Australia’s EV market keeps climbing: EVs hit a record 14.5% share of new car sales (about 15–16k units), with BYD surging to third-best brand status thanks to strong Atto and other models. The hosts debate how much the Iran/fuel disruption is driving demand versus a longer upward trend. Listeners share real ownership stories: a BYD Atto 2 order timed around the chaos, a long-time EV advocate’s spreadsheet-backed running costs and solar charging strategy, and a family weighing the Zika 7X. The show also reviews the Hyundai Kona Electric’s simplified “premium-but-practical” pitch.
A record number of Electric Cars were sold in March 2026 but is it because of the Fuel Price Crisis or just strong demand?
We hear from Enrique about his new Atto 2, David's been planning for EVs for longer than we know about them, and now drives a Mach-E GT
Plus Matt's new Zeekr 7X! Exciting times!And we review the Hyundai Kona all-ElectricBe part of the show, text or WhatsApp 0477 657 657
"...you get a lot of stock happens to Tesla as well right so you can't say that BYD is going to sell 7,000 next month ... now again Tesla has their ebbs and flows ..."
They mean sales go up and down month to month. A big reason can be simple timing—how many cars actually arrived at dealers to be sold.
“Ebbs and flows” here refers to the natural ups and downs in monthly sales caused by supply timing—how many vehicles are in stock when customers are ready to buy. For EVs, this can be heavily influenced by shipping schedules, port delays, and how manufacturers allocate inventory.
"...huge result huge result to be the number three car brand in Australia it does and the Model Y was the the number three car in Australia behind the Hilux yeah ..."
The Tesla Model Y is a popular electric SUV from Tesla. Here they’re talking about how well it’s selling in Australia, which matters because it’s one of Tesla’s biggest money-makers.
The Tesla Model Y is Tesla’s compact crossover SUV and one of the most important EV volume sellers globally. In this segment, it’s referenced as Australia’s third-best-selling car overall, showing how critical Model Y demand is to Tesla’s market share.
"...the Model Y was the the number three car in Australia behind the Hilux yeah and itself sold 2800 ..."
The Toyota Hilux is a very popular pickup truck. They mention it to show where the EVs rank compared to the biggest-selling non-EVs.
The Toyota Hilux is a long-running best-selling pickup truck used as a benchmark for overall (not just EV) sales. Mentioning it alongside EV rankings highlights how EVs are still competing against mainstream volume models.
"...and itself sold 2800 the Model 3 is down the list hey hasn't it hasn't that that's the fourth best selling electric vehicle yeah fourth best yeah wow ... in the Model 3 at only 677 sales now again Tesla has their ebbs and flows ..."
The Tesla Model 3 is Tesla’s electric sedan. They’re saying it sold fewer units in that month, but they think it’s more about when cars arrived than people losing interest.
The Tesla Model 3 is Tesla’s mainstream electric sedan and typically competes on price, range, and charging convenience. The speakers note it dropping in the monthly rankings, which they attribute to Tesla’s shipping/stock timing rather than demand disappearing.
"that's the fourth best selling electric vehicle yeah fourth best yeah wow behind the C-Lines the Model Y the C-Line 7 the Zika 7X don't we get some messages about that well that I can remember the calls we had and it was a really highly anticipated model and a lot of people jumped in"
The Sealion 7 is an electric car. The podcast mentions it because it’s selling in high numbers, described as one of the top-selling EVs. That’s why it comes up in a discussion of what people are buying.
The Sealion 7 is an electric vehicle referenced as one of the top-selling EVs, described as “the fourth best selling electric vehicle.” In a podcast about electric cars, that kind of ranking matters because it signals mainstream demand and availability. The discussion also places it in a list alongside other popular EV models.
"...both in sales and also just a forward shipments on the long the long wheelbanks model Y so you've only got so much space on a ship ..."
Ships can only carry so many cars. If a company sends more of one model first, other models might not arrive in time to sell that month.
“Space on a ship” refers to limited shipping capacity for vehicles in transit. If a manufacturer prioritizes certain models or routes, other models may arrive later, which can temporarily depress monthly sales even if demand remains steady.
"...good numbers and that was that's really competitively priced too I think that's like 40 grand wasn't it under I think it was like 36 on the road ..."
“On the road” price is the total amount you pay to get the car ready to drive. It’s usually more than the base price you see advertised.
“On the road” (OTR) price is the total cost to register and drive the car, typically including taxes, registration, and dealer delivery fees. Comparing OTR prices helps listeners understand real affordability rather than just the sticker price.
"you look at that list actually that we just read out Kia is the only traditional brand on there ... Kia's you know doing good numbers on all their models"
Kia is a car company that sells lots of different cars, including electric ones. When people talk about EV sales, Kia matters because it can sell many EVs across different models.
Kia is a major South Korean automaker that sells both traditional internal-combustion vehicles and battery-electric cars. In EV sales discussions, Kia is often highlighted because it has a broad lineup and can move meaningful volume as EV demand grows.
"I mean it's remarkable and Kia of like I looked at Hyundai's numbers and they're quite low in overall"
Hyundai is a big car brand that also sells electric vehicles. When they compare Hyundai’s numbers to Kia’s, they’re talking about which company is selling more EVs.
Hyundai is a major South Korean automaker with an EV lineup and a large overall sales footprint. Comparing Hyundai’s unit sales to Kia’s in an episode helps listeners understand how different automakers are performing in the early EV market.
"I think they're there as a spike not a not a consistent at any one time there'd be a good"
“Spike not a consistent” means things might jump up for a short time, but it may not keep improving at the same pace. The key is whether the trend continues.
A “spike not a consistent” pattern means EV interest or sales may jump temporarily rather than steadily increasing month after month. Listeners should treat short-term records cautiously and watch whether the trend holds over multiple months.
"[514.8s] let's ask you if you this is your first [514.8s] electric car Enrique yes it is and did you pull the trigger"
“First electric car” highlights the learning curve for new EV owners—especially around charging planning, range expectations, and day-to-day habits. It also affects how much reassurance buyers need before committing.
