We put 13 of the most affordable EVs to the test to find out which is best
- Which EVs made the cut?
- The judging process
- Safety
- More on EV safety here
- Technology
- More on EV technology here
- Comfort and convenience
- More on EV comfort and convenience here
- Driving performance
- More on EV driving performance here
- Ownership costs
- More on EV ownership costs here
- Read the carsales Best Electric Car 2022 verdict here
There is a seismic shift occurring in the local auto market and, more than ever, Australians are turning their attention to electric vehicles. If not rushing headlong to join the EV revolution, new-car buyers are now carefully considering what’s available and when they might take the plunge. Soaring petrol prices, new model arrivals, widespread state and territory incentives and long-overdue action in Canberra that finally places EVs on the national agenda have fuelled sales, demand and general interest in battery-electric motoring. Whether you’re ready to flick the switch or simply want to take a closer look at what all the fuss is about, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to carsales’ Best Electric Car 2022.
World EV Day has arrived and so too has carsales’ Best Electric Car 2022, our second annual mega-test of the best and most affordable EVs in Australia.
This year, we’ve assembled 13 electric vehicles and applied our rigorous testing regime to find the best attainable EV available Down Under today.
As with all carsales Best Cars awards, we’ve assessed each contender against more than 100 criteria across five key areas: safety, technology, comfort and convenience, driving performance and ownership costs.
Some of these areas offer up important advantages for electric car owners – high technology and lower maintenance and running costs are obvious reference points – while our program also takes a deep dive into EV-specific factors such as driving range, recharging times and energy efficiency.
These are vital for a country like ours, where the distances travelled by car can be vast and, let’s face it, where Australians have kept a wary eye on electric cars given their obvious limitations and the lack of recharging infrastructure.
Electric cars still only account for a fraction of total new-vehicle sales in our marketplace, but the mood is clearly changing, as evidenced by steadily rising sales, new model launches, oversubscribed order banks, widespread state government subsidies, signs of improving affordability and strong intentions among Australians to consider an EV when making their next purchase.
So let’s set about finding the Best Electric Car in 2022…
Which EVs made the cut?
There are 13 contenders for carsales’ Best Electric Car 2022, drawn from the passenger car, crossover and SUV segments:
You’ll notice the Porsche Taycan and other outstanding EVs from high-end sports and luxury brands are not included in our short-listed field.
Affordability is a key factor in our Best Cars determination, and although electric vehicles are still typically much more expensive than comparable cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE), we’ve set a price ceiling for Best Electric Car 2022 at a manufacturer’s retail list price of $75,000.
That has allowed a few base models from premium brands to make the cut, but it removes luxury and supermodel EVs from the equation and roughly aligns with the EV purchase rebate or sales tax concession thresholds offered in most Australian states and territories.
It is also close to the point where the federal government defines a luxury car for the purposes of luxury car tax ($71,849), although we note that the current LCT threshold for fuel-efficient cars such as EVs is a more generous $84,916.
Based on our entry requirements, which as well as price includes availability for testing, a couple of EVs narrowly missed the cut including the Mercedes-Benz EQA and Volvo XC40 Recharge.
On the latter, the new entry-level Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric Plus (from $72,990) was unable to be driven before publication. Ditto for the new Volvo C40, with both new EVs from the Swedish brand not expected to land before October.
Of our 13 models in contention this year, six of them are also offered with hybrid and/or pure ICE powertrains – Hyundai Kona, Kia Niro, Lexus UX, Mazda MX-30, MG ZS and MINI Electric Hatch – which means they are built on platforms designed for traditional engine layouts.
The Polestar 2 is also based on parent Geely’s CMA platform, which underpins conventional models like the Volvo XC40, while our remaining contenders – Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, Nissan LEAF and Tesla Model 3 and Model Y – are underpinned by vehicle architectures developed exclusively for EVs.
There are compromises that come with sharing a platform across ICE and EV powertrains, but that doesn’t mean dedicated EVs are always superior, as we discovered during Best Electric Car testing.
That said, despite all 13 contenders being recent releases in EV form, the platforms underpinning a couple of them are showing their age.
The MINI Electric, launched in 2020 as the MINI Cooper SE 3-Door Hatch, is based on the same platform as the combustion-engined hatch that was launched in 2014.
Then there’s the Lexus UX, which is fresh this year in pure-electric 300e form, but it’s based on the series that arrived in 2018 with petrol and hybrid power.
The Tesla Model 3 arrived in 2019, and has been updated since with new battery chemistry and extra standard features, as well as a shift in sourcing from the US to China last year.
The Hyundai Kona Electric has also been around since 2019 but received a major facelift and revisions with the latest model realignment last year.
The Mazda MX-30 Electric and Polestar 2 launched in 2021, while the Kia EV6, Kia Niro and Tesla Model Y are fresh 2022 debutants, arriving on the market in recent months.
Brand-new arrivals that just squeezed into this test were the BYD Atto 3 and upgraded editions of the Nissan LEAF and MG ZS EV, both of which are now well into their current model lifecycle.
