112 - V8 Superutes and Electric Cars?
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47:46
Company
NRMA Insurance
NRMA Insurance is a big insurance company in Australia. They’re talking about how they insure electric cars and how that affects repair shops and services.
Company
UNIDAN Smart Dash Cam
UNIDAN makes dash cams. They’re recommending one that includes a rear camera so you have footage from both the front and back.
Term
wheelbase
Wheelbase is the length of the car measured from the front wheels to the back wheels. A longer wheelbase usually means more room inside and can make the ride feel more stable.
Term
ISOFIX points
ISOFIX is a set of built-in hooks in the car made for child seats. It’s designed so you can click the seat in more easily and more safely.
Term
frunk
A frunk is like a trunk at the front of the car. Because electric cars don’t need an engine up there, you can store things in that space.
Term
captain's chairs
Captain’s chairs are separate seats, not a single bench. Because they’re individual, they can sometimes fold or move to make it easier to get to the back and carry more stuff.
Term
heated and ventilated seats
Heated seats warm you up, and ventilated seats blow air to keep you cooler. It’s a comfort feature that can make a big difference in extreme weather.
Car
Kia Carnival
The Kia Carnival is a minivan built for families. It’s known for having lots of space, including cargo space even when the back seats are up.
Brand
Tesla
Tesla is the electric-car company in this conversation. They’re talking about which Tesla models are coming to Australia first and how they’re being made.
Concept
kilometre range
Kilometre range is how far the EV can go on one full charge. The real number can change depending on how you drive and the weather.
Term
rear spoiler
A rear spoiler is the little wing/spoiler on the back of the car. It can help the car’s shape work better in the air, and it can also be a visual clue to which version it is.
Concept
six-seater
A “six-seater” just means the car can hold six people. In an electric car, that can be tricky because the battery takes up space, so it’s a practical detail people care about.
Term
ludicrous mode
“Ludicrous mode” is a Tesla setting that makes the car feel much faster. It’s basically the “go as hard as possible” acceleration mode.
Term
test drove
A test drive is when you take the car out for a real drive before you buy it. With electric cars, it’s a good way to see how it feels and how far it can go in everyday driving.
Concept
EV
EV means electric vehicle. They’re talking about moving to an electric car and figuring out which one fits their family and lifestyle.
Car
Land Rover Discovery 4
They mention their Land Rover Discovery 4 SUV. It’s the vehicle they use for towing things like a camper trailer.
Concept
range anxiety
Range anxiety just means worrying your EV won’t have enough battery to get where you need to go. It usually shows up when you’re still learning how far your car can go and where charging is available.
Term
V8 petrol gas
That phrase means a car with a V8 engine that burns petrol. It’s the classic “gas car” setup people often compare to electric cars.
Company
Uniden
Uniden is a consumer electronics brand known for products like radar and dash-cam-related devices, and it appears here as a sponsor. Sponsorships like this are common in motorsport to connect brands with racing audiences.
Term
top 10s
“Top 10s” means finishing in the top ten of the race results. It’s a way to measure how well the driver and team are doing.
Term
paddock
The paddock is the team area at a race track. It’s where cars are serviced and where you’ll often see sponsors and team activity.
Term
regenerative braking
When you slow down in an EV, it can “charge” the battery a little instead of just using the brakes. That helps reduce brake wear and improves efficiency.
Brand
Woolworths
Woolworths is a major retail brand that has used electric delivery trucks as part of its logistics operations. Mentioning a mainstream retailer helps illustrate that EV adoption isn’t limited to niche fleets.
Concept
electric delivery trucks
These are delivery trucks that run on electricity instead of fuel. Businesses use them for local deliveries, and they can be cheaper to run and easier to maintain over time.
Term
flux capacitor
The flux capacitor is a made-up part from the Back to the Future movies. It’s the gadget people associate with the DeLorean’s time-travel powers.
Term
plutonium chamber
The plutonium chamber is a fictional “power” part from the Back to the Future movies. It’s not something you’d find in a real DeLorean—it’s part of the story.
Term
88 miles an hour
In the movies, the DeLorean only starts time travel at 88 mph. Here they’re joking about the speedometer and how it relates to that famous number.
Concept
Ghostbusters car
They’re talking about the famous Ghostbusters vehicle from the movies. It’s become a recognizable car project for fans to recreate or modify.
Brand
BYD
BYD is a company that makes electric cars and batteries. They’re saying they want to use BYD parts to turn this car into a fully electric vehicle.
Car
Batmobile
The “Batmobile” is a made-up car from Batman. They’re using it as a fun joke to say the future could be really exciting—especially with electric cars.
Term
electric car
An electric car runs on electricity stored in a battery instead of gasoline. You usually charge it at home or at public chargers, and it can slow down using the motor when you lift off the accelerator.
LIVE
This is Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars with Trevor Long and Stephen Fennig.
Thanks to NRMA Insurance and UNIDAN.
I didn't know which button to push.
You stuffed that up, mate.
I didn't know which button to push.
I was Trevor Long for a moment and you were seeing me.
What's going on?
You wish.
Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars.
Thanks to the great people at NRMA Insurance helping Australians protect what matters most
for over a hundred years and many more to come.
They're also one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles and we've spoken to
them before on the show.
If you want to understand what they are doing in terms of the service industry and the aftermarket,
after repairs industry and those kind of things, go back and listen to those episodes.
And of course UNIDAN Smart Dash Cam, Stephen.
Get a dash cam.
Absolutely.
Get one with a rear camera.
It's your record of what happens on the road and UNIDAN award winning dash cams and get
the model with the R in the name because that stands for rear camera as well.
You want to be covered front and back.
So yeah, check them out.
You know what the R stands for?
Smart dash cams.
Ah, rear.
Rear.
And reassurance.
What about that?
That's the new logo.
That's a new...
Ah, for reassurance.
The new motto.
Yeah.
Now listen, I need to start this week's show with a very important topic and Stephen knows
this very well.
