NRMA is a big Australian motoring group. Here, they’re mentioned as running an EV charging network, so they’re involved in how people actually use chargers.
Petrol prices are how much gasoline costs. When petrol gets more expensive, people pay more attention to alternatives like charging an EV or using the electric mode in a hybrid.
A charging network is the set of EV chargers in an area (or across a country) that work together. It usually includes how you pay and how you access the chargers.
A plug-in hybrid is a car that uses both electricity and petrol. If you don’t plug it in regularly, it mostly behaves like a petrol car instead of using its battery.
The Sealion 7 is an electric car made by BYD. The podcast mentions it because the hosts are talking about buying one and what made them choose it. It’s an example of the kind of EV people consider when deciding on a new car.
They’re basically saying they looked at cheaper EVs from Chinese brands. The idea is getting lots of features without paying as much as more established brands.
“Brand certainty” means feeling confident the car company will stick around and keep supporting the cars. The hosts are basically saying they paid extra to avoid the risk of a brand vanishing after poor sales.
A “dealer network” is where you can go to buy the car and get it serviced. The hosts are saying that having dealers around makes it less risky to buy from a brand.
They’re talking about what the buying process feels like at a dealership—like waiting for someone to help you and getting a test drive. It matters because that’s a big part of buying an EV.
BYD Paramata is the name of the BYD dealership the speaker visited. They bring it up because it’s where the delays happened before they got a test drive.
The BYD Shark 6 is an electric car from BYD. The podcast is mentioning it because of how it looks, including the branding on the back. It’s more about the car’s appearance than how it drives.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is a very high-end luxury car. The podcast mentions it because it has advanced safety features and connected technology, and those can sometimes have issues. “Autonomous braking” is a system that helps slow the car if it detects a potential problem.
ADAS are safety features in newer cars that help you avoid crashes. They can include alerts and automatic interventions, and they’re becoming standard across many brands.
Phantom braking is when your car brakes by itself even though there’s nothing in front of it that should require braking. It usually happens because the sensors get confused.
Term
side street
A side-street situation is when another car could enter your lane from a road next to you. Driver-assistance systems sometimes warn you in these situations—even if the threat isn’t real—because they’re trying to prevent a collision.
The Ssangyong Musso is a pickup-type vehicle. The podcast mentions it because they previously talked about it with a caller. It’s included to help explain what people are looking for in a vehicle, even when the main focus is electric cars.
The KGM Musso is a pickup truck. In this segment they’re talking about an electric version with two rows of seats (a dual-cab), which means the battery has to fit without ruining the space for passengers and cargo.
Toyota’s Hilux is a popular pickup, and they’re discussing an all-electric dual-cab version. A dual-cab means it has two rows of seats, so the battery has to be fitted in a way that still keeps the truck usable.
Leaf springs are a traditional suspension setup used on many trucks. In this discussion, they’re saying the space under the truck is taken up by the suspension, so that affects where the battery can be mounted.
In an electric car, the battery stores the energy. A bigger battery usually means you can drive farther, but it can be harder to fit neatly into the car.
They’re talking about choosing a Tesla as their electric car. The question is whether it was something they always wanted or something they decided after trying other cars.
The Kia EV5 is an electric SUV. The podcast brings it up because they tested it by driving it themselves. That helps them talk about how it feels and works in everyday use.
Trickle charging means charging your EV slowly using a low power level. It’s useful when you’re parked for a long time and just want to add a bit of charge gradually.
A “single cab” is a truck/ute with just the front seats. There aren’t rear passenger doors, so it’s generally more about carrying stuff than passengers.
The Kia EV3 is an electric car. In the podcast, someone says they got one and describes it as a small, good car. The point is to share what it’s like to live with an EV in normal day-to-day driving.
Term
50-100km in the tank
That’s the distance the EV can drive on its battery. They’re basically saying you need enough range to do the commute and still have a buffer.
A “company charger” is a charging point you can use at work. If your workplace has one, you can charge your EV during the day instead of relying only on public chargers.
