2025 Electric Vehicle Shopping

I don’t really need a new car but I like car shopping and kinda want a new car, so let’s take a look at what’s on the market in early 2025 that I might want to buy. My only absolute deal breakers are:

  1. Minimum 430km WLTP range. My 2021 Model 3 SR+ came from the factory with 448km and I don’t want an EV with less range this that.
  2. No sunroof/panoramic/glass roof due to heat, even if the car has a built-in retractable blind.
  3. Proper one-pedal driving, must come to a complete stop after letting go of accelerator.
  4. Stalks for wipers/indicators and gear selectors.
  5. Absolute max of $60,000 for a new/demo/less than 10,000km used vehicle in VIC drive-away. I’ve included some cars that are over $60,000 because I can probably haggle them down to $60,000.

To get a list of all EVs for sale in Australia, I used the Green Vehicle Guide. Of all the EVs on that list that get at least 430km of WLTP range these didn’t make the cut:

  • Merecdes Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Lexus, Rolls-Royce, Genesis - all too expensive, even used.
  • Polestar 2 - test drove previously, massive centre console makes it uncomfortable.
  • BYD Seal, Ford Mach-E, Zeekr X, Xpeng G6, Volvo C40 & XC40, Smart #1 & #3, Skoda Enyaq, Deepal S07 - glass roof on all models.
  • Zeekr 009 & Kia EV9 - too big, massive vehicles.
  • Renault Megane E-Tech, Toyota bZ4x & Cupra Born - don’t have proper one pedal driving.
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 - still too expensive for bigger battery versions to achieve desired range.
  • Tesla - don’t want another one.

That leaves the following vehicles which meet all my criteria:

  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Dynamiq
  • Hyundai Kona Electric (150kW motor, 17" wheels)
  • Kia EV5 Air Long Range
  • Kia EV6 Air
  • MG MG4 Excite 64
  • MG MG4 Long Range 77
  • Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range

Vehicle Specification Comparison

These are the specs important to me:

  • Price - cheapest in VIC in a colour I like (no black or fluro colours) from a dealer with less than 10,000km, MY23 or newer, drive away
  • Range - WLTP range as stated on manufacturer’s website/spec PDF
  • Efficiency - same as above
  • Performance - 0-100km/h times
  • Safety - the Adult Occupant Protection score from ANCAP’s website
  • Cargo space - rear cargo area VDA min/max
  • Dimensions - LxWxH in mm
  • Tyre Size - width, sidewall, diameter
  • Warranty
  • Servicing Costs - 5 years / 125,000km
  • Insurance - quote for my circumstances via Bingle
  • Total Cost of Ownership - total sum of purchase price, insurance, servicing, 1x new set of tyres, electricity for 125,000km @ 8c/kWh

Price (as of 19/01/2025)

  • Hyundai Kona Electric (150kW motor, 17" wheels) - $45,134 (promo pricing)
  • MG MG4 Long Range 77 - $46,888
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Dynamiq - $52,750 (promo pricing)
  • Kia EV5 Air Long Range - $59,990
  • Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range Plus - $59,500 (haggled)
  • Kia EV6 Air - $62,890

Range

  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Dynamiq - 614km
  • Kia EV5 Air Long Range - 555km
  • MG MG4 Long Range 77 - 530km
  • Kia EV6 Air - 528km
  • Hyundai Kona Electric (150kW motor, 17" wheels) - 505km
  • Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range - 462km

Efficiency

  • MG MG4 Long Range 77 - 140Wh/km
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Dynamiq - 143Wh/km
  • Hyundai Kona Electric (150kW motor, 17" wheels) - 147Wh/km
  • Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range - 157Wh/km
  • Kia EV6 Air - 165Wh/km
  • Kia EV5 Air Long Range - 180Wh/km

Performance

  • Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range - 5.3s
  • MG MG4 Long Range 77 - 6.5s
  • Kia EV6 Air - 7.3s
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Dynamiq - 7.4s
  • Hyundai Kona Electric (150kW motor, 17" wheels) - 8.3s
  • Kia EV5 Air Long Range - 8.9s