Stephen knows very well over 15 years we've been podcasting together and I've made some
bold claims.
Yeah.
I've made some very bold claims.
Most people will reflect on the 2013, 2014 when I said Apple will never make a big screen
phone.
Yeah, that's famous.
And then they announced the plus.
Thank you very much to the team at Apple for the iPhone 6 Plus.
I predicted it by the way.
For the years of ribbing that Stephen gave me and still continues to give me.
But I lean into that because what it proves is I'm not, I'm an independent thinker, okay?
Now last week, and I just want to make it clear, this show is not live.
If you're watching this on YouTube, it's not live, okay?
We record this.
It was recorded several days ago and in some cases several weeks ago.
Some cases several weeks, okay?
We're very busy people.
Yeah.
Sometimes we record days or weeks in advance, right?
Stack and pack and rack.
Yeah.
So on the weekend Stephen, I was driving around thinking the episode comes out on Monday morning
and I remember what I said in that episode.
I remember vividly what I said and I thought, should I go to the office?
I remember you should too.
Should I go to the office and edit that out?
No, too late.
And I thought, no.
Too late.
Stand by it.
I stand by my feelings.
Now, I want to articulate very clearly to the narks who've commented on this.
What I said, what I said was, it'll never happen, but what I was referring to, and I
said it, was whacking two rear seats in the Model Y.
Yeah, so I don't think we've even mentioned the fact that it's...
No, because I haven't want to get to that.
Because it is, yeah, I remember you saying they'll never let people sit that close to
the back window.
Because in America with the Model S, you could get two extra seats in the back and that was
never a...
The Model S.
Yes.
Really?
Wow.
They were rearward-facing seats very early days.
Right.
Because Elon had so many children, he had to fit them in a car, and this was before the
Model X, I think.
Yeah, right.
So it's a people mover.
When our caller said something about six seats, I said, that'll never happen because
Australian regulations would never allow for it.
Because it was at the time, I think, of recording, it was a rumor that was about to announce it
and it wasn't official yet.
But again, I don't read rumors.
But Trevor just dived headfirst into it and went, boom, said no way.
And lo and behold, Tesla, they've done it.
Model Y.
L. L.
L for long range and L for long wheelbase.
So it's actually bigger car.
It's a bigger car.
So if you go to the Tesla website and, for example, bring up the side-on angle view of
it, you can see very quickly, Stephen, just look at my screen, but people can do this
themselves.
You can see very clearly that it's frankly a vastly different car.
So it's got a bigger rear end.
The wheelbase is, so the, well, if you don't understand cars, wheelbase is the distance
between the front axle and the rear axle.
It's longer, centimetres, right?
And then there's a slightly different configuration to the boot and the boot lid and the roof
so that you can fit in.
And basically, they've put two seats in the rear.
They've made the middle row, what was traditionally the back row captain's chairs.
So there's a walk-through in the middle and therefore it's a six-seat car.
I stand by the fact that you could never put six seats in the original Model Y, but this
is a different Model Y, but good on your Tesla.
Here's the thing.
I think it's a great idea.
At $74,900, I want to be very clear, though, every video I've watched, this is not a six-seater
you can put adults in the back of.
Ain't no adult sitting in that back row.
It's a pretty small space.
Mate, it's no-own importance.
So it's a family.
It's a family.
So you couldn't have grown-ups in that.
I would argue, once you get to teenagers, you're out.
My Harry would probably squeeze in there, but he wouldn't love a long drive in it, because
kids need a little bit of leg room and Jackson would never fit.
And there are ISOFIX points for baby seats in all four of the rear seats, which is awesome.
But again, I go, that's great, but can we just be practical about this for a minute?
Have you ever tried putting a baby in a capsule?
It's bloody hard.
You do it just through the door.
Imagine if you have to lean through, go down a little aisle way, and then lean.
Mate, I'm telling you, that's a nightmare.
So I think booster seats, maybe, is a good one for the third row, baby seats for the
middle row.
I can see the difference, yeah.
It's a smart move.
I'll pay that, because a lot of people do just want that little bit extra.
And to Tesla's credit, and people think I hate them completely, but I do love a couple
of massive things about their design, and that is space.
Frunk and rear boot, unbelievable space.
And in this, there's still the deep, deep...
I was going to say, yeah, so the seats come really far back.
They do, but there's still...
It does...
You've got less boot space than the normal Model Y.
Absolutely.
But the third row can go down.
So it can be down in second row.
So you can get that space back.
Captain's chairs can go down as well.
So you can have the whole thing as a, you know, life flat, if you want.
And look, a lot of little things here.
Like there are heated and ventilated seats in the captain's chairs.
That's a very difficult thing to achieve in an independently moving chair.
But that boot space is still, you know, that really deep boot space?
Yes, yes.
Something that my Kia Carnival had.
So even if you had your...
The Model S had that too.
Even if you had your third row up in the Kia Carnival, so you've got seven seats.
You still had depth.
All your shopping could fit in there.
Even you could even put some luggage.
Yeah.
So they've executed it perfectly to create a lot of space.
Now, this is, I think it's coming to Australia first.
Wow.
Like it's being built in China.
Yep.
As nearly all the Australian Tesla vehicles are.
But I believe Australia is one of the very first markets to get it.
There's only one Model A, Model YL Premium.
That's it.
So the others are just the regular model.
With 680 kilometres of range.
Yeah, that's remarkable.
Dude, forget the third row.
Put those seats down.
Yeah.
And just take it for the range.
Absolutely.
Do you know what I mean?
Like...
So how flush do the seats fold down though?
So...
Look, it's not flush flush, but it's pretty bloody good.
But there's space if you need it.
Yes.
Yeah.
It creates space to, you know, really put things in.
Because the long range Model Y on its own, $68,000 is 600 kilometres range.
Yeah.
680 kilometres range is what you buy.
That's the highest range you can get on the Model Y.
Yeah.
