Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars - The EV Podcast Dec 14, 2025

100 - Annoying safety features in new Electric Cars, finding the balance

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Car

VW ID BUZ

The VW ID BUZ is a small electric car from Volkswagen that can carry people and stuff. It runs on batteries instead of gasoline, so it’s quiet and good for city trips.

Term

ADAS

ADAS are safety features in cars that can help you drive more safely by warning you of hazards, keeping the car in its lane, or even stopping it automatically if needed.

Term

autonomous emergency braking

AEB is a safety tool that can stop your car by itself if it thinks you’re about to hit something. It helps prevent crashes even if you don’t react fast enough.

Term

ADR

ADR is a set of rules that cars in Australia have to follow so they’re safe and clean. Think of it like a checklist every car must pass before it can be sold.

Term

blind spot monitoring

Blind spot monitoring is a safety feature that tells you if there's another car in the lane next to yours, so you can avoid a collision when changing lanes.

Term

lane keep assist

Lane keep assist is like a gentle reminder that keeps your car from drifting out of its lane. If you start to drift, it can warn you or even nudge the steering wheel back into place.

Car

BYD CL6DMI wagon

The BYD CL6DMI wagon is a new electric car from the Chinese company BYD. It has a roomy, truck‑like shape and runs entirely on batteries.

Car

Ford Falcon wagon

The Ford Falcon wagon is a big family car from Australia that could carry more passengers or cargo because it has a long rear door and extra space. It was very common in the 70s and 80s.

Concept

electric car

An electric car runs on electricity from batteries instead of gasoline. It’s quieter, has no exhaust fumes, and can be charged at home or public stations.

Term

grid

The "grid" is the big network that brings electricity into your house. Some electric cars can send power back to this network when they’re plugged in.

Part

battery of the car

A car battery holds electricity that lets the car run. In electric cars it can also give power back to the home or the electricity network when you plug it in.

Term

EV

An EV is a car that runs on electric batteries, so it doesn’t use gasoline and usually has fewer moving parts.

Car

Kia EV5

The Kia EV5 is a small electric SUV made by the Korean automaker Kia. It has a modern look and uses an electric motor instead of gasoline.

Term

petrol hybrid

A petrol hybrid is a car that uses both gasoline and electric power. It can switch between the two or use them together to save fuel.

Term

hybrids

Hybrids are cars that use both gasoline and electricity to move, so they can save fuel and produce less pollution.

Concept

Ute

A Ute is like a small pickup truck that can carry stuff in the back and has seats for people.

Part

fuel pump

The fuel pump is the part that moves gas from your car’s tank to the engine so it can run. Without it, the engine would have no fuel.

Brand

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a car company from Germany that makes many popular cars, like the Golf and the Beetle. They’re now making electric cars too.

Car

Chevrolet Camaro GTX

The Camaro GTX is a special version of the Chevy Camaro that comes with nicer seats, bigger wheels, and extra style touches. It’s a more upscale choice for people who want a sportier look and feel.

Brand

Cooper

Cooper is a small car company from the UK that made lightweight sports cars, especially popular in racing history.

Term

head-up display

A head‑up display shows important car data, like speed or directions, right on the windshield so you don’t have to look down at a dashboard screen.

Term

seven-seater

A seven‑seater car can fit up to seven people, usually with two seats in the front and three rows of seats behind.

Term

extended wheelbase

An extended wheelbase means the car’s front and back wheels are farther apart, giving more room inside for passengers or luggage.

Car

Kia Carnival

The Kia Carnival is a big van that can seat many people, often used by families for road trips or moving around.

Concept

sliding door car

A sliding door car is a vehicle that has doors that move sideways instead of swinging open, which makes it easier to get in and out, especially for big families or people with limited space.

Brand

V-Dub

‘V‑Dub’ is a nickname people use for Volkswagen, the car company from Germany that makes cars like the Beetle and Golf.

Car

ID Buzz

The ID Buzz is a new electric van from Volkswagen that looks like the old VW camper vans but runs on batteries instead of gasoline.

Term

split window

A split window is when the back side windows of a car are cut into two parts instead of one big pane. It gives the car an old‑school, stylish look.

LIVE

This is Two Blokes talking electric cars with Trevor Long and Stephen Fenwick, thanks to NRMA Insurance and Unidan.

Thank you to NRMA Insurance, helping Australians protect what matters most for over 100 years and many more to come.

And they're also one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles.

And of course, Unidan Smart Dashcams, helping keep you with a little bit of peace of mind about what's happening on the road around you,

whether it's an incident that occurs or just something that you want to share.

Something to defer your entertainment.

I mean, let's be honest, we all love a bit of dashcam owners Australia, don't we?