Term
publicly
“Charging publicly” means using a public charging station that anyone can access. These chargers are usually in public places and can cost more or have different rules than charging at home or work.
“Overnight charging” means plugging in your EV at night so it’s ready for the next day. It matters because slow chargers may not add enough range in the time you have.
A “wall charger” is a dedicated charger mounted at your house. It usually charges faster than the basic slow charger, so you can put more driving range back overnight.
A kilowatt is a measure of how much power the charger can send to the car. Higher kW usually means faster charging (if the car supports it).
Term
OCCP
OCCP sounds like a specific “charging control” system or standard that lets the charger and the app/utility coordinate. It’s basically how the charger is told what to do.
Installation is the upfront cost and work needed to get an EV charger set up properly. It can include electrical work, not just buying the charger.
Concept
offset of speed versus efficiency
They’re talking about a trade-off: charging faster doesn’t always mean you use electricity in the most efficient way. The best choice depends on the total cost, not just how quickly the car fills up.
Concept
calculations about what it truly costs
They’re saying you should do the numbers to figure out the real cost of charging. Don’t just assume it’s cheaper—compare home charging versus other options.
A “company car” is a car you get through your employer. Here, the point is that the employer may cover the cost of charging, so the driver doesn’t have to pay for it personally at home.
The BYD ATTO 1 is a small electric car made by BYD. The hosts are talking about it mainly because it’s priced as one of the cheapest EVs in Australia, and they compare the cheaper “essential” version to the more expensive “premium” one.
“Drive away” is the price you pay so you can drive the car off the lot. It usually includes the extra government and registration costs, not just the sticker price.
The Kia Picanto is a small car designed for city driving. Here, they’re comparing it to an electric car by talking about how efficient it is for everyday, short-distance use.
A V8 engine is a type of gasoline engine with eight cylinders. It usually drinks more fuel than smaller engines, so it’s brought up here to highlight the efficiency difference versus EVs.
Term
k-roll
They’re talking about the car’s range—how far it can go before you need to charge it again. That matters most for people who only drive short distances around town.
Term
5-star Ancap Safety 2
ANCAP is an organization that tests cars for crash safety. A “5-star” rating means the car scored very highly in those safety tests. The host is saying their car achieved that top rating.
A driver attention camera is a camera inside the car that watches the driver’s eyes and face. If it thinks you’re getting sleepy or distracted, it can warn you. In this case, it even noticed when the host was yawning.
A yawn warning is a car alert that triggers when the system thinks you’re getting sleepy. In this segment, the host says the warning shows up when they yawn, but it’s not overly harsh. They also mention it can happen in other situations too.
Android Auto is a way to use your Android phone in your car. It shows navigation and some apps on the car’s screen, and it can connect through a cable or wirelessly depending on the setup.
Bluetooth is the wireless connection your phone uses to pair with the car. It’s commonly used for hands-free calling and audio, and here it’s part of the setup that didn’t lead to Android Auto starting automatically.
Apple CarPlay lets you connect an iPhone to your car so you can use maps and other supported apps on the car’s display. In this segment, they’re saying CarPlay worked smoothly where Android Auto didn’t.
Here, “wirelessly” means the phone connected to the car without plugging in a cable. That can make setup easier, but it still depends on whether the car and phone are configured to start the system automatically.
A wireless charger is a pad in the car where you place your phone to charge it without plugging in a cable. In this clip, it’s mentioned as being in the center area where the phone would sit.
A start button is a button you press to turn the car on, instead of using a key in an ignition. It’s common in modern cars, including EVs, and makes starting feel quick and simple.
A stop button is how you turn the car off. In this case, the car has both a start button and a stop button, so you have to decide which one you want to use.
The “boot floor” is the panel inside the trunk under the main storage area. On this EV, there’s extra space underneath it for things like charging cables.
Term
drop the seats
“Drop the seats” means folding the back seats down to make more room for luggage. They’re saying you can fit bigger items, but the space is still limited in a small car.
