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It’s not on daily basis you get to look at a Guinness World Record unfold proper in entrance of you. But that’s precisely what occurred final Friday in Melbourne, the place Geely formally acquired recognition for setting a brand-new world title: the bottom gas consumption on the Sydney-Melbourne coastal route by a plug-in hybrid SUV.
The new international hybrid mannequin, the Geely Starray EM-i plug-in hybrid (PHEV) mid-size SUV, accomplished the 1056km journey utilizing simply 3.83L/100km, as verified by official Guinness adjudicators.
It’s a quantity that stops individuals mid-conversation, largely as a result of it challenges what we expect hybrids can really do in the actual world.
So this wasn’t simply one other press occasion. It was equal components celebration and real admiration for a automobile that quietly rewrites expectations.
A drive worthy of a world document
The Sydney-Melbourne ‘Coastal Drive’ is certainly one of Australia’s most spectacular long-distance journeys. It’s a mixture of winding nationwide parks, ocean views, nation cities, steep climbs, quick stretches and, inevitably, the site visitors shuffle as you close to the cities of Melbourne or Sydney.
It can also be, undoubtedly, a correct check of a automobile’s endurance and effectivity.
Personally, it’s certainly one of my favorite routes in Australia. As somebody who spends a whole lot of time travelling lengthy distances for work and exploring regional roads, I understand how different and demanding this drive will be.
You get corners that demand precision, lengthy straights the place effectivity and security issues, and hills that punish something underpowered.
So for Geely to decide on this particular route for a document try says all the things about its confidence within the new Starray EM-i. This wasn’t a quiet, managed loop. It wasn’t a superbly flat check monitor. This was Australia’s shoreline in early summer season with warmth, wind, congestion, hills, and all the things in between.
The automobile behind the document
The Starray EM-i is Geely’s first international plug-in hybrid SUV. It runs a 29.8kWh battery paired with a 1.5-litre petrol engine, and a hybrid system designed to maneuver between electrical and petrol energy with out the motive force feeling it occur.
What the document proves isn’t just that the system is environment friendly, however that it stays environment friendly in the actual world. Long hills, high-speed overtakes, and stop-start site visitors are the moments the place most hybrids begin to slip.
Inside, it’s comfy and well-equipped. The cabin has that fashionable hybrid SUV really feel: huge display, clear traces, supportive seating and a quietness you solely get when working on electrical energy.
Plenty of boot area, sufficient charging ports for household highway journeys, and clean transitions between modes make it sensible for on a regular basis driving, not simply headline moments like this one.
If you have been serious about doing the Sydney-Melbourne drive, or any lengthy highway journey, that is the type of cabin that retains you and your passengers completely satisfied for hours.
The world document second
The second earlier than the announcement was surprisingly emotional. I grew up with the Guinness World Record books, anxiously ready with associates within the college library as main college children for the brand new 12 months version to return out.
And at the same time as an grownup I nonetheless acquired that pleasure, with media, engineers, model companions and tech lovers all gathered across the SUV because the Guinness World Records certificates was introduced out.
There’s one thing particular about seeing a world document acknowledged in individual. People informed me after the announcement: “I didn’t think it could actually do it” and “This is wild for a hybrid”. And truthfully, that sentiment carried by the room.
Plenty of manufacturers declare their autos can do long-distance effectivity runs on one tank or one cost. Very few take that declare and check it in entrance of the world, with impartial adjudication, alongside a route that hundreds of Australians drive yearly.
Geely didn’t simply declare that, it proved it.
The journey that put it to the check
To make this official with Guinness, two impartial witnesses travelled with the automobile for the whole 24-hour journey, as required by the foundations. Every cease, each change in climate, each studying was documented and verified.
While the total technical rationalization of how the hybrid system behaved in every a part of the drive exists, right here’s what issues:
The Royal National Park to Wollongong: Long climbs and open roads the place the engine and electrical motor labored collectively for max effectivity.
Through Gippsland’s rolling hills: Plenty of alternatives for the automobile to regenerate power on descents, storing energy for later sections.
Approaching Melbourne: Thick site visitors the place the Starray EM-i slipped into pure electrical mode at low speeds, saving gas when it mattered most.
These are driving situations each Australian recognises. And that’s precisely why this document feels extra relatable than most effectivity claims – it performed out on the identical roads the remainder of us tackle holidays.
What Geely says it means
At the occasion, the director of the Energy Control Department at Geely Automobile Research Institute, Dong Wan, spoke about why this achievement issues and his message was clear.
This hybrid system works as a result of its {hardware} and software program are designed to co-operate in an environment friendly approach, adjusting energy supply second by second to let the engine at all times work in probably the most environment friendly working vary.
It’s not one trick; it’s a sequence of small, sensible selections the automobile makes continually, when to make use of electrical energy, when to reap power, when to let the petrol engine take over, and when to run each.
The outcome was a world document on a route that’s as on a regular basis as it’s iconic.
More than a certificates
Globally, the Starray EM-i has already notched up greater than 114,000 gross sales as of November 2025. It’s been properly acquired in markets throughout Europe, Asia and South Africa, and now Australia, positioning Geely as a fast-growing contender within the hybrid area.
But the world document does greater than add credibility, it sends a message that hybrid know-how remains to be evolving, nonetheless aggressive, and nonetheless able to shocking individuals.
For drivers, it means decrease working prices and extra confidence on lengthy drives.
For Geely, it marks a milestone in its worldwide rollout.
And for the broader trade, it’s a reminder that effectivity isn’t simply advertising, it’s measurable.
We didn’t simply watch a document being set final week. We watched a hybrid SUV show that innovation isn’t slowing down, and neither is the way forward for environment friendly long-distance journey.
MORE: Explore the Geely Starray EM-ishowroom
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