EV Guide: Australian electric vehicle incentives, state by state
If rising fuel prices have got you thinking your next car purchase might be an EV, this one’s for you.
Find out what incentives are on offer in your part of the country, what the infrastructure is like (or will be in the years to come) and if that state or territory government has plans to bring in a road-user charge for EVs.
South Australia’s $3000 electric vehicle subsidy will end on January 1, 2024, for new purchases. Individuals and businesses who purchased an EV prior to this date and are awaiting delivery will still be eligible for the subsidy.
Tasmania has introduced 375 $2000 electric vehicle grants, while Western Australia has announced ’round two’ of its EV infrastructure investment.
The Labor Government launched its first ever electric vehicle strategy in September 2022, and in November 2022, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Electric Car Discount) Bill passed through the Federal Parliament, which will provide up to $2000 off the purchase price of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), as well as Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemptions for fleets and novated leases.
The Government will apply the exemption retrospectively to eligible cars first used on or after July 1, 2022.
PHEVs will initially be covered, but the offer will expire on April 1, 2025.
If the threshold is strict with heavy financial penalties for not complying, it will boost EV supply and competition in Australia in line with most developed countries overseas.
The FBT savings amount has grown to $9000 per annum for an employer, or $4700 for an individual with a salary sacrifice agreement for a $50K electric vehicle.
Alongside the removal of the FBT, the five per cent import tariff for EVs priced under the LCT limit has been cut.
Cutting import tariffs drops purchase prices by a further $2500, according to the documents.
Charging network
Federal EV infrastructure funding is through the Future Fuels Fund, run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). It included a first-round investment of $24.5 million to co-fund the rollout of 400 public fast-charging stations with the private sector.
In the 2022/23 Budget, Labor announced a $500 million ‘Driving The Nation Fund’, which includes rolling out 117 EV charging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations for key freight routes.
Net-zero by 2050 and a 43 per cent reduction in CO2 levels by 2030 – now passed into law late 2022.
To help bolster the second hand EV market, as well as cut CO2 outputs, the Government has pledged that 75 per cent of its fleet will be made up of battery EVs by 2025. Small businesses are being encouraged to decarbonise with a $62.6 million funding package, including for electrification of fleets.
EV drivers can also use T2 and T3 transit lanes across NSW
Registration fee discounts.
Tax
EV tax to start from July 1, 2027 (or when EVs make up 30 per cent of all new vehicle sales) – 2.80c/km BEV or 2.24c/km PHEV as at the time of publication
PHEVs will be charged a fixed 80 per cent proportion of the full road user charge to reflect the vehicle’s fuel and electricity driving mix
Victorian EV tax repealed by High Court likely to prevent New South Wales and Western Australia from introducing road-user charges for EV drivers.
Charging network
$171 million investment in infrastructure, including; $131m on ultra-fast chargers
Further $260 million investment in infrastructure for regional EV drivers, renters, apartment owners, and people who cannot access home charging
$20m in grants for destination points and $20m for topping up at public transport hubs
Working to deliver 20 fast chargers along the state’s major highways in partnership with NRMA.
Uptake goal
50 per cent of all new cars sold to be EVs by 2030
For households earning less than $180,000 per year: $6000 rebate for new BEVs sold up to $68,000 RRP (excluding dealer delivery charge and options) from April 21, 2023
For households earning more than $180,000 per year: $3000 rebate for eligible new BEVs sold priced up to $68,000 RRP (excluding dealer delivery charge and options)
For owners who purchased an EV priced below $58,000 RRP and received the previous $3000 rebate between March 16, 2022 to April 20, 2023: Queenslanders can apply for a $3000 rebate adjustment re-assessment if their total household income is less than $180,000 per year (totalling $6000)
Lowest car registration for BEVs – $284 a year
Lower stamp duty rates than ICE cars.
Tax
No plans at this time.
Charging network
Queensland has invested in an ‘Electric Super Highway’, which is currently the longest electric fast-charging highway in the world (in a single state) with more than 60 sites running across the state slated to be online by 2025
Eighteen new charging sites will be added to the Super Highway in phase 3 of the Government’s strategy, spreading into regional Queensland
$10 million to build more charging stations.