That's one of the highest range you can get in an electric car.
Yeah.
The nearest you get is the Model Y Premium 600 and then the L Premium is 680.
Yeah.
That's right.
I mean, they'd be desperate to crack the 700, wouldn't they?
Yeah.
Desperate to crack the 700 range.
Well, they're getting close.
Yeah.
Like you're looking at, you know, I'm a Mercedes guy, the new CLA Electric, apparently.
He's got this new battery chemistry that they've got that is like they're talking 800
kilometre range on the battery, which is just unheard of.
It's going to be a crazy thing.
Absolutely.
Look, I can see the mark of this and on the road, I think you'll be able to spot it because
it had this, it has a very distinct rear spoiler like it has an extra lip on the on the on
the rear tail.
Yep.
So I think it'll stand out because it still looks very much like it's still the same slick
design that they've the upgraded design, isn't it?
It looks good.
The top of the boot lid kind of just has this little.
Okay.
You'll see that now.
Little lip that I think will be obvious on the road.
That distinguishes it from the others, doesn't it?
Yeah.
You're right, Tuss.
Yeah.
Wow.
And I think the YL badge will be on it as well.
Of course.
Yeah.
Wow.
And you know, that you don't have a lot of people d-badge their Teslas.
You know, back in the day, back in the day, it happened back in your day as well, they
would d-badge them because they gave away the battery size, you know, 75d, 90 and stuff.
People didn't want to know.
I kept mine on there.
I didn't care.
A lot of people didn't want people to know the battery size because that was the range
or they used to keep.
I think it was the 100.
Was it the 100?
Yeah.
They had the ludicrous smoke.
That's right.
So on this one, you'd absolutely wear the YL as a badge of honour because what you're
saying there is you're buying 680K's range.
Yeah.
And more space as well.
Now, $34,000 really starts to push the Model Y price range, but as we were saying earlier,
because we're currently driving a couple of cars, I've got a Hyundai Kona, which is
like $60,000.
What did I say?
$60,000.
You know, that's no any of this, but you know, traditional cars, traditional car brands
are charging this kind of money for EVs.
So this is why Tesla is able to get this conversation going.
You're now selling 680K's range along with the Tesla charging network.
It starts to become super compelling.
What gets close to this in terms of space and range?
Is this a standout or...?
Yeah.
Ranges.
This is absolutely out of the park.
Because that customer who wants more seats and the range, like does the EV9, what sort
of range is the EV9?
The EV9 is a massive car.
It's also nearly 50% more of the car price.
It's a huge, it's a bigger beast, but the EV9 is like $500K's range.
I think $500K to $550K is what you expect from most cars these days, especially cars
of this size.
So, yeah, I mean, it's not like BYD's got a C-line that has six seats.
Yeah.
So, yeah, well, mate, I know that you've got a tenuous relationship with Tesla, your attitude
towards Tesla.
But you've got to hand it to them.
This is kind of a breakthrough vehicle for their family.
I think so.
I think it's probably underplayed in how important it really is.
And look, it was fascinating to read a few of the comments on last week's episodes,
past one of the ones having a go at me.
Because last week we brought up the fuel cost versus the rising cost of fuel versus charging
it home on solar.
And I think there was one person that was like, it's a bit hard to laugh about, you
know, the war going on.
I'm like, just calm down.
We weren't laughing.
We weren't doing that at all.
The thumbnail might have had a bit of a laughing in it, but that's just for fun and
clicks.
But, you know, we were making a point that this is, and I saw this morning on the show,
there was a bloke talking about, you know, big rig trucks going electric and we need
to break our dependence on this.
Yeah, I heard a guy on the radio the other day, actually, a truckie who says, look, I'm
losing money.
I can't afford to run the business anymore.
A couple of comments for the verb says, another great episode.
It'll be interesting to see what uptick there is an EV sales with a fuel cost.
I was asked about this by someone for an article and I said, look, I don't think it's
going to be instant because you don't suddenly overnight go, okay, I'm going to spend
$60,000 on an EV because my fuel costs are going up.
I think it's an incremental change.
I think in three months we might have noticed a slight tick, but I don't think it'll have
a meaningful impact.
I think people looking at petrol prices and that are maybe thinking of a new car, it's
now going to put EV, I think, front of mind.
Like you said, they're not going to go out and buy one tomorrow, but it's going to put
it front of mind or, as I said last week, if they're on the fence thinking, should I
or not, this will I reckon tip them over to the more to the EV side.
Yeah, absolutely.
And there's a lot of people in the comments, by the way, on YouTube with great stories
and I continue to reply to you, send us a text, 0477657657, like to these people, someone
that said, I've been on the EV journey since 2019, full electric home, full electric home
battery.
Our daughter has a BYDC line seven.
Send us a text.
Let's talk.
That's a great story.
Let's talk on the show.
Frost CB2.
I went from three gas cars, an F-150 Corvette and a Honda Odyssey to three electric cars
and now sold on the roof.
Oh, mate.
Get on the line.
What can happen in 18 months, mate?
Hello.
Give us a ring.
What are we doing?
So, yeah, some great commentary there and thank you to the comments like, well, that
tells Tesla YL comment age like sour milk.
That's greatly appreciated.
And yeah, BMW Brennan said, how many hours from Tesla won't release a six-seater to
it being released?
I said it was about 72 hours from the time of recording, legitimately.
I think it was announced on Friday and we recorded on Wednesday.
There you go.
Sorry.
Thanks very much.
What?
Trevor at least had the bravery to get out there with his opinion.
He was terribly wrong, but you know, that's what happens.
I stand by the fact that I was broadly right.
They didn't put seats in the back of the car in one of one.
What I respect about Trevor is if he makes a mistake, he makes it at 100 miles an hour.
He does it.
He just commits to it.
I'm making it ludicrous mode.
That's it.
That's the way you do it, mate.
But seriously, if you've got an EV story to tell, let's have a chat.