Do we ever, yeah. But makes you get the front and rear cameras too, the Unidan cameras award-winning dashcams for your vehicle.

Always a great way to go. We have a big show for you today and we'd love to hear from you as always.

04777657 is the number you can send a text or a WhatsApp to us.

We'll get those, we'll get you on the show, whether you are long into your EV journey or you're just starting,

or you've literally started thinking, what, electric? Let's talk about it.

Let's see what questions you've got. That's one of the favourite things, isn't it, Steven?

Absolutely, yeah.

Helping people with those early questions.

We have put a lot of people in EVs after they've heard this show, so we're happy to help.

Let's do more of that as we can.

We're also going to talk about this week about the VW ID BUZ,

a much requested car for us to review.

The modern Combi, you might say, Steven.

Yeah, I'll call it more the Scooby-Doo vehicle, but anyway, we'll talk about that.

Yeah, fair enough, fair enough.

But we both had the pleasure of driving the extended wheelbase GTX version of that, expensive,

but an interesting car in many ways.

So a good one to look at, so we'll get to all of that shortly.

So that's coming up on Two Bikes Talking Electric Cars.

But first, we want to talk a bit of research about a very important topic, a very important topic.

And it's one that's kind of gotten to us a little bit over time.

It is the driver safety systems that exist on cars today, for good reason.

But IAG, the NRO Maze parent company, IAG did some research into this.

So I'm pleased to say that Sean Tysers, the head of IAG's Automotive Research Center, joins us on the line.

We've had him on the show before. Sean, good to be with you, mate.

Hi, Trevor. Hi, Steven. Good to be with you as well.

Mate, thank you so much for joining us.

Let's go right back to basics here before we talk about the research that you've done.

ADAS. There's some people listening and others that go, what are you talking about?

What is ADAS?

ADAS ADAS stands for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.

It is the collective name for a whole number of technology systems

that are now found in the majority of new cars that can help you avoid accidents

and can actually help save lives.

So in principle, we're big fans of them because they can help reduce our road toll

and they can also save drivers from those annoying car park accidents as well.

So what sort of systems, warnings, what do they produce ADAS?

What does it cover?

It covers a lot of features.

So I'll just give examples of some of the key ones that people may know or would be most interested in.

The big one is autonomous emergency braking.

This is the feature that will stop your car for you autonomously, automatically

in a case where the driver may not notice that he or she needs to stop.

So it kicks in and its best situation is those classic front and rear end accidents that you see in cities.

I've got no doubt it's preventing a lot of those from happening in Australian cities.

Sure as love as well because those little bingles are a paperwork headache.

They're a headache for the people that have the incidents.

Wiping out those little incidents is a good thing for the roads.

But it's also something that probably a lot of people don't even know they have.

You might have had a beep.

But I guess a lot of us don't realise that after the beep should and may come actual braking

that will prevent the thing from happening, right?

That's right.

And what people will find with these systems, the majority of them have a warning of some sort

and then an assist feature.

So some sort of the car does something for you.

So with that autonomous emergency braking, what you get first is what's called a forward collision warning.

So it'll be a light that flashes in your dash or maybe in your head up display if the car has that.

It'll warn you, you get to be close or you need to hit the brakes.

And that I am sure is saving a lot of collisions, a lot of inconvenience, potentially saving a lot of lives.

It gives you that little warning.

There are those moments when you get distracted as a driver.

There's a passenger talking to you.

There's a kid screaming about something.

There's something on the side of the road that distracts your attention for a minute.

It can really save you.

In extreme situations, majority cars, and it's now mandated for new cars in Australia, they'll put on the brakes.

It's weird though because you kind of think, okay, it beeps and I hit the brakes.

So in reality, the car knows so well how much time it's going to take to brake that it's going to break

and it's going to break very late.

It's probably going to end up very, very close.

In fact, I guess it may even hit, but it's going to be a lot less than what would have occurred if nothing had happened.

Is that the goal of that?

Correct, yeah.

Physics still applies to you.

Yeah, of course.

It may not fully reduce a collision.

A collision may happen, but yes, to your point, it'll reduce the severity of it.

And you said that's mandatory now.

So is that part of essentially the ADR, the design rules that you can't sell a car in Australia without the forward collision assistance or alert?

Correct, yes.

So since March this year, March 2025, all new cars that are on sale in Australia need to have that car-to-car AED fitted autonomous emergency braking.

And then from August next year, 2026, it'll be mandatory for all new cars to have car-to-pedestrian autonomous emergency braking.

So the car will also pick up a pedestrian.

And just imagine the positive impact that can have.

But then there's also the warning when you go over the speed limit, which a lot of people are annoyed by when included.

Then there's also lane keeping.

And lane keep, I've got to say, is some cars are pretty aggressive with the lane keep.

