This is Two Blokes talking electric cars with Steven Fenwick and Trevor Long, thanks to NRMA Insurance and UNIDEN.
That's it, folks. Thanks to the great people at NRMA Insurance, helping Australians protect what matters most for 100 years, and they're also one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles.
If you want to hear some of the stats and figures about where the EV market's at, we've spoken to their CEO a couple of times and other people from NRMA Insurance in this show, so go back and binge those episodes.
And of course, thanks to UNIDEN smart dash cams. They will hook you up with a great front and rear dash cam if you need it, or just front whatever you need.
There's even one if you're doing Ubers. You can get one that does like an internal camera as well. You can get anything you want from a great UNIDEN smart dash cam.
So look those up no matter what car you've got to give you a bit of peace of mind out there on the road.
Steven, great to be with you. We've got a couple of calls coming up and we're going to talk to someone from the original electric vehicle.
Yes.
No, not the OG EV or something, but I'm telling you, this will resonate with people of our age. It's like a flashback from the world solar challenge.
I reckon, again, people of our age absolutely can picture what the world solar challenge is because it always gets good TV.
There's an aerodynamic car in the middle of nowhere and solar panels everywhere.
So our great mates at UNIDEN have backed one of the teams. So we're going to talk to one of the students from the Australian National University's World Solar Challenge team shortly.
But first, Steven, we have been driving some electric cars lately. We've got to catch up on all those.
Yes, we do.
We spoke about the leap motor and we found the button in the end.
Thanks Trevor.
Thanks Trevor. Trevor even did a little social media post about that for my point of view.
Here's the button here, mate.
And then I smashed the car on social media.
And I said it was the world's best hidden button in automotive history.
It's just not a fan.
And look, I will say one thing. I bagged it heavily because of the tap and go key on the thing.
Yes.
And then I had a lot of people in the comments in my video, which was very negative.
Because I didn't like the car. I'm being honest.
Say, there's an app. That's great. But they didn't tell us that.
Yeah.
And so many times.
Oh, so you could use like a Tesla. You can open it with an app.
Apparently. I don't know.
Right.
But so many times. And look, we're driving these cars for a week.
Each.
We normally don't have them app connected and all that stuff.
And if, honestly, if they want to have that real experience, they need to share that stuff with us.
I should have told us.
Knowledge is power, mate.
That would help.
Anyway, so we have been driving the Kia EV3.
Yes.
So.
And you've been an EV, a Kia man.
Kia has the Niro.
They have the EV6, which those two have been out for a while.
The EV6 is the kind of sporty stylish kind of sportback hatchback.
Bigger, bigger than hatchback.
And then the key EV9 came out, which I own.
The EV5 sits in the middle and the EV3 is their kind of smallest entry level electric vehicle.
$48,990 on the road entry price.
Which is pretty reasonable.
For the air standard range.
The air long range will cost you $56 and a half.
Yep.
And it goes right up to the GT line $68,490.
Which is what we were driving.
We were driving the GT.
Yes.
Which had all the bells and whistles.
Correct.
All the features.
And the long range I understand is just over $600,000.
Yes.
So okay.
The air standard range should get you $436,000.
The air long range should get you $604,000.
The earth long range should get you $563,000 as should the GT line.
Now I drove this two young.
Yep.
So I did $1,000 in it on the highways.
The highway rain, highway consumption wasn't amazing I'll be honest.
It freaked me out a little bit but it wasn't.
Like I'm just saying to my normal driving habits.
Yeah.
But it was a beautiful drive in the country roads and everywhere I went.
So you asked me before we started recording how is it different to an EV9 other than
the other size thing.
Yeah.
It is the same infotainment systems.
Very similar wheel and controls and all that.
Same software.
Yeah.
Same software.
All those things.
Interestingly, you know I talk a lot about turning off the annoying beeps and the press
the mute button.
I did that every time I got in the car.
It's a different message that comes up.
It actually just comes up saying speed sign turned off and then in mine it's a bit different.
Speed limit warning turned off.
I think there might be a couple of other, so there's other things that it turns off
in the EV9.
Okay.
I didn't, you know I think that there's some limitations to things you know like
the seat controls and stuff like that.
But it's a small car.
Let's be real.
You know what?
Small car.
I let my wife drive this too.
Like she's got a Kia Sportage at the moment.
And I said to her, this is the smallest in the range.
