Electric Cars
Posted by: Anonymous
1st Sep 2022 11:59am
It's a known fact that Australia has been slow in its uptake of electric vehicles, compared to much of the rest of the world. While nearly 1 in 4 new car sales in Europe this year are plug in vehicles, the percentage of new car sales in Australia that are fully electric is just 2%.
We asked Cafestudy members for their views on EVs; if you have considered jumping on the bandwagon yet, and if so, what might make you switch from thinking about it, to actually buying one.
Unsurprisingly given the low uptake of EVs in Australia, there are a high number of concerns from our Cafestudy members, the main one being the cost.
"The Aussie price for any PHEV or electric vehicle is ridiculous. Without government incentives, they are just a toy for the wealthy"
"I have read a lot about these vehicles, but they are just too expensive for me at this stage."
"The initial cost to buy an electric car already makes it difficult investing upfront"
The second big concern is the availability of charging stations, in particular for those in regional areas. Even in our cities, many people are unsure about where to charge vehicles, and how long it might take. It’s thought to be inconvenient and time consuming in comparison to visiting a petrol station for a quick fill up.
"I believe they do have a place for those living in the city who only do small trips, however Australia is a huge country and I don’t think that we are equipped yet to deal with this form of transport."
"As I live in a regional area, electric cars are not really an option for me as there are not enough charging stations."
"It seems so time consuming having to charge the battery, compared to the 2 minutes it takes me to fill my tank of petrol"
However, for the few who have already taken the leap into EVs via hybrid models, they are convinced of the benefits!
"I am already driving a hybrid and have first-hand experience with the benefits of going fully electric and just waiting to purchase one when my preferred model arrives at our shore. I believe the benefits outweight the cost."
"Overall, love driving my hybrid – she does run almost silent"
"I recently bought a hybrid electric car. It's saving me a lot in petrol and servicing costs"
For most people who have yet to convert, there is a lot of confusion around the practicalities of electric cars.
"Are they efficient in strength, and are the costs more expensive if a mechanical part fails, needs replacing?"
"What happens if the car suddenly stops because the batteries are flat? Can you open the windows and doors?"
"What would happen if you are stuck in a major traffic jam, would all the electric cars stop working?"
As well as a substantial number who are not even convinced of the benefits to the environment.
"I think many folk see electric cars as the bees-knees. They usually give no thought to the amount of power/energy needed to just make one."
"I think it's great we are going to a more sustainable future however the items used in production don't and can't break down which poses an issue in 10+ year's time, which worries me."
"What happens to all the batteries when they get old!"
So given the significant barriers and conflicting information, it's perhaps not surprising that most people are not yet ready to make the switch. Even when electric vehicles start to become more accessible financially, if we want to catch up with rates of usage in other countries around the world, it's clear that more work is needed in providing clear and consistent information to educate Australians about the clear facts and practicalities of using electric vehicles, and how it can benefit them and the environment.
Comments 44
Bigbear
Electric vehicles are viable in Australia, that is until the governmantt realises they are missing out on quite a bit of tax/excise when people are using an electric car and not buying petrol. If they find another way to charge the excise to everyone with a car pays rather than just those with petrol/diesel cars, then savings are probably eliminated. This is ignoring all other costs, like up front purchase price, servicing and maintenance costs, insurance, etc.
EVs can be viable if there are enough people willing to do it and are prepared to pay the cost whether time, money, resources, or a combination of these . . . and it will only get better, cheaper, easier, longer range between charges etc as time goes on and the tech improves.
I'd love to see leadership from government to set out the vision for Australia in an electric vehicle world . . . It would be nice if the govt actually provided an incentive to purchase one..
SimWest19
I would love a hybrid but for the size vehicle we would need in our next upgrade, its not available. We live in a regional area and wouldn't be able to go fully electric, as we do long distance travel to visit family and wouldn't have enough charging stations to get us by.
Bronte3258
Wow
Anonymous
EVs are currently in a watch this space situation. The manufacturers are cashing in on the cute and cuddly side of ownership while trying to maximise recovery of R and D costs.