"reputation and the infrastructure and everything that comes with the brand but also the BYD just ... it was really those two brands ... Tesla and the BYD were the two ones that sort of had that had that backing"
BYD is a big Chinese car company that makes electric cars and batteries. People compare it to Tesla because they’re both trying to sell EVs at competitive prices.
BYD is a major Chinese automaker known for building both battery technology and EVs. In EV shopping conversations, BYD often comes up alongside Tesla because they compete on price, model range, and dealership/service presence in some markets.
"I live up here on the Hunter Valley ... the weather here is has the extremes of quite"
Extreme weather can affect EV range and charging behavior due to battery temperature management and changes in energy demand. The speaker mentions living in the Hunter Valley with weather extremes, which is relevant context for how they’re evaluating charging and real-world usability.
"yeah you said you live up in the Hunter Valley there
[842.2s] there'll be plenty of public charges too you could have access to they are slowly they are slowly
[849.3s] building more"
Public charges are charging stations you can use outside your home. If there are more of them nearby, it’s easier to top up when you can’t charge overnight.
Public charging refers to EV charging stations available outside the home, typically at shopping centers, along highways, or in towns. The speaker notes that more are being added, which can reduce reliance on home charging if your schedule changes.
"I remember going up to the Hunter Valley
[859.8s] we went we went to see Midnight Oil in concert up in the up up in the Hunter and I had I had the
[866.6s] Tesla gave me the Model X to drive up there this is I'm talking this is 2017"
The Tesla Model X is an electric SUV. They’re using it as an example of what it was like to drive an EV on a trip back in 2017.
The Tesla Model X is a battery-electric SUV known for its long-range capability and distinctive falcon-wing doors. Here it’s mentioned as the car the speaker drove in 2017, illustrating real-world EV use for travel to events and wineries.
"you've got finance right they're actually selling the car so get that paperwork done mate
sign it up and I'm sure you'll get a delivery date real quick"
“Delivery date” is the scheduled day the buyer actually receives the EV. The segment ties delivery speed to how fast finance paperwork clears and how quickly the dealer can finalize the sale.
"no if you want to talk electric cars like Enrique 0-4-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
[1066.7s] there it is Steven Fennick at his best uh two books talking electric cars thanks to"
That string is just a phone number for the show. It’s not related to cars—it's how you can call or text in.
This looks like a phone number being read out for the show’s call-in/text-in line. Listeners should treat it as contact info rather than an automotive term.
"um we as a group in the automotive industry got together with the task force with the
[1120.5s] FCAI set the AI and um put together a roadmap really crafting up what needs to be done for"
A “task force” is a coordinated group formed to tackle a specific problem—in this case, EV adoption and planning. The guest describes industry and organizational collaboration to define what Australia needed to do.
"it it drives so nice it's powerful and that's probably the 2d version which is you know a few
[1243.0s] kilowatts there gets up and boogies really acceleration power is amazing"
Acceleration is how fast the car can get up to speed. EVs often feel strong because they deliver power quickly from a stop.
Acceleration is how quickly the vehicle speeds up, typically influenced by motor power, torque delivery, traction, and vehicle weight. The speaker calls it “amazing,” tying performance feel to EV motor characteristics.
"I was waiting and you know I was looking for the vehicle the grid you know looking
[1270.7s] for great chemistry to have over 500k range"
Battery chemistry refers to the specific type of lithium-ion cell chemistry used in an EV pack, which affects energy density, charging behavior, longevity, and cost. The speaker’s “great chemistry” comment shows they were thinking beyond just the car’s name—toward what’s inside the battery.
"you're talking about charging before regardless you never top you never basically go from you know flat 10 percent or zero to 100 percent you always just top up you know 40 70 during a day whatever every second or third or fourth day you just top up"
The speaker describes a “top-up” charging habit—charging in smaller increments (e.g., 40–70%) rather than regularly charging from very low to very high battery levels. This approach can align with battery longevity goals and everyday convenience.
"“the one pedal drive system in that was fantastic… my real issue with it was the lack of one pedal drive… Zika has one pedal drive…”"
It’s a driving mode where you can slow down just by lifting off the accelerator. That means you use the brake less, which can feel easier in stop-and-go traffic.
One-pedal drive is an EV driving mode where lifting off the accelerator slows the car using regenerative braking, often allowing you to drive and stop with minimal brake pedal use. It changes how the car feels day-to-day and can make traffic driving easier and smoother.
"...I'm told from the Zika guys that their charger doesn't actually it won't charge from the house battery or the solar panels that actually charges directly from the grid..."
That means the car is pulling power from the public electricity supply instead of using your solar or stored power. It can change both your charging cost and how much renewable energy you use.
“Charging directly from the grid” means the EV charger draws electricity from the utility supply rather than from solar/battery storage. This matters because it affects charging cost and whether you can maximize “green” energy usage.
"...or just from the panel you need to find a sparky you need to find a sparky who's done many EV installations yeah so the two the two brands..."
They’re saying you should hire an electrician who knows EV charging setups. That matters because the charger has to be wired and configured correctly to work with your solar/battery.
“EV installations” refers to the professional work of setting up home charging—wiring, charger placement, and integration with solar/battery systems. The speaker emphasizes finding an electrician experienced with EV installs because compatibility issues can affect charging behavior.
"...routing power basically we can in our app I can sit here if my wife was charging and it was a cloudy day I can click a button it goes boom"
The speaker mentions using a smartphone app to control charging, including when charging is happening and how power is sourced. App-based control is a common EV charging feature that helps owners optimize costs and solar usage.
"but yeah just sparky is actually the key thing there because it's how it's how it's wired into your switchboard that matters most"
Your switchboard is the main electrical panel in your home. The EV charger and battery have to be connected correctly to it so everything works safely.
The switchboard (electrical panel) is where your home’s circuits are distributed and protected. For EV charging and home batteries, how the charger/battery is wired into the switchboard affects safety, performance, and whether the system can be controlled properly.
