Electric cars in Australia general discussion thread, not just Teslas, the others too

[Captain_Slow]

Congrats Babs! I'd really like to get a Model 3 but not really convinced that nopics' driving really justifies the additional expense. I'll keep waiting for the $40k EV blockbuster to come along

[old_geez]

New MG EV is around $40k

[Babalouie]

Congrats Babs! I'd really like to get a Model 3 but not really convinced that nopics' driving really justifies the additional expense. I'll keep waiting for the $40k EV blockbuster to come along

The Model 3 was $71k drive-away, and I reckon the business case works when you think of it as an alternative to the entry level Beemer, Lexus or Benz, which is maybe a few grand cheaper.

For us the MY13 IS250 nopics drives has BT audio, navi, and is a nicely tied down little sedan; no ball of fire, but when you compare it to the new Volvo we drove, all the new tech like the 360 degree camera etc is all kinda clunky and didn't seem to be worth trading up, and to drive it wasn't as nice as the old Lex. But then you get into the Tesla and the infotainment is just streets ahead...and when you put your foot down, instead of a small capacity turbo four drone, it's totally silent and really pushes you back in the seat. At that point the extra coupla grand for the Tesla became really reasonable.

TBH I reckon most ppl will have the same dilemma+conclusion when the game changing $40k EVs come out to rival say, the Mazda3. But part of the Tesla appeal is the interior and infotainment, so you'd need to have something like it, if you want to replicate the appeal. A Mazda3 with an EV powertrain isn't the same

[Captain_Slow]

My nopics isn't a car person, and her car is generally outside and unwashed - which makes me reluctant to throw $70k at the problem

I'd be more interested if I thought a Model 3 SR+ could get from Canberra to Sydney on one charge. It should, according to the official range stats, but I'm not clear enough on how the WLTP number would translate to a real world 110km/h for 3 hours drive. I should just find a Model 3 owner in Canberra and ask them.

Otherwise, something that could do 2-300km around the suburbs on a charge is more like what I'm looking for.

[Captain_Slow]

New MG EV is around $40k

It's an SUV though, I want a car - and I'd be wary of MG.

[perthdrivers.txt]

We're at the point where getting from say SYD to PER is doable in an EV so i would say the trip from CAN to SYD would be well-known in Tesla circles

I think i would find it harder to justify spending $40k on the equivalent of a Great Wall/Chery EV with its unknowns than i would spending $70k on a Tesla

[Captain_Slow]

I've tried Googling the answer (admittedly not in an in-depth way) and haven't been able to find out. But yes, there would be people who know the answer!

I've been critical of people who complain that EVs can't drive to Darwin or whatever, and I still am, so I don't want to be hypocritical here. I still think their best use case is suburban driving where you do 50km a day. For us though, if it's limited to suburbia then a Nissan Leaf (or ideally, its $10k cheaper competitor/s hitting the market next year or two) is enough. If there's a possibility that our regular CBR-SYD trips could be done on electric power, a Model 3 SR+ starts to make more sense. Although economically speaking, a $20k purchase price difference buys a lot of fuel, even for the 6.2 litre V8 we usually do those trips in.

[Babalouie]

My nopics isn't a car person, and her car is generally outside and unwashed - which makes me reluctant to throw $70k at the problem

I'd be more interested if I thought a Model 3 SR+ could get from Canberra to Sydney on one charge. It should, according to the official range stats, but I'm not clear enough on how the WLTP number would translate to a real world 110km/h for 3 hours drive. I should just find a Model 3 owner in Canberra and ask them.

Otherwise, something that could do 2-300km around the suburbs on a charge is more like what I'm looking for.

Sales guy said that the official rated range is 490km but in reality it's more like 300-350km if you're carrying people and driving not driving like a saint. It works for us because we have another car we can use for long freeway trips, but even with the supercharger network thing, it still sounds like a hassle compared to a petrol car where you just fill it up and go on your way

[MZ21]

Do you have a VIN number yet? I got assigned my VIN yesterday, so mine must be close.

