102 - How dealership staff and experience can influence your new car choice
Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars - The EV Podcast
102 - How dealership staff and experience can influence your new car choice
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dash cam
A dash cam is a small camera that you put on your car's dashboard. It records everything that happens while you drive, which can be helpful if there's an accident.
Company
Uniden
Uniden is a brand that makes devices like dash cams, which help you record what's happening around your car. They are known for making reliable products.
Car
Mazda 2
The Mazda 2 is a small car that's easy to drive and park, perfect for city living. It's known for being fuel-efficient, which means it uses less gas.
Brand
BYD
BYD is a car company from China that makes electric cars and batteries. They are becoming popular around the world for their electric vehicles.
Car
BYD Dolphin
The BYD Dolphin is a small electric car made for driving in cities. It's designed to be easy to use and good for the environment.
Car
BYD Addo
The BYD Addo is a larger electric car from BYD that offers more space and comfort, making it suitable for families.
Car
Audi S5
The Audi S5 is a sporty car that looks great and drives well. It has a strong engine and is fun to drive, especially if it's rear-wheel drive, which can make it more exciting to handle.
Term
rear-wheel drive
Rear-wheel drive means that the back wheels of the car get the power from the engine. This can make the car feel more balanced and fun to drive, especially when turning or speeding up.
Car
Skoda Karoq
The Skoda Karoq is a small SUV that is designed for families and those who need extra space. It has a comfortable interior and comes with modern technology to make driving easier.
Car
Skoda Enyaq
The Skoda Enyaq is an electric SUV from Skoda, which means it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. It has a lot of room inside and comes with the latest technology for a better driving experience.
Car
Geely EX5
The Geely EX5 is a type of electric car made by the company Geely. It's built to be efficient for driving around cities and has a lot of modern features.
Car
Hyundai Kona
The Hyundai Kona is a small SUV that comes in both regular and electric versions. It's popular for its good looks and useful features.
Car
X-Pung G6
The X-Pung G6 is a new electric car from a Chinese company. It's designed with modern technology and comfort in mind, making it appealing to many drivers.
Car
Tesla Model
The Tesla Model Y is a type of electric car that looks like an SUV. It's popular because it has a lot of space inside and uses electricity instead of gas, which is better for the environment.
Term
FSD Supervised
FSD Supervised is a feature in Tesla cars that helps the car drive itself, but the driver still needs to pay attention and be ready to take over if necessary.
Brand
Geely
Geely is a car company from China that makes various types of vehicles, often at lower prices than many other brands.
Car
MG4
The MG4 is a type of electric car made by the MG brand. It's designed to be a more affordable option compared to other electric cars like Tesla.
Term
kilowatt hour (kWh)
A kilowatt hour is a way to measure how much energy a battery can store. It helps you understand how far an electric car can go on a single charge.
Car
Julie AX5
The Julie AX5 is an electric car that focuses on being eco-friendly and efficient. It's part of a growing trend of electric vehicles on the market.
Car
Hyundai Ioniq
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 Epic N-Line is a sportier version of the Ioniq 5, an electric SUV. It has some extra features that make it feel more sporty compared to the regular model.
Car
Suzuki Vitara
The Suzuki Grand Vitara is a small SUV that is good for both city driving and off-road adventures. It's known for being tough and practical.
Car
Kia EV6
The Kia EV6 is a new electric car from Kia. It's designed to be stylish and efficient, making it a popular choice for those looking to go electric.
Car
Toyota Land
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a big, tough SUV that can drive on rough roads and is also comfortable for everyday use. It's popular for its reliability and ability to handle different types of terrain.
Car
IONIQ
The Hyundai IONIQ is a small car that can run on electricity or a mix of gas and electricity. It's built to be good for the environment and save on fuel costs.
Term
AGL plan
The AGL plan is a special deal from an energy company that lets you pay less for electricity at certain times, like during the night. This can help save money when charging electric cars.
Term
diesel
Diesel is a kind of fuel used in some cars and trucks. It's different from regular gasoline and is often used in larger vehicles because it can be more efficient.
Term
EV
An EV, or electric vehicle, is a car that uses electricity to run instead of gas. They are often better for the environment and can save money on fuel.
Term
hybrid
A hybrid car uses both a regular gas engine and an electric motor. This helps save fuel and is better for the environment.
Car
Volkswagen Id
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a new electric van that looks a lot like the old VW buses from the 1960s. It's designed to be eco-friendly and has a lot of space inside, making it great for families or road trips.
Car
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a sportier version of the regular BMW 3 Series, designed for better performance and handling. It's well-liked by people who enjoy driving fast and having fun on the road.