Safety

  • 36.96 - Hyundai Ioniq 6
  • 35.47 - Kia EV5
  • 35.27 - Volvo EX30
  • 34.48 - Kia EV6
  • 32.13 - Hyundai Kona Electric
  • 31.64 - MG MG4

Cargo space

  • Kia EV5 - 513/1714L
  • Kia EV6 - 490/1270L
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - 407/1241L
  • MG MG4 - 350/1165L
  • Volvo EX30 - 318/904L
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - 401L

Dimensions

  • Volvo EX30 - 4233 x 1838 x 1550
  • MG MG4 - 4287 x 1836 x 1516
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - 4355 x 1825 x 1580
  • Kia EV5 - 4615 x 1875 x 1715
  • Kia EV6 - 4680 x 1880 x 1550
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - 4855 x 1880 x 1495

Tyre Size

  • Volvo EX30 - 225/55 R18
  • MG MG4 - 235/45 R18
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - 215/60 R17
  • Kia EV5 - 225/60 R18
  • Kia EV6 - 235/55 R19
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - 225/55 R18

Warranty

  • MG MG4 - 10 year unlimited km warranty / 7yr 160,000km on battery
  • Kia EV5 - 7 year unlimited km / 7yr 150,000km on battery
  • Kia EV6 - 7 year unlimited km / 7yr 150,000km on battery
  • Volvo EX30 - 5 years unlimited km / 8yr 160,000km battery warranty
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - 5 years unlimited km / 8yr 160,000km battery warranty
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - 5 years unlimited km / 8yr 160,000km battery warranty

Servicing Costs over 5 years

  • Volvo EX30 - $0 (included in price for 5 years, unsure how long promo will last)
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - $1,040
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - $1,190
  • Kia EV6 - $1,382
  • MG MG4 - $1,392
  • Kia EV5 - $1,535

Insurance (5 years)

  • MG MG4 - $668 ($3340)
  • Volvo EX30 - $683 ($3415)
  • Kia EV6 - $701 ($3505)
  • Hyundai Kona - $757 ($3785)
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 - $832 ($4160)
  • Kia EV5 - $1108 ($5540)

Total Cost Ownership 5 years

  • Kona - $52,449
  • MG4 - $54,180
  • Ioniq 6 - $60,530
  • EX30 - $65,715
  • EV5 - $70,025
  • EV6 - $70,713

Personal Thoughts

Just some notes on each car. What I personally think of them without having driven them based on reviews on YouTube and the spec sheets.

MG4

Likes: price, 10yr warranty, normal door handles, small size, most efficient/heaps of range, 360-degree parking camera
Dislikes: janky software, dangerous lane keep assist, lack of software updates

Hyundai Kona Electric

Likes: normal door handles, comes with a spare tyre, decent price ($10k less than EX30)
Dislikes: FWD, relatively slow, looks a bit ugly

Kia EV6

Likes: 800V DC charging, decent amount of cargo space, sharp pricing (could get cheaper now that the MY25 is out)
Dislikes: flat door handles, 19" wheels

Hyundai Ioniq 6

Likes: sedan, safest car here, most range, 800V DC charging, 360-degree camera
Dislikes: flat door handles, less cargo space, looks weird, biggest car out of all these, no heat pump, most expensive could be difficult to get for $60k drive away or less

Kia EV5

Likes: 7 year unlimited km warranty, great range
Dislikes: flat door handles, FWD, relatively slow acceleration, bit on the large side for my needs

Volvo EX30

Likes: normal door handles, cheap servicing, smallest car here, excellent infotainment, best looking car inside & out, fastest acceleration
Dislikes: right at the top end of my budget, not a lot of cargo space, no V2L unlike the other cars

Test Drive Notes

As I get a chance to test drive each vehicle, I’ll update this post with what I thought of the car after having driven it.