And she's surprised.
She said, wow, that's still big.
She considered it's still a big car.
Absolutely surprises me.
Yeah.
Because I think it's used to her Sportage.
It is bigger than her car.
Yeah.
But of the other EVs on the road, the size.
I said to her straight out, I said, look, if you want to stick with EV, I reckon
this is your next car.
If you want to stick with a Kia.
If you want to stick with a Kia.
Yeah.
So she drove it and loved the drive.
It was great and really nicely appointed too.
The seat slides are sliding forward.
It's got this huge center armrest thing going on, which is fine.
It slides out.
I don't know why you would.
But the cup holders are all the way down on the floor, basically.
Yeah.
Not a good design.
Yeah.
It's a weird thing, but I didn't love that at all.
See, it's funny how EVs differently, they use that space differently.
You know, without the drive shaft of a normal car, right?
Yes.
So they've got all this space in the middle of the car.
My car has like a secondary storage area while above it is the cup holders
and all the other stuff.
Yeah.
If you like having that sort of, you don't want to feel too claustrophobic.
I think some car manufacturers love offering that space.
There's a QR code in it.
I think Jackson scanned it at one point.
It's got very environmentally conscious materials used throughout it,
like a 90% or something like that.
Look, for the size of the car, it is still pricey.
I know we said it's under 50 gram, which is awesome.
Yeah.
But for the size of the car, it probably should be closer to 40.
What's it compete against?
Is it a C-Line 7?
Oh, no, it's smaller than a C-Line 7.
It's probably more your MG4.
All right, that's small.
Well, yeah, I think so.
It seems bigger than that to me.
No, I think...
Would it be up against like a Zcar X or an X-Ping?
Possibly the Zcar X is bigger than it.
Yeah.
Slightly.
Wow.
How about the D-Pals?
That sort of size.
No, D-Pals way bigger.
So you're saying that this is a small SUV,
but those other cars I mentioned are more mid-sized.
Would be more EV5-competed as I think.
I don't think you're going to come from a RAV4 to this.
Right.
I think a RAV4 owner is going to find this
to be a little bit small in luggage and stuff like that.
It's probably in fit where you sit.
It's probably perfectly fine.
Yeah, I'm a big guy.
I sat comfortably in this car.
Yeah.
Look, I would buy it in a heartbeat
if we needed a small electric car.
Yeah.
Just in a heartbeat.
Nice.
I do think and we haven't said this for a long time.
If you're in the market for something like a Kia, hit us up.
We've got a contact.
We can get you amazing pricing.
Good deals, yeah.
We've saved people thousands of dollars on their cars.
So don't hesitate to ask.
We're not making money off it.
We're not charging you for the service.
We just want to connect you with a good price.
Once I discover that you can get better prices on cars,
I just realize people should be offered that.
Absolutely, yeah.
If you're in the market for a new car, hit me up.
Hit us up on the text, 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
We'll connect you to Aaron our man
and he'll simply give you a quote.
He actually contacted me when he knew we had the car.
He contacted me and he mentioned.
He goes, mate, if the missus is interesting,
do you talk to me?
And here's the thing.
I reckon 50% of the people I've sent to him
have not bought cars from me.
Because they've been interstate
and they've chosen a different thing, whatever.
You've got no obligation whatsoever.
But at $48,500, I'd prefer you saved a bit of that
than spent it all.
So if you're looking to just trim the fat a little bit.
But I think this, I genuinely think,
and I think I said this in my video,
I think I did a video on this.
Anyway, I think Kia has positioned themselves
as the leader in the market for range.
Ranges.
You mean the range of number of cars.
The range of vehicles, right?
Yes, yes.
They've got something for everyone.
BYD's got the Dolphin, the Addo3,
the C-Line, 6 and 7 and the Shark.
That's a pretty good range of electrified vehicles.
And you could probably say that that's huge.
But I would say Kia beats them
because they have a better reputation.
Just in the overall market.
I know we've spoken a little bit
around a bit longer.
How good BYD's reputation currently is
and I think it's deserved.
But I think a lot of people go,
I think I prefer a Kia.
There's just a dealership,
there's more dealerships around and stuff like that.
But in terms of the other established brands,
so forget all the new entrants
and Chinese brands and stuff like that.
In terms of established brands,
I don't think you can peg Kia for...