But those are all the things we're talking about when we're talking about ADAS, right?

That's right, exactly.

So lane keep assist, the speed limit information is now driver attention monitoring.

Yeah.

And a lot of cars, there's blind spot monitoring.

They're all very helpful features in principle.

But this is what we're finding.

People are either becoming overconfident in them.

Almost this point of view, my car's so smart, it'll save me.

Or as you guys have pointed out, the features can be annoying.

And that's what we want to understand.

Is it a problem with the system inherently?

And we know not all ADAS is created equally.

But is it also a point of driver education?

And could we at NRMA Insurance play a role in that to help educate people about how this new technology works

and how drivers interact with it?

And is that what comes down to the misconceptions that exist?

Because I'm assuming there's a bunch of misconceptions about ADAS that you as a part of the motoring industry

could potentially help educate people on.

And we're talking about the misconceptions. What are they?

And that's what we want to understand.

So what we're announcing now is a research project that we're doing about why is ADAS not fulfilling its potential

to reduce as many road accidents as it could.

And we think understanding the Australian driver behaviour is a key part of that.

We've partnered with Queensland University of Technology

and also an outfit called iMove, which is a federally government funded research cooperative

that brings together industry players like us with university players like Queensland University of Technology.

And we'll put 60 Australian drivers onto a test track,

so a facility that's a test environment, not a public road, but it mimics Australian roads.

And we want to see how people behave and help understand what are the challenges

and what might we be able to do to help fill that knowledge gap.

So where did the idea come from?

Was there something that prompted the research?

Was there some disturbing figures or accident figures that you guys saw that prompted this research?

I'd say there's two key things.

One is we're not seeing as much a reduction in the frequency of accidents as we expect

given that autonomous emergency braking is so prevalent in cars.

And ADAS features more broadly are starting to roll out in so many affordable new cars.

So it was just not seeing that reduction in collisions on Australian roads.

And the other one that's always so sobering to read is that road toll that's just not going down.

And as I've had 30 years in the car industry, I've watched this technology evolve

and thought, wow, ADAS is going to play such a strong role in saving lives.

Yet here we are with a road toll that's not coming down.

And our question was, could we play a role here in just helping Australian drivers

understand this technology that could save lives?

You've obviously got a lot of research to come, but you've done a bit already.

What have you learned so far from the discussions or surveys

or things you've spoken to people about?

What are your initial findings in terms of consumer sentiment on ADAS?

Our initial finding, we did some research of just over 2,000 Australians

to understand their knowledge and their behaviour at the moment with ADAS.

There were some really insightful things there that we learned.

And a big one was that 60% of drivers openly admit to turning off ADAS in their car.

And it's coming down to that point, you guys, the system's annoying me.

I don't understand what these chimes and bongs and gongs are telling me.

It felt like the steering wheel got yanked out of my hand when I was trying to exit the freeway.

We hear these sort of comments.

And that was something that the survey of over 2,000 people told us.

The other one that was a big one is people are learning about ADAS through trial and error.

So they're learning about it while they're driving their car on a public road.

And 70% of the people we surveyed said, not surprisingly,

they would benefit from more information and some instruction on how to use this.

So people do want to understand this technology.

And so you mentioned that the research showed that some people are turning it off

or trying to turn it down.

Are there any parameters?

I know each car is different.

But are there ways that you can actually tweak it for your own benefit

while still maintaining the essential safety features of ADAS?

There are, yes.

In the majority of cars, you can go into a menu somewhere in the car,

probably on the central screen.

And for example, you can say things like,

I want autonomous emergency braking to kick in early or to kick in late.

You can monitor the speed limit information as well.

And you can often set parameters around that.

You can turn things like rear autonomous emergency braking on or off.

So for example, the rear autonomous emergency braking,

I've got no doubt is saving a lot of car park accidents

where people back into a pole that they just didn't see.

But I hear examples of people that live in a house, for example,

where their car park is surrounded by trees.

And the A-B can kick in because of shrub.

It picks up a shrub, for example.

You might say, it's okay.

I'm happy for the car to touch the shrub.

It's the only way I can park in this spot.

You don't want the thing, you know, slamming on the brakes.

So you can turn that one off.

That personalisation is critical, I think.

And look, it's anecdotal and it's just one bloke

and maybe another here.

But I really think that if we sat down

and educated people, as you say,

that's one of the challenges, educating people on it.

But I also think that there's, and it may be a ruling

and maybe you can tell me this,

or whether it's a fear from the car manufacturers.

But I have a set of rules the way I want it to work.

I want the speed sign to be a notification, not an alert.

Like I want it to see it, but I don't want it to beep.

Rear braking, I want it to be on medium, not high.

You know, I want to be able to set a bunch of settings

and say, it's me. That's how I drive.

