Prestige customers with an appetite for green motoring will be spoiled for choice in 2020 as car-makers move to electrify their fleet.
Mini’s first electric car, the Cooper SE, blends a 135kW electric motor with a relatively small battery offering about 250 kilometres of range. Rather than trying to build the fastest or farthest-running electric car, the brand focused on making the machine feel as “Mini” as possible with agile handling and manageable dimensions. Expect it to cost at least $50,000 on the road.
Once Volvo’s performance brand, Polestar is now an electric car marque. The Polestar 2 due in the in the fourth quarter of 2020 over the ditch brings the first in-car infotainment system powered by Google’s Android.
You don’t get a key (smartphones unlock the car) but you do get a vegan interior, pixel LED headlights and quietness that surpasses most luxury cars. There’s also the small matter of 300kW power backed by all-wheel-drive, Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes and a 78kWh battery which lends 500km of range.
Electric vehicle fans who want the ultimate performance sedan will find it hard to go past Porsche’s Taycan Turbo. Capable of reaching 100km/h in 2.8 seconds, Porsche’s first electric car serves up 560kW of electric thrust in an eye-catching four-door body.
While it can’t match the long-legged range of big-battery Teslas, the Taycan promises to be the fastest electric car at charging points, receiving up to 100km of range in five minutes.
Porsche has not announced prices for the Taycan in New Zealand, but you can bet it won’t be cheap. UK customers pay £138,826 for the Taycan Turbo S, £1306 less than the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid that costs $429,100 plus on-roads in New Zealand.
Mercedes-Benz has already launched its electric EQC crossover, so the big news for the brand in 2020 surrounds a replacement for the A-Class based GLA baby SUV and the addition of a new GLB bringing seven-seat versatility in a compact package.
Want a high-performance car in 2020? You could do a lot worse than the new Mercedes-AMG A45 hot hatch and its CLA 45 sedan-shaped cousin. The original A45 redefined what a hot hatch could be, and the new model promises to push the boundaries even further with 310kW of power and a 3.9 second dash to 100km/h.
BMW’s range-topping M8 Coupe arrives in the first quarter of 2020. Buyers get a walloping 460kW twin-turbo V8 capable of powering the big coupe to 100km/h in just 3.2 seconds, giving Porsche 911 customers pause for thought.
A new-generation 911 went on sale in 2019, and you can expect powerful 911 Turbo and track-ready 911 GT3 variants to follow in coming months. Connoisseurs might gravitate toward Porsche’s smaller and lighter Cayman GT4, a circuit-ready model which ditches the four-cylinder turbo motor of regular Cayman variants in favour of a classic flat six.
Or you could wait until 2021 and stride into a Holden showroom to take home the first Corvette officially sold in Australia, reveling in its 370kW grunt and Porsche-like mid-engine dynamics.
Those keen on Ferrari’s new SF90 Stradale will likely require over $1m to not only buy the hybrid hypercar, but to also account for on-road costs and desirable options such as super-light carbon fibre wheels. The hybrid beast has 736kW of power, can run in a green electric-only mode and promises to be the fastest-accelerating car on sale.
- news.com.au