Concept
dealership appeal
“Dealership appeal” here refers to how a car’s in-person presentation and value story can pull shoppers in before they fully evaluate specs. The hosts connect it to the EV’s practical pitch and the buyer’s quick reaction once they realize what the range/price means.
The BYD Dolphin is another small electric car from BYD. In this discussion, it’s brought up as a popular option because some shoppers want something that feels like better value than the Atto 1.
LIVE
This is Tublox Talking Electric Cars with Steven Fenwick and Trevor Long thanks to NRMA Insurance and Uniden.
Great to have you company Tublox Talking Electric Cars, NRMA Insurance, one of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles
helping Aussies protect what matters most for 100 years and many more to come and Uniden.
Smart dash cams, get yourself a dash cam, whatever car you've got, electric or petrol or diesel,
get yourself a dash cam to protect what's happening around you.
So that you've got evidence just for your own peace of mind, let alone anything else.
And as Steven always says, get yourself a rear camera.
Front and rear.
Look for the R.
A lot of accidents happened from behind.
So you need to have eyes on the road there.
Appreciate that insight, Steven.
It's the facts, mate.
It's happened to Steven.
It happened to Steven.
Absolutely, yeah, yeah.
In the old Merck ski.
In the Merck ski, that's it.
Yeah, not good.
Anyway, great to have you company, mate.
Are you good?
Yeah, I'm great.
Yeah, very good.
It's a lot of interest to that.
I'm really pleased when I'm hearing people feedback for the show and their interest in the EV space is growing.
So it's a good place to be right now.
I was at the Today Show on Monday and Peter Coorey from NRMA, yep, Motoring and Services,
was there back to talk about petrol prices when they were going up back in the start of July.
And I said, we're just talking rubbish.
And I just said, oh, mate, we do an EV podcast.
And the list of numbers of your numbers has just been unbelievable.
He goes, mate, same for us.
Just a huge uptake in website traffic.
And he also said, because NRMA Motoring and Services runs the charging network,
he said to me, we also noticed a huge increase in the usage of the charges.
Wow.
And interestingly, and this is just anecdotal from Peter Coorey at the NRMA,
he put a lot of that down to plug-in hybrids.
So a lot of people who own plug-in hybrids suddenly going,
actually, I should probably, yes, and take advantage.
So you're saying a lot of them are driving on the petrol rather than,
hang on, I've got a battery here, might as well use it.
I've always thought that too many people buy plug-in hybrids
and essentially don't use it to its full electric capacity.
Right.
And I'm guilty of that.
We'll talk maybe next week or the week after about the Lexus we've been driving.
There's been a few days where I've gone, I won't worry,
I'll just, it'll get me there because it's got a petrol engine, right?
Yeah.
But in a fuel cost of living crisis, you're like, hang on a minute,
take every bit of energy you can get.
Absolutely.
So I was fascinating that they'd seen that.
Isn't that funny?
People think, hang on a minute, I've got a battery.
I better charge it.
Yeah.
I'm going to save money on petrol.
I don't need to switch to an electric car.
I've got a partly electric one in the driveway.
Got half an EV in the driveway.
There you go, folks.
But we'd love to hear from you as well.
0477657657, send us a text or a WhatsApp message
thanks to Vodafone.
You can contact us directly and we'll get you on the show to talk about
whatever you want in the world of EVs.
If you're in the market, you've just bought one, you've owned one for years,
or you wouldn't consider buying one for some reason.
Yeah, exactly.
We haven't actually had that conversation, but I would welcome that.
Would you not welcome someone expressing an opinion about why they wouldn't?
I'd be blown away that someone that absolutely hates EVs
is even listening to or watching an EV podcast.
But if you're rage-watching this on YouTube, rage-watching.
SMS are basically unlimited and free.
So send us an SMS.
0477657657 would love to chat.
And here's the thing.
You could suggest that would be a debate or an argument.
No, no.
I want to hear it.
I want to understand why.
And so that's one of the other things.