They were actually, I think,
in a leading position
because I think they took the initiative
of getting into that market
and establishing themselves as an EV company.
And just on the driving of the car itself,
I love the fact that it's,
they're not trying to be too clever
for their own good.
All the controls are at your fingertips.
There's a fob as you would have
with a normal car.
The change in the gears like D is forward,
reversing your twists and backwards.
Because their conditioning controls
are easy to use.
The big on button right there.
Everything's with an easy reach.
Really easy.
Like my wife sat in the car
and she knew exactly what to do with that,
but you haven't to say anything.
I've got to say,
there's something to be said for that.
I know that when you buy a car,
you learn it.
I get that.
But I don't think you should need
to learn the basics.
I think you should learn the intricacies of a car.
Well, I think that's what maybe would
intimidate some people thinking,
oh, I've got to relearn all this stuff
and they think it's going to be complicated.
I'll give you one other endorsement
of the car I noticed today.
Joel Gibson, who's a money man,
he's, you know,
he'll be gone saving money on bills and stuff.
I see him every couple of days
at the Today Show in Channel 9.
And he drove this
and he won't let me say this,
clapped up old Hyundai.
Like it looked like
they'd got the last minute out of that car, right?
Yeah.
And he told me months ago,
a long time ago,
they were in the market.
I turned it today, EV3.
Wow, he bought one.
It didn't hit me up.
I could have got your savings.
Joel, what did you do?
But the fact that it's someone
who's like meticulous to the point
where they would have got quotes,
they would have done,
they would have driven them all.
They were like,
well, he's a money man.
They went to that trouble
and went, this is the car.
I thought that was a really good endorsement
of the car.
And I'm starting to see him around a bit too,
which is another good endorsement.
So I think from us,
it's a big rubber stamp.
Yeah, big thumbs up.
Yeah, I love the car.
And as I said,
would still consider,
you know, if Joe's in the interest of it,
I'd be steering it towards the car.
Would you buy an EV3?
That's the question.
If you own an EV3,
we'd love to hear from you.
0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
Hit us up.
We'd love to talk to you
about your experience with the car,
your experience with buying the car.
The little things you love,
the things you hate,
the things you may be on the fence with.
But let us know
all those things.
That's what we love to hear from people
who buy electric cars.
So 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
That's who I saw in electric cars.
We'd love to hear from you.
0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
Send us a text.
We'll get you on the show
to talk electric cars
at some point in the future.
But the ultimate electric car,
and Stephen,
I remember watching this on,
I don't know,
wide world of sports as a kid.
Do you know what I mean?
This would come up all the time.
And as soon as we tell you
what we're about to talk about,
people of our age
will totally be able to visualize this.
The world solar challenge.
It happens in the Australian outback
and there's these little cars,
sleek looking things.
They're aerodynamic.
It's all student led,
as I understand.
It's an unbelievable challenge.
And so we've got on the line
a student from
Australian National University
called Cameron Wallace.
He's the business lead
for his team.
And he's going to explain to us
what they're doing
and what the world solar challenge is
because they've been backed
by UniDen
and UniDen are great supporters
of this show.
Cameron, g'day.
Hello, hello.
How are we going?
Mate, really, really good.
Great to have you on the show.
Rewind for us a little bit here.
What are you studying at Uni
that makes you
get involved with the solar challenge?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm studying a bachelor
of commerce and computing.
So yeah, utilizing my commerce
degree is kind of how I got
into being the business lead
and being on the business side
of the team.
And I guess one of the great things
about the team is that,
you know, people with any degrees
can be a part of the team.
It's one thing to build the car,
but you need to get,
you know, a group of 30 students
across the outback
and you also need
to fund the project somehow.
So all the degrees come in handy
and everyone kind of combines under one
identity to build this car
and make it happen.
So we understand that the challenge
is a 3,022 kilometer
endurance race.
So you're going from Darwin
to Adelaide through,
right through the guts
of the Australian outback.
Plenty of sun out there.
So that's the,
that's the challenge part of it,
I guess.
So how's it going so far?
Have you,
what stage are you at?
Yeah, so at the moment where,
so the race actually starts
on the 24th of August.
Right now I'm calling in from
Tennant Creek.
So pretty much smack bang in the
middle of the NT.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We just finished a week of testing
in Cougar Petey.
And now we're on our drive
up to Darwin,
where we'll be situated in Darwin
testing at Hidden Valley
Raceway for the next two and a half
weeks.