Infrastructure has a long way to go to make ownership feasible. While batteries are currently not being recycled that should change in the future.
What would make EVs more affordable and practical would be a universal battery design that could be hot swapped to ,take the pain out of recharge times.
heeleen
They are so expensive, and are they really better for the environment, the batteries cannot be recycled so they have to be dumped and like all batteries have to be disposed of properly, also I keep reading about all these cars and scooters that keep bursting into flame , and they cannot be put out in a normal way, seems like a lot of trouble, for so little return.
heeleen
I am not keen on electric cars, the batteries are not recyclable so not good for the environment , they are really expensive, not enough recharge places around for them, at the moment I think they are for the trendy people, the ones who drive around saying "look at me , look what I am driving", so not not a fan.
Rhino2
I believe in few years to come the cost of EV and maintainance will be greatly depreciate. It will be a car for a common Joe
Ellie32290128
I think it is quite expensive
macgyver7
Many families, we have spoken too could not afford to buy an electric car. I know none of friends, family members could not buy this type of vehicle, it's too expensive.
Bazz
Well, well, well. Mitsubishi has just concluded its industry study on EV's and the environment in six countries including Australia and published the data on the EV News site. It turns out that buying an EV in Australia, China or Indonesia is Loads Worse for the environment than a petrol (ICE) vehicle. This also agrees with Toyota's findings. The studies run each scenario on a "cradle to grave" analysis. The reason why the data is totally at odds with the EV enthusiasts is that all their figures come from Norway where everything is different which they try to push on everyone else regardless of their situation, but down here it'll take many billions of dollars consistently over at least ten to twenty more years to get even close to that. Most consumers don't take into account the exponentially rising prices and scarcity of rare earth metals and just how much more of each is needed for EV's, whereas petrol / diesel ICE's need none of those. When you need legal work done, you go to a lawyer; when you want your back worked on, you see a chiropractor; when your car breaks down, you get it to a garage for repairs... when you want the facts on building EV's in Australia, you check them with those who are already doing it, not with a bunch of ideologists whose collective heads are in the clouds and their greenwashed 'facts' come from a tiny cold country on the other side of the world.
cjc1959au
Price is the first, charging is the second, range is the third & looks is the fourth! Although many new electric vehicles are starting to look much better!
Izzie
I feel relatively positive about electric cars but my concern is that I feel I don't understand them fully, and am concerned about how long the batteries last and also their safety. I cannot afford to buy a fully electric vehicle at this stage but am considering a hybrid. But still need to do a lot of research before doing so. Again, the battery issue is of concern to me. As an older driver and not working, I find I don't do a lot of kms and maybe it is easier to just stick with petrol for now. But I also want to do the right thing via the environment. I feel like I need a factual guide about electric and hybrid vehicles - something easy to understand to help me with my decision-making. Maybe I will look up the motoring organisation in my state to see if they have such a thing.... it would really help me to decide what to do. Or should I just stick with my 20-year old Corolla that still looks and drives great, has a nice big boot, and is oh so reliable and trustworthy!!
Belanna
I won't be buying an electric car at all, but in saying that I don't own/lease a car anyway. I am public transport all the way.
Belanna
I bought my house near a railway station and I can get to most places in Sydney via PT.
cjc1959au
Thats fantastic if you live somewhere that has great public transport and it goes to where you need to go!
chickenman
main concerns are the distance they can travel, places to recharge, time it takes to recharge, and where will the recharge power come from when "reliable" electricity is replaced with solar, wind and more batteries??
Ziah
Can't afford a new car. Can't afford an electric car. They are all too small for our needs, have a miniscule range (and who the hell is going to sit at a roadside charging station for half a day to charge a vehicle so they can get to their destination in 12+ hours instead of 5?), have poor towing capacities, and there's no such thing as an electric campervan/RV. If EVs are mandated, it will put an end to 4WD vehicles, campers, towing boats and caravans and more. More needs to be done to develop safe fuel alternatives for these vehicles.
victory
I don’t think the Government is making it easy to purchase an EV and it is not feasible to invest just yet, the chargers for the batteries and too time consuming and not cheap enough.
