Data methodology and provenance

Claim types stay separate

Manufacturer claims, measured results, owner reports and estimates are different kinds of evidence. They are never merged into one unlabelled number.

• Manufacturer claim. A figure published by the manufacturer or its official materials. Shown as a claim by the manufacturer, never as an independent test result.
• Measured result. A result produced by a documented test with a recorded method and conditions. Shown with the test author, date and conditions. Measured results never replace manufacturer claims; both can appear side by side.
• Owner report. An experience reported by a vehicle owner. Shown as owner-reported and kept separate from tests and manufacturer figures. A verified owner badge requires documented moderation evidence.
• Estimate. A modelled or assumed value that is not a measurement or an official figure. Shown with the estimate label, assumptions and the source or rule version behind it.

Unknown does not mean zero

A value with no verified source stays explicitly unvalued. An unknown specification is not treated as zero, and it is not evidence that a vehicle lacks a feature. The catalogue keeps these states apart:

• Known. A sourced, reviewed value with a unit. A genuine zero is a known value.
• Missing. The reviewed source does not provide the field.
• Unknown. The value is not known after review. It is never displayed as zero.
• Not applicable. The field does not apply to this vehicle, for example a charging connector on a conventional hybrid.
• Unavailable. A source outage, expired licence or stale feed. The reason and any permitted last snapshot are shown instead of a fabricated value.

Distances, prices and capacities are shown in Australian units: kilometres, AUD and kWh. Prices are shown only with their price type, inclusions, effective date and source; a price that is not confirmed is labelled as such rather than shown as a number.

Source rights and a limited ROVER exception

Each source is registered with its publisher, document or dataset identifier, collection date, market, licence or contract evidence, allowed uses (display, cache, derived use, redistribution), attribution wording, retention rules, expiry or review date and an accountable owner.

• The normal publication rule is unchanged: a fact can be shown only when its source rights permit that use and its vehicle scope has been reviewed for the exact Australian market, model year and variant.
• A narrow owner-authorised ROVER display is an exception to that normal gate, not a rights clearance. The current sample contains 3 approvals and 27 variant codes; it does not state model year or establish Australian-market coverage. The Department says descriptor figures are applicant-supplied and are not verified by it. The owner accepts this business risk; this is not legal advice or independent fact verification.
• Every ROVER display must link to the exact source URL, show its retrieved date, say “applicant-supplied” and state that the Department did not verify the figures. Only the 14 allowlisted descriptor fields are shown. Price, range, energy consumption, battery capacity, images and VIN are excluded and never inferred; an unstated model year or descriptor remains unknown. ROVER pages and the rest of this site remain `noindex`.
• The underlying snapshot remains `research_only` / `notForPublicDisplay`; the ordinary import and publication gate still blocks unresolved rights. Only the separate, limited ROVER read model follows the owner’s display decision. For other sources, public attribution follows their permitted terms and never exposes contract terms or internal licence documents.
• When rights expire or are revoked, affected facts and images stop being displayed publicly and the change is recorded.

Images, assets and AI-generated art

• An image enters public media only when its asset rights are verified and it matches the exact vehicle variant it illustrates.
• AI-generated art is allowed only as a clearly labelled generic concept. It never implies a photographed vehicle, a road test or a specific variant match.
• Vehicle specifications, prices and measurements are never generated or embellished by AI; editorial tooling may help draft text, but published claims must come from reviewed sources.

Review types and road tests

• A road test review requires a complete methodology: the test author, the test date, the test conditions and a disclosure separating measured results from manufacturer claims.
• A spec analysis or preview is labelled as a preview. It can compare sourced specifications and manufacturer claims, but it cannot carry a road test badge or claim a road test was performed.
• An owner report requires moderated owner context: how long the vehicle was owned and the conditions it was used in. A verified owner badge is granted only with documented moderation evidence.
• News and guides cite their sources and carry author and review status like every other article.

Sponsorship and affiliate disclosure

Sponsored articles and affiliate links are labelled where they appear. Commercial arrangements never change editorial ranking or sort order, and disclosure cannot be buried below the article.

Corrections preserve history

• Corrections are appended with a date, a summary and a reason. The original publication date is preserved and the updated date changes; articles are not silently rewritten.
• A confirmed error can be hidden immediately pending review when it affects safety or price.
• This local build does not yet operate a public correction form. Article pages will expose the correction route before release, and every published article will link to it.

Coverage is a statement, not a promise

The product goal is Australian BEV, HEV and PHEV coverage; petrol-only vehicles are outside catalogue and editorial scope. The current ROVER display is only a limited sample of 3 approvals / 27 variant codes, with no stated model year. It is not a complete or representative market catalogue. Coverage is assessed per field and reviewed variant; a vehicle or value missing here is not proof that it is unavailable, unsupported or of poor quality.

Broader launch coverage, source rights and review remain outstanding. Known exclusions, last review dates by field group and limitations will be listed as evidence becomes available. No market coverage percentage is claimed.