So we arrive on the,
on the ninth and then we'll
be testing and preparing
for this challenge.
Now this may be a little outside
your wheelhouse as the business
league, because I'm assuming
you're the bike that rang Brad
from Unity today.
Bro, can we get some money?
We need some cash bro.
That's your job here,
but there's obviously a bunch of
people that build the car as well.
And these are essentially
the OG electric car
because it's not solar powering
a petrol tank.
It's solar powering electric
motors.
These are,
these are EVs
in the outback.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Definitely.
You know,
it's a really nice future to have
solar cars on the roof
and never having to fill up.
But I mean,
in essence,
we do kind of have our own
solar cars at the moment.
If you have,
you know,
solar on your roof at home
powering a battery,
then,
and that's going straight into your
AV, then essentially you have
your own little solar car.
So that's,
yeah,
that's what I always like to
people often ask how far off
is this future?
And,
you know,
I really think that this
future is kind of already here
just in a bit of a different
form,
but it would be nice to see more
solar panels on cars,
even powering things like
your auxiliary battery,
because,
you know,
if you had a solar panel on your
roof,
then technically you probably
should never get a flat
battery.
And that would be a nice world.
I think as business leader,
I need to tip you into a
Genesis,
mate,
you should hit them up
because there is a Genesis
with solar panels on the roof.
It does,
you know,
like it's not charging the
battery,
you know,
for your next trip,
but there's just a little bit
of trickle there.
I think it's for that,
that moment of saying,
oh, I've got a bit of solar power
here as well.
So maybe,
maybe get them on board,
mate,
and see where you can push them
next.
But that's the challenge,
right,
is trying to articulate what
this means for the students.
How many students are involved
in the challenge?
So there's about 35 in our
team.
And the challenge itself
attracts
around 40 teams
that are competing this year
and around 30 different
countries.
So it's truly like the world
cup of solar,
solar racing,
I suppose.
And I guess,
I guess like, you know,
we're lucky that it's here
in Australia.
So many teams
have to ship their car,
air freight their car
all the way over to Australia.
And we kind of just drive it
through the outback.
So a bit more lucky in that
sense, I suppose.
But it's a bit,
isn't it a bit like Formula
1?
You're sort of,
you're building your own car
to compete against other cars.
Is that,
like describe the car,
describe the process.
Yeah,
yeah,
it's pretty much very similar
to Formula 1
in the sense that we get
a set of regulations.
And it's kind of like,
how much can you interpret
those regulations
and how much can you bend
the rules of those regulations.
So there's a couple of things
that are specifically
defined and set out such as
like our battery size,
the amount of the actual
size of the vehicle
that it can be as a maximum.
And then also our
solar array size.
And then kind of the rest
is up to your own
interpretation.
So you get
a lot of these different
funky designs
and things like that.
And yeah,
I mean, we've had two
members of our team
go into F1 teams
and people in our team
at the moment are trying
to apply for F1 teams
and hopefully get into that.
But I mean,
similar to an F1 car,
like our whole car
is built out of carbon fibre.
And that's something
that we did ourselves this year.
So we,
you know,
got all the panels of
carbon fibre,
laid them up,
like in a particular way
and to a specific
laminate schedule.
And fully did that ourselves
in-house,
which was, you know,
a massive step
and a milestone
for the team to achieve this year.
But yeah,
it's very,
you know,
the engineering and the
designs that you see
is really cool.
Our car itself
is a,
what's called
an asymmetric
catamaran.
So it has two wheels,
it has three wheels,
but it's asymmetric.
So the steering system
that put in
a little bit of complications,
because you're trying to steer
the front two wheels,
but they're offset.
And that's all things
that we kind of had to design around.
But we found that having this
kind of asymmetric design
and three wheels
means that you get less
rolling resistance,
but it also cuts through the air
a lot better
than a typical catamaran.
So it's a really cool
and funky looking shape
and it's very low to the ground.
But it's,
it's all meticulously planned
out and people spend hours
on the CFD and the car,
just like making this car
and then make it come to reality,
which is awesome.
Cam, I understand the car
can hit speeds up to
130 kilometers an hour.
Wow.
Are you worried about getting
fined by the coppers out there,
mate?
What's the story?
Well, I mean,
I mean, fortunately in the NT,
you can go up to 138
hours.