One of my cars has a fingerprint sensor to say, it's me.

So I should be able to save that stuff.

But I find, Sean, most of these things,

when you adjust them, have to be adjusted

every time you get in the car.

And I feel like that's the car manufacturers going,

we're just trying to adhere to the law.

But in fact, what we need to do is make it something

people are going to use, not turn off.

Don't we?

Correct. Exactly.

And that's what, it's a challenge here

with probably no simple solution.

And that's why we have a research center.

Let's research these things and try and find a good solution.

I think for me, the overriding thing here

is that ADAS should be like a good coach

that coaches you to be a better driver.

And the problem I think a lot of people are experiencing

is it feels like that annoying school master

that yells at you for the one indiscretion on the plate.

It's a bit of a nag.

But I'm with Trev having to do that every single time

you get behind the wheel is annoying.

You want it to be helpful and not that nag.

And like those features you mentioned are fantastic

and of course you want to use them.

But I think there needs to be a bit of a compromise there.

Yeah, there does.

Do you feel like your research will be able to

feed into regulation here?

Because obviously most of these things are software based.

So there can be tweaks.

I remember Mike here, we've talked about it here.

It was annoying beep on speed alerts.

One kilometer over the limit and I'm getting beeped at.

So they instituted a button where I can just mute that

and turn that setting off in one button click.

You've got to do it every time I drive, but I'm okay with that.

Do you feel like you're able to feed into where regulation occurs?

And is there an appetite for the regulation to be

moving feasts and perhaps more driver focused?

I think in principle there is, yes.

So yes, certainly that would be an outcome of our research

is that it can feed into future regulations.

And I think there is an appetite.

I look at what's happening in Europe, for example.

So the EU mandated four Auton-ADAS features in 2024.

And this is what's causing part of the problem is things like

lane keep assist must default to being turned on

to be able to sell a car in Europe.

Now, carmakers can't keep programming a different setting for Europe

compared to Australia, compared to another market.

It's very complex.

So in some ways the carmakers have been forced almost to say

well it's got a default to one so we can sell with us in many markets.

But there is probably a solution here somehow.

And yeah, we aim for this research to really understand

that driver behaviour.

Not just having rules that tick a box

without acknowledging the human interface.

Is there a bit of a timeline around when you want to achieve that result

and when we'll hear from you again about what you saw

from those 60 people in the real world?

That's a pretty cool set of tests.

Yeah, we'll have our findings published in mid-2026.

So the team's working actively now to get ready for the track research.

They're reviewing a lot of the literature that's available

and information that's on hand right now to prepare for that.

So mid-2026.

And I'll just add in, if I may,

what one other aspect of the project we want to look at

is investigating whether these driver assistance systems

decay in performance over time.

That's something we don't know as well.

And I just wonder, I look at a driver five-year-old car.

Is all the ADAS working as well in 2025?

Is it in 2020?

So we want to look into that as well as possible.

Any classes for your sensors, mate?

It's an interesting question you wouldn't think about as a driver.

It needs to be researched.

Yeah, that's right.

Wouldn't that make it sort of the manufacturer

where they wouldn't be part of maybe the servicing process?

They've got to check that everything's still up to speed.

Yeah, but are they?

Yeah, and that's right.

Exactly. These are the all the questions to ask.

So mid-next year, we'll have a lot of the findings.

Yeah, we'd like to talk to you about it again.

You're doing the Lord's work, I think.

Most people with a brand new car.

It's fascinating because we do drive different cars every week

and sometimes there's nothing to worry about

and other times it's overbearing.

Some leave it to your own devices.

Others can be a little bit over your shoulder.

And that's a brand thing too.

Sean, is there any trend in terms of what you see

in terms of, you don't have to name brands,

but is it obvious that some brands are going over the top

or perhaps just ticking the box

and it's not as fruitful as it perhaps should be?

What we find is that not all AIDAS systems are created at Corkman.

There are variations.

And we look at that through the IAG Research Centre

every week with the new cars we get into assess.

And we talk with the OEMs,

with the car manufacturers about this.

And what I'm really pleased to hear

is a lot of the car manufacturers now saying

we want to do Australian testing on our AIDAS.

We want to locally calibrate it to Australian roads

and recognise there are differences here to Europe or Asia.

So I'm really encouraged that I'm hearing more and more

of the car manufacturers talk about

that local Australian calibration

before they bring a car to market.

Yeah, that's good to hear.

And you're doing a lot of research.

So we look forward to talking to you again

when you've got more to share.

Sean Tysos from IAG's Automative Research Centre

with the NRA mate.

Appreciate your time and look forward to talking again soon.

Thanks Trevor. Thanks Stephen.

Look forward to speaking again soon.

Cheers mate.

