Electric Vehicles
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@nta There are a lot of differences between the land make up in Australia & UK though which make a colossal difference to thinking when it comes to cars. Although I note that average milage on cars isn't that different (around 14,500 km per year UK vs 15k Aus) I would think there is a start difference in the way they are completed. Australia more likely to be distances (commuting, holidaying) whereas UK more likely to be frequent short trips (school run, pop to the shops, pop to the neighbours because it's fucking raining again) .... Thus EV make a huge amount of sense as you can charge 99% of your journeys at home. Not sure thats the same in Oz.
Govt here has also set an aggressive target of no carbon fuel only based cars sold by 2030. And have set encouraging tax breaks to meet that target. Thus people, like me, are signing up in droves. The current fuel mullarky I suspect will entice even more.
Having read your feedback on various cars in this thread, I don't think I'm stretching it to say you've probably bought one car in your life worth the combined value of every car I've ever owned
If you surround yourself by people who spend more ... or spend stupider, it doesn't seem as bad ... Yes my outlays are pretty ropey, but I have in-laws who just spanked 275k on a 488 Pista & a friends with sod all assets but ok jobs driving new M3's ... They make me feel modest.
Also worth remembering that BMW's are not overly expensive here. Yes, they are more than your comparable Ford / Vauxhall, but lease/ HP / PCP schemes turn a 10k difference into an 80 GBP a month difference ... Much easier to get your head around.
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@majorrage said in Electric Vehicles:
Australia more likely to be distances (commuting, holidaying) whereas UK more likely to be frequent short trips (school run, pop to the shops, pop to the neighbours because it's fucking raining again) .... Thus EV make a huge amount of sense as you can charge 99% of your journeys at home. Not sure thats the same in Oz.
More distances to cover but only occasionally. Most people before COVID were lucky to drive 30km a day in the vast majority of the urban population that commute - the extra bits to get to ~15,000km is holidays and road trips. Even if you had a 100km round trip, charging at home every night on an off peak tariff surely beats petrol in Australia in both cost and convenience.
The up front cost will be the real issue - there are some who don't see it as an obstacle, and want us all to focus on after-purchase cost e.g. some nutter tweeted how a Model 3 was less than a tradie would spend on a ute so there was no excuse for anyone. I foolishly engaged with "A Model 3 isn't a suitable vehicle for a tradie, and I can get a medium sized hatch or sedan for 40% of the cost of an EV, so it isn't that simple". Discussion went downhill from there
I think "Australia Tax" plays a massive part in that gap left behind when our domestic auto industry shit the bed, particularly for performance vehicles.
An M3 here is AUD$145K
Might as well get the Rivian for that money. It is faster, after all 
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Australia's first batch of Hyundai Ioniq 5 sold out in less than three hours.
The Rivian R1T has apparently been cleared for local selling too. Even managed to get the wife to agree it would be a good purchase, so I've signed up for updates.
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@antipodean said in Electric Vehicles:
Australia's first batch of Hyundai Ioniq 5 sold out in less than three hours.
The Rivian R1T has apparently been cleared for local selling too. Even managed to get the wife to agree it would be a good purchase, so I've signed up for updates.
any idea when they're expected to be available?
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@voodoo This (https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/australias-new-ute-king-rivian-r1t-gets-green-light-for-local-launch-as-segment-shattering) says 'Deliveries are expected to begin in January 2022.' Not clear whether that's USA or AU. Either way, once I get the email the deposit will swap accounts.
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@voodoo said in Electric Vehicles:
One thing I find odd about EV's is the way they all seem to come with gloriously oversized displays. Why is this unique to EV's and not also industry standard for new ICE's? Is there really THAT much more interesting info to know about your EV???
Yeah, they seem to have a huge oversized iPad attached to them.
My mate just bought a Tesla which I checked out last weekend. Now I see them everywhere - I'm not a car person so they were just any old car to me previously.
