, but Mitsubishi has created its own front and rear styling, wheels and interior details. Australia and New Zealand were also involved in the development program, including local ride and handling work. Aerodynamic features include an S duct through the front of the vehicle and an active grille shutter designed to reduce drag when additional cooling is not required. What Mitsubishi still has not confirmed is arguably some very important information. Australian battery capacity, motor outputs, range, charging speed, and the price. So the overseas numbers need to be treated only as a guide. The related Foxtron Bria in Taiwan uses a 57.7 kWh LFP battery. Rear-wheel drive version produces about 171kW, while the dual motor all-wheel drive version produces up to 299 kW and can reportedly reach 100kmh in around 3.9 seconds. Just to reiterate, those are not confirmed, Australian ASX VRE specifications, and we shouldn't assume all four grades will simply copy the Taiwanese lineup. The big update today is therefore not that Mitsubishi is returning to battery electric vehicles, we already knew that. It is that the vehicle now has a name, four Australian grades, and a proper fourth quarter launch window. After roughly 14 years without a new full electric Mitsubishi in Australian showrooms, the ASX VRE is finally becoming a real product rather than a future promise. GAC is also going back to the affordable end of the market. We've covered the Aon UT before, including ahead of its Australian launch earlier this year. The current range starts with the premium at 31.990 before on-road costs using a 60kWh LFP battery, a 150kW front motor producing 210 Nm, and an official Australian WLTP range of 430km. Now GAC has confirmed another cheaper ANU T variant will arrive before the end of 2026. Exactly how cheap is still unknown. GAC has not revealed the price or the final specifications, however, the company says it will sit below the existing 31990 entry point. One possibility is that Australia could receive something closer to the lower spec version sold in China. Those can use smaller battery packs ranging from 32 to 44 kWh and a lower output motor producing around 100 kW and 145 newtonm. Again, none of that's been confirmed for Australia yet, just a bit of speculation on my part, and there is a bit of a balancing act here. Dropping the price is useful, but GAC doesn't want to strip so much battery capacity or performance out of the UT that it becomes difficult to justify against cars like the BYD AD01 and the increasingly aggressive group of sub-35 grand electric vehicles now entering the market. The current UT's combination of a 60kWh battery and 430km of WLTP range is actually one of its stronger selling points. So the really interesting question is not simply how cheap the new version becomes, it's about how much GAC takes out of the car to get there. Quick deal watch now from Cooper. The brand has introduced new offers across the Terramar range through to the 30th of September 2026. For our purposes, the relevant model is the Terramar VZE plugin hybrid. The VZE does not get the free leather and sound package being advertised on some of the cheaper Terramar variants, so that part of the promotion should not be confused with a FEV incentive. What the VZE does qualify for is Cooper's advertised 5.85% per annum comparison rate finance offer through Cooper Choice, subject to obviously all the usual lending conditions. The VZE itself remains priced from 77.990 before on-road costs, and it combines a 1.5 litre turbo petrol engine with an electric motor for 200kW and 400 Nm driving the front wheels. Electric range is rated at 110km, and unlike plenty of older plug-in hybrids, it supports both 11kW AC charging and DC charging at up to 50kW. So there's no dramatic FEV price cut here, it's basically a finance incentive on what remains a relatively expensive plug-in hybrid. Finally, we've got a much more substantial update on the plug-in hybrid version of GWM's Aura 5. We actually mentioned back in episode 26 that GWM was looking at additional hybrid and potentially plug-in hybrid powertrains for the Aura 5, and at that stage though it was largely a future possibility and kind of a bit of a stargazing exercise. Now a Chinese government filing has revealed an actual Aura 5 plug-in hybrid wagon style model, giving us our first proper technical details. The reports indicate the new version is likely to be called the Aura 5 Touring, although GWM has not yet formally announced the final production name. It measures 4,758mm long, about 1,840mm wide, and 1630mm high with a 2720mm wheelbase. That makes it roughly 300mm longer than the Aura 5 Electric SUV currently sold in Australia. Most of that additional length appears to be behind the rear wheels, giving the vehicle a much sort of squarer, more wagon-like rear body. Underneath the filing lists a 1.5 litre turbocharged petrol engine, producing 115 kilowatts, combined with a CATL supplied lithium-ion phosphate battery. What we still do not have are the battery capacity, electric motor outputs, total system power, or electric only driving range. So there are still some very large gaps in the specification. Australian availability of this particular plug-in hybrid version is also not confirmed. GWM Australia has acknowledged it is looking at a FEV opportunity for the Aura 5 family, while the regular Battery Electric Aura 5 is already on sale here from 33990 Drive Away. But this filing makes the story considerably more concrete than it was when we first mentioned it. The Aura badge until now has been associated almost entirely with battery electric cars. A plug-in hybrid Aura 5 touring would give GWM another way of attacking the increasingly competitive electrified family car market, and interestingly, it would do it with something closer to a wagon than another conventional SUV. Amen. I like the sounds of that. And that wraps up episode 82 of Plugged in Australia Quick Charge for Tuesday, the 11th of August 2026. Thank you so much for listening, and don't forget for the deeper breakdown of the week's biggest stories. Keep an eye for the next Plugged in Australia Deep Dive, which I should have out towards the end of the week. If there's any stories in this episode that you would like covered in the deep dive, you can either mention them in the comments on whichever platform you're listening to this on, or send me an email. Info at plugged in australia.com.au. Until the next time, stay plugged in and stay charged. Chividamor.