Electric vehicles in Australia have had a long history, yet they still account for a tiny portion of overall vehicle sales. Now as we look at 2019, the EV lineup available in our country is changing dramatically.
EVs are now more capable with longer ranges and better performance, but importantly the design of EVs are no longer a statement about how hard you hug trees, but rather a reflection of an authentic EV that optimises aerodynamics and range, while still having mass-market appeal.
The final piece of the puzzle in a car buyer’s decision to go electric this year, is of course price. It’s important to remember we have to account for EVs differently than traditional combustion-engine vehicles.
With electric vehicles, you reduce the number of serviceable components, lowering service costs (and usually intervals). The ongoing costs like recharging is also dramatically lower than fueling up a tank. Those savings however are usually paid for up-front, so take around 5 years of those equivalent costs and add them to the purchase price, then we get close to what a similar vehicle would cost.
Like solar panels, once you pay back that initial purchase price, you’re then in the black economically, but while we still don’t know what battery replacement costs look like, we do know batteries are tending to last longer est. 15yr+ rather than the initial 10 the industry indicated.
The final point on the price discussion, you have to remember the purchase price vs the performance you’re getting. In the highest end models, you’re getting a supercar-level of performance for a fraction of the cost. So if the car is faster, safer, smarter and more fun to drive.. what’s that worth to you?
Now here’s the list.
What’s not on the list are the fake EVs that are really hybrids, but escape the hybrid tag through a technicality. When the petrol engine (active most of the time) charges the battery and the battery drives the wheels, that’s not an EV, that’s a hybrid.
Basically this was a stop gap solution to solve the range issues, which in 2019 are really not an issue. While theses systems with smaller batteries can feature a cheaper sticker price, the car is effectively twice as complicated and lacks many of the advantages that fully EV offers.
If I’ve missed any from the list, please leave a comment and I’ll be sure to add them in. What’s your favourite? Are you planning on buying EV this year?