The judging process
The five major areas of assessment we use to determine carsales’ Best Electric Car are: safety, technology, comfort and convenience, driving performance and ownership costs.
Let’s take a look at them in detail…
Safety
That an electric car has lots of advanced safety technology embedded into it is a given and so too is the expectation that a high degree of crash safety protection will be offered.
Many of the active safety features – especially camera, sensor or radar-based driver assist systems – were not even a consideration for buyers only a few years ago, but now they’re rightfully expected.
Given EVs are currently a premium proposition compared to combustion-engined models, Australians signing up for one will also naturally anticipate a high level of safety specification.
That said, despite some EVs offering many innovative safety features, others are incredibly basic.
More on EV safety here
Technology
In this category, you really expect an electric car to stand out.
All EVs should exhibit the very best in terms of in-car technology, meeting the needs of owners who might expect that every interaction with their car – from remotely checking battery charge status on a phone app to in-car voice control of satellite navigation prior to a journey – will be made fuss-free as a result of the technology on offer.
Logical and easy-to-use infotainment and multimedia systems are a priority in any segment, but especially here among EVs.
Most of the cars represented in carsales’ Best Electric Car 2022 are the entry grade of each respective model range, but that doesn’t mean they should only have the most basic tech.
These EVs offer among the best technology features on the market today, but some of them are short on detail.
More on EV technology here
Comfort and convenience
Although EVs are more expensive than equivalent conventional ICE models, car-makers are well aware that buyers expect the premium they’re paying will be rewarded by more than simply the zero-emissions powertrain.
To get your name on the registration papers of these EVs, up to around $75,000 has to pass hands, and for that you certainly expect plenty of features that improve driver and passenger comfort and convenience.
Most of the models on test here include the likes of automatic high-beam and power-operated front seats as standard, but not all of them. When you drill down into the detail there are significant differences in equipment levels and the degree of sophistication provided.
What’s more, clean-sheet designs often deliver up-to-the-minute integrated features that are not easy for competitors to incorporate into their existing models developed years before.
So while convenience features such as keyless entry and start aren’t new, using your smartphone as a ‘key’ to unlock and start your car is still uncommon.
More on EV comfort and convenience here
Driving performance
Don’t think for a moment that electric cars signal the end of driving enjoyment. There are some truly fun and involving EVs on test here.
There’s no hiding the fact that an EV’s battery pack adds weight, which is the enemy of performance and handling. Some EVs favour big-battery endurance and driving range over being fleet-of-foot through corners too.
Yet a dedicated EV platform can pack its weight very low in the chassis (unlike an ICE car), which can turn the tables in terms of vehicle dynamics.
There is also a certain unique character that an electrically motived vehicle has over a typical ICE car, namely that instant, linear torque an EV offers from the get-go.
Without suffering the inevitable power and torque peaks and troughs suffered by a conventional car, or the requirement for a multi-step transmission, all EVs have the potential for an exhilarating drive that many equivalent combustion-powered counterparts do not.
That’s not to say EVs don’t end up with driving performance compromises akin to traditional cars. They may focus more on basic necessities such as ride comfort and efficiency, while others aim to deliver a driving experience that’s as dynamic, responsive and rewarding as a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle.
As you might expect, some EVs strike a better balance between driving range and driving enjoyment – and a better compromise between ride and handling – than others.
You might be surprised at our ranking in this department, too…
More on EV driving performance here
Ownership costs
A grease and oil change is not a service request you’ll ever need to ask for with an electric car.
With no oil, spark plugs, air filters or fuel filters to replace, running an electric car is far cheaper than a traditional ICE vehicle.
Of course, there is still maintenance involved with electric cars, such as brakes and tyres, for starters. And, as ever, some EVs are much more expensive to maintain than others.
We’ve detailed key running costs across all 13 contenders for carsales’ Best Electric Car 2022, including electricity charges, tyre replacement costs, servicing, insurance and registration over the first five years of ownership.
What’s more, we have exclusive access to valuations from the experts at RedBook.com.au to provide an accurate picture of resale value over the same period.
As ever, we’ve also studied each EV’s warranty – for the vehicle itself and the battery – as well as other aftersales provisions such as roadside assistance.
More on EV ownership costs here
Now let’s see which of our contenders is carsales’ Best Electric Car for 2022…
Best Electric Car 2022 contenders:
BYD Atto 3 Standard Range
Hyundai IONIQ 5 Dynamiq RWD
Hyundai Kona Electric Standard Range Elite
Kia EV6 Air RWD
Kia Niro EV S
Lexus UX 300e Luxury
Mazda MX-30 Electric E35 Astina
MG ZS EV Excite
MINI Electric Hatch Classic
Nissan LEAF
Polestar 2 Standard Range Single Motor
Tesla Model 3 RWD
Tesla Model Y RWD
Read the carsales Best Electric Car 2022 verdict here
Keyword: Best Electric Car 2022