LIVE
This is Two Blokes talking electric cars with Steven Fenwick and Trevor Long thanks to NRMA Insurance and Uniden.
That's right, the great people at NRMA Insurance helping protect what matters most for 100 years for most Australians
and they're going to keep doing it for probably 100 more.
They're also Australia's largest, one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles,
so they know their EV stuff and we've spoken to them over the years.
Well, yes, we've been doing this show years about things they're doing to make sure that their service departments maintenance
and all those kind of people, the insurance, the crash repairs, all those people are aware and understand the EV market.
So they're doing all that.
And of course Uniden smart dash cams.
If you've got a new car or an old car, why haven't you got a dash cam?
I've got a dash cam, a Uniden dash cam in my 2012 Mazda 2 because why not?
Why not know what's happening around it, give me the peace of mind.
In front and back, get the look for the model with the R.
That's the rear camera too because you want to be covered all around and so that's the one to look for.
These are award-winning dash cams, not only for the quality, but also the design as well.
Stephen, happy new year.
Happy new year, it's 2026.
It doesn't feel like it, does it?
Wow.
2026.
I haven't really gotten used to riding 2026 yet.
No, not yet.
It wasn't CES amazing.
Oh wow, how busy.
And you know what?
It was bigger than any, I'll be, that was my 21st Consumer Electronic Show.
Okay, and it was bigger than I could have remembered.
I mean, shameless cross promotion, but we do have a lot of listeners who only listen to the Electric Vehicle Show and we appreciate that.
But we also do, and have been doing for 15 years, we're coming up to our 15th anniversary next month.
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Stephen's going to be a beautiful present.
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Yep.
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But this is Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, and we're going to get straight into the New Year with calls.
All right, Stephen, let's not muck around.
Let's go to our calls.
And the first caller of the year is Simon.
G'day, Simon.
Hello, Trevor and Stephen.
How are you? Happy New Year.
Thank you, mate.
Great to have you with us.
Mate, where are you at in the world of EVs?
Well, sort of, was just, you know, following what was going on for, you know, a couple of years.
And then mid-2025, a nine-year-old SCOTA, we thought our old time to upgrade that.
So, sort of interest became research.
And, yeah, so, yeah, mid-2025 started seriously researching.
How's that gone for you?
Has it been a fun process or is it a challenging one?
No, no, no, it was fun.
It was fun.
So, yeah, you know, we, oh, there was a spreadsheet involved, of course.
Oh, you got a spreadsheet?
Yeah.
Got a spreadsheet.
So, yeah, so it basically, what we wanted was a car that wasn't all high-tech, you know,
still had a few buttons.
So, you know, we'd still got it, we've still got a nice car.
So anyone in the house to jump from one into the other without it being such a leap.
Okay.
You know, a leap of tech.
And, you know, a budget of around, you know, it's a SCOTA we reckon was around, you know,
10 grand trading in.
So there's no, no novated license involved, you know, about a 10 grand trade.
And we recommend a budget of about 30k.
So, you know, 30k changeover, sorry.
Yeah.
So you're looking at a $40,000 car?
Yeah.
Roughly, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So what did you, just let's jump to the end part here.
Have you bought anything yet?
Yeah, we bought one in September.
Right, yeah.
What'd you get?
Yeah.
MGS-5.
Nice.
Okay, we drove that, yeah.
Yeah, nice.
Yeah.
How many cars you reckon you test-drive in that period?
So that's several months of test-driving.
How many, how many do you reckon you drive?
Oh, what do we, six or seven.
So there was a couple of BYDs.
Hyundai, Insta, Renault, Magani, Tech, SCOTA, Elrock.
I'm not hearing.
There's one brand.
One brand.
I'm not hearing.
And that's Tesla.
You didn't give them a couple in the price range, I guess.
But also, too, I think you said at the start, you wanted something with buttons that looked
felt like a real car.
Yeah, exactly.
So that was, Tesla's are out for several reasons and there was two of them.
As a man with a spreadsheet and a plan and obviously no massive rush, just a bit of research
involved, what did you struggle with through that process of dealerships and test-driving?
Well, dealerships and test-driving was pretty good.
So I was generally just booking rather than just rocking up.
So make sure the car was there.
Yeah.
Be honest with you, test-driving with and the dealership experience with everyone was
perfectly fine except BYD.
So it was a shocking.
And I drove a dolphin and the Addos.
So I had sort of about three visits to the place and every visit was like getting teeth.
Yep.
Like getting teeth pulled.
So can you be a bit more specific?
What was the...
Okay, specifically, right.
So book a car for a test drive, rock up.