All right.

We'd love to hear from you.

04077657657.

Any time send us a text or a WhatsApp

we'll get you on the show and we'll talk EVs.

Ben's on the line today, Ben.

Good day guys.

What can we do for you mate?

You're an EV owner or where are you at?

No, I'm the proud owner of the last of the bit of falcon wagons.

And I'm starting to wonder whether or not

it's my ego that's getting to me.

Or whether I should be looking at an EV

because I've kitted this thing out

with basically everything I need.

It's got an Apple CarPlay for 90 bucks from Kogan.

Yep.

I've got, you know, all sorts of tech in it.

It runs like a dream.

I've had it for 10 years

and because of your seven grand

I reckon it's worth the same now.

So yeah.

So I've been looking at some of these EVs

and there's one I'm particularly interested in

but I don't know if it's available in Australia.

I did read that they saw one of them.

One of them has been seen in the wild apparently.

And it's the BYD CL6DMI wagon.

Yeah, that's an actual wagon.

See, you're a wagon man.

We can tell because you've held on to a Ford falcon wagon

and now you're looking for a wagon mate.

I've seen the car you're talking about.

You're right.

It's available overseas.

I'll be honest with you.

I don't see that coming here.

The sales of wagons in Australia are so low

that even Audi does have a wagon.

There are some BMW wagons.

We're talking such low numbers.

I just don't think it'll happen mate.

I think you've got to either stick with your beast there

or consider going SUV.

As those knees age, perhaps an SUV will be right for you mate.

I don't know.

Would you consider an SUV because I'll be frank with you.

I don't think you're going to see that wagon.

I could be wrong but at this point

I think you've got to know it's an SUV world.

That's a shame.

Look it is what it is.

I'm 6'4".

I wouldn't be getting into any little add-ons or anything like that.

Have you jumped in any?

No, I haven't.

It was only when I saw the wagon that I took some interest in it.

That's what I think interest in EV when you saw the BYD version.

Why are you a wagon fan?

Is it a functional thing?

Are you a part of your work or why do you like the wagon so much?

Every couple of years we do a trip up north with the family and the dog

and it's good to have that room.

The low profile is going to be better on the fuel economy.

The other thing with the electric car I was looking at

was the V2H side of things.

I hear that down in Victoria where I'm at

they might be contemplating now

whether or not people will actually have to charge to throw

excess power back in the grid

if you've got a solar system at home during peak periods.

You mean be charged?

What do you mean by that?

Be charged.

Instead of receiving a tariff from your power company

because the grid can't cope with it,

they actually charge you is what I've heard.

They're going to look at charging you

because right now I only get half a cent or something

so we're basically at neutral.

If the grid, people get more and more solar

and the grid can't deal with it

I don't know how true that is.

I think you're right to question it.

Let's remember when my uncle got solar panels,

he was like, I'm raking it in.

There was like a 60 or 20 or 30 cent feed-in tariff

and now it's like seven cents, five cents, three cents.

It's basically useless to have solar now

in terms of generating power

other than for yourself, right?

So you're right, there is a question

slash concern around what will happen

to people who plug their cars into their home

assuming that their car can then provide to the grid

but the difference I would say is

you've got to see the battery of the car

as a static storage of electricity

which can be drawn upon when needed

and so rather than you're consistently just pumping it out

I think given we have smart meters and smart all that

I think it'll probably end up being the case

where you'll be able to set it.

Like I think a company like Amber will probably set it

so that I'm not willing to feed back to the grid

unless it's a certain tariff available to me.

I don't see a time, I do see it,

no sorry, I do see a time when they say

if your car slash home slash meter

aren't smart enough to regulate when you feed it out

then yes, you might be charged if you're excessively feeding out

but I think we'll probably

more likely get to a point where

the technology is such that

your car won't do that unless you want it to

and that's probably the dream.

Yeah, right.

Either way, I mean the big attraction to me

if the VTH think is

if I could instead of getting that piddly little

whatever the tariff is

throw it into the vehicle and pull it out

when I need it during peak periods

and if I got an EV today

would it actually

and Australia got their stuff together

and the regulations were sorted out

and we could actually do this V2H

would a car that I get today be able to do it?

In a perfect world and it's really important actually

I'm not pulling you up on this but it's really important

V2H is just to your home.

V2G is to the grid, right?

I don't know many cars

I'm just trying to write my way

but I don't think there's any cars that do V2H

but not V2G, right?

But there's a lot of cars that do V2L

so vehicle to load

which means you can put a little plug into a charging port

and have a power point.

My Kia for example, a lot of cars have a power point

in the back.

Hand if you go camping or something.

Mate, you think about your estate wagon

like my Kia which

with the third row seats down

is a wagon I see it as

five seats with a wagon in the back

if there's a power point back there, right?