"it's got a maximum range about the 500k which is heat which is decent you can charge up to 80 percent from 10 to percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes"
They’re talking about stopping at about 80% battery. EVs usually charge slower near the top, so 80% is often a good balance of speed and range.
Charging to 80% is a common EV best practice because many EVs charge fastest at lower states of charge and slow down as the battery fills. It can also help reduce time spent at the charger versus charging to 100%, while still providing plenty of daily range.
"you can charge up to 80 percent from 10 to percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes which is a bit longer than your other other models"
This is the time it takes to charge the battery from low to a fairly full level. Charging is usually faster in the middle, and slower when you get near full.
This describes a typical fast-charging window: charging from 10% to 80% state of charge. The key idea is that EV charging speed is not linear—charging is usually quicker in the middle and slower as you approach higher percentages.
"[2455.9s] that simplicity which is what you want but in this vehicle it's a what 12.3 inch screen which is decent"
That 12.3-inch screen is the car’s main display for things like maps, music, and settings. On an EV, it can also show how much battery you’re using.
A 12.3-inch infotainment display is a large, tablet-like screen used for navigation, media, and vehicle settings. In EVs, it often also shows charging status, energy usage, and driver-assistance information.
"[2461.9s] yeah seven airbags that's got all the safety features 17 inch alloy wheels"
These are the wheels on the car, made from alloy metal. The 17-inch size can change how smooth the ride feels and what kind of tires it uses.
Alloy wheels are lighter and often look more premium than steel wheels, and the “17 inch” size affects ride comfort and tire sidewall height. Wheel size can influence efficiency and how the car feels over bumps.
"[2528.0s] got now yeah cracking car really enjoyed it the Hyundai Kona fully electric is well worth a look"
The Hyundai Kona is a small SUV shape. This “fully electric” version runs on a battery instead of petrol, and the point here is that it’s meant to be easy to live with day to day.
The Hyundai Kona is a compact SUV, and the “fully electric” version is Hyundai’s battery-electric take on that crossover formula. In this segment, they’re discussing it as an easy-to-live-with EV option, including its charging simplicity and everyday usability.
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This is Two Blokes talking electric cars with Steven Fenwick and Trevor Long thanks to NRMA
Insurance and UNIDEN. Great heavy company we love the support of our great sponsors NRMA Insurance
helping Australians protect what matters most for 100 years and many more to come and they're
also one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles and also UNIDEN smart dashcamps.
If you've got a car you should have a dashcam. Doesn't matter whether it's electric or not,
if you've got an electric car in the driveway and then a gas guzzler they should both have
dashcamps just for your own peace of mind dashcam love around. Get the R model, the rear camera
so you get both front and rear cameras. We've got a bunch of calls coming up on the show,
we are also going to talk about the Hyundai Kuna we've been driving but first up before we get
to our call Steven let's talk electric car sales for last month, it's the start of April
it's the middle of April now but as the month ticks over we get last
month's sales numbers for all vehicles now all vehicles down in sales so there's only 105,000
cars sold compared to 108,000 last year that's still a big number let's be clear we're still
selling a million cars a year here in Australia but the headline here for everyone is that EV
sales reached a record both percentage and number 14.5% of new vehicle sales where electric vehicles
over 15 nearly 16,000 cars that figures double the same the share in the same month last year
so making some progress and I think there's the they're always on an upward trajectory but I think
the fact that there's you know this this the war in Iran and the fuel issues that's I think got a
lot of people off the fence and into an EV and look I think the other headline here is that
BYD is not just doing well they're doing very well they're about Sol Tesla once again they
just forget electric cars for a minute because obviously BYD has a bunch of hybrid electric cars
plug-in hybrids BYD is the third biggest selling car brand in Australia last month wow Toyota 16
and a half thousand cars Kia 7,320 and I'm very specific there for a reason BYD 7,217 they are
100 cars and a bit away from being the number two car brand in one month yeah that's extraordinary
one of the things that happens with especially with electric car brands and these new Chinese
brands is they don't have the they don't have the flow of vehicles coming into the country like
Toyota and Kia they don't have the I guess the history to be able to scope out and spec what
they're bringing into the country on a boat so you get these ebbs and flows you know you get a
lot of stock happens to Tesla as well right so you can't say that BYD is going to sell 7,000
next month and I don't think any car company would be judging themselves on the monthly
numbers they're looking at the the whole year etc but based on those figures you'd think that
they'd be getting their logistics right huge result huge result to be the number three car brand
in Australia it does and the Model Y was the the number three car in Australia behind the
Hilux yeah and itself sold 2800 the Model 3 is down the list hey hasn't it hasn't that
that's the fourth best selling electric vehicle yeah fourth best yeah wow behind the C-Lines the
Model Y the C-Line 7 the Zika 7X don't we get some messages about that well that I can remember
the calls we had and it was a really highly anticipated model and a lot of people jumped in
on it I'm still getting texts from people saying I'm picking mine up on Friday or whatever it might
be and that's the in the Model 3 at only 677 sales now again Tesla has their ebbs and flows and
they probably prioritized a lot of their shipment last month yeah both in sales and also just a
forward shipments on the long the long wheelbanks model Y so you've only got so much space on a ship
but the other one that I think's amazing is the Geely EX5 yeah that's up there it's 605
just below the Model 3 yeah yeah can you're doing very well the EV5 the Atto 2 are pumping
beautifully there for BYD the Jku J5 that's a surprise too yeah good numbers and that was
that that's really competitively priced too I think that's like 40 grand wasn't it under I think
it was like 36 on the road which for for what you're getting well I think we commented at the time
we said wow that's that's a lot of bang for your buck 100% yeah the Atto 1 is is starting to pump
out at 488 cars and then it goes down the MGS5 the Atto 3 and the Kia EV3 so Kia has got one
two in there okay yeah and that's I think the list where Reading is in the top 10 it's just a
top list but yeah look you know Kia is I think doing pretty well but there's a mounting like if
you look at that list actually that we just read out Kia is the only traditional brand on there
I don't class MGS a traditional brand even though they've been around here for longer but you're
saying that the the brands that are Tesla that just BYD, Zika, Geely, Amona, Jku. Kia is the