Oh, it's just gone out.
Someone has just rocked up and asked for a test drive.
So they've taken it out.
Even though you've booked it, they just let someone else drive it.
And I turned up on time.
I wasn't running late.
And so just, I had to, you know, faff around.
I faffed around in the showroom for, you know, half an hour.
At the end of half an hour, I just sent a text to the sales rep and said, yeah, I was here on time.
Half an hour later, I'm gone.
Yeah.
That's for a test drive too.
How long's the test drive last from a dealership?
Unless you've organized a half day.
But he booked it.
15, 20 years.
But I'm saying he shouldn't have.
Even if.
Even if.
Like, it sounds like you were willing to faff for 20 minutes, but half an hour.
I was here.
Yeah.
Half an hour.
Anyway, so ended up getting a drive of a Dolphin Ender at O3 and set routes.
Really?
So you had to drive where they told you?
Yep.
Set route.
And it didn't, and weren't allowed to drive on the freeway.
So I'm not talking about the tollway.
We weren't allowed to drive on the freeway.
The dealership is literally next to a freeway.
Not a tollway freeway.
So where are we talking, Simon?
Where are you from?
Where are you from?
Effident, so.
Effident for you.
Oh, yeah.
All those dealerships that are right off the back of the airport in between the main road
into the, from the, from Talomari into the city.
Yes.
That's wild.
Pick your own ramp onto the freeway from BYD.
So they explicitly said, no, you've got to drive this.
It's like doing your learners, your peace test.
You've got to drive here, then turn here, then turn here, then turn here.
Did they make you do a reverse park?
I failed.
Wow.
Did any other dealership done that to you?
No.
All the others was, well, actually it was only GWM and BYD where the rep came with me.
The others were, yep, here you go.
Oh, I just gave, let you drive it by yourself.
Yeah, okay.
Yep, off you go.
And I said, I'll, you know, I live a couple of suburbs away, do you mind if I scoot home
and show the minister of finance?
And yeah, no worries.
That's good.
No problem.
So, yeah.
No, it's all fine.
Let's be clear.
Let's be clear.
You didn't buy a BYD.
Could you define that experience as being a reason why?
Yeah, because the ATO3 and the MGS5 are probably in the same class.
And yeah, if it was, if it was borderline to the, you know, between the cars, that would
just sort of, yep, out the window.
Well, let's be clear.
Potentially that cost them a sale.
And if it cost them, you also probably cost some others.
All right.
You've had the MG now for a few months.
What's the experience been like?
Again, I feel like you're someone who did so much research into what you needed to know.
You came into that day of driving home.
You had everything ready to go.
Yep.
No, look, love it.
Absolutely love the EV experience, you know?
So it's just the, well, the S5's rear-wheel drive.
So I haven't had a rear-wheel drive car since then.
Yeah.
Or territory.
And I've forgotten how much fun a bit of rear-wheel drive was.
A little bit of kick.
A little bit of kick.
A little bit of kick.
And yeah, I'm going to get through some tires, I think.
But yeah, so just, yeah, quiet, smooth.
One pedal driving I love.
Yeah, it's great.
Yeah.
And just the, and even the sound of acceleration, you know, I'm a bit of a sci-fi fan.
So just that electric.
Yeah, because it's not a wine.
It's a whir.
Yes.
Love it.
Just so quiet and smooth.
That's the thing it really gets me into.
And much cheaper to run too, by the way, as well, eh?
So, you know, is that noticeable this early?
It is.
Well, actually in my spreadsheet, I got one thing really wrong with the petrol savings,
because I didn't anticipate the other, our ice car would sit there being unused
for so much time.
It's not only the savings on the petrol of the one we replaced, but our other ice car.
I just sent a trove.
So, well, I think, I think, September, October, November.
Yeah, three months before I put you more petrol in the ice car.
Wow, brilliant.
And what's the charging situation?
Are you trickle charging?
You've got a wall charger?
Yeah, just none of this trickle at home, haven't got solar.
OK.
Just the granny charge at home.
My daily commutes some 17Ks each way, freeway in the morning.
Easy.
Backstreet's on the way home.
And then, yeah, uses about 10, 11% to get to and from work.
And I whack 20% in overnight.
So, and I can trickle charge at work if I want to as well.
What's the other car?
And is there a threat to its existence?
The other car is also a Skoda Karak and an L-Rock is replacing that.
The Skoda L-Rock was just fantastic.
So, you already know that that's going to go and it's going to be
another EV and you're going to stay on brand there with Skoda.
Skoda.
Yeah, yeah, really.
Because when I tested over the L-Rock, it was just more or less,
I was just jumping in the Karak only it was electric.