It's so much fun talking to and hearing from...
It's better talking to us than in the comments.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And we're nice bikes.
We're happy to have a chat.
Oh, yeah.
We're not going to bite you.
Yeah.
No.
I mean, I might have a go at you, but you'll see how it turns out.
If you drive a Model Y, Trevor might have a crack at you.
Yeah.
If you've purchased or you put your money down for a while, let us know why.
I'd love to know.
Because I'm curious about that rear row and how it's been used.
When are they going to hit the road?
May.
June, they say.
Right.
So people are ordering now not until a couple of months away.
It's only a couple of months away.
Yeah, that's pretty good.
They must be pumping them out in the factory already.
Pretty good.
All right.
0-4-double-7-6-5-7-6-5-7.
Sent us a text.
We'd love to hear from you and get you on the show.
Sue Blake is talking electric cars.
Taking your calls.
Adrian's on the line.
G'day, Adrian.
G'day, guys.
How you going?
May, really good.
We had you on the show before and I think you had a story about a drama with your Mazda
2 getting destroyed by falling windows?
A reminder of that quick story.
Yeah, that was the case.
I had parked behind my work and someone decided they needed some ventilation and they fell
out in their hands and ended up going through the roof of the Mazda 2.
Oh, no.
So at that point.
Is that the car you're replacing or is a different car we're replacing with an EV?
No, that's it.
We decided to move into the EV space after that incident and thought, well, it's about
time and it ended up being worthwhile considering what's going on in the world now.
So what did you look at, mate?
And tell us what, first of all, what you test drove and then reveal what you went with.
All right.
So I test drove an Ato3 on my own and then I was suggesting to the wife that I thought
might be a good idea to go EV and was spruicking that vehicle.
Was that a hard was that hard to convince her, mate?
Was it was she on board from the start or did you have to launch a marketing campaign?
No, she was on board from the start.
She was she was keen to get in that space as well.
Like just we only needed the bigger vehicle, the diesel for towing.
So right in this.
This car was going to be the run around car.
So we ended up I showed her that one and she said, no, that's too small.
So OK.
And we went and had a look at MG, have a look at a few vehicles there.
They also were tied into a Kia dealership.
But we test drove the MG four, which I found that was pretty nice.
So that memory will drive.
So it was nice little different.
Yeah, it was good car.
But then again, it was a bit too bit too cramped to fit the family in comfortably.
So I went looking for other alternatives.
And then we settled on the the EX5.
The Gilly, the Gilly, the Gilly EX5.
That's what was size, price.
What was the thing that really made you stop and not look further?
Well, it was a bit bigger than the others.
It seemed there's certainly a massive amount of space in the back,
even with a tall person sitting in the driver's position.
There is a bucket load of room in the back seats.
So with the kids growing up and you just want to give them a bit of room
so they're not cramped in the back.
So and you're still left with a decent amount of boot space as well.
How many kids you got?
How many?
I've got two, I've got a 15 and he's just overtaken me in height.
So it's so he needs a bit of room.
It doesn't look like stopping and the 12 year old.
Yeah, I mean, we were just we were just talking about the Model Y
long range and you know, at this point of life, you know, you need space
that the kids can use, not just a seat they can sit in.
And that becomes a big, big part of the decision.
So it's a good car, good space in the GLE for sure.
Have you how long have you had it for since we last spoke?
We picked it up in just early January.
So it worked out all right.
So you've had it a couple of months.
So what's give us your early review, mate?
What do you think?
Off found that the drive is very nice.
It's a smooth, smooth drive, quick enough.
It's not a rocket ship, but you know, zero to one hundred and seven seconds or something.
So what do you need a rocket ship for?
That's look, we've had this debate much earlier in the show's life.
But I still I love the fact that you can count those things.
But who needs a rocket ship?
Like, what are we running away from?
So let's be practical.
Yeah, also, your kids are going to drive soon.
I don't want them driving a rocket ship.
Yeah, there's that too.
That's a good point. Yeah.
Absolutely.
So it's it's doesn't have the the front that a lot of others have.
Yeah, it's rare to be a deal breaker either.
And what are you doing at home with charging, mate?
What did what did you what did you start doing?
What have you ended up doing in terms of a charging?
That's through in a granny charger.
Yep. So that that's been fine for us so far.
We've got I don't know if you remember, we had the new solar battery going to be put in.
So that's been done.
Um, so it's been able to be charged off the roof, essentially, so it's working out well.
Right. So that's so good.
You've and especially, as you say, in the current circumstances, which we talked about last week,
you know, people's petrol prices are going up by not just a couple of percent.
They're going up in a big way.
And it all and again, we're not we're not laughing in the face of petrol car owners.
We're just making observations here.
Fact is people that do and a lot of people listening to us who we've spoken to do
spreadsheets on the cost savings of owning an EV.
Those cost savings are now dramatically higher because the fuel cost would have been higher
if you were still in a petrol car.
So you've kind of shaken the grid and the fuel reliance at the perfect time there, mate.
Yeah, it's worked out very well for us.
So, um, yeah, it's a great little car, lovely to drive and gets us where we need to go around Sydney, essentially.
So is it we're not doing any big trips?
You said this is your run around car.
So is there a second car in the family?
And is that potentially going to be an EV in the future too?
Well, I don't know.
We've got a Land Rover Discovery 4, so that does turn your camper trailer and stuff.
So it feels like we're away away from that then.
Yeah, anything you've noticed as an EV owner over three months now,
anything you've noticed that you wish you'd have known beforehand?
Not that you regret or don't like, but we should have kind of learned about beforehand.
Uh, not really.
Um, it's it's been a fairly smooth transition, really.
Um, haven't had too many things to worry about.
We haven't run, you know, shy of juice at all.
So we did in its first week of ownership, we went away camping.
So we had that we had to split the family to get to get us up there.
And the Gilly ended up going all the way up to just beyond Newcastle.
So so that worked out well.