So we're not too concerned
about that.
Yeah.
And a lot of our testing
happens at private tracks
or private airstrips as well.
That's a great place
to just put the car,
like put pedal to metal.
It's not insanely fast
at accelerating,
but once it gets up to that speed,
it can just hold it
and it sits insanely stable.
And you kind of a unique feature
about our car is that it's actually designed
to,
the solar ray is actually on a
three degree tilt
and it's kind of designed
to have a bit of a sailing effect
in a crosswind.
So if wind's going across the car,
it can kind of sail,
which is really cool.
So, yeah,
the work that goes into
the car is truly,
it's pretty amazing me just sitting here
watching these guys.
How many people actually
in the car?
So there's just one person?
Just one person.
Is it a one driver?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just one person in the cockpit.
I'm tipping it's the lightest person
on your team as well.
Is it a truck-sized person
in your crew, mate?
Or how does it work?
Yeah.
Yeah, pretty much.
It's like, the smaller you are, the better.
They do get ballasted up to 80K,
but, you know,
the actual cockpit itself is very small
to fit in between the roll hoop
and the steering wheel.
That rule is true.
We're out.
We're out, mate.
Mate, you're obviously
as business lead,
you're in charge of,
you know,
making this work
for them,
you know,
not costing the uni too much at all,
probably anything,
but, you know,
you've snagged some pretty solid sponsors.
And by the way,
forget Genesis,
you've got GWM on board,
mate.
I just looked at the front of the car,
so shout out to them
for supporting you as well.
Yeah.
You know, is that a fun thing
that you get to do
that really drives you
into your future career?
What do you want to do
for a job after all this?
Oh, honestly,
I would love to do
something similar in F1.
That's a massive goal of mine.
You know, trying to get
sponsors or partners in F1.
But, yeah,
it's really awesome
trying to sell the car
to these companies
and trying to get them
to understand,
you know,
what our mission is,
what our values are
and how we might align.
And, you know,
at the end of the day,
we're trying to prove
that we're not just a group
of students
who are just, like,
mucking about,
you know,
we're a proper racing team,
I suppose.
And, yeah,
all the support we get
is, you know,
very, very grateful.
And, yeah,
Uniden was one
of our new supporters this year
who gave us all
CV radios
so that we could
communicate
throughout a whole fleet.
Pretty cool.
It's been a massive game changer.
Mate, it's a great thing.
We hope you turn
into the McLaren
or the World Solar Challenge, mate.
And also,
you know,
Brad will be absolutely packing it now.
He'll be listening to this,
thinking,
if this kid gets into Formula One,
he's going to want big bucks.
He's going to want a lot more money.
That little logo
on the side of the
Formula One car
ain't radios, Brad.
It costs a bit more, yeah.
Yeah.
You're going to need
to step up some more cash
with Cameron.
I want to hear from you.
If you get into Formula One, buddy,
I want to hear from you.
That would be nice.
Well, congratulations
on getting it together
to this point, mate.
And, you know,
turning it into something
that's working for the team.
Yeah.
Tell the whole team,
make good luck.
And good luck to August 24.
Yeah.
And you smash those imports
and show them
what the Aussies can do.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
Really appreciate it.
I'll pass on the message
to the team.
Yeah, good on you, mate.
Awesome.
Enjoy your trip
and your travels
because it's a long way to go.
Drive safe, mate.
Drive safe, of course.
And I'm from the Australian
National University of
South-West Scotland.
What an adventure.
You see the outback
hoon it up to 130Ks an hour,
powered by the sun.
And how good is that?
It's such a cool thing.
I mean, I didn't go to uni,
but, you know,
even at school,
they have an F1s in school
things which is very similar
to have someone that sells
sponsorship and the people
that design the team
and everything.
These are great
learning for the real world.
It's amazing.
Calling Brad Hales is like,
mate, you know,
he's a scary man.
He's in control
of a very big business.
He's a lovely guy, Brad.
He's a good guy, Brad.
But on the line,
smart support from Uniden.
Not only, you know,
they've got their logo there,
but they're providing them
with the CB radio.
They're people of standing touch.
My son did his trip
around Australia,
mate, he had Uniden
give it all over his car.
They're a step ahead
of all the other teams
because they've got
great communication.
Absolutely.
You can't just bring
any old two-way radio
into Australia.
That's right.