Even if you're an EV owner and you're having these conversations
with colleagues at work or around the barbie about why they don't want an EV,
what are the reasons people are still saying?
What are the reasons people are against it?
And let's have a chat.
Give us a call.
Have you seen those memes, you know, like people holding up a sign,
you know, talk, convince me, convince me I'm wrong,
or maybe we should be doing that.
Hold up a sign.
EVs are better.
Convince me that I'm wrong.
All right.
Well, you organise the sign.
I'll take the photo.
0477657657.
Chris is on the line.
Look at that, Chris.
Hey, Trev.
Hi, Grandpa Steve.
Hey, mate.
How are you?
Not too bad.
Mate, where are you out in the world of EVs?
I think you've finally decided to take a lunch.
Finally pulled the trigger, mate.
Yes.
A couple of weeks ago, we pulled the trigger and bought a,
I'll put the money down on a BYD C-Line 7, which I'm super excited about.
Nice.
So what, before you decided on the BYD,
had you, no doubt, listened to our show, I'm hoping,
but did you go out and do any other test drives
with any others that were on your short test?
Yeah, we got really interested by the, obviously,
the less expensive Chinese brands that were coming into the market.
So we went and test drove the Jku and the Geely
and the Cherry and a couple of others sort of thing.
And we liked them.
We liked all the bells and the whistles and coming from older vehicles,
which we don't have any of those things.
It was a really great, my 10-year-old love,
the fact we could change the lights in the cab,
and he thought that was the best thing since life's bread.
But, you know what, we, as inexpensive as those vehicles were,
we ended up spending a bit extra in going to BYD
just because we figured it had been in market
for longer than these other companies.
And so we had that brand certainty
that they weren't necessarily just going to pull up stumps
after a few years of poor sales or something like that,
as well as a dealer network in market
and all those sort of things, you know,
just a little bit more confidence.
We thought, you know, we'll pay a bit of extra money
just to get that by confidence.
Isn't it interesting that it only took, let's call it three years,
maybe four, of time for it to feel confident?
Because, you know, that's not a lot of time.
No, but, you know, you think when Hyundai came in
and then later on Kia came in,
and now we look at those as sort of legacy established brands
for better or worse, you know?
I see BYD as just another one of those.
Now, Chris, we've had a bit of talk
in the last few months, actually, of dealer experiences,
especially with BYD.
Can you give us an insight into how you,
what was your experience?
Very quickly, I had the same sort of thing.
We ended up having previously test drove some cars.
We realized that, you know, if you get there at 9.30
for your 9.30 appointment, you're late.
So we got there at quarter past 9 of BYD Paramata,
and we waited 15 minutes, then we waited another 15 minutes,
then almost 10 o'clock, I was ready to pull up stumps and leave.
There were plenty of people there,
but they were all just walking around doing other things.
And so I was ready to go,
and thankfully, something happened in the background.
My wife managed to get the hold of someone,
and she took us for a test drive.
She sat in the back of the car, which was also different,
and we just went for a bit of a drive.
We both had a go.
Came back to the dealership and said,
this is great. We want to buy this. This is on a Saturday.
She said, I only work on a Saturdays and Tuesdays.
I said, no worries at all. Give me your email address.
I will send you an email. Call me on a Tuesday.
We're going to put a deposit down and whatever.
Didn't get a call.
And I waited another week. I didn't get a call.
And I had another week after that.
And so literally, it was three weeks had gone past,
and my wife was chatting with a friend of hers.
She said, oh, we went to BYD at Castle Hill.
Had a great experience and gave me the people's names.
And I called them and they were beyond helpful.
It was fantastic.
Christina and James at BYD, Castle Hill, they were great.
Did you go there or just call them on the recommendation
and say, we want to buy one out of a company?
I called them on the recommendation.
And because I had a trade-in I want to talk about.
And so she said, oh, come on in.
Give me a call when you're ready to come in that morning.
And I will make sure it's got someone here to deal with you.
And sure enough, that's what happened.
And then I had to postpone it a day.
So James even texted me and said, hey, Chris,
I know you're coming in, but you missed.