other first one yeah I mean it's remarkable and Kia of like I looked at Hyundai's numbers and
they're quite low in overall like just individual unit sales yeah Kia's you know doing good numbers
on all their models and they've got that wide range as well we've always said they've got a good
range they've got good options for customers so the other thing you don't have in these early
numbers and they do get broken out at times I've actually asked Hyundai for this number is we don't
have a breakdown of certain like the Kona which we'll talk about later yeah it's sold in petrol,
hybrid and electric there's 2,600 of them sold but what was the breakdown yeah right okay it's
likely that 2,000 of them were petrol you know yeah of course of course but we'll see if we can get
that breakdown okay but good numbers and a big win now I'll say this I don't think it's the fuel
crisis well I think it's too early for the fuel crisis to have this kind of impact maybe maybe
but no but like I said before they were always there was always an upward trajectory of sales
it was trending upwards anyway but yeah and I think so what you're saying that the fuel
dramas and the war will be reflected in what next month's numbers I think the next three months is
where you'll really see those numbers so think about it for a minute okay now we talked a couple
weeks ago about NRMA while we were recording sent out some numbers they sent out additional numbers
42% increase in month-on-month February to March in electric vehicle quotes they've given yes
year on year 81% increase wow right yeah now that's quotes you know if you if fuel prices
are going up how many people just have 40 50 grand sitting around or finance ready to just go on by
a car so I think there's there might be a thousand cars or more in this in these numbers but I don't
think the ones with these numbers yeah are because of the fuel crisis I think that demand is yet to
come I think I'll call it I reckon we could get to 20% in one of the coming months perhaps yeah but
I think they're there as a spike not a not a consistent at any one time there'd be a good
number of of buyers waiting to pull the trigger test driving waiting we do talk to a lot of people
don't we who are basically ready but haven't decided they just would need us to sort of help
them with the last that's the last bit of the maybe the fuel crisis tipped them over the edge
you reckon and we're absolutely today yeah and they're just thinking okay well that's mine
may help them make their decision all right well we'd love to hear from you if you pull the trigger
in March because of the fuel crisis I'm serious so what was that timing process and how hard was
it to find the car you wanted was it in the dealer was it in the yard ready to go oh four
double seven six five seven six five seven send us a text thanks to Vodafone we'll get you on the
show and we'll have a talk about it all right speaking of calls let's go to calls Enrique's
on the line today mate how you doing I'm very well how are you guys very very well you're a
BYD owner mate uh soon to be soon to be excellent I think the there's been a bit of a delay I think
as we you guys spoke before it's all about what's happening overseas and struggle with
fuels so it seems like maybe my order has been included with all that chaos but at the moment
just patiently waiting so how long ago did you place the order Enrique I placed my order in early
March so I was I was trying to get my head around there I think it may have been the first or second
day after the uh the big chaos started in Iran right yeah I looked that up this morning it was
kind of late February the 28 27th February which is the last day yeah so anything in March you
could blame on the fuel crisis but I just I mean well let's ask you if you this is your first
electric car Enrique yes it is and did you pull the trigger because of the fuel crisis or was it
just coincidental timing you were already in the market ready to buy it was all coincidental I've
been studying this for a plenty years and like everything I tend to do I'm quite hesitant and
not willing to pull the trigger and the opportunity came I think I've got a
I've got a Suzuki Swift that is running at uh 380,000 k's wow and the opportunity came
so what what was it that drew you to the add-o too and what other vehicles did you test drive ahead
of that so I really just had had the two in mind had I had the Tesla obviously for for the for the
reputation and the infrastructure and everything that comes with the brand but also the BYD just
you know that it was there's always a I guess a dealership around they just already had the
some of that infrastructure built in and it was really those two brands I didn't want to
sort of steer out our second vehicle our main vehicle is a Toyota RAV4 hybrid so we we understand
that brand and all that comes with with a lot of I guess loyalty and support so I really thought
that Tesla and the BYD were the two ones that sort of had that had that backing and what stopped you
buying a Tesla uh the uh the finance committee here at home and finance those prices all BYD
have always had models that that sort of work had can match the the Tesla lineup and obviously under
cut them value is there but um so how was your experience with BYD I don't know how if how many
shows you've listened to we've had varying reports of BYD experiences when it comes to test driving
and and the actual sale did everything go smoothly for you I think I think that's why I wanted to I
guess put my put my head in the in the ring and really just speak about how everybody's had so
many different experiences my experience from the phone call to the test drive to the to the sit down
to the order of the vehicle was rather smoothly and and looking back on on my history in in in
multiple jobs and things I sold cars over 10 15 years ago and it seems like it has changed the way
car dealerships talk to their customers yeah and it was for me it was quite smooth there was no
pressure the other two was not on our list it was the the dolphin and the other three and I think
what sold for me was the compromise so they put all three out there for me and it was a matter of
okay what can we take from the other three and the dolphin the other two just sort of fitted
right in the middle and we went with that sorry I'm going to how are you how are you
preparing for delivery now once you get the car have you set up how you're going to charge it
well how how's it going to work for you have you thought about that already good question I have
thought about it and I've gone and I've gone back and forth as as you know you go down all these
reviews and and support of what people have done look at the moment I live in a I live up here on
the Hunter Valley in a in a in a town curry curry so the weather here is has the extremes of quite
hot in summer and quite quite cold in the winter I'm going to trial the the granny charging okay I've
got a I've got a the switchboard has a power has a power has a switch inside so I'm going to give it
a go I'm just I'm just contemplating whether whether for those for those granny charges
has an impact on oh no I think you'll be fine as long as your power point is protected and I
assuming if it's on the switchboard it's protected in some way nice I don't think you'll have a
problem with that it's really just the the literal plug that needs to be protected from the elements
I agree I guess in the worst of storms you want to be cautious with it but no I think you'll be
fine with that and I think that's a great approach because just that's going to give you the basic