Uptake goal
100 per cent of eligible Queensland Government fleet passenger vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2026
50 per cent of new passenger vehicle sales to be zero-emissions by 2030, moving to 100 per cent by 2036.
Two years’ free registration for BEVs and FCEVs as of May 24, 2021 until June 30, 2024
Older EVs eligible for 20 per cent off rego fees
Stamp duty may also be waived on vehicles purchased for the first time
ACT drivers are also able to access up to $15,000 in interest-free loans to help cover the upfront purchase cost of an electric vehicle up to a cap of $77,565.
Tax
None yet – Distance and/or congestion based charging for all vehicle types “may be considered in the medium term”.
Charging network
Fifty more charging stations coming in the next 12 months (as of July 2022).
Uptake goal
Ban on sale of new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2035.
From July 1, 2022, residential and business grants will be available to owners of EVs to buy and install EV chargers. This includes 100 residential grants of $1000 and 80 business grants of $2500, with a total of $300,000 being committed.
Uptake goal
In February 2019 (the latest data the NT Government could provide) there were 35 EVs registered in the Northern Territory, including 33 light and two heavy vehicles, representing 0.02 per cent of the total Northern Territory vehicle fleet
No date yet set for what percentage of vehicle should be EVs
Government fleet to increase to 200 vehicles by 2030.
375 rebates worth $2000 for new and second-hand electric vehicles that are newly registered in Tasmania
Two years’ free rego on EVs purchased by car rental companies and coach operators.
Tax
No plans at this time, but will monitor based on what’s happening in other states.
Charging network
In 2018-2019 delivered more than $600,000 in grants to support the installation of 14 fast chargers, and 23 destination and workplace chargers across Tasmania
In 2021, the second grants program allocated $773,000 for 20 fast charging stations and 23 destination chargers across regional areas and tourism hotspots.
Uptake goal
100 per cent of Government’s fleet to be electric by 2030.
Three years’ free registration for vehicles first registered from October 28, 2021 up to June 30, 2025
Up to $2000 to install EV smart chargers at home, but limited to 7500 households.
Tax
EV tax initially pushed back from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2027 or 30 per cent uptake (whichever comes first) – same as NSW – but was repealed by the State’s Parliament in February 2023 due to public backlash
Would have meant a 2c/km charge for plug-in hybrid vehicles, and 2.5c/km for any other electric vehicles
Calculated and billed in arrears as part of the vehicle registration process and based on the distance travelled since the last renewal.
Charging network
Investing $13.4million in its charging network – increasing points to 530 state-wide, most of which will have a 7kW capacity.
EVs exempt from 10 per cent on-demand transport levy
Largest incentive offer in Australia – $3500 rebate for the first 10,000 Western Australians to buy an EV or FCEV from May 10, applying to vehicles under $70,000 before on-road costs, note the offer is on the RRP plus the delivery charge and optional extras.
Tax
EV tax to start from July 1, 2027 – 2.5c/km for BEVs, 2c/km km for PHEVs
Victorian EV tax repealed by High Court likely to prevent New South Wales and Western Australia from introducing road-user charges for EV drivers.
Charging network
235 charging stations of varying capacity ranging from <22kW to 350kW
Plan to create Australia’s longest EV fast charging network adding 49 new locations, expected to be up and running by 2024
$22.6 million will be put towards upgrading, expanding and improving WA’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure
This includes: $10m allocated towards supporting not-for-profit and small to medium-sized businesses with grants of up to half of the cost of installing charging infrastructure, $5m in grants for local government chargers; $4m for the Public Transport Authority to trial the installation of up to 20 charging bays at four train stations; and more than $2.9m for eight new points across four locations on a section of National Highway 1 between Norseman and Eucla
Further $12.5 million ’round two’ investment to expand EV infrastructure, including support for small and medium businesses, local councils, and not-for-profits to purchase and install chargers.
Uptake goal
Twenty-five per cent of Government’s fleet electric by 2025/26
The Tesla Model Y has become a sales-chart sensation both locally and globally, even overtaking its popular sedan sibling, the Model 3.