I could keep a fridge running or whatever.

So vehicle to load, lots of cars have

vehicle to home, some cars have

vehicle to grid the same some cars have

and you have the power

as the home owner

and the charger provider

you know, owner to say

I want my power to be

either not used by the home

to be used by the home, not used by the grid

in the same way that Steven and I now can

set our home chargers to say

I want you to use power

no matter how you get it to charge the car

or economically use as much solar as you can

or just use solar.

I think you'll be able to say

I only want to power my home.

I don't give a rat's about the grid.

I just control.

I just want to power my home.

That's what I'm thinking.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

I'm just on the home

because my power bills

just keep going up and up.

I've got two teenage daughters

and you know, it's

those hair straightens

don't power themselves mate.

Mate, what they do for the girls

but anyway...

They've even more

than made to keep your running costs down

although I'm sure you're currently

petrol is not exactly cheap

but at the moment or ever.

So having an EV

will really reduce your running costs.

So what sort of driving do you do, mate?

Apart from your occasional camping trips

do you put a lot of keys on every day?

How do you drive?

Are you and your family?

Not really.

I get the trains to the city

so I work in the old town

in Oldman City

and travel probably

it's a good hour and a half commute

each way.

But yeah, it's better than driving.

I just use it really under weekends

and probably don't travel that far on it

like I think anything would be

suitable for me.

So you'd be ideal for you.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's just a big trip.

What's the next step then?

Yeah, what's the next step?

Are you going to start having a look at a few?

Because I think for me

as knowing you're a wagon man

I think you just need to go and look at

the size, the interior

and the kind of overall feeling

of a few SUVs, you know?

Kia EV5

BYDC Lion

What's another good SUV?

Probably not the Golf.

The Elite Motors?

Yeah, Elite Motor.

They're going to get Geely.

Yeah.

A good value.

The Zika.

Have a look at a few.

Yeah.

Have you ever driven an EV before?

Never driven one.

Nah.

You've got a book in a test drive.

Yeah.

Yeah, I should.

The other thing just quickly

the other attraction for that

BYDC wagon was that it was a petrol hybrid

and the range on it was like 1500Ks.

So then a couple

a couple I would look at then

the BYDC Lion 6

because it is a petrol hybrid.

There's Jakun.

Yeah.

They're doing lots of

they've got these, you know

and Cherry also which is the same company

but different models

are different brands.

Jakun, Cherry, the BYD

they all have hybrids.

It's like they've realized

there's even

is it Denza?

Is that the name of BYD's premium brand?

Down at the airport

the domestic airport

there's a massive SUV

looks like a Land Cruiser size thing

which is a petrol hybrid

which they're pushing

and I think that

that range thing

they're realizing that

here's what I think their strategies

BYD and others

I think they've realized

that people are range anxiety

big time

and so they're trying to push themselves

as brands that have cars

that go a long way.

Get them in.

Get them into the family

and then

for the next car

there'll be an EV for them.

Do you know what I mean?

So I think he could be the perfect buyer

for a plug-in hybrid car.

Maybe look at the BYD shark as well

if you might be a Ute Man

as well.

That could be.

I don't think he's a Ute Man.

Ben, you're a Ute Man.

Yes.

Oh, not really.

They tend to have

not a lot of room in the back.

You know it's

you can fit an SQN

and that's about it.

But

the petrol hybrid thing too

is because

so we'll be traveling at Christmas

up the Hume

and it's hard enough

lining up for a fuel pump

to put petrol in your car.

Yeah.

I just worry about the experience

of if you've got a line-up

to charge the EV behind other people

and it's not just

like a minute or two

to put fuel in your car.

It's a different experience

and no doubt

you've got a lot to adjust to

and learn.

But I've made I think in the end

the first thing you need to do

is just go and start

looking at some.

One every two weeks.

Just go and have a look at a JQ.

Have a look at a Cherry.

Look at a BYD

and start to understand

what they've got in terms

of those plug-in hybrids

because it feels to me

like plug-in hybrid

might be the ultimate solution for you.

But also too,

there's a lot more charges

being put in as well.

So by the time you actually

buy your EV

whether it's this year,

next year, whatever

it's going to be

you'll be a lot more charges

installed.

You'll be noticing a lot more.

But consider yourself

on the journey, Ben, mate.

And we're with you, mate.

So we look forward to hearing

what you drive

and what you end up getting

if it happens, mate.

Yeah.

Good on you boys.

Thanks a lot for your

thoughts there.

It helps a lot.

No worries at all.

Thanks for getting in touch, Ben.

Anytime, mate.

Anytime.

And you can get in touch as well.

Just go to your

text message app

or what's happened.