MG4

Hyundai Kona Electric

Kia EV6

Hyundai Ioniq 6 - 17/01/2025

A Hyundai promo that began this week inspired me to test drive an Ioniq 6 RWD on Friday. If I had to describe it succinctly, it’s like they took the Model 3 and went “let’s copy it but make it better”. All the little stuff I dislike about the Model 3 is solved in the Ioniq 6.

One pedal driving is excellent - virtually the same as the Model 3 and much better than the EX30. Feels better on the road too, just a bit softer, less sport oriented and more comfortable. The EX30 drives better than both of them IMHO.

A wider seat/cockpit area than the Model 3, so more leg room for a wide bastard like me, but there’s still a centre console that gets in the way unlike the EX30. Interior quality is great, but I still prefer the EX30’s more minimalist setup and I don’t mind everything on the screen to be honest.

Was able to take it on the freeway and adaptive cruise control worked nicely. Performance in Eco mode seemed about the same as my Model 3 in chill mode, which is fine as that’s what I drive around in day to day anyways. Screen is responsive, the physical controls for the AC are good and the AC itself is fantastic, soooo much better than the Model 3 and even better than the EX30.

Drove around for about 20 minutes and had no complaints really, I’d be happy driving this day to day. That said, I did want a smaller car than the Model 3 and the Ioniq 6 is longer. It’s also got less cargo space than the Model 3. Oh and it doesn’t really look much better in person than in the photos. It’s still not an attractive car to me - at least it’s unattractive for a good reason (aerodynamics).

One downside is the Ioniq 6’s charge port is on the “wrong” side for my garage and the cable on my wall charger is too short to reach, so I’d need to spend a bit of extra money either replacing the charger with a new one with a longer cable or replacing the cable on my existing charger.

The Ioniq 6 is a lot of car for the money and loaded with features that the EX30 doesn’t have:

  • 360-degree parking camera
  • V2L inside and ouside of the car
  • Remote parking assist (can use the remote to drive the car forward/back from outside the car!)
  • 18" wheels, so cheaper to replace when the time comes
  • Normal keyfob with buttons to lock/unlock
  • Heads-up display

Plus almost 150km more range and $7,000 cheaper.

The EX30 does have free servicing for 5 years (vs $1200 for the Ioniq over 5 years), looks and feels better inside & out, is more comfortable to sit in, a heat pump, charge port on the correct side for my garage, faster, drives better, Android infotainment is great and fits more cargo with the seats down. I’d also bet that it would hold its value better after 5 years as more people want an SUV style car than a sedan - plus the EX30 is 10x more popular than the Ioniq 6 and is a MY25 model vs MY23 for the Ioniq 6.

Best price I could get for the Ioniq 6 is $52,750 verus $59,500 for an EX30. On paper the Ioniq 6 is an obvious winner but driving them both and living with them is a different story. I wish I could borrow each car for like half a day. I’m hoping as the promo gets closer to the end and the Ioniq’s still don’t sell (only 1 sold in VIC over the first weekend of the promo) they might drop the price enough that I could snag one under $50,000.

Kia EV5

Volvo EX30 - 11/01/2025

Really liked this car. Extremely comfortable, doesn’t feel like a giant pig of a vehicle like some other SUVs I’ve driven but the height of the car makes it easy to get in and out of.

Loved the interior quality. Look great inside & out in real life, just like the pictures. The Android infotainment is pretty cool, didn’t get to use it deeply it the map was responsive and I like that it’s pure Google Maps. 360-degree parking camera is very good (test drove the Ultra - Plus wasn’t available for demo), nice and crisp quality, didn’t feel slow.

Only downside was the one pedal driving. It works as advertised and is actually one pedal, but it feels “grabby” at low speeds and has a harsh complete top, unlike the Model 3 which is very even all the way to a complete stop. Could just be me not being used to it.

Air conditioner vents not as adjustable as I’d like, can’t point it at my face but at least it doesn’t blast cold air on my hands like the Model 3.

Overall I’d be very happy to live with this car based on the 20 minutes I drove it. Would love a longer test drive somehow so I could take it down the Western Highway or along a country road at higher speeds instead of inner-city Melbourne.