Wow.
And so, yeah, I doubt I'd said to the Minister of Finance
on the weekend that when the red car goes,
that's going to get replaced with an L-Rock.
Good stuff.
Again, yeah, that's just it.
Just a basic, we want it by car.
That's great.
And we just got a simple to operate.
You said you're a soft-fire fan mate.
Are you a Star Wars man too or what's the go?
Yes, bit of a Star Wars fan.
So, yes.
You know how I stand on that, mate.
I'm a big fan of Star Wars.
You're both absolute lunatics, but anyway,
we'll leave that behind the way.
Lovely to hear from you.
Go on.
Yeah, go on.
Well, just one thing.
When I was test driving,
I did test drive a couple of second hands as well.
Ah, okay.
Renan McGahn.
But also test drive a second and at O3.
And I asked the dealer about a battery health check.
Yes.
I could have been talking another language.
And when he finally got back to me,
he said, oh yeah, we can do that.
$700.
What?
Anyway, and I think it was the following week
you had a caller come in, bring in,
I think his name was Brendan,
telling us all about his $200 battery health check.
Yeah, it's possible.
That's unbelievable.
And look, obviously a dealer doesn't have to have one,
but what they should do is go, look.
Well, if they're selling second hand cars, they do.
No, they don't have to.
They're not required to.
They're being encouraged.
It's up to them.
And I think we're going to see,
as we've advocated for some time,
we're going to see that it will become something people
like you ask for.
And therefore, it will, as we talked last year
to Peter from Karma about,
it'll kind of give you that ability to say,
well, actually, it's worth this much
because it's 95% battery health or whatever it might be.
And just buy a piece of mind.
Yeah, that's right.
Exactly.
I will just, from the dealer's perspective,
often a second hand car is like $1,000.
Like they're only making a small amount of money on a car.
They don't make a lot of money on cars.
They make money on servicing and things.
And that whole world has changed.
So you've got to remember,
that $700 is them going,
well, we probably need to get the coup.
I mean, I'm not defending it,
but it does cost them money to sell a car.
So they've got to find a way.
They've got to find a company
that will do that for them probably on mass.
They've got to do it a good deal with them.
So it's new.
It's new for the dealers.
Just like it's new for Pickles.
It's new for Karma.
It's new for individuals.
It's going to be tough for dealers.
But the other thing, let's remember here,
the takeaway from your call,
is dealership experience on it.
And very disappointing.
I'm going to forward your feedback
on that Essendon BYD dealer to Stephen Collins,
the CEO of BYD who we had on the end of last year,
because I think that's valuable.
Yeah, yeah.
That's what I really do.
I was kind of scoffing as he was talking,
so I can tell you.
Well, mate, enjoy the car
and let us know when you buy the Skoda.
We'll have you back for another review, mate.
No worries.
Good on you, mate.
Great to hear from you.
Thanks, mate.
No worries at all.
There you go.
I mean, that's what we say.
That dealership experience there is far out.
It makes a big difference, doesn't it?
And he can only drive where they sit.
That's remarkable to me.
What's up with that?
And look, we're just a small couple of bikes
doing a podcast, right?
Yeah.
And you go, I don't know.
Let's say we had 150 calls on last year.
Maybe we got 150 on this year.
Yeah.
If we had, I would say, 10% of them
would mention the dealership experience.
So even if it's 5%, you're telling me
that you're willing to walk away from 5% of potential buyers?
Absolutely, yeah.
That's a lot of people.
You're right, mate.
Absolutely right.
Yeah.
Anyway, fascinating stuff,
and we'd love to hear from you about your EV experience.
Deal or ship?
Positive, negative, otherwise.
Get in touch.
Send us a text.
Thanks to Vodafone 0477657657.
You got it in, mate.
You got your drink in.
Just the last sip.
Just before.
It's like a singer on stage in a live performance.
About to belt out the next line of the verse.
It just gets a little...
You got it in.
I'm sorry for the same thing.
Do you know the comedians have a little glass of water on the stool?
Yeah, it's funny.
I love to do the research into how often they pick it up
but then put it down again.
It's so common.
They pick it up as if they're going to take a drink
and they put it down because they realize
they don't have a gap in what they're about to say.
Anyway, these are the stupid things that I observe
when I'm watching stand-up comedy.
Thanks for listening.
0477657657, we'd love to hear from you.
Derek's on the line.
Good day, Derek.
Good day, Trev.
Good day, Steve.
Yeah, mate.
Where are you at in your EV journey?
Mate, we've put in order for a Geely EX5 in Spire
and just waiting for the leasing company
and hopefully we'll pick it up this weekend.