That's right.
Well, that's awesome.
Well done to Uniden
for supporting them
and we'll keep an eye on them.
We'll update you in a month
or so to see how they went
in the challenge.
Two-Bike Storing Electric Cars.
Great to have you company
and if you've got stories
like that one
that you want to hear about,
the ultimate OG electric car.
Because that's what it is.
It is.
It is absolutely that.
I noticed there's another logo.
One of the photos
had Blue Eddy on it.
That's like a battery company.
Yes.
Like a portable
electrics pouch,
a little electric charger.
So you've got to put a battery
and you don't want
to have to proprietary
make a battery.
You might as well
get one sorted.
Absolutely.
Great to have you company folks
and more coming up here
on Two-Bike Storing Electric Cars.
Why are we leaning from side to side?
Just the music took hold.
Trying to get the crowd
going with you.
The music took hold.
You're trying to get
the whole stadium here
moving in unison with you.
That's right.
In one with Steven.
That's right.
That's lovely.
In one with us here
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We'd love to have you
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Thanks to Vodafone.
Send us a text.
Send us a WhatsApp.
We'd love to have you on the show.
Talking about your experience
with electric cars.
Steven, it doesn't matter
whether you love them
or are you not a big fan?
I want to hear from...
I think the education
that people get from the show
is from your experiences
and people are on the edge
of they're just about to buy.
They're not quite sure.
Information that they hear
on this show
is what tips them
into buying and leaving.
Yeah.
If you might already have one,
we want to hear about
your experience as well
because that's valuable information
as well.
You might be very early
in the journey.
Yeah.
You might have been binging
as you got into the journey.
It doesn't stop after you own
because then you learn something
about the ownership experience.
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It's a rollercoaster, folks,
being an electric vehicle owner.
But anyway,
we'd love to hear from you.
So, 0447657657.
Grace is on the line.
G'day.
Grace.
Hello.
Grace, good to be with you.
What's your electric vehicle
experience?
Are you in the ownership world now?
Yes.
We have been about two months
and we got a BYD ATO 3.
Yeah.
We did try as well
the Cherry Omoda 5
when we were looking.
I think not many people
talk about it,
but it's actually Cherry 5.
Cherry was nice.
It was nice.
Okay.
It was just that
it was very European-centric.
Oh.
So, we are fine.
So, you mean
that the indicator was
on the other side?
Is that what you mean?
Yeah.
Yes.
The indicators were on the other side.
And I,
it's not too bad for me
because my mom has a Mercedes.
So, I've driven her a few times.
So, I think I can get used to it.
But I think my husband
finds it difficult.
Maybe.
Just a bit confusing.
And I think
the drive and the reverse
and all that
is on where you think
an indicator is
if you've been driving
a Japanese car.
Not uncommon
in a lot of vehicles
these days, Steven.
And think about
the Mercedes.
Yeah.
The
gear stock is there.
So, it's not an unfamiliar thing,
but I guess that's
a really important thing to know
if you're about
to buy a new car.
So, did you
test drive the Atto 3
before you
put the money down?
Yes, we did.
We test drove
the Atto 3
and the Dolphin.
I really like the Dolphin,
but it was a bit small.
Okay.
Because, yeah,
a bit small for my husband.
Like, he's quite tall.
But, you know,
I thought the Dolphin
was very cute
and very...
Yeah.
If you think, oh,
I may be not the right choice,
but so...
I'd like to see Steven
get the Dolphin action.
I'll believe in the sea.
I haven't driven the Dolphin
a bit.
Have we driven the Dolphin?
No, we haven't.
We haven't yet.
No.
So, this is your car
or your husband's car?
Is it the car
for both of you?
Both of us,
because we
still have
the rest for.
It's just the petrol version.
Yep.
But then
if we're trying
to maximize
the efficiency,
then we
thought we should drive
the Atom 3
more often.
So, you know,
we'll just...
Yeah.
Because we got it as well
on Nouvelle at least
because the FBT
is exempted.
Yes.
So, that made
that decision
easier,
because initially
we were thinking
of getting a Toyota hybrid.
But then,
but then we just
missed out on the
FBT cut-off
day
because the FBT
for the hybrid ran out
before
the EV one.
So, we were like,
okay, well,
that's out of the...
that's pushed the figures
out of the windows then.
Yeah.