While the Model Y has many positives, not least remarkable interior space, it’s far from the perfect package.
The suspension is noisy and restless, and rear-vision is limited, to pick two of the criticisms.
If you’re set on buying a Tesla and not focused on a particular body style, then we’d recommend the Model 3 sedan – especially as it has just given a substantial makeover for 2024 that makes it better to drive, increases its range, and upgrades the cabin.
But if you’re fixed on a midsized electric SUV, here’s the WhichCar guide to five good options…
The use of the Mustang name remains a mystery – okay, not really, it’s a marketing ploy – but although the Mach-E is no sports car, it is good to drive.
“Coupled with its satisfying steering, the Mach-E gets high marks for driver enjoyment – there might not be a V8 under the bonnet, but there’s definitely a Mustang spirit in this one,” said tester Tony O’Kane in our first Australian drive.
Criticisms included high pricing, though Ford Australia responded quickly by slashing the cost of the entry model by $7000 to a far more reasonable $72,990 (if still several thousands more than a base Model Y).
1
There are two other models above the base rear-wheel-drive Mustang Mach-E Select. The mid-range Premium is still RWD but a bigger battery gives it the longest driving range of the line-up: 600km.
The flagship GT has the same battery but dual electric motors lend it AWD and the most power (358kW), while features include electronically adjustable damping and Brembo brakes.
A GT will set you back $105K, however (before on-road costs).
Did any other model in 2021 make such a design statement of intent for its brand than Hyundai’s retro-futuristic crossover?
Fortunately, there was more to the Ioniq 5 than its stand-out styling – and much more advanced than the electric Ioniq four-door that had previously been sold (alongside hybrid versions).
One fundamental difference was a new ‘E-GMP’ 800-volt battery platform that, when released, could only be found elsewhere on the Porsche Taycan, a vastly more expensive vehicle.
1
The interior, helped by a limo-like three-metre wheelbase, is remarkably spacious. This includes an airy front cabin aided by a clever, sliding centre console.
A pricing and range revamp in time for 2024 brought the entry cost down to $65,000 (closely matching the most affordable Model Y), with an upgrade from RWD to AWD starting at $80,500.
In early 2024, the range will be topped by the Ioniq 5 N performance model. We’ve already driven it in Korea and can tell you it’s quite brilliant – and you can read our review.
The twin to the Ioniq 5 had enough advantages over its platform sibling in 2022 to win the Wheels Car of the Year – the first Kia to ever achieve the feat.
As with most contenders in its class, the EV6 is offered in both single-motor RWD and dual-motor AWD forms. Pricing starts from $72,590 for the former or from $87,590 for the latter.
Unlike most rivals (but like the Ioniq 5), it features a battery platform with 800-volt charging capability – double the 400V of the typical EV. The big win from this is 350kW rapid charging – capable of boosting the battery from 10-80 percent in just 18 minutes.
1
Good handling backs up the EV6’s sporty design, while it also rides well. While the AWD versions are pricier than ideal, RWD models offer satisfying performance.
GT-Lines are the best equipped for the respective price tags in the range.
The flagship GT became Kia’s first ever $100K car but is quite an impressive package – and comfortably beat the Model Y Performance in our comparison test (see feature below).
Okay, so the midsized electric SUV from Volvo’s spin-off brand Polestar isn’t here until about August 2024… But we think it’s worth including based on our experience of the highly likeable Polestar 2 sedan.
Looking like a cross between the Polestar 2 and upcoming Polestar 3 large SUV, the Polestar 4 brings a sleek-looking body brimming with visual appeal.
Two ‘Long Range’ models are confirmed for now: a $81,950 RWD single-motor and $92,150 AWD dual-motor.
1
With WLTP range targets of up to 560km and 600km, respectively, both are set to offer longer ranges than the equivalent Model Y (533km Long Range; 514km Performance).
The fastest Polestar 4 has double the power and torque of the entry model – 400kW and 686Nm – and a quoted 0-100km/h of 3.8 seconds that puts it just a tenth behind Tesla’s quickest Model Y.
Polestar is fond of option packs, however, so we’re not expecting the 4 to beat the Model Y for value.