And there was no range anxiety or anything like that.
And we found a local charger to top it up.
And you've nailed it wasn't wasn't a big drama.
Once I think once you get over the people have a bit of apprehension.
First time EV owners thinking, oh, where am I going to charge it?
And that's an apprehension to before they even buy to suffer some people.
But I think once once you get out there, plug that car in and see the
availability of charges and how it all works.
I think you your confidence grows.
Yeah, I did have a drama with the dealership when we went to pick up the vehicle.
So that was an interesting scenario.
What happened then?
We'd both signed the contract and, you know, it was all squared away
and it had the inclusions and we had various little bits
thrown in like your car mats and, you know, we go blowing and things like that.
And there was also at the time, a promotion that Geely were doing,
which was a $2,000 gift card.
So I'm just trying to incentivize people to get moving with the EV space.
But that was conspicuously removed when we picked it up at the contract.
But the final pickup contract.
So yeah, the gift card, the $2,000 gift card.
That's right.
Yeah, no, no, no, it's being factored into the price already.
I said, ah, good luck.
Good try, folks.
I'm tipping.
I'm tipping.
Adrian didn't let him get away with that one.
No, no, there was a bit of chewing and throwing.
I said, well, if you want this car to move away from your lot today,
you're going to have to sort some stuff out.
So we did that.
There was a, you know, they bought out the boss and all that sort of stuff.
And yeah, stuck to my guns, but we got well done.
That's what you're going to do, mate.
Stick to your guns and you factor that into the purchasing of the car.
I'm sorry, folks.
The contract is what the contract says.
You can't change it afterwards.
So good on you for sticking to your guns, mate.
That's the absolute way it should be.
Well, mate, congratulations on the new car, mate.
I went to ring the salesperson the next day, actually.
Yeah, well, that's.
I went to ring the next next day, a ring the salesperson,
but he conspicuously decided to move from that location.
I don't know if he had an issue with his boss.
It's a wow.
He's no longer with the company.
Good luck.
That was the message I got.
Yeah, congratulations.
Enjoy the car and many, many kilometers of fun electric motoring, mate.
Thanks, boys.
Actually, Vos and the initial inquiry as well.
So you really helped out and it's been great
having you guys involved in the decision making process.
Well, that means a lot.
We appreciate it.
And look, if you learn things along the way, teach us
and you'll teach everyone else that's listening to us as well.
So, mate, that's what the show's for.
Beautiful.
Thanks, mate.
Cheers. Thanks for getting in touch.
Great to hear from him there.
And look, that's the thing.
It's like it's so exciting to get a car.
But we look at that little last thing that left a little sour taste.
Little tiny one.
We don't think it'll learn.
You want to you want to, you know, seal the deal.
And, you know, yeah.
Someone said he just had that little, you know,
he's happy with the car, but that little experience.
He's talking about it here on the show.
People are going to hear that.
Yeah, that's that's the way it is, folks.
But if you've got an experience, good or bad, loving a new car,
share the experience with us.
We'd love to hear from you.
Oh, four, double, seven, six, five, seven, six, five, seven, seven.
And it's a text thanks to Vodafone or a WhatsApp if you're overseas.
Plus six one, four, double, seven, six, five, seven, six, five, seven.
I always struggle to say the number without the zero.
It's like, yeah, do you struggle with that when you're going overseas?
Yeah, you've got to.
I say, when you say it out loud, I actually say it in my head.
I go, oh, like I in my head, I'd say the other day, exactly.
Simple life. All right, back after this.
I feel like the look that Steven just gave me that your witness was.
Where's my drink?
Yeah, I was I was reaching for my invisible diet.
And that's fine. That's fine.
Let me be clear.
When you arrive here, you normally arrive with a drink.
And then I I deliver a drink during the day of reporting.
Didn't pack one today.
Well, that information would have been great before.
Yeah, all good. Before you have to complain on camera about it.
OK, anyway, two bikes, talking electric cars.
Great to have you company.
And we love to hear from you as we always say.
Oh, four, double, seven, six, five, seven, six, five, seven.
But our next guest is slightly different.
But you just stick with us here for a minute here.
Stick with me because we're going to we're going to talk throbbing
V8 petrol gas as they call it in the States.
We're going to get we're going to go old school here
because we're joined on the line by Christopher most Christopher
for most of who is V8 super huge driver in the in the super huge series
here in Australia and he's on the line.
Good day, Christopher.
Good day. How is my very good?
You are joining us because you've been backed in 2026 by our great
sponsors, Uniden and Brad and the team at Uniden always love to put
up, put a shine of light on the people that they're supporting.
But more importantly, we'll get to this in a minute.
You do have a solid link to the EB world.
So stick with us, folks, but man, I want to talk racing because I'm the
remedy. What's it like on the on the circuit and how you're feeling
about the year ahead, mate?
Can you deliver some some top 10s for Uniden?
Yeah, well, definitely got to try.
This is my ninth year now racing youths.
So yeah, I'm wrapped wrapped with the series.
I obviously that being in the series for this long, I've always got
to love for the youths and youth racing.
But yeah, I'm really glad Uniden have jumped on board
this year. It's a big, it's a big help because obviously it's not cheap
to go racing, especially in current climate conditions in regards to the
economy and everything else.
So, you know, we enjoy being on the track.
But yeah, at the end of the day, having that support of someone like
Uniden and especially with how helpful they've been and they've really
been, it's almost like a collaboration.
That's been really great when they had the one round, but it was also in the
paddock. Uniden is the perfect sponsor for V8 super youths because
people driving youths, they've got they've got the two way radios,
they've got the big antennas, like it's a Uniden, it's a Uniden audience.
Do you notice that when you're, when you put the stickers on the side of the car,
do you get people coming up to you and actually relating to the brand?
Because I was talking to Brad, you know, he's got Autobahn on the side
of the car as well. They've they've already seen some good results
in terms of, you know, retail turnaround.