And so I can imagine you've been looking
and researching for quite a while.
Derek, what's the go?
How many cars did you get through
before you landed on the Geely EX5?
Mate, I think the first EV I drove was the Hyundai Kona
probably back in about 2018.
Wow, that's research.
That is research.
And then ever since then, I've been absolutely hooked.
Finally, the wife's come on board
after we went to the Everything Electric show in Melbourne.
Nice.
And she didn't even test drive the EX5.
She just sat in the back seat
and had a seat with the massaging seats.
Ah.
So we know what you'll be doing, mate.
Just driving your wife around the back of the car.
Yeah, I was going to say,
she's going to be so further around for the rest of time.
Well done.
Well, she'll get to drive on Monday to Friday for her work
and takes the daughter to school
and the daughter has already bagged me out
that she'll get to enjoy the massaging seats more than I will.
Yeah, right.
So what other brands did you look at, mate?
Well, before you got to the Geely,
what other brands did you...
that came close even?
Probably the...
Well, at the Everything Electric show,
we test-drove that, the X-Pung G6,
which the wife really likes.
That was nice.
I quite like that, wasn't it?
The wife's loving the Chinese new brands, mate.
Yeah, yeah, nice.
Oh, yeah, nice.
She definitely likes the technology
and all the comforts of it.
I didn't like the headrests in it.
I find they kind of pushed my head a bit too forward.
BYDC Line 7, she...
Yeah, we both liked that.
I test-drove the Tesla Model Y with FSD Supervised.
Oh, really?
Okay.
And if I had a spare 80 grand just sitting there,
I would have bought one that day.
Really?
The Tesla, that good, eh?
Well, because the Supervised driving,
yeah, within about 20 seconds,
I just put my hands in my lap and just let it do what it did.
That's a great experience.
I was surprised how comfortable it was.
But the Minister for War and Finance
made 80 grand's a lot of money,
and obviously price was a factor
because the Geely's are very affordable,
but unbelievably well equipped.
For great value, yeah.
Like, how do you describe it?
You've probably got mates who think you're an idiot for buying
a brand they've never heard of.
You're an idiot for buying an EV.
We've all got those mates.
How do you describe to them the value that exists in the Geely
outside of the fact that it's electric?
Well, yeah, it's basically going to the comfort technologies
of it pretty much.
Usually, I'll find with people if they're already anti-EV,
I'll just say some of the positives.
If they've already fallen in their mind
that they're never going to have one.
Well, I don't try to change them.
I'll just continue living my life.
But a lot of the stuff of how you're going to charge it,
things like that, is probably the one thing that comes up.
And we have our one big trip every year up to Canberra,
so I definitely need a car that will get me
to the next big charging station at Can River from where we are.
Yeah, that's fair.
And so in your research, I'm imagining you were looking
at how you were going to charge the car at home,
how are you going to manage that,
and how it would suit your driving.
So have you got a wall charger at home?
And what's the situation?
So I'm pretty lucky I worked for a solar
and renewable energy company here.
That's handy.
So last week, I had installed my new 22 kilowatts of panels
on my roof.
Nice.
I've got a 40 kilowatt hour C energy battery on three phase.
And I've got the 25 kilowatt bi-directional DC charger.
Yeah, nice.
Yeah, absolutely.
What a setup.
That sounds like the kind of setup not only someone
who works in the industry would get,
but also someone that, do you have a second car?
Like are we talking there's a medium term plan here
to go double electric?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now that's definitely in my head.
And I've already told the wife that that is my direction.
So don't be surprised if I'm probably looking at it.
Once the funds are up, probably a second hand MG4
will probably suit.
Yeah, good.
Good call.
Yeah, all right.
I like the idea of thinking.
You know, you don't need, look, you love the Tesla.
It's a beautiful car.
The concept of autonomy is amazing, et cetera.
But you know what?
A second day, we've talked recently, last year,
then last year, we talked about different things
with electric second hand cars.
But there's a bit of value out there right now.
People challenge the resale price,
but it also creates value for someone like you, doesn't it?
We actually came pretty close to getting a second hand MG4
about a week ago because the local dealer, he had one.
It was the essence version, 64 kilowatt hour,
20,000 K's, two years old and $27,000.
Oh, that's pretty sharp.
And we nearly got it and then decided the Julie instead.
Oh, yes.
So, Rod, that's interesting.
Would you consider something vastly different
in like the BYD Ad-01 being brand new, super cheap
and just small as a runabout?
I'd have to sit at it and see how we go as well
because I've got a son.
I'm about 185 centimetres tall.
