Two EVs in Wheels Car of the Year contention

Battery electric vehicles the Tesla Model 3 and the Mercedes-Benz EQC are in the top five for the Australian Wheels Car of the Year 2020 award revealed on January 30.

Others are the Toyota RAV 4 hybrid, Mazda 3 and the Porsche 911.

The vehicles in the awards’ 57th year are tested by a panel of judges and rated against a set of criteria including function, technology, value, safety and efficiency.

Changes in the judging process for 2020, described as a “light tune-up”, include more transparency, such as publishing the scores that each car achieves against those five criteria.

Every judge’s decision will be open to scrutiny, helping people better understand how a vehicle progresses through the competition, Wheels says.

More information is collected on the cars this year to improve decision making and objectivity. Each car is independently tested for wet/dry braking, 0-100km/h performance, cabin noise at 80km/h, and connectivity such as the infotainment system.

Cars that perform poorly in comparison tests get axed.