Do you notice it in terms of the way people talk to you about the vehicle?
Yeah, of course.
It was a whole purpose of racing, say, dual cab youths, you know,
when they when they made the transition from the old Commodore and Falcon
youths, you might remember, but they wanted it more relatable to the market
because at the end of the day, the, you know, the Ranger,
Hilux, they're all the top selling cars in Australia at the moment.
And because of that, yeah, that's that's where your four drive brands
and off-road and everything else, like UHF business.
So to have Uniden on board, yeah, I find it's so relatable.
People know the brand as well.
So I guess it's all about that that presence in the in the racing scene.
But also, as I said, more than likely, most people are walking back
to their their Ranger in the car park and, you know, they will see the Uniden
Brown and go, hey, like, you know, I'm looking at getting a radio.
And yeah, that works out well.
You're either spending the kids' inheritance to go racing
or you've got a good business backing of your own because, you know,
as much as Uniden support is amazing, I'm sure it's not enough to cover
the total cost of racing.
But I understand you and your dad have or your dad's business
and you're now part of your dad's business, a strong business in Sydney.
But the reason we really wanted to bring on the show is because you also have
a fleet of vehicles that are electrified, both hybrid and fully electric.
I want to understand, is that a decision that you made to save money?
Is it a decision you made because you like being an early adopter?
Why does your business benefit from having EVs or electrified vehicles on the fleet?
Yeah, sure. That's a good question.
So the main reason was obviously fuel costs.
So all our whole fleet up to date has always been diesel diesel single
cab utes with the trays on the back and boxes.
And what we find is, well, diesels were really great,
say 10, 15 years ago, but with all the emission controls and everything else
that you've got to put on the cars, you lose a lot of power.
They chew a lot more fuel now.
Obviously, diesels nowhere near as cheap as what it was.
So, yeah, those are major contributing factors in the push to go to have a look at EVs.
So our main model is, you know, we're trying to work out
how we can get, you know, slowly start taking these diesel utes off the road
and use, say, BYD, these electric cars, the hybrids,
all the full EVs to replace it, the utes and make them service vehicles.
So these are the vehicles that you use.
So you guys have got a business, say,
so automated gates and stuff like that, and these are the cars.
That's right. Yeah.
So these are work vehicles.
Yeah, so we have about 16 techs on the road and we just do the Sydney Basin.
So you can imagine there's a lot of a lot of kilometers being driven,
you know, a lot of highway, highway, stop, start.
And that's another thing.
We have a diesel.
Diesel aren't really designed to be going stop, start in the city.
They're designed for long highway driving.
So so we have things like DPS clog up.
We also you look at, you know, the you have to service a diesel.
Depending on what brand, but every 10 to 15,000 Ks or an EV car,
you can get it almost up to about 20,000 Ks without servicing it.
So the service costs, the less break usage as well, because you with an EV,
you have the electric motor that pulls up.
Yeah, the regenerative braking.
So there is a lot.
It's not just even fuel and the cost of like, you know, less,
less, say, sort or less, less engine components.
But it's also that it's also less mechanical maintenance as well.
So which is fascinating, because a lot of people in business talk about
going electric for the sake of it, you know, to tick a box.
There is the higher cost of the vehicle.
A lot of the time, maybe that's not the case with the shark,
because some of the money that's being spent on these
these youths is quite extraordinary.
But you're saying that as a business, the switch to electrification
has broader savings, whether it's just breaks, whether it's whether it's
the running costs, there's a lot of deep different savings you see.
Yeah, well, that's right.
I think our current saving, I think we're we're down $5,000 a month
just in fuel costs. Wow.
At the moment, because we obviously we have we have a fuel
car, sort of a fuel account without with our technicians and shells on the line
every month going, what's going on? Why do you stop driving?
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
So but yeah, we found even our biggest turnaround was when we we started
putting we replaced one of our diesel diesel trucks like rigid trucks
with a with a full electric truck, the amount of saving fuel.
Yeah. Yeah. So we've we've got it.
We've we've got about five to we're repairing them at the moment.
We've got two actually on the road now, though, which, yeah,
which is in the saving already just in that.
You showed a bit of foresight here to think to go down this path
and you're obviously enjoying the savings.
Was this something that driven by yourself, by your dad, both of you?
Who was the driving? Yeah.
Yeah. So to be honest, my dad, I originally I like the idea of I think
with both my dad and I, we are like with petrol heads.
Like we like we like your traditional motors and whatnot.
And that's what I tell people.
Like we still enjoy a petrol motor or, you know, an old old school classic.
But at the end of the day, like we just want to get into a car and drive it.
And we've at the at the time about 12 months ago, we were trying to jump on to
the, you know, the government incentives we've had with the whole,
you know, Nevada lease and everything else.
And and and and that and just with the whole FBT sort of thing.
If you go hybrid or EV.
So we jumped on that.
And that's what originally gained our interest.
And I guess that's a government incentive for that reason
to try and get people to think the other way.
And so I guess we started thinking the other way and going, OK, yeah,
we can see the benefit in saving some money in the tax tax time for that reason.
But then once we got on and we actually started driving these
hybrids and electric cars, we thought, wow, these are actually,
you know, there's a bit of a stigma.
But I think when people people that have that stigma haven't actually driven one.
And as I said, you can always appreciate, you know, a petrol car.
And, you know, then they're here to stay as well.
There's still always going to be petrol cars.
But at the end of the day, you've got to appreciate that there's newer
technology as well now and a lot safer as well.
Absolutely. Wow.
And you'd be a great example to other businesses who are thinking maybe
of electrifying their fleets as well and the cost savings speak for themselves.
Do you get that from other businesses, those questions?
To be honest, I haven't.
Well, we haven't really spoken to too many other businesses about it.
So it's just something that we've been doing.
Keep your cards close.
Yeah, you know, we're all for it.
Like, you know, Dave, people always have questions.
And, you know, and that's the whole purpose of this podcast,
to kind of get the word out.
