If your reason for not going for an electric vehicle yet was not enough options being available already, then 2022 might be your year.
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The variety of battery-powered fully-electric vehicles (BEV) was already decent, but it is growing substantially with new shapes and sizes from city hatches to people movers, luxury supercars to SUVs, and numerous commercial vehicles too.
Here's a taste of what you can expect to see in 2022.
Ace
For a short-range runabout or commercial vehicle, local maker Ace has a few options available, each with a top speed of 100km/h.
Based on the same design, the Urban, Cargo and Yewt offer a hatch, or a 500kg payload van or ute, respectively.
They have also launched the V1 Transformer with a 1100kg payload, a range of up to 258km partially loaded, and production due to begin in the first half of 2022.
Audi
Related to the Porsche Taycan and a rival to the Tesla Model S, the e-tron GT is due to be launched in early 2022 with a range of up to 488km and a choice of power outputs with 350kW or an RS version with 440kW.
The RS claims a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.3 seconds, so it will be the quickest road-going Audi ever.
On the fast charger, 100km of range is available in five minutes, and going from 5 to 80 per cent charge takes less than 23 minutes.
BMW
Having already released the all-electric iX3 and iX SUVs in 2021, the all electric i4 sedan is due early in 2022.
Styled like the existing 4 series, there are two BEV powertrain options. The eDrive40 gets a single 250kW motor, rear-wheel drive (RWD), a claimed 0-100km acceleration of 5.7 seconds, and a 590km range.
The M50 version gets all-wheel drive (AWD) from two electric motors for a combined 400kW, a claimed 0-100km/h of 3.9 seconds, and a range of 510km.
Both use the same 84kWh battery and the fast-charging option takes it from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in 31 minutes.
BYD
Potentially the cheapest BEV coming to Australia is the EA1 in mid-2022. This city-style 5-door hatch will have a cobalt-free battery and a range of around 400km.
The Yuan Plus will be a small-ish SUV with a 60kWh battery and about a 450km range. This one is due here in the first half of 2022.
Han is a luxury sedan with 605km range and 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds. This has no launch date yet though.
Cupra
New VW Group subsidiary Cupra will have their Born available in Australia late in 2022 or early in 2023.
A family hatch about the size and price of a Golf GTi but actually based on the Volkswagen ID.3, the Spanish firm will also be offering variants of the Born with differing power levels and battery capacities, including a hot-hatch e-Boost with 170kW (for 30 seconds at a time, otherwise 150kW) and 0-100km/h performance of 6.6 seconds.
Ford
Ford's first BEV for Australia will also be Australia's first large BEV commercial van (Renault already offer a BEV version of the smaller Kangoo).
Arriving mid-2022 with a 68kWh battery the E-Transit will have an expected range of 317km, which Ford says is 2.5 times the average distance a commercial van travels in a day. A fast charge will also take it from 15 to 80 per cent in 34 minutes.
Genesis
Built on Hyundai Group's dedicated BEV platform, Genesis will release its first fully-electric vehicle in the first half of 2022. The GV60 is an SUV and will come in three variants. The standard single-motor RWD version will have 168kW and a range of 451km. The mid-range dual motor part-time AWD variant will have 234kW and a range of 400km. The performance AWD variant with 320kW (and 360kW for up to 10 seconds in boost mode) will have a maximum range of 368km.
The Electrified G80 luxury sedan is also due in 2022, with a 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds and a range of 500km. And the Electrified G70 SUV is coming in the first half of 2022, with a 400-500km range.
Kia
Kia's first BEV to be sold outside South Korea will be the EV6, a sporty crossover. The standard model is due in the first half of 2022, and a performance version will arrive late 2022 or early 2023. Also built on parent company Hyundai's dedicated BEV platform, it comes with RWD or AWD, and will have a range of over 400km.
Mercedes-Benz
Offering the most impressive range of 660km from the launch version with a 90kWh battery, the EQE is a luxury sedan offering an alternative under the flagship EQS. Due in the second half of 2022, the EQE will fast charge from 10 to 80 per cent in 32 minutes.
The EQB SUV is also due in 2022, with a range of 420km.
The EQV is a luxury people mover with a range of 355km. It's due in mid-2022. And the simpler eVito panel van with the same powertrain will become taxis or shuttle buses.
MG
Australia's cheapest BEV right now, the ZS EV, is due for a model update in May. A much larger 72kWh battery will give it a range of 440km.
Polestar
The Polestar 2 is a high-riding sedan due to launch in February. It will come in three spec levels offering 440-540km range.
Subaru and Toyota
Jointly developed with Subaru who will sell it as the Solterra, the Kluger-sized Toyota bZ4X crossover will have AWD and a range of 500km. There's no Aussie date for the Solterra but the bZ4X is due late-2022.
Volvo
Having sold its 2021 allocation of AWD BEV XC40s very quickly, they're adding a lower-spec single-motor front-wheel drive XC40 Recharge Pure Electric with a smaller 69kWh battery and a range of 380km.
The C40 small SUV is also due late-2022 with a 420km range.
The longer the car's range, the better for battery degradation
Having a big battery in an electric vehicle does more than extend the range.
It also reduces the depth of discharge for any given journey, and this matters long-term because the deeper the discharge, the more degradation the battery experiences over time.
Almost all electric vehicles with a battery currently use lithium-ion batteries for their energy storage. This is pretty much the same technology found in your smart device, laptop, many cordless tools and numerous other rechargeable gadgets.
Lithium ion batteries don't like being fully discharged, ever, because that can kill them completely, so the on-board management normally prevents that.
They also tend to degrade faster when kept at 100 per cent charge for any period of time. For many, keeping them at 80 per cent is usually what's recommended.
Charging speed also has an influence on the rate of degradation, but that is a bit more related to heat.
The hotter a lithium-ion battery gets, the faster it will degrade, so having some form of active thermal management is important, but not all BEVs have this.
Happily, several models like the BMW i4 and the Audi e-tron GT also have a fast-charging preparation mode that you can activate to pre-cool the battery before you pull in somewhere to use the available fast charger.
Being too cold is also a problem, temporarily reducing the range in very low temperatures.
After eight years the typical degradation for the Leaf seemed to drop them to around 70 per cent of their original capacity which was already comparatively short, whereas most Teslas managed to retain around 90 per cent of their ample useable capacity.
So, if you're buying used, your best bet is to look at BEVs that had the greatest useable range to begin with, were less likely to be used in really hot places, and feature a good thermal management system for the battery.
Otherwise, be sure to leave room in the budget for a replacement.
