The car world's new names and words for 2024: Is you car software defined and V2G capable? Do you know your Xpeng from your Xiaomi?

Just what is a “software-defined vehicle”? Why did we start calling electricity “new energy”? And who or what are Xiaomi and Zeekr?

A lot of new buzz words and terms have appeared in the car world in 2024 and it’s had all of us scrambling to keep on top of the new lingo. So, that had us thinking: what have been the standout new entries into the car vocabulary in the year that was? Here’s a quick round up for you.

Yes, a software-defined vehicle. It was a term we’d started to hear a little while back but this year its use rose in popularity with car brands throwing the phrase around as though everybody knew what it meant.

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“We decided on how to do the software-defined vehicle,” Volkswagen boss Thomas Schafer told us recently when describing the new Golf hatchback.

A software defined vehicle means a car with functions and features that are controlled through computing software rather than hardware. You might think that this refers to all cars these days, but really what “software defined” means is “software enabled” in that if you want to use your heated seats, for example, then you’ll need to download the software to activate them. This allows car makers to potentially charge subscription fees Netflix-style to enable certain features.

Volkswagen Golf

Then there’s “new energy” which refers to alternatives to fossil fuels, which is really just electricity at the moment. You’ll have heard the term new energy vehicles or NEVs used lately and as you’d expect that typically means a fully electric car, a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell car. It’s a silly name that’ll have to be changed again when it’s not new any more.

Speaking of silly names, back in 2023 Build Your Dreams appeared in Australia and in large letters across the back of the tailgate of the Atto 3 small SUV, then in 2024 the Chinese carmaker wisely decided BYD sounded better. But it signalled the start of a Brave New World or new brand world of car makes we’d never heard of before such as Xiaomi and Zeekr. Both are Chinese but think of Xiaomi as kind of like Apple, which has actually crossed over from making electronics goods to building cars. Zeekr on the other hand is owned by Geely, which is becoming more well known as a carmaker in Australia given its large stake in Volvo and Polestar.

Xpeng G3

The year also saw Deepal, Jaecoo, Leapmotor and Xpeng introduce themselves to Australia. All Chinese, all electric and all very much keen to win their way into your driveways in the years ahead.

Affordable and good looking electric vehicles has been the winning combination of many Chinese brands in Australia and despite being relatively unheard of until now, they’ve proved popular with consumers.

Xpeng G6

The rapid uptake of electric cars has been followed by a focus on driving range and the quest to develop better batteries that charge faster and last longer has become a gold rush of sorts. We’d just got our heads around lithium-ion batteries and then in 2024 we were faced more regularly with sodium-ion and lithium sulfur batteries along with solid-state and semi-sold-state batteries.

Charging was something more Aussies were spending time doing but when the Federal Climate and Energy Minister announced new protocols for V2G in 2024 filling your car with electrons became a lot more interesting. What’s V2G? That stands for Vehicle to Grid meaning you can use the electricity in your battery to power your home or even sell back to the grid.

Mitsubishi Outlander

Of course in order to do that your electric car would have to support bi-directional charging. Another new term that means your vehicle allows a two-way flow of electricity into and out of the car.

There are more new words and phrases, but that's all for now. Let’s prepare for 2025 where there will surely be many other terms to learn.