Absolutely. Yeah.
They're going to be here now.
Yeah, like I know some of the big businesses, like, you know, you have
companies like Woolworths, for example, they have their small trucks.
Yeah, they've been doing that.
So some of our trucks that we bought are the X-Wolf trucks.
So then we've put a tray on the back, taking the cooling fridge off
and away we go.
So like the some of the big businesses have done that, I think, which is great.
And just for a second, it's pretty wild to realize that Woolworths
went to electric delivery trucks and they've gone.
They've been at it so long, they're in their second generation of them,
essentially, because you've you've you're getting their second hand vehicles.
They would have done, you know, 40,000, 100,000 K's or something.
That's right.
So yeah, we yeah, that's right.
So I know that, yeah, well, at least two of the trucks, the smaller ones
we have are definitely because we had the cooling backs off them.
But yeah, other than that, the they've been running them for a while now.
And obviously, they've been they've been running these trucks.
And, you know, I don't I don't obviously work for them.
So I have no idea of the ins and outs of what their benefits have been.
But I know that as a small business, we're definitely seeing the benefits.
And I'm sure they would be on a bigger margins.
I'm the biggest thing for me.
Last question, really, is how are you charging these things?
Because do they all come back to base or are they kind of run by the drivers?
And how are you how are you maintaining charge?
I mean, obviously, the the the the shark is is easy because it's
quite a small battery, quick charge.
But what's the process for that?
Yeah, so that's how that's a great question, because that's our biggest
challenge at the moment.
So at the moment, most of the EV vehicles that we have, they're actually
they they're technician, but also they work within the factory as well.
So and the trucks are based at the factory in Engelburn every night.
So what what we do is we've actually convert the whole roof is pretty much solar.
So we're generating our electricity here.
We have battery banks here as well that we pulled out of EV cars
and put onto the building to be able to store the electricity to charge these cars.
But yeah, that's a great question, because realistically, our our biggest
challenge next is how do we how do we charge?
Say, if we convert a full time technician that lives in, say,
you know, Hurstville, how do we get his car to charge at night?
Because at the end of the day, a lot of a lot of our technicians don't
actually live in apartment blocks and they don't actually have a parking spot.
But you know, one that has a power supply.
So we you know, you have the BP, I know BP pulse, they have fast charge.
You have the Tesla superchargers as well.
But that's not time is money.
It's time.
Yeah, we found that, you know, 20 minute charge gets you get you enough
because you have you have at least a 500 kilometer range loaded up, which is great.
So you can drive around for a day or two.
But the thing is, we got to remember, like, our technicians are going
to 10, 15 jobs a day around Sydney.
So if they run out of charge or need to find a back a charger
and they have to get to an urgent job because the doors start closing, people
locked inside sort of thing, that's that's that's our biggest challenge.
So yeah, we just got to we got to work out, you know, that that next step.
But yeah, at the moment, we're producing pretty much all most of our electricity.
So we're not actually paying for any of the power to actually charge.
It's great genius.
But before before we let you go, I understand that you guys have a very deep
love of cars. In fact, you, you and your dad and your company own some movie cars.
Am I right?
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah. So I think I started the bug and my dad kind of got carried away.
But you're back in the day.
So we'll go back to, I guess, 2009.
I think the GFC hit.
I was only about 15 and at the time and I know my dad was interested
in bringing some cars across because, you know, the dollar was really good back then.
So but yeah, I came across to start off with it was a DeLorean.
So my first car was a DMC.
Honestly, well, I still have to today.
I bought it for eight thousand, eight thousand Australian dollars.
And yeah, it was we brought it over in a container.
And then from there, you know, we started buying more DeLoran's at one stage.
We had about six of them. What?
And then that yeah.
And that's when then we found a kit from Knight Rider.
You know, the, you know, with the full nose cone, the light on the front
was the LED light going on back and forth.
Exactly. Yeah. It's got all that sort of stuff.
And so then, yeah, still, still got it.
Then we got the then we converted one of the time, the DeLoran's to a time machine.
So I've just Googled, I've just got your last name is foremost.
So I've just Googled for most about that.
And I found a photo of you. I'm assuming it's you standing next to me.
Probably me, the Batmobile, Kirby, the Scooby Doo Man.
Have you still got all those?
Yeah, we've still got them all. So what do you do with it?
You take it to shows that you've rent them out or what do you just derive it?
What do you do with them all?
Originally, because I'm 31 now.
I'm actually getting married next week.
So what are you driving to the wedding?
What is it? The Batmobile, mate?
You're going to drive to the wedding or?
I'm actually leaving in Herbie.
So, yeah, so. Herbie, the Volkswagen.
But mate, congratulations. That is.
That's amazing, mate.
We need photos and Stephen.
But frankly, we'll both take a tour.
I need pictures of, yeah, and I'd like to drive them.
And honestly, isn't it weird?
Herbie is the one that gets me the most. Herbie.
Herbie goes to Monte Carlo.
I love the idea of Herbie, little love bug.
And Stephen's probably pretty keen on the DeLorean or the Batman.
DeLorean, yeah.
Well, it helps being a mechanic and electrician, as I said,
like I've been able to, with the time machine, wire everything up.
Time machine.
Even with Herbie, like you have the I've put the pneumatic arms in it.
So that the doors open and close and you can run it all off remote.
So have you got have you get it out the DeLorean with like the flux capacitor
and all that stuff in it as well?
It's got the flux capacitor, the plutonium chamber.
So, mate, so when you hit 88 miles an hour, does you see some serious shit or what?
It's funny, the speedo, and they give it to 85.
So it's funny.
That is, mate. Wow.
We're going to come out there.
The two bikes are coming out there.
That's official. Yeah, that is wild.
Yeah, awesome thing.
Well, our next project you might be interested in then is
so we've got the 59 Cadillac Miller Meteor Hurst.
So if you don't know what that is, that's the Ghostbusters car.