Send us a text

0477

657

we'd love to hear from you

here on

E-Cars.

Ah, too much talking

electric cars.

I shouldn't be allowed

to control the buttons, really.

No, mate.

Should I?

It's not appropriate.

Well, yeah.

Anyway,

it was great to hear

from Sean

about ADAS.

And I'm glad

people are looking into it.

But let's talk about

a car that I don't

remember noticing.

Having any

concerns about beeping

and bonging,

as they say.

Beeps and bongs in the car.

That sounds like it could be

wrong.

But you know what I'm saying,

you know what I'm talking

about.

And that's the Volkswagen ID

Buzz, the modern

Combi van,

which I've got to say

first and foremost,

we had it in the,

we had the GTX,

which is the long

wheelbase,

seven-seater.

We had it in two-tone,

so red

and silver,

which is a $4,000

option.

And it turned heads.

Yeah.

And you know me here

in the office.

So I can see who's watching.

Yep.

Like the number of people

that stopped,

they look around it.

They walk around it.

But that happened a lot.

That was while it was parked.

I had people,

like waving out the window,

try to want me,

talk to me while we're

driving,

just pulling up next to me

in the car

and saying,

and asking all these

questions and said,

mate,

I'm trying to pay

attention to the road here.

Yeah, yeah.

It was a head turner,

definitely.

It's very much a

Volkswagen built on

the Volkswagen Electric

Platform.

I own a Cooper Abort,

similar platform.

So the controls

for the gears is a dial

at the top.

There's an instrument cluster.

There's an infotainment.

And in this case,

there's a head up display as well.

It's a beast.

This thing's huge.

The seven-seater

extended wheelbase is enormous.

There's a lot of space

for every single row.

I will say,

it didn't at all

have a car-like driving experience.

It felt like I was driving a van

pretty much all the time.

That goes from someone

who owned a Kia Carnival,

which would be

its nearest competition

as a family seven-seater.

I've got to say,

it didn't feel like

I was lugging it around.

Oh, no, not lugging.

It's just,

there's a different feel

to the drive-in steering

of a van versus a...

Not too different.

I'd say,

my personally,

I felt it wasn't

radically different to

an SUV.

Harry loved the armrests.

Yeah.

Armrests.

Both sides of the...

over the boat,

the passenger and driver seats

had armrests.

Adjustable.

If you're on a long,

long road trip,

you've got armrests.

Lots of space.

Like, let's be honest.

Cup holders, though,

they also were very clunky

to get stuff in and out of.

Yeah.

Like, I felt like I was going to

spill the Coke

if I pulled a drink out.

Oh, you mean it was

gripping too hard.

Yeah, it's kind of gripping.

Right, right.

So I was using the

center tray

with a divider

and then just to put cups and things.

Fair enough.

Yeah.

There is no, at all,

there's nothing under

the front of this thing.

It just opens up

to show you the washer fluid.

It's actually,

yeah, that was what

it took getting used to just,

yeah, you didn't have

a big long bonnet.

No, that's right.

It was right there.

There,

there's the motor,

loader,

whatever is available

for the all the forward collision

stuff.

Yeah, it sits above the dashboard

and it's this kind of bump

on the dashboard.

I feel like it's a really weird

design, it would have been

better to make it a flush thing.

Strange.

Head-up display too,

had it, this one had it up.

Head-up display was good

for sure.

I didn't mind that at all.

Yeah.

Now, the price on the one we drove,

long wheelbase,

seven seat,

Vick,

because obviously there's a van

version as well,

a cargo version,

is basically $129,000.

Yeah.

And that's a lot of money.

Well, that's kind of

isn't that in the

EV9 class?

Yeah, but so looking at

that same size car,

same capacity.

I would say to you,

even as someone whose wife

wanted a sliding door car,

there's no way

the ID buzz is a better car

to drive,

handle or anything

than the EV9.

Okay.

Sure, it has more room

for the seven people.

So if you're,

let's say you had twins

and triplets

and you got old

teenagers, right?

Yeah.

Then, yeah, you need

leg room and stuff.

This is probably the go.

You're carrying it to another van

like a high end Ostaria

or something, right?

It's a bus.

Yeah.

But here's my thing.

So that's $130,000

for this long wheelbase,

seven-seater.

The short wheelbase

ID buzz,

five-seater,

$79,990.

Wow.

Right?

The seven-seat version

of that is

$84,990.

Oh.

Now, I've got to tell you,

I don't know how much

room you're compromising

along the leg room,

but let's say you're

compromising 10 centimetres

for the middle row

and 10 centimetres

for the back row,

even if 15.

Is it worth an extra

$50,000?

I would 100% recommend

you get the pro,

which is the short wheelbase,

seven-seater.

Yeah.

And you know what?