The C40 arrived in 2022 as a coupe-style spin-off of the XC40 compact SUV – though one other big difference is that it was offered with electric power only.
The C40 is similar to the Model Y in price, though it is smaller – and therefore less practical than the Tesla (and even its XC40 donor owing to that sloping roof).
However, we’ve included it here because the C40 is still roomy enough for a family and it’s a delight to drive.
Considering we were already fans of the electric XC40, it was no surprise that the C40 joined our list of favourite EVs to drive.
1
The ride is on the firm side but the damping is superbly judged, while the C40’s steering is as buttery-smooth as its powertrain delivery.
An updated model arrived in late 2023 – unusually switching the entry variant from front-drive to rear-drive (much easier to do with an EV than ICE car, though!) and bringing improved range and faster charging.
The $78,990 single-motor RWD model has a WLTP range of 476km and 0-100km/h claimed acceleration of 7.3 seconds. That’s decent range and good performance, though we’d be tempted to spend an extra $9K for the AWD dual-motor C40 that offers 507km of WLTP range and a speedy 4.7sec sprint time.
More rivals to the Model Y are coming in 2024 alongside the Polestar 4, including the Subaru Solterra and Toyota BZ4x twins, and Volkswagen ID4. You can read all about them and others in our New Medium SUVs 2024 article below.
Toyota and Lexus have confirmed no Australian-market vehicles are affected by a recall for one-million vehicles sold in the United States.
The safety recall, affecting “approximately 1 million” 2020-2022 model-year Toyota and Lexus vehicles, concerns front-passenger seat occupant sensors which could short circuit and cause the airbag to not deploy as intended.
“We are informed that there are no models involved in the Australian market,” confirmed a Toyota Australia spokesperson.
1
Affected vehicles sold in the United States include the Toyota Corolla, Camry, Avalon, RAV4, Highlander (Kluger) and Sienna, along with the Lexus ES and RX.
“The subject vehicles have Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensors in the front passenger seat that could have been improperly manufactured, causing a short circuit,” said Toyota USA.
“This would not allow the airbag system to properly classify the occupant’s weight, and the airbag may not deploy as designed in certain crashes, increasing the risk of injury.”
Carmakers are pushing America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to resist announcing a recall on potentially faulty airbags, insisting there is not enough evidence for a decision.
Snapshot
Airbag recall could affect 45 million cars in the US alone
Manufacturer has refused voluntary action, carmakers resisting
Australian impact appears minimal, if any at all
The NHTSA is investigating reports that airbag inflators made by the company ARC Automotive have ruptured in a crash, injuring or killing passengers on several occasions.
With the the massive, global Takata airbag recall still haunting them, a number of carmakers are concerned that the NHTSA’s anticipated decision – expected to be made in early 2024 – will lead to more than AU $15 billion in costs without sufficient proof that the airbags are defective.
In comments delivered to the NHTSA, General Motors said the regulator’s initial opinion “falls far short of the agency’s technical and procedural standards, especially in major defects enforcement cases.”
1
In a letter to ARC Automotive and carmakers [↗], the NHTSA said that an eight-year investigation had revealed nine cases of injury from ruptured ARC airbags made before 2018.
Seven of those incidents occurred in the US, between 2009 and 2023, while another was in Canada (a 2009 Hyundai model in 2016) and the last in Turkey (a 2015 Volkswagen Golf in 2017).
In response, ARC wrote back [↗] that NHTSA investigators had failed to identify and “systemic or prevalent defect” in the inflators, relying instead on incidents that resulted from “random ‘one-off’ manufacturing anomalies”.
ARC vice president for product integrity, Steve Gold, said that the company had cooperated with the NHTSA’s investigation and tests over eight years, noting that none of the 918 un-detonated inflators extracted from retired or wrecked cars had ruptured in the tests it ran with the NHTSA.
“Accordingly, the test program demonstrated with 99 per cent reliability and 99 per cent confidence that the inflators in the subject population would deploy without rupturing,” he wrote.