Has the ownership experience
been a tough one
for you in the early stages
or do you feel like
you learnt enough beforehand
to know everything
you needed to know?
Like, what's it been like
getting used to
owning electric cars?
Electric cars.
So good.
Why did I
not start earlier?
Ah.
I mean,
yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean,
but the thing is
we didn't need
a second car
at the time
but we needed one
now.
So then we thought,
okay, we could try
an EV
because a friend said to us,
oh, you may as well
try an EV.
If you're going to get a hybrid,
you know, try an EV.
Go and just drive it.
So we thought, okay,
and my brother
has an Etto 3
already for two years.
Okay.
And he just,
yeah,
just sang the praises
about the car
and I was so curious
because I sat in it
with him driving it.
Yeah, with a mouth.
That's right.
And how was your...
So we hear
a lot of different stories
about dealer experiences
when you don't go
for the test drive
and the delivery.
How was that whole
process for you?
10 out of 10 for me.
I cannot say enough
about BYD Cannington.
So that's the
dealership we bought it from.
Yep.
And our guy
was very...
when we started,
when we went to test drive,
they only owned
a little section of the kayak,
like a little
tiny showroom.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's like they're renting
off Nissan or something.
And then a few weeks later,
they took over Nissan.
They took over the entire
space.
It's now full of
BYD.
Yeah, they've expanded.
That's why you drive
and go, wow.
They're in demand.
Yeah, they're in demand now.
And that's the story
nationally.
You know, the BYD
had these little corners
of dealerships.
And now,
it'll probably grow even
more because of the way
they've switched now
the Chinese ownership.
The management is,
it's just going to be different.
It's really growing that way.
So any,
what's your charging experience like?
How have you managed that
at home?
Are you charging just through
the trickle charger
from an all-power point
that came with it?
For now, yes.
But at work,
I've just found out
that it's free for us at work.
So we can book a space
for four hours at a time.
So I have to now go and buy
a Type 2 cable,
which I've already narrowed down,
which would be suitable
for this car,
for the charger at work,
from just from Bunnings.
Lesson $300, so like, yeah.
So we'll also need it
for public charging outside,
which we have not
needed to use actually.
I've downloaded the apps,
you know,
I've done all that,
like you guys suggested.
I've got EV,
I've got ChargeFox,
and then begin RAC member
to get 20% discount
on ChargeFox's chargers as well.
I've got all that,
but I haven't used it.
Getting the charger,
the laser charger from...
The charging cable.
Is that what the brand
they're using?
Laser charge core at Harvey Norman?
It's not like a,
what do you call that cable?
The old telephone cable.
My God, what's it called?
Twisty, but anyway.
And so it actually compacts back up.
It looks,
it's kind of weird
to stretch out at the public charger,
but it's an obstruction,
but it's another option
for you.
It comes in its own little zip-up case.
See good mates of ours.
I've got one of those in the boots
of the Cooper.
Any regrets at this stage
on the BYD Addo3?
It sounds like you're a massive fan.
Yeah, really good.
And I feel like
because it's more efficient,
I'm getting to places faster
and less stressed out.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Is it because...
Yeah, because it's quite...
I don't know.
Is it because I used to have...
I don't know
if it's because
I had a manual car before.
And you know,
it's just a very basic car.
Yeah.
But now it's like
all the safety indicators
on there.
It's so...
Yeah.
And so...
It's so efficient.
What sort of driving do you do?
Do you drive a regular commute?
Do you drive...
Do you like to go on longer drives?
Do you go away?
How is it suiting your lifestyle?
We are just driving
in suburban areas at the moment.
So just going to work,
going to extracurricular activities.
We haven't driven it out yet.
Like, you know, to regional areas.
We will try one day.
But I just...
I might...
I've heard that the fast charging
is a bit slow on the...
Is that...
I don't understand the...
I don't...
I'll quickly look it up.
But you know,
some cars have a limit
to the amount of charge they can take.
So even though the charger says
it's 300 kilowatts or something,
your car might be limited to 85.
But remember this.
The difference between a 50 kilowatt charger
and what you do at home
is remarkable.
It's a huge difference.
It's a big difference.
But to me,
if I'm going to a public charger,
I'm thinking I want it to be faster than 50.
So it can be a little bit of a kind of...
I guess a weird off-putting thing that you go,
I'm not getting the speed
that I perhaps expected to get.
