Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Urban Electric Vehicle Under $100K

Find out what cars are eligible for the Drive Car of the Year 2024 – Best Urban Electric Vehicle Under $100K category

Electric Cars

Family Cars

Drive Team

16:0021 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 Urban Electric Vehicle Under $100K

The thirst for EVs is nowhere more obvious than in the cities where most drivers undertake short intra-urban hops and occasional short country runs.

The Best Urban Electric Vehicle is a new category for 2024 so it permits those we have classified as everyday urban EVs (so not sports or family EVs) a chance at category honours.

For those people wanting the cutting-edge technology that such EVs in the $50,000 to $100,000 bracket offer, there is a plenitude of offerings.

This group of EVs builds on the scene set with the Best Electric Vehicle Under $50K category, adding a little more interior space, technology, features and in some instances better motor outputs and battery capacity. These are EVs you can drive every day, owners assured that they could build up commuting kilometres without building up emissions on the way.

While there’s everything in the mix here from the new Fiat 500e, GWM Ora and Peugeot e2008, there are models on this list that will give judges plenty of pause for thought.

The BMW iX1, for example, is the brand’s latest foray into entry-level EVs, that feels just like a petrol X1, making the EV transition easier while offering a spacious, luxe-feeling interior and decent real-world driving range.

The Cupra Born is in the mix with its surprisingly large cabin, well-judged ride comfort and subdued road noise topped off by nice cabin materials and build quality.

The BYD Seal newcomer will be persuasive with its price and feature appeal, while the just-refreshed Hyundai Ioniq 6 with a new entry model has better value added to its attributes.

Then there’s the all-new Hyundai Kona EV, promising yet more sharp performance and cabin presentation.

The MG 4 is going to appeal to the judges with its sharp price, high equipment levels, good energy efficiency and fast charging.

The Volvo EX30 arrives as Volvo’s entry EV model with power, range, and attractive pricing as part of its package of inherent charms.

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.

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 iX1 BYD Seal Cupra Born Fiat 500e GWM Ora Hyundai Ioniq 6 Hyundai Kona EV Kia Niro MG4 X-Power MG4 Long Range 77 MG ZS EV Peugeot e-2008 Polestar 2 Volvo EX30	NA

What are the next steps?

The winner of the 2024 Drive Car of the Year Best Urban Electric Vehicle Under $100K will be announced in February 2024.

Before then, we will announce the finalists, all of whom deliver on being a cutting-edge everyday car for the committed EV buyer. One thing is certain: this category promises to be one of the toughest confronting our 11 experienced judges.