I expect it without the two-tone

on the website

in just white.

Yeah.

It looks good.

Yeah.

Like it's not as funky

and outlandishly

combi as the two-tone.

But honestly,

I think it looked good.

Absolutely.

No, I quite like the two-tone.

I'd tick their boxes.

Yeah, I think so.

It's four grand

for a family

trying to go electric

with seven seats.

I remember them

when Joe first saw it.

She goes, oh, it's the fan

from Scooby-Doo.

That's what she said.

She said, yeah,

Shaggy and Scooby

are doing very well,

I said.

Can they reveal

your face at the end?

But let's talk range

up to 452 kilometres

of range.

Yeah.

And charging time,

10% to 80%,

you can charge

in 26 minutes,

which is pretty speedy.

Yeah.

The luggage capacity

is remarkable.

Of course.

2,469 litres.

That's a lot.

Yeah.

There's a lot of space in there.

It is a van

in every sense of the word,

but it still has a nice finish to it.

Yeah.

Look, it's a premium.

The whole experience

was excellent.

I think it's a

definitely premium car,

premium vehicle.

I think that obviously

people that have bought

vans before

over the years,

different models,

whatever they are,

then they're petrol.

I'm looking to go electric.

It's, frankly,

the only real passenger option

on the market.

But I think the nostalgia

that it brings out

in people with the,

I mean,

there are people who will

stop on me on the road

and walk around the car

with the people

who I think were new

of the Combi

and they see that V-Dub

symbol on the front

of a flat,

a flat-fronted vehicle

like a Combi.

They go,

oh, wow.

It's the Combi

for the 21st century.

It's gorgeous.

Yeah.

Have a look at it.

Worth a drive

if you need a seven-seater.

Have a look at it.

And the thing I would

simply say is,

get your family

in the short-wheelbase

at the dealer

at the wheelbase

and tell yourself,

is that leg room

they're asking for

worth 40, 50 grand?

Yeah.

I'm not sure.

Does the model,

the other cheaper models

you spoke about

have the automatic sliding doors?

It may not.

You know,

they're obviously...

That may be a consideration

because to say you're

buying this,

you know,

you might have,

you might be

picking up elderly passengers

or...

Yeah.

And it's very easy then

for them to get it out

if they don't have

to touch the door.

It's also easy

for you to go.

There's no more reason

for it to be more expensive

than just being

longer wheelbase.

Of course.

To be clear,

I haven't sat and compared

the spec for spec,

but at $40,000 difference,

it's going to be

a lot of things.

Clearly,

it's not going to have

a head-up display

and a bunch of other things,

but I would wonder

what the compromise is

and that's what

you need to tell yourself.

Anyway,

ID Buzz,

good-looking car.

We enjoyed it

and you might as well,

so check it out yourself

when you're in the

market for something

with that kind of money,

it might suit the tree.

If you have an extra

or WhatsApp,

we'd love to talk to you

about your car.

If you've got an ID Buzz,

tell us what you like to own.

Yes.

We'd love to talk

to someone who's driving

one of those around.

What colours you get?

Have you put a strip

down the middle

to make it a split window?

Let's go.

Old-school retro.

Two black story

electric cars.

Thanks to NRMA Insurance

and Union and Smart Dashcans.

We'll be back next week,

Steven.

Let's do it all again,

man.

I'll be here.

Bye.

About this episode

Trevor Long and Stephen Fenwick dive into the intriguing world of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in electric vehicles, discussing their benefits and the common frustrations drivers face. Joined by Sean Tysers from IAG's Automotive Research Center, they explore research findings that reveal many drivers turn off these features due to annoyance or misunderstanding. The episode also features a review of the VW ID Buzz, highlighting its spaciousness, unique design, and the balance between nostalgia and modern technology. Listeners will gain insights into the evolving landscape of EV safety features and practical advice on navigating the electric vehicle market.

ADAS ADR autonomous emergency braking battery of the car blind spot monitoring Cooper EV extended wheelbase fuel pump grid

Chevrolet Camaro Ford Falcon Kia Carnival/Sedona Kia EV5 Volkswagen ID. Buzz

Original notes

Anyone who owns or has driven a new car lately might have come across the annoying beeps and bongs that happen when you get near the speed limit or look too long at the radio, or perhaps get close to the edge of your lane on the road. These safety features are known as ADAS - but they are often annoying. We catch up with Shawn Ticehurst from NRMA Insurance's Research Lab about what they are doing to research the feelings of drivers toward these systems. Plus, we've driven the all-electric Kombi - the VW ID.Buzz, and Ben joins us to talk about his classic wagon as he considers an electric wagon. Get in touch, text or WhatsApp to 0477 657 657.

Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars - The EV Podcast

Trevor Long and Stephen Fenech

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