My son's getting up about that as well.
But funnily enough, a neighbour down the street
has ordered an Ad-01.
So I'll probably get a bit of a runaround in that.
Good to be friends with your neighbours.
I'm about the same height as you, mate.
So yeah, I think you should be fine.
Well, we'll see.
We'll get behind the wheel soon, hopefully.
But, mate, that's exciting.
And anything, you know, broad that you wish the Julie had
because obviously you can't have it all
apart from full self-driving or, you know, supervised.
Is there anything that you feel like you compromise
by going Julie?
Probably like a bigger battery.
So the day when we ordered the Julie AX5,
what is it, the GAX, GA-C, AON got announced.
Right, yeah.
And that's got an extra 100K range.
But because they're brand new to the country,
having kind of, you know, just stuff.
Well, when the wife is teen, I'm just like,
yep, let's just do it.
Happy wife, happy life, mate.
This car suits your driving though, this range.
It says no issue.
Well, from all the mapping I've done on Plug Share,
it should do it for our big trip that we do.
It's, you know, the, you know,
it'll all come down to the efficiency of the car.
Just remember, it's going to take you by surprise.
You need to load that up with the family.
You need to do a mini road trip,
whether it's just take a freeway to Frankston or something,
just to understand the difference in consumption on a freeway.
And whether or not you're prepared to drive 95 in a 110 zone
or, you know, just going to push it to 110
and sacrifice the range, you know.
It's a vastly different experience on the freeway.
So I would, I would hazard you to be cautious about your planning.
You've done a lot on, I get that, but yeah,
just be very careful because it can shock you.
It can really shock you on different, different days, different,
different trips.
A good thing about Plug Share, the one to look at,
you've probably looked at is the elevation as well.
Shows you the elevation of a trip to see whether you're going uphill,
because like uphill matters.
If I, if I drive 420km to Yang and back,
they're different, it's different consumption
because one way is uphill, the other way is downhill, weirdly,
but you know, that's what it is.
So just keep those things in mind and just over plan, you know,
know where the three stops are around your, you know,
make a radius and say, look, I feel,
I'd feel more comfortable stopping at your row
and not going to Gundagai or whatever it might be
and, you know, those things so that you just made,
you just create a less, you know,
don't want stress, especially with a family in the car.
Exactly right.
Absolutely.
Lovely to hear from you, mate, and enjoy the journey,
enjoy the, enjoy the car and we're happy to hear from you again
later, in a few months after you've done that road trip,
mate, let us know how it goes.
Beautiful, not a problem, I will do.
Good on you, Derek. Thank you, mate. Thanks for getting in touch.
What a top guy and that's a cool experience too,
to be able to, you know, experience some cars,
but then go to every electric, you drive a car.
They're really smart.
Happy wife, happy life. Absolutely.
No, those shows are really, really good.
You get a chance to literally sit there in them
and in some cases drive them as well.
Yeah.
Two bloke's sawing electric cars, we'd love to hear from you.
0-4-double-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
Two bloke's sawing electric cars.
It's great to have you company folks,
and let's just keep going with calls.
Stephen, Corridor's on the line.
Corridor, how are you doing?
Good. How are you? Very, very well.
Tell us about your electric car journey.
Where are you at? Have you bought something?
Do you own one? Where's your world?
I've owned one for about 12 months now.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 Epic N-Line.
So the Epic N-Line, that's not the Ioniq 5 N,
so it's not the super, like the super truck car,
but it's the N-Line.
So it's got a little sporty feel to it,
a few extra buttons maybe.
What drew you to that car?
A few extra buttons. What drew me to that car?
That's a bit of a story.
I like a red car.
I could only get the Ioniq 5 in red if I bought the N-Line.
If I bought pretty much the top of the line car.
2025 model, yeah.
So they didn't...
I suppose step back, we knew that the next car we bought
would be electric.
I was driving a little Suzuki Gran Vitara,
and we sold that.
And we're in Newcastle one day
and drove one of the electric MGs,
which was fun, but we didn't like the style of it.
So we looked at BYDs.
And again, didn't like the style or the finish of those.
And I wasn't going to drive around with something that said
build your dreams on the back of it.
It was a misstep by them in the first year or two of the Ad-03.
Absolutely.
You notice they've walked away from that now.
It's just BYD.
Then we went and drove the Kia EV6
and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 on the same day.
And yeah, they were both very similar to drive,
both really nice to drive.
But the Ioniq finish sort of interior,
having that extra space in the middle,
so you're not sitting in a little pod,
is brilliant.
It's beautiful.
And I like the style of the outside a bit better.
And then I asked the dealer if I could get one in red
and they said no.