principles of charging regularly also because it's the slower charger you're not getting the
advantage of fast charging which means you might need to charge more which trains your brain in the
early stages of owning the car to do it that way so that's not a bad thing and so I think you'll
be totally fine what sort of drive into you do Enrique do you do a lot of driving or just what
what's what are the case you put on the car yeah well I think as we spoke before the Suzuki
Swift so I we moved we moved from from the central coastal Gosford area to Morissette and I had to
work down in Bankstown oh wow in Sydney so that's so the vehicle that was a community and I did that
for six and a half years so the Suzuki I can't rate it enough I think a Suzuki Swift for for
travel has been a godsend what are you going to put on the BYD how many KZ are you going to be
putting on this thing I thank goodness have moved moved jobs and I'm working about 30 k's one way
to the work so now it's about a 60k turnaround so that's why I'm thinking the granny charger might
be enough to just imagine to charge overnight yeah you said you live up in the Hunter Valley there
there'll be plenty of public charges too you could have access to they are slowly they are slowly
building more I think they've just put one in in the Colby okay which about I think Tesla
have put about eight charges there they just I can remember I remember going up to the Hunter Valley
we went we went to see Midnight Oil in concert up in the up up in the Hunter and I had I had the
Tesla gave me the Model X to drive up there this is I'm talking this is 2017 and every winery we
visited yeah had the destination they had the charges there there were charges even back in
in all the wineries even in the course that is pure Tesla heyday arrogance though because you know
back in the day if you had a Tesla you had the destination charges everywhere but unfortunately
that doesn't help everyone else and which was brilliant it was stroke of pure genius there was
a couple of generics but you know the look the good thing is if you're going to hit the highways
there's plenty on the highways for in every direction on that on that space so so what you
expected to get it in in March you know in April what what are your expectations of getting delivery
now look I've just I've just received because I've gone I work in health so I've had the benefit
of getting the the fringe benefit support so another reason why I went I went ahead with
getting the electric so at the moment I've just received paperwork to sign for the loan from the
bank so once that gets through I can only assume that it would be by the end of the month so
okay I've I've tried to I've tried to tear it up because the the Suzuki Swift radio finishes on
the 22nd of May so if I can squeeze it in right between the two if you don't have a bike okay
sign that paperwork mate because that's the thing the dealership can't do much until the paperwork's
all done you've got finance right they're actually selling the car so get that paperwork done mate
sign it up and I'm sure you'll get a delivery date real quick mate good luck happy motoring and
let us know you enjoy the car over time mate thank you Trevor can I give you can I can I
big note you for a second Trevor just before me yes I can't go without saying this my wife
saw your review on a uh on a morning show regarding the today show you're allowed to say that you're
allowed to say it right okay today show and she saw your review on the MacBook Neo and I have not
heard so much talk about a MacBook in this house did you buy her the MacBook Neo after the segment
well young gents we uh we have our anniversary coming up in about four days so anniversary
if you post it a blush MacBook Neo coming Mrs Enrique's way I'm detecting maybe you can read
the full review by the way mate a tech guy.com.au as well mate if you want okay you want to get the
real beautiful on it yeah also listen to two guys talking tech I think they're good good on you mate
thanks buddy we really appreciate it and happy motoring mate no good on you Enrique keep doing
what you do I love the job love the work that you guys do so I keep it up and uh looking forward
to getting many more viewers coming to coming your way and uh supporting the great job you do
thanks mate we appreciate it good on you have a great day um there's Enrique who's just a lovely
man obviously he's a fan he's just a great man yeah and his wife obviously great man outstanding taste
yeah yep she's she accidentally put it on channel line that morning I thought oh stop it that's
great um but if you want to give us a wrap uh we'd love to hear it no if you want to talk electric
cars like Enrique 0-4-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
there it is Steven Fennick at his best uh two books talking electric cars thanks to
uni then smart dash cams taking your calls 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7 David's on the line good day David
how you going guys mate really good your text message said to us that you've been
lurking uh or loitering on the EV scene for 16 years 16 years I didn't know EV's reinvented 16
years ago I don't need a 16 year long story but I need to understand what was happening 16 years
ago that got you loitering well I was lucky enough to be working for a Nissan Renault head office
in Australia and Europe okay and uh we got uh to join in with the europeans you could say to see
if we can bring EVs to Australia so probably around 2008 and 19 whatever we started the
ball rolling um we as a group in the automotive industry got together with the task force with the
FCAI set the AI and um put together a roadmap really crafting up what needs to be done for
Australia for the government and the industry and I suppose the rest is a bit history wow did they
follow that roadmap how spot on how spot on were you mate do do do governments ever follow roadmap
okay yeah okay yeah fair enough look I gotta say you know also the Renault Nissan of it
I did figure out a bit um fortunately and um I don't think the interest was there or the belief
was there to be honest for a while yeah until then they came on board and uh I certainly that
got everything moving yeah definitely you were ahead of your time there back then yeah so fast
forward 16 years later and I'm assuming you're driving an EV now what what are you what are you
driving well I'm lucky enough to be driving a Ford Mustang Maki I'm not sure if I should call it
Mustang but everyone gets a bit uh a bit to go with that yeah isn't it a Mustang it's a
controversial topic David because a Mustang is uh you know a coupe two door sports car doesn't have
to be a throbbing v8 in my mind I think the EcoTek's pretty good car but this is a SUV electric it
just got the Mustang brand and I feel like Ford wanted to create a sub brand of of of its company
and and branch out but what happened was it didn't take off in the way they wanted to
so let's just call it a Maki David how's that yeah I think that's the safest bit and how is it yeah
well how you liking it look I've had it for two years now so I'm really enjoying it um I did get
it to the point where I was looking at so many different models but you know like most SUVs I
like SUVs I like coupes I'm probably too old for the two door get get down on my knees to get
out any more fair cool yeah and you know I enjoy having the four doors so when I do that family
round or go out and drive you can actually have more than two people in the car um it is fantastic