Con D. Oriano
We should promote multiple fuels and smaller cars.
Get rid of SUVs in CBDs we don’t need them for everyday use.
We should also promote renewable methane fuel, and hydrogen fuels to be truly agnostic.
Maybe in the future we will have nuclear powered cars!
Con D. Oriano
We need better public transport, and to promote smaller cars like in Europe.
Small petrol cars are better than large electric SUVs, they use less fuel, travel for longer and why pay for 7 seats that are empty 90% of the time.
Faster trains and hybrid buses require larger population density, which we currently do not have to justify investment.
We need more medium sized apartments and less strict zoning so we can walk to the shops or school etc.
Caperteewaratah
Car manufacture has been subsidized by governments in many countries for years. Electric vehicles and electricity generation has been dominated in Australia by successive governments and policies favoring fossil fuels such as coal, which Australia has an abundance of for which government makes money from. Governments such as Australia are driven by citizens expectations to provide services like hospitals and roads. Money doesn't grow on trees, but coal can be dug out and sold.
Forward thinking governments need to consult with scientists and inventors not lobbyists who are driven by profit making ideas. If politicians did their homework and had listened to the scientific evidence on climate change and its causes we would
have had a plan to transition to electric vehicles and other smart ideas.
The miss stupid thing politicians have done is to sell off our electricity grid in NSW .. now we are at the mercy if profitmaking businesses and for a country so rich on resources, we should be calling the shots not foreign owned companies.
What a mess we are in.
Genie11
The infrastructure required to service these vehicles across our vast country is far from adequate to make EVs a viable commodity at the moment. The infrastructure needs to come first but I guess it’s a question of who will invest in that when there are so few EVs on the road? It’s seems like a ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario!
mustang6000
These are all very valid concerns and opinions. There a several major drawbacks for me, the initial purchase cost, restricted range when compared to distances in Australia and time taken to recharge.
Jessica32
I've definitely considered one, but have chosen to wait a few years until my car needs to be replaced and EVs batteries are longer lasting.
jules06
I love the idea of the Toyota range of Hybrid cars which have the electric battery charge while you are driving. No plugging in rewuired
Kezzaj
I wholeheartedly agree..
chickenman
electric vehicles seem to be great for those who live in cities and towns, who do limited mileage per day and have the time and facilities to recharge, but outside, where the distances are greater, electric vehicles would be a disaster. at least a hybrid has an internal combustion engine to get the extra distance needed outside of cities and towns.
jtmorri
Are people exploited in poorer countries to dig up the minerals needed?
What is the life of an electric car?
Is it too expensive to replace the battery when the old one dies?
What happens to the electric car battery at the end of its life?
Are we creating another pollution problem of cars and lithium batteries to solve in the future?
Robie
The main thing that will stop me buying the car is price. Until it is below $20,000 i will not afford the car. Charging stations will have to more accessible everywhere in Australia. Batteries will not last forever, they will have to be disposed of - but where? What will power the charging stations? The existing power network.
Koringanal
We live in a very big country and the distances between home and town or City can be well over 150 Kilometres or more. In the Cities many people travel over 80 Kilometres just to get to work then, of course the have to go home. At the moment there are insufficient Charging stations in Cities and towns to provide certainty of charge to get you to or from your destination. The cars are not good enough for what some people call short trips, ie Mansfield, Vic to Melbourne or even Albury. People need vehicles capable of carrying a load of children and the groceries from A to B and to be able to do the other tasks all eithout recharging the vehicle, like taking the children to school, picking them up then onto the various activities around town to where, generally there are no recharging points. A problem that has cropped up in the USA and Europe has been a lack of power supplies due to winter snow falls, break down in the electricity supply stations and even war. Currently, in Victoria, our Government cannot guarantee power supply for the comming summer. In the USA, in some states due to drought people have ben asked not to charge their in the afternoon busy times because of the lack of supply. Another matter is the disposal of used batteries etc when they reach the end of their useable life. Not only that, but there are parts of Australia that do not have a reliable power supply, and in some cases no power at all. The need for people to travel long distances, just to get to work or go shopping, attend Doctor, Hospitals and schools needs to be considered. As I said earlier Australia is a Big Country and we should not be looking to the USA and Europe for solutions to our problems. There is no chance of myself buying and electric vehicle as distances, lack of refueling points and carrying spare carged batteries would seem impractical and not very cost effective and the price would need to come down a long way, too. I think that if we go "all electric" our tourist industry, among other shall suffer.