The SR+ at work is only a 300KM if anything because day to day only gets charged to 85%. But if 300KM is still a fair bit and if you're charging overnight it's perfect.

[Babalouie]

Do you have a VIN number yet? I got assigned my VIN yesterday, so mine must be close.

The SR+ at work is only a 300KM if anything because day to day only gets charged to 85%. But if 300KM is still a fair bit and if you're charging overnight it's perfect.

Mine still says "we will upload an invoice shortly" and all there is in my account is the order form that says VIN will be allocated closer to delivery date. How long ago did you place the order?

Part of the fun is belting it away from standstill, so I doubt we'll get close to the ideal range :-)

[MotherTrucker]

I thought the only issue with hydrogen was producing it in a clean manner ie solar.

To me it has always made more sense considering there is already the infrastructure to distribute it.

Hydrogen would require a whole new set of infrastructure much like used to exist for LPG cars.

It also takes a while to refill. 45mins for a small truck so it's not "plug n play" by any measure.

Whereas EV's can be charged at home overnight. Unless you're in a rental flat or inner city with no off-street parking etc. But for most of Australia At home overnight will work fine.

Also the supercharger network side of things works well as a supplementary charging point, in that you can add 100~200 km of range in 20 mins, so while not fully charged, in the Canberra to Sydney example above the extra few KM can take the stress out, and it can top up when you get home.

[MZ21]

Mine still says "we will upload an invoice shortly" and all there is in my account is the order form that says VIN will be allocated closer to delivery date. How long ago did you place the order?

Part of the fun is belting it away from standstill, so I doubt we'll get close to the ideal range :-)

I only received the VIN number 4 weeks after placing the order. Pretty sure I'll order speed boost for mine if the option is available in the app, get the 0-100 time down under 4 secs

[MotherTrucker]

. Problem is storing it. It boils at 20 kelvin. It seeps through solid steel, and makes it brittle on the way through.

Sounds like a cross between the Hindenberg and hand grenade.

[Luke352]

I've tried Googling the answer (admittedly not in an in-depth way) and haven't been able to find out. But yes, there would be people who know the answer!

I've been critical of people who complain that EVs can't drive to Darwin or whatever, and I still am, so I don't want to be hypocritical here. I still think their best use case is suburban driving where you do 50km a day. For us though, if it's limited to suburbia then a Nissan Leaf (or ideally, its $10k cheaper competitor/s hitting the market next year or two) is enough. If there's a possibility that our regular CBR-SYD trips could be done on electric power, a Model 3 SR+ starts to make more sense. Although economically speaking, a $20k purchase price difference buys a lot of fuel, even for the 6.2 litre V8 we usually do those trips in.

Thing is to make economic sense you need to be doing lots of k's if your spending more money than a petrol car. For instance you can buy a new Audi A4 for 55k any day of the week. Fuel economy is about 6.5L/100 and I'll use $1.30L for petrol. Model 3 is costing $70k and say you are recharging at 10c per kw/h and using 16kw/h per 100km with a combination of grid and own Solar. I haven't considered the solar free because it isn't, you are either loosing offset against your house usage or export $'s. It will take 250'000 k's for the extra cost of the model 3 to be offset. Realistically the charge cost will probably be higher unless 1. you only charge on sunny days; 2. your solar system is so big you are sending a shitload of power to the grid which you can instead charge your car with and not result in higher grid imports, basically fairly unrealistic for most people. Servicing costs based on what Tesla charge for a 2,3,4, 5 year servicing pack is roughly similar though you could probably argue if the Tesla really needs that much servicing. Now yes I understand the Tesla is a much faster car etc.. but then the Audi is probably a nicer thing to sit in and for a lot of people how fast it is probably won't come into the equation.


Supercharger network which unless you have an X you have to pay for is now officially more expensive per km than the average ICE car on the road, so if you are driving any distance you are going to try to avoid it.

[perthdrivers.txt]

To be fair if you owned an Audi for 250,000km you'd be up for a new engine and gearbox in that time plus all the other niggly shit that grinds you into poverty