it it drives so nice it's powerful and that's probably the 2d version which is you know a few
kilowatts there gets up and boogies really acceleration power is amazing so you weren't you
weren't tempted uh you weren't tempted to pull the trigger earlier with the tesla mate when they
first hit the scene well I did look I I've I've actually driven a lot of cars before even I got
to that um I was in those probably too much want design modes where knowing what was coming around
the corner um and I was waiting and you know I was looking for the vehicle the grid you know looking
for great chemistry to have over 500k range I was looking for so many different things and to a point
where I thought no it's it's not going to happen right now um just let's let's move it I did drive
a tesla for a while I did drive a EV6 for a while um like them but you know I was lucky enough to be
in the industry where I can actually have a really good drive with them but I wasn't really tickle pink
on the tesla not because of the the technology because I think it's probably the best technology
that the industry's got right now the middleistic sort of approach I mean anything it doesn't have
anything you have to look sideways look at your speed or change a thing on the dash or whatever
it just hasn't got my tickle approval it really hasn't so you know they're the kind of things
yeah that's meaningful you mentioned in your message to us that uh you've got nerd spreadsheets
to back it up so you basically brought receipts uh do they come in handy now fuel crisis cost of
living uh fuel prices all that stuff do you have you got numbers to back up the EV ownership life
do you want to give me the numbers absolutely um as you can imagine look I average around
charging and this is for a year around 3000 kilowatts a year travel around 15 000 kms a year
so you put that into perspective the total cost and this is not including my solar panels but if I
just use the nighttime rates which you can use it's 250 per year in actual cost of running the car
and that's not going out to obviously the fast charge because when I do go away on weekends or
weekdays I always try to find a airbnb with a charger in it and don't have to worry about the
external sort of high costs of the infrastructure which is really not up to speed right now anyway
so would it have been on your road map though wouldn't it took 16 years ago oh yeah well
absolutely it's on my road map intersection on my road map now because I write a lot of things
about it but if you put that in perspective and this is from the petrol point of view or fuel point
that's a dollar per uh per kilometers which works out to be one dollar per 60 kilometers
wow right and and what would you estimate in two years you've saved in in petrol costs because I
think that's the big one for people is just uh an understanding of the year by year saving on
being electric because it's sometimes in the thousands it's it's in the thousands it's talking
about you're looking at 10 liters per 100 k which is the average sort of spec for this you
think it's really probably even higher you're saving you know over or around $3,000 easily
so you know if you do 15,000 k's it's 10,000 10 uh it's what's 10 10 liters per 100 k's it's
easily 3,000 k's yeah you mentioned you got solar panels so your charging situation is through the
panels you've got a dedicated wall charger or your granny charging how's the setup
look it's it's through a zappy so it's through the smart charger yeah it's the 11 kilowatt system
for the car what's up to 22 you can do but the car range takes 11 yeah mine too yeah I'll just
that's the other thing that people really you know need to look and review when they're buying a
vehicle you know what's the best speed for the charging their car and with the solar during
the summer I can basically save through to from November through to April and probably December
through to April it almost goes without plugging in through a power outlet you can actually just
go through solar so it's just incredible oh I was having that kind of argument with someone
not an argument it was a just it was an argument it was a typical Trevor social media argument
someone talking about how you know people claim they're charging with their solar but charging
with a solar it was only three three kilowatts you know or something like that and I went
mate it doesn't matter how fast it's the fact that you're getting it for free and you plug it in
one day two days whatever it is but I then made the point that over summer my my system
generates a hundred kilowatts of solar in a day now even if you take off the edges of the curve
for the lowest part I might be able to put 50 kilowatts into the car that's a lot of charge
for a car that isn't normally coming from from nowhere so it's a powerful thing if you are you
the the advocate of EVs in your in your social circles or have you converted more people
oh look I I'm now sort of semi retired you could say I'm what my goal is basically is to help people
transition so I try to get out as to as many people and just to assist them in making sure
if they want to transition because not everybody what does and sometimes you obviously the ways
that your lifestyle actually is right now you can't do it anyway but yeah if you want to transition
you want to make sure you're going to get the best sort of positive result from it so you
help people select the cars your charging systems and how it actually works I mean you're talking
about charging before regardless you never top you never basically go from you know flat 10 percent
or zero to 100 percent you always just top up you know 40 70 during a day whatever every second
or third or fourth day you just top up and it's just an easy process so you get people into that
sort of frame mind and you make sure that their experience is as best as possible so what do you
set your daily charging limit then on your on your vehicle like what do you what do you change
yeah look I think you know the more that we're learning about battery health the more you get
into these kind of things and I set mine at 40 go to 70 and if I'm going away you know I have no
problems doing a 100 percent charge I've got the NMC batteries so you know you can not be able to
the LFP battery so I'm mindful of not going above you know 90 percent which is for sort of
recommends but the same token as soon as you're traveling the first thing you do the night before
is you plug it in at your cheaper rate if that's the case and you get up to 100 percent then away
you go and then from that point on was right away through the the travel to the trip itself
you never really get above 80 percent when you're charging in the station or at home
just keep it nice and topped up and that's the difference between I suppose for people think
they have to do and what they would eventually do when they first get the car great advice we
couldn't have said it better ourselves exactly mate very good advice well done on a very long
journey to the EV space mate and good on you for being an advocate and helping people as best you
can as you now become an owner and and really understand it probably better than most people
mate good on you really appreciate you getting a touch not a problem I'll enjoy enjoy your show
love love listen to all the the people coming through and you give them great tips as well too
good on you mate thanks so much that's David there he actually has a website called ev101.com.au
where he yeah he puts up buys advice and a bunch of information so he's got document you can