Yes, I've got the Lego version, but that's about it, mate.
Lego is as good as I can do.
So we're doing that and we're hoping that she put a BYD motor.
You're building from that car, the Ghostbusters ambulance,
but with BYD electrification.
Exactly, so it's going to be fully EV.
We have to come out and see this, mate.
That's our next challenge.
That's a story in itself, that one.
That's amazing.
Yeah, it would be very cool.
So, yeah.
Well, mate, congratulations on the Super Utes, mate.
Enjoy it.
It's obviously a little passion and you love it.
We hope you have great success and you represent the Uniden brand and my EFT brand.
Thank you very much for putting that sticker on the car, too.
And, mate, congratulations on being, as Stephen said,
so, so much of an early adopter in this EV space,
which is benefiting the business, no question at all.
And, mate, what an awesome little life
your kids of the future are going to have
when dad brings them to school in a Batmobile one day and her be the next.
Exactly, yeah.
No, no, it's awesome, yeah.
Mate, thanks for speaking with me, mate.
Good luck.
No worries.
Thank you.
Awesome, cheers, mate.
Thanks so much.
No chatting.
Yeah, brilliant.
Thank you, mate.
Cheers. Wow.
What an awesome story.
You know what we feel, mate?
We are going out there with cameras that will be part of the show.
So part of the YouTube show.
We're going to go out there and have a look at them.
What do you reckon?
Honestly, I desperately want to go out there doing that.
Mate, I don't know how many cars they've got.
Wow.
It's wild.
We're going. That's it.
We're going.
You are going to lose your mind.
Scooby-Doo, man.
Yeah.
Chicks are hazard.
I just want to sit in the DeLorean.
Just get a photo.
He's an electrician.
Like, what?
I bet he has all the season mechanic as well.
He's a mechanic and electrician.
So he's got everything you need to make.
They are building the Ecto.
They're building the Ghostbusters car.
How good is that?
That's awesome.
I built it out of Lego.
Out of Lego.
Well, I built the DeLorean too out of Lego.
Christopher's dad, Michael, I'll be like,
yeah, I built myself an Ecto as well.
I'm like, yeah, I built the DeLorean.
He'll be like, yeah, in Lego.
Well, that was awesome.
Thank you for hooking us up to Brad at Uniden.
And congratulations to Uniden on supporting them,
because that's what they're doing to keep them going
so they can keep pushing through the series
and hopefully get some success for the team themselves
and for Uniden.
But what a great, just what a great bike.
It's just amazing.
What a great, what a great life he's got.
He's obviously a very close family.
It's these moments where I realize I've got nothing.
And also my kids, what are you doing?
He enjoys it.
What are my kids doing?
Keep doing it, yeah.
They're not building batmobiles.
They've got a family.
That's a family business.
That's the family business.
So foremost, you know, it's a European family.
Yeah, that's the family's everything.
All right, well, thanks for joining us, Christopher.
And good luck with your batmobile.
That's a wrap on Two Blake Story Electric Cars.
We'd love to hear from you.
Of course, if you've got batmobiles, send us a note.
But if you've just got an electric car,
you don't have to have a batmobile or a Herbie.
You just have an electric car that you love
for one month or 10 years.
Or a thinking about electric cars as well.
We'd love to help you on the journey
as with Adrian, who, you know,
like genuinely appreciated the input.
No, I don't know where it is.
I feel like we get messages on so many different platforms
that I don't know where they are sometimes to find them.
But I did get a message from someone who had just purchased,
I'm going to quickly look for it here.
I think it might have been on WhatsApp.
They just purchased in New Zealand a JQ, J5.
And they also credited us with, you know,
leading them down that path.
He's confident.
I think it's going to, I'm going to say it's a Vaughan, yes.
Hey, fellas, use your podcast during our research journey
over the last two weeks.
Found the banter useful and the J5 review helpful.
Nice.
Pulled the trigger today, subject to test drives.
And he said in brackets, you guys didn't like
the twitchy pedal or hard region.
Seen not driven as vehicles still in delivery mode,
had to sweet talk the salesman to get an early delivery
to their show as it only just landed.
I'm told we'll be the first J5 owners in New Zealand.
Happy days now to figure out how to drill a hole
in the key for a ring.
Yeah, that's right.
It's got this.
I bet you any money on Timu or Ali Baba or Amazon,
I bet you there's a thing.
Or if you've got a 3D printer like we have,
just 3D print a little.
You offering a 3D printer key holder for Vaughan?
Yeah, why not?
What, so that's the Geely, the Geely?
No, the JQJ5.
The JQ, sorry, JQ, yeah, yeah.
I'll have a go.
Yeah, give it a crack.
Yeah, give it a crack.
Well, congratulations on your new car Vaughan
and we'll get in touch and see if we can get you on the show
and have a chat about it.
But yeah, love to hear about your EV journey
no matter where you are at in that space.
Steven, let's do it all again next week.
See you then.
About this episode
The hosts kick off with a playful “prediction vs reality” moment after Trevor claims Tesla would never fit extra seats in the Model Y—then Tesla announces the Model Y Long Range/Long Wheelbase with a third row and six-seat layout. They debate real-world practicality (mostly for kids, not adults), ISOFIX use, and how the added space affects boot capacity. Range and value get compared against other EVs. Fuel-price talk continues, with the hosts arguing EV demand shifts won’t be instant. Two listener stories follow: an EV transition to a Geely EX5 and a business fleet electrification case with major fuel savings. The episode ends with a V8 Superutes driver, Christopher Forstner, discussing racing sponsorship and electrified work vehicles.
Original notes
Trev admits that Tesla's 6 seater is a cracker, but perhaps not for the number of seats.
Adrian calls in with the story of his new Geely EX5
And we talk to Uniden's new Superute driver. We discover his business saving big bucks from moving to electrified vehicles - plus his amazing movie car collection!
Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars - The EV Podcast
Trevor Long and Stephen Fenech
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47:46