Let me know when you're coming in and give me a text back
and I'll make sure I'm here for you.
So it went from one experience to the other.
Wow. That's remarkable.
You know, does that mean to me that suggest
they mustn't work on commission?
They do not work on commission.
That's the only logical explanation for that outcome.
If you worked on commission, you'd go the extra mile.
Well, I agree with you.
I agree with you.
I also think maybe they've got so many people beating
their doors down that they don't need to worry about.
What a girl that works two days a week
can't ring your back, mate.
Like, that's phenomenal.
So you're obviously, the money's down.
How far off?
What's the lead time on a C-line seven?
Well, I thought it's funny because I did it the week.
The big BYD ship had already arrived in Perth
and it arrived in Melbourne that week on its way to Sydney.
And I said to the sales guy,
oh, you don't think I'd get one of those?
You only said, I'm sorry,
98% of the cars were already sold before the ship
had even left China.
Wow.
And the other 2% would have been sold on the way there.
So I'm sorry, you missed out.
It's going to be two to three months.
And we're like, OK, no worries at all.
Have to wait.
They're still doing really well, though, aren't they?
Despite all the stories we hear, good and bad,
the people are still wanting to buy their cars.
I think a lot of that comes down to just the brand awareness.
It's a weird thing, but even the number of sharks around
with the big BYD logo on the back,
that brand building that you get from just having cars on the road
and then the stories in the media,
I would argue all publicity is good publicity
because frankly, negative stories about EV sales
or EV cars always mention BYD
because they're one of the big sellers.
So it's probably helping them.
And so frankly, they're just getting so much publicity
that they're literally ignoring people,
not even turning them away.
What's the plan at home for charging
and what sort of driving do you do?
Well, we have solar.
It was going to be on my wife's daily driver,
so I get to miss out on that fun experience every day.
But we have solar on the car,
sorry, solar on the house.
And I had the electrician around last week
to fix up some stuff in the garage.
And he looked out and said, yeah, mate,
we can put a 15 amp plug in here, no problems at all.
So you're going to put a 15 amp plug in
for the trickle charger?
Correct.
And so along that goes.
I just want my wife to continue to have a great experience
with the car and don't want to turn her off.
So maybe every other week,
she's home during the day,
so we had a charger during the day
and then plug it in at night.
I have been looking at the EV plans and the like,
but the fact that we have solar
and we're on such a good rate here
that I'm doing some sums
and it really doesn't seem overly beneficial
to go on an EV plan that's charging me more
for daily supply and more for connection.
I need to get a trippy charge between 12 and 6.
I'll tell you now, mate,
I've got solar and a battery at my place
and I'm on a plan.
I'm with Ovo and they do free 11 till 2
and then 8 cents a kilowatt overnight.
So I've taken advantage of that.
Big numbers during the peak.
That's the challenge, isn't it, Chris?
It is.
I'm already getting solar during those 11 till 2
and then if I'm plugging in the car
between midnight and 6 o'clock in the morning
and it's just getting a trickle charge,
I'll be a slightly faster charge.
How many kilowatt hours can I jam in there
during the free time to make up for the extra costs?
I think what you need to do,
and this is the challenge,
if I can just assume that your wife's
in a similar situation to mine
where you'll be guiding her through this journey, right?
It took my wife a while to understand
how much sun was required for it to be working,
for it to be charging,
because just the sun being out isn't enough.
Even a cloudy day with beaming sun behind it
is often not enough.
You actually realise that several months of the year
there's just not enough sun that comes through in the week
and you've got to make it part of your life to go
and choose other charging options
or switch to nighttime charging and things.
The 15 amp will be nice and low amount of charge
but again, if she's not doing a lot of driving
then it won't take long for it to top up.
I think you've made the right assumptions broadly
but really want to keep your eye on the week to week usage
for that first month and a half
to then truly decide whether or not
A, you need a little bit faster into the car
either from the sun or from those overnight hours
and just now and then contemplate
what would happen if we had a week of rain?