download if you want to listen to us and then you know complement that with the david's information
it's fantastic stuff so I love the idea Stephen that kind of is a community right yeah I mean
well that's what we're doing here is we're just having a community conversation with people who
are interested we're just trying to help people because it's what I found it's such an unknown
when I first got my Tesla that's what it felt like and testers were mainly the only EVs on the road
at the time and and it was a little bit of a it was a little bit of a movement where you you talk
to people at the charges and it's like you're part of a club yeah yeah we're happy to be be
conversation starters in that club if you've got a question about EVs we're happy to try and answer
it as best we can if we can't answer we'll find so many can send us a text 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
you weren't doing anything that's the most animated I've ever seen you wow you weren't doing
anything so it's not like I need to get into it yeah yeah yeah exactly too much talking electric
cars um we'd love to hear from you 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7 Matt's on the longer day Matt hey how are you
really good mate where are you at in your EV journey
uh just at the start really oh I mean at the start I've been looking at EV since about 2022
actually put a deposit on an A3 back then and then um reneged on it oh what made you reneged
how come what happened well I actually really liked the car the the timing was the issue I
suddenly had to move to Japan so um the car then yeah yeah yeah so reneged on that and then
have been thinking about EVs really ever since uh obviously moved back to Australia and um yeah I
think the the fuel crisis has certainly sparked my interest uh and I've been driving god I think
I've tested in about 10 different EVs not the record but you're doing your best yeah yeah you're
recording the record that we've had on the show 16 16 yeah Penelope Penny yeah she's still the
outright champion yeah we should send her and she's settled on a smart smart hashtag three yeah
so where are you at what are you what have you narrowed down to what's you know what's really
getting the juices flowing for you may right now yeah I mean initially I was sort of looking for a
midlife crisis sort of yeah let's go I highly recommend the Cooper born as a midlife crisis
which is what Trevor did to his midlife crisis
no well the goals kind of changed when I you know we were chatting about what we actually needed
and it sort of changed to more of a respectable SUV style so I know he's stupid at the beginning
is there a family involved here bro yeah I've got two kids oh damn it oh wow I'll do that to you
hey I was really looking at all your dreams Matt I got three kids and a wife that's five of us
my Cooper born four Cedar yeah much to this much to this degree of my wife but anyway back to you
uh so you need an SUV mate what have you narrowed it to yeah what what's on the short yeah uh so on
the shortlist was the uh BYDC line seven nice very nice uh the Volvo EX40 and the Zika 7x uh long
range you know a lot of people have like the Zika's caught our eye caught a lot of people's eye as well
as yours have you driven it yeah I have I've driven all of them yeah and what mate what's if what's the
early betting what do we what's the market here what's gonna look I I'll be honest I've put a
deposit on the Zika after testing all three well what's the delay how long do they say it could take
because we were talking about this at the start of the show the fuel crisis you know the sales I
genuinely don't think we're going to see the sales numbers from the fuel crisis for a couple of
months because of just demand and supply I think it's crazy at the moment I got ridiculously super
lucky and um had uh found someone actually on the Zika Facebook group that had wanted to
back out of his contract and so I actually picked up his contract uh so wow it's pretty much ready
in the next week or so yeah pretty much is that a thing that happens at the dealership level because
that's a very strange thing to hear about yeah I don't think they're particularly happy about it to
be honest but um but yeah we you know we sort of got it done so I paid the other fellow the deposit
yeah and um and then so the contract got changed over to me but yeah it doesn't sound like something
that they they they really frowned upon it they weren't super happy to do it honestly but you got
his place in the queue as well I guess so delivery is soon or what are they told you yeah it's meant
to be soon um I'm just sort of waiting on the I'm doing an ovated lease so I've got to wait for
all that to go through as well okay and what is it that that made you decide on the Zika what was
it that the other vehicles didn't have they got chewed yeah it was a balance of things I actually
liked the drive of the Volvo EX40 the best I found the suspension really nice the one pedal drive
system in that was fantastic yep um but I didn't like the interior it feels a bit older like the
the central console there is just a little bit not quite brought up to modern standards I think
yeah the C-line 7 I drove and liked it but my real issue with it was the lack of one pedal drive
I really liked that and it just doesn't have it and the Zika does we assume he has a Zika does
yeah Zika has one pedal drive it was it was a nice fit and finish inside it's more modern
it sort of had everything on average a lot better than the others so that's sort of what wanted out
and the price wise competitive price wise competitive to the C-line 7 was it oh I mean
it was a bit more expensive the Volvo is more expensive than the Zika the Zika is more expensive
than the C-line right how old are the kids mate they're 14 and 12 okay so yeah that's kind of
it's a good size car for that age because that's one of the things I was talking I'm joking about
having a five four-seater for I mean I do have also had a seven-seater but I've got a 19 year old
a 15 year old like we don't get in the car together like we're going we're going down to the country
next weekend we'll take the seven-seater like we're not going to take the Cupra you know on a long
drive so but the Zika 7x that's a great size car for kids that are still at home they've got sport
on the weekends you've got bags to lug around it's actually it's a really good family car
yeah it made sense and it's you know fun enough that I can enjoy it as well
that's a massive win mate well golf clubs and all that we expect a full review uh a month or two
after after ownership mate what the other last thing we need to know what are you doing for
charging at home how how have you become you know gotten ready for for an electric car
yeah good question uh I mean we've had a battery installed recently we've got solar so now I'm
just trying to find a wall charger um which is a bit of a battle because I'm told from the Zika
guys that their charger doesn't actually it won't charge from the house battery or the solar panels
that actually charges directly from the grid so I have to go somewhere else for a charger yeah so
you need to find us the wall box charges from the panel we've got wall boxes they they can charge
you put a little thing on you on your board and it'll take from the panels and the grid at the
same time or just from the panel you need to find a sparky you need to find a sparky who's done many
EV installations yeah so the two the two brands we we we personally have wall boxes I love it I
I don't have the ability to say to you you can actually do the the battery thing but Zappy is