They were all in granny colours in 2024.
So I looked online and saw that the 2025 model did come in red
if I bought the pretty much almost quite top of the line one.
So we ordered that.
So you're amazing.
You're a fan of red, aren't you?
Yeah, there it is.
You literally spent a bit more money to get the red.
Oh gosh, it looks so much better.
Have you seen it?
Yeah, I have.
It's beautiful.
They're a really nice little car.
So you've had it for like a year now.
You know, that's a big leap going electric.
What's it been like?
Do you still love the car?
Any regrets?
I still love it.
No regrets.
Took it to Queensland about two weeks after I got it.
Took my mother up there.
Went up to New England
and didn't have any troubles with charging or anything like that.
Nice.
Had a cuppa or lunch.
Charged the car while I did that.
Yeah.
And got some really awful weather while we were up there
and had handled that perfectly.
So really happy with that.
Then we took it down to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix.
Wow, that's good.
From Newcastle all the way up to Melbourne.
Where are you guys?
Hunter Valley.
You're in the Hunter Valley.
Yeah, right.
So yeah, good fun.
Again, no problems charging.
And hey, fun fact.
We could check the parking garage where the car was
but turning on the cameras remotely.
Yes, of course.
So that was a bit of fun.
I only did that once with my cuppa.
I booked it in domestic low in the valley
and I chose the car wash.
I thought it needs a wash.
And when I was flying home,
I saw that it was not in the car park station.
It was over somewhere else.
And I went into the,
I got a dash cam with a sim card.
I looked through the dash cam to see where they were at
with the car wash.
Just spying on your own car.
That's a crazy thing to do.
What's up?
Is this your only car?
Do you have a second car?
We've got a couple of other cars.
We've got a Toyota Land Cruiser.
So this is fun.
We've drove down to Newcastle about once a week at the moment
and worked out that with our IONIQ,
it costs us about $4.
So we've got the AGL plan that has the midnight to 6 a.m.
for 8 cents a kilowatt hour.
The 310 kilometer round trip, basically,
we get back at about 39%.
And to recharge it to 100% costs $4.10.
Wow.
So what's the Land Cruiser with the Land Cruiser?
Well, if we do the electric with the solar,
it costs us about $2 an opportunity cost
instead of selling it to the grid.
The Land Cruiser costs us $80 in diesel.
Wow.
See, that's a perfect example there.
Running costs, what a difference.
So the Land Cruiser, is that going to be replaced
with another EV?
You've done the road trips, yeah.
You've demonstrated you can get around just on an EV.
Yeah, no, no, not the places we go.
Ah, right.
So you like going off-road and doing all those?
Yeah.
So we tend to go fairly remote places with the Land Cruiser
and use the EV for...
Okay, I guess over time, though, is it something you observe?
Now, when you're driving the Land Cruiser,
going bush, right, you're heading towards Dubbo,
wherever, or even further west, whatever.
You would notice the EV infrastructure, I guess,
and you just kind of register it in your mind.
You notice one there, you notice one here, or whatever.
Yeah.
You know, because it might be five years, 10 years,
but I mentioned in a previous show,
I'm sure it's Denza that BYD have launched
as their premium brand.
They've got this big SUV, which I would say rivals
a Land Cruiser in terms of style and size
and all that sort of stuff.
It's a hybrid.
So, yeah, it's got electric range locally,
but it's got then petrol range as well.
Does it need off-road credentials,
or is it just about range for that second vehicle
that Land Cruiser?
No, it'd have to be like a Land Cruiser.
We've got an off-road van and we...
Yeah.
I tell you, last year we went to Western Australia
and came back through some really remote desert stuff.
Yeah, wow.
In the Land Cruiser.
There were a few corrugated roads.
Oh, yeah, corrugations.
My favourite thing.
Apart from potholes.
Really remote Western Australia,
and there was an electric charging station.
It was at one of the roadhouses.
They pop it up.
They pop it up, yeah.
They are.
Well, it sounds like you're an advocate, though.
Sounds like a bit of an adventurer, too, Karina.
You're not sticking local.
You're happy to take it on trips.
You're obviously the perfect woman,
because you're happy to go to the Grand Prix
and not complain about it to your husband,
which is great.
If you could send my wife some messages,
that'd be great.
And you've got a great car, and it's red.
It's red.
Have you seen any other red electric cars?
There's not many.
No, there's not many.
I was looking at other...
Since we've been listening to the show,
and look, Zika and Polestar,
and that they don't come in red.
Smart hashtag three.
Smart hashtag three.
Come in red.
Volkswagen...
Tesla comes in red.