Even though you had sun, what would happen if we didn't?
How would that affect our charging portfolio?
It's all learning curve, it's all learning curve.
Speaking about learning curves,
I've been looking at all the BYDC line owners
Facebook groups in preparation
but I'll say that sometimes that stuff can make you
pause and rethink your decision
because thankfully we've always been early adopters
to a lot of stuff
and so just issues come par for the course
but most of the time people jump on there
either to show the brand new car they've got
or to talk about other connective issues
or Phantom Autonomous Braking
or this, that or the other
and you think, oh geez, really?
Once again, it's going to be my wife's daily driver
and I don't want her to have a bad experience
so I'm learning all the settings
I've got to turn off to try and make sure
we don't have any of these issues or...
Most of the talk we've had about the BYDC line 7
especially has been very positive
a lot of people have opted for that
and they're quite happy with their purchase
and I would argue you're not actually
massively early on that car
the car has been around now for a good year or so
so I think there's enough in it
that true bugs should have been fixed
little things you might learn
and remember people don't log on to Facebook
to go, had a great drive today
and things went really well
they normally let go with the grievance
before a compliment that they on Facebook
There's a difference to that
but I think it's really just about making sure
that she's ready to understand
that it's a new car
it doesn't matter that it's an EV or a BYD
it's a new car
remember that safety systems, safety alerts
all these ADAS things
they're on most new cars
so a lot of the things
it wouldn't matter whether you bought a Subaru
or a Kia or a BYD
you may get some of those things
Phantom braking, mate
I get that in so many cars
we're driving Alexis at the moment
I've had alerts
I'm like hey
it was trying to suggest that a car
was going to pull out of a side street
I had eyes on that guy
maybe he was still crawling instead of coming to a stop
but it was of no risk to me
but the car decided to brake
and I'm like whoa, that was over aggressive to me
so that experience may not be BYD limited
so maybe keep that in mind
and of course
he off his sails
I rushed out and grabbed myself a dash cam last week
ready to install it when the car arrives
well done, that's nice
it's a uni-den
lovely
good man
good choice
and as we say in the EFT and man cave comments
like Uncle Stephen says
get the model with the R at the end
correct
well mate congratulations on the new car
look forward to hearing from you after
maybe you've had a month or two in it
and had a bit of an experience with the charging
and stuff like that
we'd love to hear a bit of real world experience, mate
thanks a lot guys, great to chat
good stuff mate
always good to hear from you
and we'd love to hear from you as well
0-4-double-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
I don't know what eyes he was giving down the camera then
but it was quite off-putting
ladies, I apologize
two blokes talking electric cars
John's on the line today, John
good day Stephen
good day Trevor
how are you guys
mate we're really good buddy
what's happening with you
in the world of electric cars
questions, thoughts?
I had a question earlier
when I sent it to Trevor
regarding EV youths
as far as a single-carb youth
which I've never seen around
I own a Triton
and it's just a single-carb youth
it's a diesel
with an aluminium tri on the back
but I've never seen an electric one
with an aluminium tri on the back
something that probably
tradies would be looking at
buying more than ever
being an extra-radie
I sort of own one of those
and I find it very useful
I think the issue is
if you look at a round
just drive around the roads for an hour
and you count all the youths right
you go there's a bunch of toyotas
a bunch of rangers, tri
but then what percentage of them
are metal-tray
cab-shazzy youths right
it's big but it's probably
at my guess 30%
I'd say 30% at most
the rest of them are dual-cabs
because they're part family car
part-trader youth right
and so we're getting there
we're getting there because we've got that
KGM Musso we spoke to a caller about
a few weeks ago
that's a full electric
dual-cab youth
Toyota do have a
Hilux all-electric
dual-cab youth
it'll be small quantities
I don't think it'll be well received
because I think it probably won't have range
and it's probably not got electric credentials
but we'll see how it goes
but I think taking the plunge then
to a cab-shazzy
there's one big issue with a cab-shazzy
I mean I'm not a massive youth guy
but if you take the tray off
and you just look at the cab-shazzy