GM clearly accepts that some batches of its ARC-made airbag inflators may be faulty, having already carried out a voluntary recall of “over one million” cars this year at the NHTSA’s request, after a driver in a GM-made vehicle suffered facial injuries from a ruptured airbag in March.
The American carmaker says a mandatory recall could extend to “as much as 15% of the over 300 million registered motor vehicles in the United States”.
How many of those ~45 million cars would be GM models is not clear, but Ford has said it would expect any mandatory recall would affect Ford models built between 2005 and 2017.
By comparison, the Takata recall – the world’s largest recall by a significant margin – has affected “an estimated” 100 million cars globally, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. [↗] The total cost to carmakers is unclear, but in 2016, Takata said a worst-case scenario would be around AU $35 billion. (Takata filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Its assets were bought by Chinese-owned, US-based company Key Safety Systems.) The Takata airbags caused “at least” 18 deaths and more than 400 serious, life-altering injuries.
The NHTSA initially requested in early 2023 that ARC Automotive perform a voluntary recall of 67 million inflators [BBC ↗] – as part of the same request GM acceded to – but the company refused, leading the regulator to begin the process of formalising a mandatory recall.
ARC airbags are used in models made by GM, Ford, the Stellantis group, Tesla, the Volkswagen group, Hyundai & Kia, BMW, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Toyota.
As a matter of course, Wheels Media will contact relevant brands for local context on this type of news. However, given the long-running nature of the NHTSA’s investigation, Wheels Media acknowledges the May 2023 reporting of Neil Dowling [↗] for industry journal GoAuto News, diving deep into the Australian models that could be affected. The short version is that all brands are confident no local models are affected.
If there’s one thing Christmas road trips and Tetris have in common, it’s that letting things pile up in the wrong way will lead to a sorry ending.
Fitting all the Christmas luggage into the car can be an awkward and tiring affair, even when owners have the versatility of Honda’s Magic Seats to help them out.
Jumping onto a well-worn joke, Honda has consulted a competitive player of the classic puzzler Tetris for advice on making the best use of a car’s space.
‘DanV’ first started playing Tetris on his Nintendo Game Boy in 2003, but has recently joined the competitive circuit in 2020 with the aim to play in the annual Classic Tetris World Championship.
1
“When packing items into a car, you can think of it in the same way: if something doesn’t fit, you can make it work, whether that is rotating a big box, or re-arranging the order you have placed items in,” he says.
Offering the idea of treating the boot and cabin as two separate Tetris boards, DanV details important considerations on which items should be on top, such as snacks that will need to be retrieved easily from the boot during stops on longer journeys.
While a game of Tetris challenges players with differently-shaped pieces at random, there is an inherent advantage with boot packing by knowing the order of the different shapes that are to be packed.
“The ‘O piece’ can be the perfect piece to start out with…” Dan says, referring to the 2×2 square piece that often Tetris throws at players, “… ‘O pieces’ have a reputation as a piece you’d rather not have, as it always seems to come at the wrong time.”
1
An iconic creation of Soviet-era software engineer Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris appeared on many different gaming platforms before becoming the must-have game to accompany Nintendo’s pioneering Gameboy portable gaming system.
While it is possible to beat the puzzler, fitting all the Christmas needs into your car is not quite as arduous, especially with the luxury of having pliable and softer items.
“Smaller items can either go in the backseat, or be squeezed into any gaps boxes may have left behind, to ensure you use up as much space as possible.”
We’d suggest you not get it exactly right, of course. You might see a row of suitcases disappear before you eyes…
1
Clever Christmas marketing or a bit cringe?
Honda has long been known for its clever internals, offering segment-leading cargo space and other innovative ideas – like those Magic Seats and doors that open to 90 degrees to help with access.
Consulting with a Tetris dynamo on matters relating to cargo only seems like a natural partnership, although even the experts can have troubles with oddly-shaped items, such as a Christmas tree.
“The T-piece is one of the trickiest blocks to deal with. If you don’t know what to do with a T-piece, you’ll most likely find yourself in trouble.” DanV says.
Gotta say though, Honda, we’re pretty disappointed there’s no video to go with this…
As if buying a new car weren’t nerve-wracking enough…
According to a new report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, scammers have recently intercepted emails between dealerships and customers – and then forging invoices to have payments directed to their own bank accounts.
