Everything cool and electric that’s coming up

In case you hadn’t twigged yet, electric cars are the future and every car manufacturer is ramping up their efforts.

Here’s a round-up of the plug-included passenger products we are most likely going to be seeing here in New Zealand within the next 18 months, notwithstanding Covid, semiconductor shortages, production delays and wars, of course.

On top of all of these EVs there are the likes of the already released Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID range that we have been promised for some time, and keep hoping they will eventually make it here. This year maybe? It’s possible…

AUDI

E-tron isn’t just about SUVs and a super-fast sports coupe – coming up is a large sedan and station wagon. The A6 e-tron is on the PPE (premium platform electric) underpinning with 800-volt charging capability and up to 640km range. Also en route is the Q4 e-tron, a small SUV that will slot under the Q5 crossover in size and compete with the Tesla Model Y, with quattro of course.

READ MORE:
* What is the future of EV ownership?
* Every new EV on sale in New Zealand right now
* What electric motorbikes can you actually buy in New Zealand?
* Charging up the past

BMW

Given they still have 7 Series limos in state service, will Government next move to the electric version of BMW’s flagship car model? The i7 will be here by year-end and who would be surprised if one ends up at the Beehive for evaluation.

BYD

New Zealand motoring industry stalwart Neville Crichton’s Ateco Automotive has just announced it has the local distribution rights for the world’s fourth-largest maker of electric vehicles, whose name is an abbreviation of ‘Build Your Dreams’. First up the Atto 3, a small city hatchback which could well trounce the MG ZS EV as the country’s cheapest new electric. Known as the “blade” due to its long thin shape, BYD’s battery avoids controversial metals used by many of its rivals.

CUPRA

First shown as the Seat el-Born – after a trendy precinct in Barcelona – it’s now the property of the Cupra sports brand and has dropped the ‘el’ from its name. The Cupra Born is built upon a mainstream Volkswagen Group platform; it’s basically an ID.3 hatchback with a much racier ambience and attitude.

GENESIS

You’ve seen the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. Now meet the GV60, a platform and powertrain-sharing spin-off with extra posh and polish, plus a touch more zip in the highest-end dual motor format. Could this be the model Hyundai New Zealand has been waiting for to launch the stand-alone Genesis brand here?

HYUNDAI

More interesting design expressions off the E-GMP platform. A low-slung sedan with styling inspired by Hyundai’s Prophecy concept from 2020, the Ioniq 6 is out to compete with Tesla’s Model 3. Only so far seen in concept, the Ioniq 7 is similar in size to, and replicates the three-row format of, Hyundai’s largest – and, in petrol V6 form, thirstiest – current fossil-fuelled sports utility, the Palisade.

KIA

Revealed this year in design study form as a chunky, squared-off attention magnet, the EV9 apes the Hyundai equivalent, Ioniq 7, with three rows of seats and lots of plush. Kia’s talking about a driving range of 480km.

LAND ROVER

The new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will both ultimately land in fully electric form, but both are preceded by plug-in hybrids. Land Rover has yet to release detail on the range and electric power of the zero-emission version, but the PHEVs have quite impressive specifications; the drivetrain feeding off a 38.1kWh battery offer up to 113kms’ of non-CO2 driving.

LEXUS

Sitting on the same e-TNGA architecture as the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, the RZ 450e will offer a new all-wheel-drive dual-motor powertrain, called Direct4, that’s a step above the set-up going into the Toyobaru, enveloped in a body styling that’s more athletic and sleeker. Plus, of course, it’ll be swish-as inside.

LOTUS

Produced in a brand-new plant in Wuhan, China, and described as the world’s hyper sports utility, this hunkered model promises a whopping 447kW with all-wheel drive, fed by an 800-volt battery that can replenish to around 70 percent in 20 minutes using a 350kW fast charger.

MASERATI

Folgare means lightning in Italian. The badge is reserved for the full electric version of the Grecale, Maserati’s first compact five-seater crossover, aimed at the Porsche Macan.

