Resources • Choosing a vehicle
Graeme's guide to choosing a vehicle that's right for you and the planet
The most ethical vehicle is often the one you don't buy. Start with the three questions below. If an electric vehicle does turn out to be your best option, the guide further down lets you compare every model on sale in Australia, including how ethically each one is made.
Which option is best for you?
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Could you go without a car, or use a bike?
The best car is no car. Walking, cycling or an e-bike, public transport, car share, or combining trips can cover more of your travel than most people expect, and they cost far less.
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Keep the car you already own
Building any new car, electric or not, takes a lot of energy and materials (its embodied energy). If you only drive a few thousand kilometres a year, keeping your current car is likely to beat buying a new one, because the savings from switching can take a very long time to pay back that up-front cost.
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Switch to an EV when the kilometres add up
If you drive high kilometres, or your current car uses a lot of fuel, an electric vehicle is the next best choice. Then the question is which one, and how ethically it's made.
This is our view of the trade-offs. Others (including Graeme) might weigh them differently, and how soon to switch depends on your own driving.
If an EV is right for you: find a good one
Every electric vehicle on sale in Australia that we know of. Models are listed with the most ethically made first; filter by what you need, then compare up to three.
No models match those filters. Try widening your budget or range.
About the data
Prices, range and charging
Prices are the starting price in thousands of Australian dollars, before on-road costs and incentives. Where a model comes in several versions we show the range, battery size and charging speed across them. Range is the WLTP figure; real-world range is usually lower, especially at highway speed and in Tasmanian winters. “TBC” means the figure has not been confirmed yet.
Ethics score
Out of 10. It combines labour conditions at the manufacturer, union strength in its workforce and the ethics of its battery supply chain. Each score comes with a confidence rating for how reliable the underlying data is; low-confidence scores are marked, so treat them as a guide rather than a verdict.
V2L
Vehicle-to-load lets the car power appliances such as a laptop, a camping fridge or power tools from its battery, at the stated maximum number of kilowatts.
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Let us know.
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