Electric cars are big business, and big business is never shy when it comes to muscling in on a new thing to sell. Which means that there are quite a few completely new car companies popping up, and they all have one thing in common; they’re very keen on pure electric cars. That means that you might have to get used to a few new names when it comes to brands - it’s no longer just the traditional car-makers who are adapting to the brave new world of zero emissions motoring. So here at Electrifying, we thought we’d just round up a few of the cars we’re very interested in, from companies you may not have heard of… yet.

Lucid Air

It’s hard to ignore the Lucid Air, mainly because everything it does, it does in a big way; big car, big range, big performance - even a big pricetag. It’s a huge saloon - think BMW 7-Series or Mercedes EQS - straight out of Silicon Valley in California, and it’s handsome, capable and likely to catch everyone’s eye if the price is right. The price, however, depends on the version you choose. There’s one with a range of up 520-miles (yep, that’s not a typo), a version with 1,111bhp and a 0-62mph sprint time of just 2.5 seconds - although that one only gets 471-miles of range - and everything in-between. Prices would - probably - range from around £60,000 for a base ‘Pure’ model to somewhere in the region of £125,000 for the really fast/super long-range versions (Dream Edition P and Dream Edition R), but they all get a brilliant interior and loads of plush options.

Ora Cat (and the Punk Cat)

Ora is a Chinese company that’s been around in its home country since 2018 as a sub-brand of parent company Great Wall Motors, but now it’s heading our way with the Ora Cat. With up to 260-miles of range, seriously promising interior quality and a pricetag that ranges from under £25k to under 30, the Cat could be the small electric car that really makes sense. But perhaps the most obvious draw is the styling; part Mini, part Porsche 911, part .., kitten, the Ora Cat appeals to lots of different people for lots of different reasons. It’s about as inoffensive and un-macho as you can get this side of a Fiat 500e, and we should be driving it soon. The one we’d also love to be able to try - but there are no plans for UK launch - is the Ora Punk Cat. You may recognise it as what can only be described as quite an explicit love-letter to the Volkswagen Beetle, but this time with five-doors and an all-electric drivetrain. Is it brilliant or horrible? Let us know!

BYD Tang EV600

Another Chinese company, BYD (it stands for ‘Build Your Dreams’), started as a battery manufacturer some years ago, but has since branched out in full electric car-making. The Tang is a five or seven-seat SUV inspired by the ‘potent and auspicious powers’ of dragons, apparently (no kidding), but in reality is a well thought out, practical electric all-rounder, albeit based on a car that usually comes with a hybrid powertrain. With an 86.4kWh battery and 250-mile WLTP range, the pure electric Tang has been sold in Norway since 2021 - Norway being very keen on electric cars - and has been pretty well received. No word yet on when it might arrive in the UK, but it would be priced extremely competitively - and scare a few of the established manufacturers in the process.

Fisker Ocean

Probably one you may have heard of, given Electrifying.com boss Ginny’s obsession with it, but the Fisker Ocean is shaping up to make quite the grand entrance into the UK electric car market. It’s not small - think a similar size to the BMW iX3 or Audi Q4 e-Tron - but the Ocean looks much neater and more resolved than… well, most other electric SUVs out there. With five seats and a range of prices and powertrains, it also offers some serious value for money. The base five-seat Sport will be available in the UK with an estimated 275+ miles of range and priced at £34,990, with the mid-range all-wheel drive ‘Ultra’ version (379 miles of range) coming in at just under £49k. Then there’s the bells’n’whistles, 550bhp ‘Extreme’ model that will list at £59,900. But the best bit? Fisker claims the Ocean is ‘the world’s most sustainable vehicle’, and that’s something that will appeal to lots of buyers. As will the forthcoming Fisker Pear (Personal Electric Automotive Revolution) - which is set to be an entry-level urban electric car with five seats. Interesting fact? The Pear will be produced with Chinese electronics giant Foxconn - which makes the iPhone.

​Rimac Nevera

Rimac is a Croatian company that seems to always have a hand in greatness, while being relatively unknown in the wider world. It’s an innovator, technology powerhouse and general automotive superpower, a company that has seen both Porsche and Hyundai invest in various parts of the business - neither company known for making bad bets. The Nevera is Rimac’s heavyweight megacar; 1,914bhp, 1,740lb ft of torque, four-wheel drive,120kWh battery, 340-miles of range and 0-62mph in under two seconds. Because it will hit 186mph from rest in just 9.3 seconds, it’s actually faster than a Formula One car, but has heated seats and a stereo. But more than that, the Nevera (named after a Croatian electrical storm), is the place where Rimac gets to show off its technical prowess, with the kind of computing power that could confound most small countries. The only catch? There will only be 150 Neveras made, and they start at around £1.7 million.

Pininfarina Battista

Sounds Italian, is actually based in Germany. But the Pininfarina Battista has deep roots in Italy, being a product of the design house and coachbuilder Pininfarina. It’s another deeply impressive four-wheel drive megacar technical tour-de-force that costs a couple of million quid, has 1,874bhp and a 0-62mph time of under two seconds. But here’s where it gets interesting; the Battista shares most of its internal organs with the Rimac Nevera - the technology within it is all Rimac’s. Pininfarina has re-bodied the car and massaged the systems so that the Battista feels quite different though. But there’s only one way to find out - and that’s to get both of the cars together at the same time. We’ve already put our name down on the list…

Aiways U5

Yep, it’s another medium-sized SUV from a Chinese manufacturer, but the Aiways U5 looks like it might be a contender. There appears to be a whole mish-mash of influences in the exterior styling from BMW to Volvo, but it’s a handsome enough five-seater in the round, with nothing that will scare people too much. Underneath is a 65kWh battery which should be good for around 250-miles of WLTP range, a whole host of standard kit, 90kW DC charging and a chunk of driver assist systems. It’s not supposed to re-invent the game, but with some innovative leasing options in Europe, it comes out as a £35k car - which for the size is actually pretty good, and certainly cheap and interesting enough to possibly tempt some out of, say, a Kia eNiro. The U5 hasn’t reached the UK yet, but we wouldn’t bet against it; Aiways has a set of pure electric cars on the way.

Nio ES8

Chinese company Nio might be a touch more well-known than some thanks to it’s stillborn bonkers EP9 electric hypercar, but its main thrust is generally somewhat more prosaic - stuff like the pure electric, mid-sized SUV, the ES8. It’s currently on-sale in Norway (a country that early-adopts all kinds of cool electric cars), and comes with either a 75kWh or massive 100kWH battery - the bigger one good for 310 miles of range. But this time there’s a bit of a twist, because the ES8 can have it’s battery swapped on-the-go. Nio’s Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model, means that you can drive into a battery power swap centre (20 are planned for Norway by the end of 2022), and swap an empty battery for a full one, or upgrade to a bigger battery as you need. It’s a subscription service (or you can buy the car without a battery and work out which one suits you). They’ll even pick up the car from your place of work for battery swaps and servicing. A new way of owning an electric car?