You get a special red in Tesla.
Volkswagen ID buzz.
Yes.
My son has a red Tesla.
There you go.
Oh, your son has a Tesla.
Wow.
My son has a red Tesla.
Nice.
The thing...
The thing I like probably most about
the driver ability of this
and the interior.
Yeah.
It's just the integration of the dash.
Yeah.
It doesn't look like somebody's stuck
an iPad on, you know, in front of you.
Yeah.
That's true.
Which so many of them do, right?
Yeah, you're right.
They're just...
They just plonk it.
They just plonk a screen in there.
You think back to the old days...
The old days when we had a radio,
and it was in the dashboard, right?
Yeah.
And there was just a bunch of buttons
and some of them were the radio.
And you're right now,
they've rather than putting a screen
into the console,
it's now sitting up and upright.
Yeah, it just sits outside.
It does look a lot of the time.
I think it's...
The Cooper is like that.
The Volkswagen is like that.
I think that's sort of a bit of Tesla influence,
I think.
That's how they started.
But the Ioniq's not like that.
Yeah.
The Ioniq's got a whole bunch of buttons as well.
It's nice.
Yeah, you've got...
The whole bunch of physical buttons.
The Hyundai and Kia,
the sister companies,
they've got that large screen
which feels integrated into the dashboard.
Then there's air conditioning buttons.
Yeah, you can press a button.
There's all that stuff in there for you, isn't it?
Yeah.
All the stuff that you don't want
to scroll through a screen to find
Yeah, absolutely.
is just fingertip.
Well, you'll be surprised.
A lot of people are keen for that exact same thing there.
What's that still, physical feel?
Here and there, you want those physical buttons?
Yeah, that's it.
Kids even like the heated seats in the back.
I bet.
Can't be bad.
I can't be bad.
I can't be bad.
I can't be bad.
You're enjoying the vehicle.
And if we see any great red cars on the road,
we'll make sure that we talk about them
so you know about them, okay?
Yeah.
But it'd take me a lot to get me away
from the IONIQ at the moment.
I can imagine it would.
I'm really, really enjoying it.
Love that you're here for me.
Thanks for getting in touch.
Thanks very much.
Great to chat.
Goodbye.
See you.
No worries at all.
Yeah, I mean, that's love of a car.
That's love of a color too, isn't it?
There's a coming red.
Isn't that funny?
So the inline is sort of above the...
Yeah.
So it's kind of like...
You know how at BMW,
you can get an M3 which souped up?
Sure.
You can also get a three series and an M
which has just got different wheels
and it's kind of...
It might have options that are standard.
Right.
So heated rear seats might be actually
standard on the inline
but an option or not even available
on the basic one.
And then also you need colors.
So you can't get red in the standard IONIQ.
Yeah.
She had to get the inline.
She had to get it.
Wow.
That's the love of a color for you.
Honestly, I respect it.
Yeah.
And she loves the Grand Prix.
And she loves the Grand Prix.
There you go.
I mean, that is...
What a lucky man.
Right?
That's awesome.
Great to have created this company
and we'd love to hear from you as well.
If you want to talk electric cars,
we're happy to hear from you.
Send us a text.
Thanks for voting for it.
Oh, four, double seven,
six, five, seven,
six, five, seven.
Just save us as two blocks
and send us a text whenever you want.
Something comes to mind.
Send us a text.
We'll get you on the show
and you might be to share your knowledge
and wealth of information
with a bunch of other people
who are on the electric journey
either a long way into it,
a short way into it,
or just getting cracking.
We're about to get into it.
Yeah, exactly.
So we'd love to hear from you folks.
Get in touch any time at all
and see if we'll do it all again next week.
I'll be here and again,
happy new year.
Yeah.
We'll kick it off another year.
Yo!
Yeah.
About this episode
Exploring how dealership experiences can significantly impact car purchasing decisions, this episode features engaging discussions with listeners sharing their electric vehicle (EV) journeys. Simon recounts his frustrating test drive experiences, particularly with BYD, which ultimately influenced his decision to purchase an MG5. Derek shares his excitement about his new Geely EX5 and the cost savings of driving electric compared to his Land Cruiser. The hosts emphasize the importance of dealership interactions in shaping buyer choices, highlighting both positive and negative experiences.
Original notes
Caller Simon shares his new car shopping experience and how one dealership's experience was the reason he didn't buy their car. Should you be able to test drive a car on any roads you choose?
Derrick has a new Geely EX5 - why did he pick that and what's it like?
And Querida loves red cars and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (N) is perfect for her!
Be part of the show, simply text 0477 657 657
Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars - The EV Podcast
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