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Here is every new or updated model eligible for the Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Electric Vehicle Under $100K category.
Drive Car of the Year 2025
Now in its 20th year, the annual Drive Car of the Year awards program continues to be the Australian new car buyer’s most-trusted advisor.
At Drive, we test drive more than 200 new cars every year, evaluating each against its innate promise to sort the best from the rest. We divide the 400-plus new passenger cars, SUVs, 4WDs and utes into 19 price-banded categories focused on the end-user. Then we analyse the strengths and weaknesses of every car to find the cream of the automotive crop.
Drive Car of the Year 2025 is a go!
Drive Car of the Year 2025 – Best Family Electric Vehicle Under $100K
Electric made its mark on the Drive Car of the Year 2024 awards, with a 'democratisation of electrification' enabling all categories to consider new-energy drivelines, but also in crowning the first ever electric winner, the Kia EV9 – winner of both the 2024 Drive Car of the Year and also the 2024 Best Family Electric Vehicle under $100K.
With the EV9, family buyers finally have a car that offers parallel capability in being functional and practical but also in being a forward-thinking, ground-up EV that provides the best of new-energy features. Last year, the EV9 was a standout stake in the ground for modern families, but the electric market has been busy in 2024, and there is some serious competition, albeit mostly from slightly smaller cars.
The new Kia EV5 essentially shrinks the clever design of the EV9 to fit in the highly contested mid-size SUV segment, and across the Korean aisle, the similarly-sized Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been updated with the latest infotainment and electric power management. Similarly, the 'twins under the skin' by way of the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra, seek to offer family buyers a sense of familiarity-but-electric by packaging these two mid-sized SUVs in a way that closes the gap for buyers looking to make a change.
Switching continents, Europe presents the new Skoda Enyaq, updated Mercedes-Benz EQB and style-centric Polestar 4 as unique options in the medium-sized market, with the iconic Volkswagen ID. Buzz bringing a sense of flair, and up to seven-seats to the mix.
There are still a few late arrivals expected to go on sale this year, so we'll keep an eye out on market timing for Audi's highly anticipated Q4 e-tron, and the first car from China's XPeng, the Tesla Model Y-sized G6.
With a full and healthy field, judges will again assess cars for parallel requirements in that they need to offer strong family functionality as well as leading-edge electric technology. Size isn't a key criteria, but overall value and ownership support is very much a consideration of the judges.
Which cars are eligible for this category?
Drive’s rules require that, for a car to be eligible, it must:
| Contenders | Not here in time |
| – Cars that are all-new or significantly updated since they last contested Drive Car of the Year. – New categories are open to all cars that fit category requirements. – Last year’s winner is an automatic inclusion. | – These cars meet category requirements, but are not due to arrive in time for Drive Car of the Year 2025 judging. |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 Kia EV5 Kia EV9 (defending) Mercedes-Benz EQB Polestar 4 Skoda Enyaq Subaru Solterra Toyota bZ4X Volkswagen ID. Buzz | Audi Q4 e-tron (timing TBC) XPeng G6 (timing TBC) Kia EV6 (update 2025) Tesla Model Y (update 2025) |
The winner of the 2025 Drive Car of the Year – Best Family Electric Vehicle Under $100K will be announced in February 2025.
Before then, we will announce the finalists, all of which deliver practicality and usability for growing EV-buying families.
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With over 20 years of experience in digital publishing, James Ward has worked within the automotive landscape since 2007 and brings experience from the publishing, manufacturer and lifestyle side of the industry together to spearhead Drive's multi-media content direction.
