Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Luxury Electric Vehicle Under $150K

Find out what cars are eligible for the Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Luxury Electric Vehicle Under $150K category

Electric Cars

Family Cars

Drive Team

16:0022 November 2023

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Over the next few weeks, we'll be explaining all the categories and contenders for Drive Car of the Year 2024. Testing is currently underway, with the final winners to be announced early next year.

Drive Car of the Year 2024

Now in its 18th year, the annual Drive Car of the Year awards program continues to be the Australian new car buyer’s most trusted advisor.

At Drive, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each against its innate promise to sort the best from the rest. We divide the 400-plus new passenger cars, SUVs, 4WDs and utes into 19 price-banded categories focused on the end-user, then analyse the strengths and weaknesses of every car to find the cream of the automotive crop.

Drive Car of the Year 2024 is a go!

Drive Car of the Year Overview

Drive Car of the Year 2023 winners

Drive Car of the Year 2024: Best Luxury Electric Vehicle Under $150K

This is the category where the cream of the battery electric crop shines: Drive Car of the Year Best Luxury Electric Vehicle Under $150K.

Good value BEVs that are still among the best for luxury, and class and offer the latest safety and technology are all assessed here. Only one can be named the Best in class.

This is effectively a carry-over category but has now introduced a $150,000 price cap. This means that the BMW i7, last year’s winner, is unfortunately knocked out by its $306,000 starting price.

This still leaves us with some appealing options to challenge for the title this year.

There is the BMW i4, an engaging and practical five-door hatch with outstanding dynamics, comfort and impressive performance numbers -- perhaps challenged here most by another BMW – the BMW iX, which has an imposing presence, exceptional driving range, space and quirky design language everywhere you look.

Then there’s the Lexus RZ, which sticks close to the Lexus luxury ethos and allows rear occupants a supremely comfortable space with generous legroom.

The Mercedes-Benz EQE in 300 or 350 form (sadly the gut-wrenchingly quick EQE AMG 53 is knocked out on price) serves up a tasty mix of huge driving range, excellent, absorbent ride and undeniably spacious cabin.

Let’s not forget the Ford Mustang Mach E, the vehicle that redefines what Mustang means. This is an SUV that has a distinctive design inside and out, epic performance in GT form and supremely comfortable suspension.

Which cars are eligible for this category?

Drive’s rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:

Be all-new or significantly updated,
Be on sale by December 31, 2023, and
Retail examples be made available for Drive to road test before that cut-off date.

This means that with a defined $150K price cut-off, the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW i7 and i5, Mercedes-Benz EQS and Porsche Taycan are too expensive. The Ford e-Transit and LDV e-Deliver 9 vans may well cost luxury money but are clearly not that.

Eligible	Ineligible
- Cars that are all-new or significantly updated since they last contested Drive Car of the Year. - New categories are open to all cars that fit category requirements. - Last year’s winner is an automatic inclusion.	- These cars meet category requirements but have not changed since they previously contested Drive Car of the Year and are not a carry-over winner.
BMW i4 BMW iX Kia EV9 LDV Mifa 9 Lexus RZ Mercedes-Benz EQE Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV Mercedes-Benz EQV Mercedes-Benz eVito Tourer	Unchanged: BMW iX3 Genesis G80 Genesis GV60 Genesis GV70 Jaguar I-Pace Mercedes-Benz EQA Mercedes-Benz EQB Too expensive: Audi Q8 e-tron BMW i5 BMW i7 Mercedes-Benz EQS Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV Porsche Taycan Do not meet criteria: Ford E-Transit LDV e-Deliver 9

What are the next steps?

The winner of the 2024 Drive Car of the Year Best Luxury Electric Vehicle Under $150K will be announced in February 2024.

Before then, we will announce the finalists, all of whom which deliver on providing the best of tomorrow today. One thing is certain: this category promises to be one of the toughest confronting our 11 experienced judges.