Zanyt
I want to know where is all the electricity coming from to charge these cars and in the summer we have power black outs as we do not have enough power to supply everyone. So what would happen if we had more electric cars. So until we have the infrastructure we cannot have more people taking up the offer of electric cars. So if the Government mandate that we are to buy electric cars they are going to have to guarantee that we have the electricity to charge them and not impact all the other uses of electricity like for homes, businesses etc.
musicmum
Electric cannot be greener until the electricity comes from green energy. There is problems with infrastructure that needs to be fixed first. I cannot afford a new car anyway so maybe further down the track I can buy a second hand hybrid. But need to look at the costs first. They will eventually make petrol for cars so expensive we will have no choice, petrol will be kept for the rich for their private jets while they go around the world telling others to get green. But I must say, I do look forward to not breathing in toxic fumes from cars and trucks, they are so bad for our health.
Bazz
... responding to " ...petrol will be kept for the rich for their private jets...". Again, jets don't run on petrol... google it.
Bazz
Yes, when you point out a blatantly obvious issue with someone's post, then they look up what they've written and find out they're wrong and I'm right, then delete/edit their original post so my comment appears to make no sense. Happens all the time in forums all over the world. Not helpful in showing up those who ignorantly post wrong information. Everyone thinks they're a scientist. Everyone thinks "the science is settled". If that's ever the case, then it's not science!
cjc1959au
Huh??
Bazz
Jets don't run on petrol.
hools
Electric Cars ? Environmentally Friendly? Sorry every part of theses cars is coming from a mined resource the batteries do not have a miracle way of powering up the engine. Oh and not the excessive costs of owning one you're kind of expected to buy a new one in 7 to yen years. There is better tech coming out but reality check is need in Australia, why aren't scientists with substantial proof on debugging global warming are never listened to or made into a highly publicised event. Those that blindly follow the global warming falsely are simply falling into a trap
musicmum
But so is petrol driven cars.
squeekums
I don't drive but hubby isn't a fan
Too expensive
Won't tow our boat
Won't go bush
Our current 4x4 was 70k, has all the extras, tows the boat and can go bush
If we went electric, we would have to import from states and base model is over100k.
No thanks
squeekums
Yeah ive seen that but at over 100k on road for a base model, its not viable
People will stick 2nd hand diesel when push comes to shove
musicmum
New models coming out soon will be able to tow, just have to wait. Eventually we won't have the choice.
Chezweb
I feel that electric cars are to expensive at the moment, there isn't enough power stations around , so you can't go on long trips. The may concern is what do you do with the batteries once they can't be used anymore. The need to find a way that is more environmentally sustainable before we would consider an electric car.
bluemeanie23
Yep I'm buying a tesla
pebbles
Y partner and I have never owned. A car we both rode bikes. At one time or another. Then we moved to a large city. That had good public transport we always said we wouldn't own a fossil fuelled vehicle. We would only purchase a electric or. Hydrogen. That was back in the 70s. Little did we realise it would take this long. I remember a man in the 70 developed a hydrogen powered car.
And people laughed at him. And the technology disappeared completely the fossil fuel industry has had a strong control in. Development. That makes them. Redundant I would love to be able to have an electric vehicle but I cannot afford
Any vehicle. As I have a disability so cannot work. To service finance to. Purchase one no one wants to give me a job I'm deaf. Not stupid. People don't get it.