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@voodoo said in Electric Vehicles:
One thing I find odd about EV's is the way they all seem to come with gloriously oversized displays. Why is this unique to EV's and not also industry standard for new ICE's? Is there really THAT much more interesting info to know about your EV???
1 yes and
2 need to show off? -
New green hydrogen made from solar power and air
In a remarkable first, a system that combines solar energy with water harvested from air has been used to manufacture low cost green hydrogen – a zero-emissions fuel.
sounds too good to be true...
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@NTA I'mm not sure when if it hits Australia or the actual affect it will have on the market (or the build quality/service/reliability) but the small BYD hatckback with Blade batteries sounds impressive value
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@nostrildamus getting back to this: if BYD can get these cars into the rideshare economy e.g. GoGet they'll go a long way to helping reduce their costs and create a second-hand vehicle market.
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@nta yes i agree, I think that is likely, plus they are bringing a cheaper car out. I was quite biased and thought the BYD car would be crap but it doesn't look that badly built or bad to drive so I'm tempted to rent this and a few other renewables next year before buying one(I think several Australian state RAs also have share/rental schemes for members).
In NZ you can order a cupra born soon but the general VW EV stable looks like it will take years to reach Australia (a shame, I like the look of the VW life).
The Ioniq 5 looks interestingly Lancia-life but even in the promo videos it doesn't look any fun to drive and it and the Kia E6 look a bit big and heavy for what I'm after.Another option is to find a classic car with a strong but light body and electrify it
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BYD's buses are not great
okay, but not great.
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Testing two more cars next Friday. Kia EV6 & Mercedes EQC.
I'm really impressed with the styling of the EV6 and in the flesh I think it looks great. The interior quality is way way up there too, the look and feel is great. It only feels a bit cheap in the boot, when you open it up and it's just colossal levels of cheap crappy looking plastic. The EQC I've not been that bothered by as the local dealer has huge arrogance. We rocked up there to take a look and they didn't really want to help us. They also told my children off for touching the car beside the EQC which I didn't really appreciate. Why park the EQC demo beside a restored special edition SL? Put your posh cars in the posh area, not beside the family wagon for goodness sakes. Anyway, my in-laws have ordered one and think it's incredible. So we decided to take a look.
Hoping I don't like it as means I'll be in a tricky situation on the IX3 we have on order which is due next Feb ....
EDIT: Forgot to add we sat in another iX. My wife couldn't believe I didn't mind it, think the interior looks like it's designed by a Kardashian. Think's it is absolutely ghastly. I had to agree with her. I hadn't noticed all the crrap like crystal buttons etc. It really is awful.
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@majorrage said in Electric Vehicles:
It only feels a bit cheap in the boot, when you open it up and it's just colossal levels of cheap crappy looking plastic.
I'm sure your victims will leave the appropriate view.
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@mariner4life said in Electric Vehicles:
BYD's buses are not great
okay, but not great.
In terms of anything specific? Performance? Reliability? Range? Comfort?
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@nta said in Electric Vehicles:
@majorrage said in Electric Vehicles:
It only feels a bit cheap in the boot, when you open it up and it's just colossal levels of cheap crappy looking plastic.
I'm sure your victims will leave the appropriate view.
All jokes aside, our dog will travel in the boot a lot. And I think every time we went around a corner if she put her paw on the plastic, it'll leave a big scratch.
It's not the end of the world though, as it's only the boot. Will report next week on the driving dynamics.
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@majorrage said in Electric Vehicles:
@nta said in Electric Vehicles:
@majorrage said in Electric Vehicles:
It only feels a bit cheap in the boot, when you open it up and it's just colossal levels of cheap crappy looking plastic.
I'm sure your victims will leave the appropriate view.
All jokes aside, our dog will travel in the boot a lot. And I think every time we went around a corner if she put her paw on the plastic, it'll leave a big scratch.
It's not the end of the world though, as it's only the boot. Will report next week on the driving dynamics.
I hear it is quite impressive in terms of where Kia has been, and where they are now.
It sort of looks like a hatch back, but is way too big when you see the dimensions. Same as the Ioniq5.
