The EVs Australia needs

Electric vehicles should be going great guns at the moment – we've all been trapped in the country (and mostly our states) for months, there's nothing to do and for some reason we're paying pre-GFC prices for our petrol.

While power isn't cheap in our privatised power nirvana our politicians were so keen to sell us, it is increasingly moving to renewable sources.

With our Prime Minister embarrassing himself at COP26 by walking down the steps from his plane waving a piece of paper guaranteeing net-zero by relying on technology that is either discredited (carbon capture and storage) or non-existent (TBA), it's up to the states to make electric vehicles appealing.

Or is it? In the end, all the states can do is lead a punter to a beer, it's up to the product makers to make one nice enough to drink. It's time for car companies to step up and offer us some product that we all know would fly off the forecourts.

In this story we're looking at EVs that exist today that we miss out on. There's no dreamland Ford e-Ranger or Toyota e-HiLux talk here because they don't exist yet– and we already know whoever gets to the dual-cab ute market with a sensibly-priced electric version could end up ruling the world.

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Rivian

Rivian has two giant electric trucks, which will upset people who don't want these massive things bearing down on them, and the company says it has strong interest from local buyers.

The four motor R1T ute starts at under 70 grand in the US and would probably still be competitive after the usual taxes, charges and Government obstacles were cleared – most likely walloping buyers around $150k in local trim. Or the same as a specced-up V8 Ram.

Alongside the truck is the R1S, an attractively boxy SUV starting at around seventy grand in the States, so probably a $160,000 bet here. With seven seats (that'll be popular, don't you think?) a claimed 500 kilometre driving range (optimistic EPA number) and a ton of features, Rivian would struggle to meet demand, as it is already in its home market.

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Ford

Ford's first EV locally – at least as far as we know – is a shrewd pitch to the tradespeople of Australia. The Blue Oval is keen to woo those who carry gear around for a living and knows that these folks are offended by the cost of fuel. As a result, Ford Australia's first electric car is going to be a van, the e-Transit.

But Ford has more. First, there's the Mustang Mach-E, a car that made so many people incredibly mad until they started selling like mad (for an EV). The GT versions pack a staggering dual-motor set up with 358kW and either 814Nm or 860Nm.

The Mustang nameplate has been a giant success for Ford locally, and once buyers got over the high-riding SUV vibe of the Mach-E, I reckon we won't be able to get enough of them.

Similar to the Rivian, the Ford F-150 Lightning would surely go off here too. You can whine all you like about the size, but large American trucks are selling here even after expensive right-hand drive conversions. The Lightning would appeal to tradies and adventurers with a solid (if unspectacular) driving range, but its clever vehicle-to-load setup will make work and campsites much easier places to be.

And who doesn't want to see F-Series based ambulances again?

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Citroen

Now, hear us out on this one. Yes, the Citroen Ami is a quadricycle like the pilloried and terrifying Gee Whiz, but it's made by a proper car company – Stellantis.

The battery is barely bigger than your phone's at 5.5kWh and the top speed roughly comparable to jogging, but if you've seen Sydney or Melbourne Saturday traffic – 45km/h is a distant dream. For short trips to the shops and back, the Ami is the perfect city runabout and might get a few belching dungers off the streets.

On top of that, there's a cargo version, which would be brilliant for the suburbs. It would also ward off one of the Ami's drawbacks – it's left-hand drive only. But with a parcel shelf right next to the driver, they can just pick what they need, swing open the door and step straight out onto the pavement.

This one is a proper long shot, but we stand by it, no matter what you say – even if it is entirely reasonable.

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Smart

Slightly more substantial than the Ami, and rather more expensive, is Smart's ForTwo and ForFour – which could probably land here well under forty grand. They're both short on driving range and in the ForTwo's case, size, but these are resolutely urban vehicles.

They're not cheap though, and here in Australia suffered from a bit of a Tiddly Cars from Toy Town image. Which, again, in the case of the ForTwo is not completely unfair.

The ForTwo is about £19,000 in the UK which could translate to a low to mid-$30k price tag. The ForFour is somehow slightly cheaper, so would cost about the same.

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Honda

You already know where this is going – the Honda E.

We're obviously not privy to the behind-closed-doors discussions that go on at car companies, but the local arm's decision to pass on one of the coolest cars on the planet, EV or not, is bizarre.

You can get one through the usual JDM importers for not-insane money, but without factory backing, life might be difficult if the battery needs recalling etc.

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Nissan

Nissan's Leaf is the company's only electric passenger car here in Australia and our suggestion here is not going to add to that list.

If you're stuck in a lift with us for long enough we will start trying to convince you that EV uptake will not be led by private buyers, but by tradies and small business.

The Nissan E-NV200 might not be much of a looker, but on paper it's a brilliant city van like the Peugeot Partner or VW Caddy. With a modest 80kW, but reasonable 280Nm, the E-NV200 would be extremely cheap to run.

With the 40kWh battery, it has a healthy city driving range of up to 300km, which is probably a week's driving for a good number of businesses. Bit of a slam dunk this one.

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Volkswagen

VW is so far resisting calls to bring the Golf-sized ID.3 here to Australia, citing Government policy as a blocker. Bizarrely, it's the EV we're most asked about after Tesla, despite its much lower profile. The ID.4's SUV-like approach is also likely to play well with Australians, and we know it's already coming – so one imagines the local business just doesn't think the ID.3 will resonate with Australian buyers.

The e-Crafter van would be a good idea too if it wasn't left-hook only. We could live with sitting on the wrong side of the Ami, which is barely wider than the Renault Twizy, but driving on the wrong side of a massive van would be no fun at all.

And, like any good motoring journalist, we will insist that not only must the VW Up! microcar return to our shores, but it should be in e-Up! form, despite all indications pointing to its untimely end.

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Renault

Renault had a go with the Kangoo Z.E. electric van, but we can't for the life of us remember if we've ever seen one in the wild.

Perhaps the local arm should consider Ford's idea of a much larger unit, the Master Z.E.? The Master is a versatile panel van, available as either a platform cab or cab chassis, with a ton of space and a usable city driving range.

It wouldn't be cheap, but the Master's reputation for being loud when fitted with a diesel might tip a few buyers over the line.

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Peugeot

We already know the e-2008 compact SUV is on its way but the French car's importer remains cagey on the e-208.

Lots of people ask why there aren't any small EVs on the market (we quickly explain there are several), and the talk quickly turns to price. Which is probably holding back the funky hatchback from a local release in electric form, just as it's hugely unlikely we'll ever see the ICE 208 here. A shame, but if it could land at a mid-$30k price point, French car fans are just mad enough to do it.

The Peugeot e-Expert has a silly name and isn't much to look at, but has an impressive driving range for a commercial vehicle (330km WLTP) and decent power and torque. Being a compact van, it's not too big so would be good for the urban cut and thrust.

There are more out there...somewhere...

Of course there are more out there and many of them will come from China. We don't mean the $4500 Wuling Hongguang Mini EV that Youtube dutifully trotted out as a Tesla killer in the last couple of months, but a whole bunch of Geely Group cars wearing various badges – including Lynk & Co.

Get in the comments and let us know which ones we missed – or how wrong we were about the ones we haven't.