Known as “business email compromise scams”, the ACCC says in 2023 – between 1 January and 30 September – approximately 981 cases had been reported, amounting to $13 million of losses.
The scam involves impersonating a legitimate business after intercepting their emails and directing their targets to deposit money into their account, leading the customer to believe the funds are going toward their purchase.
1
A Victorian couple were scammed out of $139,000 after they made multiple payments on what they believed to be a purchase of a Mercedes-Benz GLE 400d, but the payment details on the invoice had been doctored, leading to the funds instead being directed to the scammer’s account.
This case followed a similar incident in June 2022 where Georgina Smith of Melbourne fell victim to a similar scam, only realising the problem on the day of delivery when the dealership called to tell her that the deposit for her Mercedes-AMG A35 had not been received.
Upon receiving the call, Smith had asserted that the $38,500 deposit had been made – but when she was then sent a copy of the invoice from the dealership via SMS, it was discovered that the bank account details did not match those received on the emailed invoice.
On this occasion the scammers had duplicated the invoice to give all appearances of authenticity – including the company name and the vehicle’s VIN details – amending only the bank information to direct funds to the scammer’s account.
Speaking with GoAutoNews, Brian Hay, Executive Director of Cultural Cyber Security, indicated that these kinds of scams cost Australians upward of $132 million in 2020.
“Do not use the phone number that may be printed on that potentially bogus email. So make sure you get a phone number that’s been sourced independently because, if the invoice is coming from the crook, you could be calling the criminal to validate the banking details. So you have to get independent verification of the bank details,” Hay told GoAutoNews.
In the case of the Mercedes-Benz GLE 400d, the Victorian County Court is reviewing the issue to make a determination on whether the customer or Mercedes-Benz are to incur the losses.
In the meantime, car buyers are encouraged to be diligent when making large payments, and to verify details directly with dealerships through a salesperson with whom they have built trust.
A State-of-Origin-style numberplate battle is underway after Lloyds Auctions announced the first Queensland Heritage Plate ‘Q1′ is joining New South Wales’ equivalent, which has already exceeded $10 million in the bidding process.
Lloyds says it is almost 40 years since the ‘Q1’ plate, among the first plates issued in Queensland, last went under the hammer.
Bidding has already reached $3 million within half a day of the number plate being made available.
It still has some way to go to match the current $10m bid for the ‘NSW 1’ numberplate, which Lloyds described as “the most sought-after Heritage Plate in Australia”.
“This is an extremely rare occurrence for 1, let alone 2, heritage plates with such history and rarity to be offered at auction ever in a single auction, it is unheard of in Australian history ever,” said Lloyds Auctions’ COO, Lee Hames.
“The amount of enquiry from right around the country of people wanting to sell their heritage plates after the ‘NSW 1’ was listed is phenomenal and out of that came this ‘Q1’ heritage plate. Who knows what else might be brought forward to auction between now and the end of January.”
Lloyds believes there have been only two owners of the ‘Q1’ plate, first issued more than a century ago in 1921.
The auctions for both heritage plates will be completed over the Australia Day weekend in January 2024.
Porsche Cars Australia has confirmed the petrol-powered Macan SUV will be dropped from its line-up in 12 months’ time to make way for the new electric Macan E.
Porsche Australia will open order books for the Macan E early next year, with the electric SUV replacing petrol-powered versions when it arrives here in the final quarter of 2024.
“Production of the petrol Macan, bound for Australia, will conclude in Q3 2024,” a company statement issued to Porsche’s local dealers confirmed.
It’s almost two steps forward with the move to electric power for Macan, as the decade-old SUV hasn’t been offered even in hybrid for yet.
Factory orders for the current petrol-powered Macan line-up, which offers a 195kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine as well as a 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol in 280kW and 324kW guise, are expected to continue until at least mid-2024.
Beyond this, availability will depend on existing stock levels.
The introduction of the Macan E has been delayed several years after supply issues, but it’s set to arrive in 2024 using the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform shared with the Audi Q6 E-Tron.