MERCEDES-BENZ

There’s a whole lot coming from Mercedes-Benz, but the two closest to a local release are the EQS (and its uber-powerful AMG variant, the EQS53 sedan, with up to 560kW and 1020Nm) and the smaller EQE; yes, your electric E-Class. It lands initially as the 215kW/530Nm EQE350, single motor with a 90kWh battery pack, good for between 548km and 660km of estimated range. Other variants, including dual-motor 4Matic all-wheel drives, are following.

Also on the horizon are the EQB, an electric version of the brisk-selling conventionally-powered GLB SUV, with 165kW plus, 400km range and three rows of seats plus Mercedes’ beloved G-wagen is also joining the assault with battery. It’ll have a motor at each wheel for four-wheel drive capability.

NISSAN

The Leaf has done Nissan proud – more the parent company than the New Zealand distributor though, which has seen so many sales lost to grey imports – but now it needs a supporting act. That’s the Ariya; an up to 500km-range, stylish as heck all-wheel-drive five-seater. All hinges on Nissan Australia, parent of the local outfit, making the call.

OPEL

Full exposure to the fresh design and electrified engineering direction is promised as Opel lands in New Zealand again. The Corsa and Mokka crossover have the same full EV drivetrains as the Peugeot 208 and 2008 already doing well here. Plus there are PHEVs, in passenger and light commercial.

ORA

Following hot on the heels of Ateco’s BYD announcement, GWM quickly confirmed it will be bringing the Ora EV sub-brand to New Zealand early in 2023. That means that despite Covid disruption to China’s car industry, we could soon be saying hello kitty to the Good Cat, a compact hatch known in its home market as the HaoMao.

POLESTAR

The ‘two’ has settled in nicely and now just been updated, the next number coming up is the ‘three’, a larger SUV. Still under wraps until October, the China-sourced electric SUV is a sibling to the next-gen Volvo XC90 and extremely important to Polestar’s aspiration to be a true global player by 2025. Production kicks off from early 2023.

PORSCHE

The second-generation Macan is only coming with batteries, though it will sell alongside the current generation ICE model of this sporty compact luxury crossover. Porsche says it’ll have significantly better range than the Taycan and might be more practical than that model’s Cross Turismo.

RENAULT

The Megane e-Tech, a medium hatch-looking crossover, is the first of a new generation, showing off a ‘sensual tech’ design language and also utilising the CMF-EV platform shared with Nissan and Mitsubishi. All models are powered by a 60kWh battery for a WLTP-certified range of up to 450km on a single charge, with AC/DC rapid charging up to 130kW as standard, delivering up to 300km of driving range (WLTP) in as little as 30 minutes.

ROLLS-ROYCE

No messing around with hybrid for this marque; Rolls’ is moving from internal combustion straight to full electric power, the first of the new being the Spectre. Using the platform that underpins the Phantom, the high-brow battery blaster will undergo more than 2.5 million kilometres of testing before its big reveal next year.

SKODA

The Enyaq iV is another of those MEB platform models that would have been here by last year, if not for … well, lots of stuff. Anyway, since launch in Europe a fastback has spun off the trad first-up SUV shape and it offers with three battery sizes, five power variants, rear and four-wheel-drive and a range of up to 500 kilometres.

SUBARU

The five-seater Solterra crossover – whose name is a conjunction of the Latin words for ‘sun’ and ‘earth’ – was co-developed with Toyota (theirs is bZ4X); Subaru’s contributing its all-wheel-drive expertise, its partner designing the powertrain, both working together on the styling. Subaru New Zealand’s focus is on the all-wheel-drive flagship that has two 80kW electric motors, developing 160kW combined and offering 460km of range.

TOYOTA

Two drivetrain types – single motor and dual motor, the latter of course all-wheel-drive – are expected to share here with the bZ4X. WLTP testing has established the 150kW/265Nm front-wheel-drive is capable of travelling 510 kilometres on a full battery whereas the 160kW/336Nm dual motor version will see up to 458km. The all-paw bZ4X hits the legal open road limit from a standing start in 7.7 seconds, making it 0.7s quicker than the entry powertrain.

VOLVO

This time last year Geely’s Swedish marque showed off the Concept Recharge, a two-row SUV using electric propulsion. It’s expected to be the new-generation XC90, but with a third seating row implemented. And maybe a new name.