Toby Hagon
Toby Hagon focuses on how electric and electrified cars work in real use, blending detailed testing with clear explanations of price, performance and practicality. His coverage at EV Central centres on new electric vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, with an emphasis on driving impressions, charging behaviour and ownership realities rather than abstract technology. As editor and co‑founder of EV Central, and a former National Motoring Editor at Fairfax, he draws on decades of road‑testing experience to sift meaningful detail from marketing claims. His work is aimed at readers who want to understand what an electrified car will actually do day to day, not just what it promises on paper.
Electric car reviews and road tests
Hagon’s core output is first‑drive and full road tests of new electric cars framed around how they accelerate, charge and cover distance, with close attention to the numbers behind those behaviours.
In reviews of new battery‑electric sedans and SUVs, he routinely lays out price, battery size, claimed range, energy consumption and charging speeds before describing how the car feels on the road. Recent coverage of high‑performance electric limousines with 1000km claimed range and 570kW outputs shows his interest in the intersection of luxury dimensions, rapid charging and attainable pricing rather than performance in isolation.
Week‑long evaluations of new electric SUVs, such as his time with the Geely EX5 Inspire, give him space to test cabin space, ride comfort, efficiency and charging in varied conditions, and he writes about those experiences in plain terms that separate everyday strengths from spec‑sheet talking points. Across these reviews he balances subjective impressions with objective data, giving readers a clear sense of how closely a car’s claimed range and performance line up with real driving.
Plug‑in hybrids and long‑term ownership
A significant strand of Hagon’s work looks at plug‑in hybrids and their role in the transition to full electrification.
His long‑term review of the MG HS Super Hybrid Essence tracks the car over extended use rather than a single launch drive, documenting EV‑only range, fuel consumption, battery and powertrain warranties, and how charging fits into normal routines. He writes frankly about initial quirks and learning curves, then follows up as the car “shows promise”, giving a measured sense of how the technology beds in over time.
Technical details such as combined power outputs, torque figures and 0–100km/h times sit beside observations on cabin usability, ride and handling, and how often the combustion engine is needed in mixed driving. This hybrid coverage is practical and evolutionary rather than evangelising, focusing on what a plug‑in SUV can deliver for buyers who are not ready to move straight to a battery‑electric car.
Best‑of lists, awards and performance benchmarks
Hagon also produces annual “best electric car” features that highlight where individual models stand out and why they matter in a fast‑moving market. His pieces naming the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N as his best electric car of 2024 and the Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear‑Wheel Drive as his pick for 2025 show a clear performance and driver‑engagement lens, but they still return to charging capability, usability and value.
He draws on his role judging major new‑car awards to explain how EVs are assessed against broader criteria, as in coverage of BYD Shark 6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N emerging as big winners in Australian awards seasons. When reporting on the Mercedes‑Benz CLA being named Car of the Year and excelling in safety tests, he uses that recognition to explore whether it is the standout EV launch for the coming year, connecting awards outcomes back to everyday buyer concerns.
Across these pieces he treats awards and rankings as structured test programs rather than hype, and he uses them to benchmark acceleration, safety performance and ownership costs in the context of rival EVs.
Market trends, sales data and consumer advice
Alongside individual car tests, Hagon writes about broader EV market trends and what they mean for buyers. His reporting on BYD, Tesla and MG accounting for 74 per cent of a record 87,217 EVs sold in a recent year uses hard sales numbers to show how quickly electric car adoption is shifting and which brands dominate.
He links that kind of data to detailed buying advice, including comprehensive guides to choosing an EV that outline charging infrastructure, home energy considerations, warranty coverage and total cost of ownership. As an EV convert who has spent most of his career driving everything from supercars to off‑roaders, he explicitly contrasts past petrol and diesel road trips with the new realities of electric mobility and the “pace of change” in the sector. Beyond print and online, he regularly fields listener questions on motoring talk programs, answering practical queries on models, charging and running costs, which reinforces his role as an explainer and adviser as much as a reviewer.
Across formats, his through‑line is clear: he uses long experience and granular detail to help readers navigate the shift from combustion engines to cars powered by electrons.
4 more automobile journalists.
Aditya Nadkarni
Aditya Nadkarni turns new model launches and first drive reviews into clear, buyer-facing information, with a strong focus on detail and incremental updates. He is principal correspondent at CarWale, where he covers passenger vehicles with an emphasis on launch news, facelifts and road-test impressions for mainstream and premium cars. His core news work tracks new introductions and lifecycle updates, explaining what changes, when the car goes on sale, and how each variant is configured. He writes “variants explained” pieces and structured first drive reviews that link driving impressions to a model’s place in the market and its recent update or launch. His reporting is factual, methodical and model-specific, avoiding broad commentary and treating even minor tweaks and new features as news. His bylines also appear at Mobility Outlook and CarTrade, with the same detail-first style.
Alexis Hooi
Alexis Hooi reports on how China’s partnerships in electric vehicles, green technology, tourism and agriculture reshape markets and communities, with a focus on Australia and the wider Asia-Pacific. He writes for China Daily, drawing on experience as a national news page editor, columnist and long-form reporter, and earlier work in other media and organizations. His beat covers Chinese EVs in Australia, green transition projects, innovation hubs, wine, geothermal energy and agricultural cooperation, treating each sector as a lens on China–Oceania economic ties and sustainable growth. He follows concrete outcomes like shifts in car choices, visitor numbers, exports and investment, and reports through project-focused stories and personality-driven features. He also covers culture and identity, diaspora roots, tourism flows, animal attractions and commentary on perception and language, grounding China–Australia relations in everyday experiences.
Antonina Joson
Antonina Joson covers how Southeast Asia’s car markets and fleet decisions respond to new technologies, environmental pressures, and policy shifts. She writes for AfMA, focusing on the automobile sector and its implications for fleets and mobility services, and works as a communications officer with a background in writing, digital marketing, and content creation. Her reporting tracks month‑to‑month changes in car sales in Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, linking sales data, segment performance, and national policy to corporate strategy. She reports on electric vehicles as strategic assets tied to air quality, energy policy, and industrial ambitions, and follows regional moves such as XPENG’s entry into Indonesia and calls for Toyota to shift production. She also covers safety campaigns, mobility platforms, online marketplaces, book recommendations for fleet professionals, and contributes to FleetDrive advertising and content planning, bringing a commercial, cross‑industry perspective to fleet‑focused coverage.
Aranya Mondal
Aranya Mondal is a business and technical writer who edits and writes analytical coverage of the global aluminium industry for AL Circle, with a through-line of connecting trade patterns and supply risks to aluminium competitiveness. She focuses on aluminium trade flows, bauxite diplomacy, tariffs, scrap imports and strategic materials adjacent to aluminium such as gallium. Her beat spans scrap, recycling and the shift from linear to circular aluminium markets, alumina and aluminium production trends, regional vulnerabilities and project developments, as well as automotive and mobility uses of aluminium including product launches like the Anytec A28-T boat. She works mainly on long-form explainers and recurring formats such as weekly sustainability recaps, using clear language, trade data and value-chain context to unpack production, policy and energy trends for an industry audience.