The gives Macan E 800-volt electrical architecture with an electric motor on each axle – varying between trim levels – and a single standard battery pack across the line-up.
Provisional figures suggest the Macan E will see an entry-level model producing 280kW, with a ‘Turbo’ version delivering 447kW to easily eclipse the current flagship Macan GTS’s 324kW.
Australian spec and pricing for the all-electric 2025 Porsche Macan E will be announced early next year.
If you want a very small car with a relatively small price, the Kia Picanto is just about the only worthwhile model you should look at.
December: 2024 Picanto pricing announced
The facelifted 2024 Kia Picanto micro hatch has arrived in Australia with price rises and more standard active safety features – but no more GT turbo flagship.
Prices have increases between $1600 and $1950 for the updated Picanto with all variants now priced above $20,000 once on-road costs are added.
This sees the title for Australia’s cheapest new car handed to China’s MG 3 hatchback, which is priced from $19,990 drive-away.
UPDATE: 2024 Kia Picanto details officially confirmed
Kia Australia has provided official details for the facelifted Picanto micro car. This article, first published on December 4, has been updated to reflect the latest information.
The base S has been replaced by a better-equipped Sport variant priced at $17,890 before on-road costs for the manual – up from $16,290 plus on-roads for the S manual.
The Picanto Sport four-speed automatic is priced at $19,490 before on-road costs.
Lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert, a 4.2-inch semi-digital instrument cluster, a leather-accented steering wheel and gear shifter, power-folding side mirrors, and a rear fog light are new additions for the Sport.
The existing vehicle-only autonomous emergency braking system is expected to be updated with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection detection. Adaptive cruise control is not offered in Australia.
1
The GT-Line offers the same safety tech improvements and semi-digital cluster, along with rear USB-C charge ports, a D-cut steering wheel, and LED headlights replacing halogen units – joining already standard LED daytime running lamps.
It is priced at $19,340 before on-road costs for the GT-Line manual, rising to $21,290 plus on-roads for the GT-Line auto – more than the now-axed $20,790 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo GT manual.
New colours include sporty blue and adventurous green, joining existing aurora black, astro grey, signal red, sparkling silver and clear white options.
All Picanto variants remain powered by a 62kW/122Nm 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol, matched to a five-speed manual or a four-speed torque-converter automatic sending power to the front wheels.
1
As detailed in July, the facelifted Picanto features an EV9-inspired ‘digital tiger nose’ front fascia with a slimmer bar, vertical headlights, and a revised lower bumper design.
The rear features revised tail-lights connected by a full-width strip, an updated lower bumper, and new badging. The GT-Line also receives new-look 16-inch alloy wheels.
The Kia Connect vehicle service or built-in satellite navigation will not be offered in local versions of the updated Picanto.
The 2024 Lexus UX small SUV has debuted overseas with an updated hybrid system.
Due to launch in North America early next year, the UX receives the ‘fifth-generation’ hybrid system from the related Toyota Corolla Cross, with a new UX300h badge to replace the UX250h.
Retaining the current 2.0-litre non-turbo four-cylinder and electric motor, total system power for the UX300h is up from 131kW to 146kW with a “new hybrid transaxle” and a lighter lithium-ion battery pack replacing nickel-metal hydride to provide “more responsive performance”.
1
Other changes include a larger 12.3-inch full-digital instrument cluster – up from 8 inches – a shift-by-wire gear shifter, a new copper crest exterior colour, and revised door panel switches.
It also adds an updated active safety suite with “risk avoidance” emergency steering assist, daytime left-turn oncoming vehicle braking, and proactive driving assist to “support driving tasks such as distance control between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle, pedestrian or bicyclist”.
While the US-market UX line-up is limited to the hybrid UX300h, it is also offered in petrol-only UX200 and all-electric UX300e forms in Australia.
1
A Lexus Australia spokesperson said the brand could not comment on the updated UX “at this time”, adding that “different markets have different product cycles”.
The last update for the Lexus UX launched in Australia in mid-2022 with a new infotainment system, wireless smartphone mirroring, Lexus Connected Services, an improved stop-start system for the petrol model, and improved rigidity for F Sport variants.