I'm just looking up a fact sheet
that I refer to regularly
to see if I can see.
DC fast charging up to 70 kilowatts
or 80 kilowatts if you bought the long range.
So basically,
you don't need to look for something that's 200 kilowatts.
If you go to 100 kilowatt charger,
you're only going to get 70 or 80.
But you're still getting...
It's like 10 times faster than what you're getting at home.
Remember that.
Of course.
Yeah.
Yeah, that would be fine.
Yeah.
So great you've had a good experience.
So great that you're loving the car.
We hear so many great things
about the BYDs as we've said.
And I think I'll put back on the radar
now that they've changed management.
We'll put back on the radar
to try and catch up with the team at BYD.
I've got one more question.
Yeah, yeah.
What are the chances that the RAV4 gets replaced
with the Nevae 2?
Oh, my God.
You know what?
I'm thinking, oh, my God, it's so good.
I want to get another one.
There you go.
I'm like...
Maybe you get yourself the Dolphin.
Get the Dolphin for you
and your husband who gets the other one.
The Dolphin is so cute.
Oh, my goodness.
Here's us doing business for BYD for you.
See, I was told when we took ownership of the car,
the guy showed us everything,
explained how it works,
you know, what button does what and everything.
And he told us to give him a good review.
But we were going to give him a good review anyway.
He was so lovely.
And he said that they're not allowed to go under 9,
like 9 out of 10.
Oh, they pushed them.
So management, yes.
Management makes them responsible
for good service.
Oh, there you go.
Because I love...
Yeah.
And I was bullied to sign the papers.
Yeah, so you had a bad experience before, yeah.
I just really made...
Yeah, I really put me off and this wasn't.
Oh, well, that's good.
Well, you know what?
That counts, that pleasant experience.
And listen, you're talking about it right here.
You can tell people about that.
Exactly.
So...
And you found out about BYD.
Is it from your brother had a BYD as well?
So word of mouth.
Word of mouth.
Great service worked.
It's a win for everyone, Grace.
So thank you so much for getting in touch.
Lovely to speak to you.
Great to talk to you.
Thank you, bye.
No problem.
Is it all good to talk to you?
Lovely.
That's such a great endorsement of...
Very positive.
Yeah, hey, it's...
Again, you give good service.
You tell people about it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's what we just heard.
I'm glad you asked that last question
because she was just like,
I want another one.
Yeah, of course.
No, because remember,
she had her eye on the BYD dolphin.
I think I reckon that's a little sneaky.
Harvey's going to have the ADO3.
He can have the ADO3.
Yeah.
She'll get the cute little bit.
Sounds like a plan.
Lovely to hear from you
and we'd love to hear from you as well.
If you're in the market for an EV,
if you own an EV,
we'd love to hear from you.
0-4-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
Grab your phone.
Send us your texts.
Say hi, boys.
Lovely to hear from you
and we love that.
And we'll get you on the show.
You could be right beyond here
chatting with us on the show.
You could be talking to Stephen Fanning.
You could be talking to me any more.
Any moment now.
Travel on from the Today Show as well.
Two like story electric cars.
Thanks for joining us this week.
We'll be back again next week.
If Stephen turns up, that's what really matters.
I'll be here, mate.
Without Stephen, I've got nothing.
I'll be here.
I'm just one block.
I'll be here.
Yeah, you need two.
I'll give it a crack, I'll be honest.
It'd be a bit boring, I think, with one person.
See you, mate.
Bye-bye.
About this episode
The episode dives into the Kia EV3, Kia's smallest electric vehicle, with hosts Steven and Trevor sharing their driving experiences and insights on its features, pricing, and market positioning. They discuss the EV3's competition and its appeal as an entry-level EV. The episode also features a conversation with Cameron Wallace from the Australian National University's team participating in the World Solar Challenge, highlighting the innovative solar-powered vehicles and the engineering challenges faced by students. The blend of practical EV discussions and student-led solar racing makes for an engaging listen.
This week Grace calls in, she LOVES her BYD Atto 3 - what makes it great, and how the Dolphin tempted her.
Trev and Steve have driven the KIA EV3 - so what's it like? And is it worth it?
And we talk to a Uni Student working hard on the World Solar Challenge entry backed by our mates at Uniden.
Be part of the show, SMS 0477 657 657 thanks to Vodafone
Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, thanks to Uniden and NRMA Insurance