another brand I hear oh we we had to call it just a minute ago they had a Zappy um so they're the two
that I've definitely heard of good success with you know routing power basically we can in our app
I can sit here if my wife was charging and it was a cloudy day I can click a button it goes boom
take it from the grid um so what you want to do is find someone who's done some home battery
installations and wall box or Zappy charger installations to make sure that the app allows
you to do what you need to do with that battery um draw down but yeah just sparky is actually the
the key thing there because it's how it's how it's wired into your switchboard that matters most
one phase three phase it's all all and you've got the panels as well yeah yeah okay I'll look into
that wall box wall box and Zappy are the two we've heard wall box definitely definitely winner we've
got the pulsar plus pulsar pro something like that I think mine's better than yours but I actually
think we worked out mine was better than yours yeah I think I think we realized we thought we bought
the same one let you think in the end I bought the better one um all right mate lovely to you
mate good luck enjoy the car thank you thanks very much guys no worries in excellent stuff
one of there you go another zika wow another zika sold what they've got that the quality
that is there you know the finish is there yeah price is there it's it's all all those it's ticking
the boxes for a lot of people yeah and we're seeing as we sort of said at the start of the show
what are the top selling models in the market and I don't have the numbers in front of me but
just for reference we talked at the start of the show about like zika selling 600 old cars right
seven X's um I looked at like Volkswagen that they sell cars they they sell a hundred of a car
yeah so a brand as big as Volkswagen yeah is selling scale so much lower than some of these
new Chinese brands right yeah so it's the scale that's allowing them to put into marketing and
all that different stuff it's yeah I think the seven X the zika seven X ranked in this time I think
because all the deliveries are oh yeah that would have been ordered a while ago yeah suddenly arrived
but they've had they've had ongoing sales so I think it'll continue to rank absolutely anyway
speaking of cars that we've driven that we we drove the Hyundai Kona electric recently now
I've driven the Kona a couple times before I took one up to Walker Road back in the day probably
six seven years ago um the petrol one no no electric electric the the thing I love about
the original Hyundai philosophy for the original Ioniq which broke down on the way the bathers
and the Kona were that they were available in three drive trains you could buy a petrol hybrid
or electric yep now the Kona's I think the only one that's left really in that kind of multi
powertrain style you could buy a Kona petrol and I love what I love most about this vehicle is it
gives us a very clear understanding of the of the electric premium so a Hyundai Kona petrol
is 36 990 drive away yep the hybrid is 39 990 drive away yeah the electric is 45 990 so that's a
$9000 premium over the petrol it used to be 15 to $20,000 that was the premium so we're at a point
now where the premium to go electric in a car like this is $9,000 we've just spoken to David
narrowing who said he's saving $3,000 a year on on petrol so we're talking let's call it four years
of of payback on that premium just on petrol savings let alone potential other savings right
I love this car you know why because it's just a car it's not pretending to be anything else
everything it needs to do yeah do you know what I mean it's not pretending to be a Tesla
it's not pretending to be some fancy you know Jetsons car it's play it's it's
pardon the pun it's it's staying in its lane yeah it's it's doing you know for the it's got a
maximum range about the 500k which is heat which is decent you can charge up to 80 percent from
10 to percent to 80 percent in 45 minutes which is a bit longer than your other other models but
there's a premium version which will set you about 60 there's an inline version which will set
you about 64 but at its very core the Kona is a fantastic choice for I'm I'll demographically
age this car I think like my mum right she's in her 70s and I said her the other day I use these
words and I regretted them instantly I said you know we could buy you your last car so car the
last for years I mean she might need to be 100 year mum yeah but she's got 20 years maybe 30 left
in her right right this car could last for 20 years but my point is it's perfect for her because
if I bought my mum or she was in the market and I guided her towards a frankly even a Kia EV3
right it's a little bit fancy in in the infotainment but it's but it's established enough that it's
probably on close to the Kona but it's not quite as simple as the Kona yeah if we went to a Geely
or a Zika it'd be like what how does this work how does that work this car out of the dealership
all she needs to learn is how to charge it that's it that's the only difference no you're right
even the the other Hyundai EVs that we've been driving go yeah they have that I like they have
that simplicity which is what you want but in this vehicle it's a what 12.3 inch screen which is decent
yeah seven airbags that's got all the safety features 17 inch alloy wheels and there's also
an instrument cluster in front of the driver's yeah so honestly you need was a big fan with the
red we had it in by the way it's a $500 option beautiful yeah it looked very nice in the red
big fan I just love that it is okay I'm not ready to go electric and go to hybrid I'm gonna save
some money on petrol and I'm ready to go electric and it's the same car yeah you're in a dealership
going I like the Kona I like the fit I like the size I like everything because it's got that it's
that elevated you know SUV smaller SUV style a lot and again you like your your mom uh Joe
it's easy to get into a car of this she quite liked this one she's she liked this one there
I think this would be right in her in her word on the street she really likes the Mercedes as well
she loves the Mercedes yeah we'll talk about that in another show but yeah she's got a expensive
taste yeah she does love a Louis Vuitton as well so yeah the opportunity to mine this well she
drives like Kia right now so this is this would be sort of in the same sort of class as what she's
got now yeah cracking car really enjoyed it the Hyundai Kona fully electric is well worth a look
if you're in the market if you are in the market we'd love to hear from you oh four double seven
six five seven six five seven send us a text or a whatsapp thanks to Vodafone because it's great
to hear from people it's those great conversations we've had today um there's a lot to learn from
you about your electric journey and what you yeah what you learn it has a slightly different
experience and different opinions too which is what we want to hear them all yeah I someone said to me
once it was about this show or AFTM it was like you know it's but it's just callers and I'm like
but the point is you're you're learning from other people yeah like you know the journey
that other people take the reason they they pivot one way or another actually helps you understand
why you should do the same thing yep two bikes talking electric cars thanks
to nrm insurance and union and smart dashkins we'll be back next week with another episode see you then
mate see you then
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