you realise there's nothing there
under the shazzy right
it's just leaf springs, the wheels
and the shazzy
that's where the battery needs to be
so I think there's probably a lot of risk around
design, safety
and still fitting in a big battery
to allow you then to go cab-shazzy style
that'd be my thought
yeah
I believe that's probably the case
and I think it's coming
but it'll probably be
a bit of a wait
at some point yes
so you're driving a youth now
what else is in the family
ah well boys
I've just picked up our brand new
Tesla
hey
yesterday
wow
right
what brought that on
yeah
well we were looking at
going electric
we got
solar on the roof and batteries
when the subsidy was announced
with batteries so we got that
so we figured
the car was due for an update
we were driving an XE Volvo
which is a 2020 model
so it's getting on a bit
yeah
I mean
but we thought
well which way are we going to go
are we going to go back to petrol
are we going to go to an electric
so
we kind of had a big talk about it
and I managed to convince the wife
that we could go all electric
so tell us
how did you John arrive at the Tesla
was that always something you had in mind
something you admired from a distance
or was it the result of
test driving other vehicles
and deciding the Tesla was the model for you
actually
the Tesla was the first one we test drove
wow
and then
and then we
went to test drove
other cars
we test drove an EV5
I think
yep
and
another
another car we drove as well
we only had like three test drives
basically
yep
and every time we went back
and she wanted to test drive the Tesla
so we drove the Tesla
about three or four times
and so you decided on the model
oh yeah
yeah
BYD was one of those we test drove as well
I can't
yeah
and so we went down there
and she always liked the Tesla
I was quite happy whatever she decided
happy wife happy life my man
good call John
good call John
so yeah so what
yeah
so this is obviously your first EV
what
yes it is
what have you done to prepare at home
so you've already got the vehicle haven't you
so you've already got it
I picked it up yesterday
okay so what have you
what's your charging situation then
the charging situation is basically
granny charger
so I'm doing a granny charger at the moment
yep
I think I'll try that out first
and if I need to go
at a higher charging then
yeah I'll
apply money for that but
at the moment this works fine at the moment
I think that's a great strategy John
I think it's a great strategy
it requires no additional infrastructure at home
no additional expense
you've got solar and batteries so you can
trickle charge as you need on
your own power choice which is awesome
and if you do decide to take longer trips
or whatever and you get home and it's
it's a much deeper charge you could
obviously go to a public charger
or you could learn from that experience
and decide to do something else
so you've got the Tesla Supercharger Network
which is probably the most valuable part
of owning a Tesla
yeah
and there's a supercharger in the local shopping centre
up the road from where I live
there's quite a few of them actually
I'm at Oren Park
and all the new shopping area down up there
and Oren Park is big upgraded all the time
and they've got a heap of super charges there
John you're hurting me mate
Oren Park should be still a raceway
okay my view but anyway you just live there
I know
you live there that's fine that's fine
so John let me ask you
so your wife was obviously taken with the Tesla
did you
realise what was it that appealed
to her about the Tesla
was it the space age
the scarcity
the minimal cabin
or the brand
or what was it that got her over the line
are they basically
just the look of it
it looks different from all the others
probably
the space having the space age look
but it looked
different to the others on the inside
and I think what probably got her over the line
is the back seat you can push the button
and the back seats fall over and push the button
back seats lift back up
she's like they get kind of heavy
and she's like I wouldn't be able to lift it
if I need to have the back seats down
so
I think she loved that part of it
it's the little things
and it sounded like it sounded to me John
you didn't have to wait long for the car
did you say okay I want one and they had one in stock
or you had to wait
what was that situation
we ordered
the place to lord on
30th of April
and we were told it's going to be here
July, August
then we got updated
and it came earlier
so it ended up
at the end of June
so about two months
so it was way too long
I was prepared to wait that long
but being with the golf
war and all that with the oil prices
everybody's being buying
electric vehicles
what color did you go for
mate what did you get
we went for white
typical
that's a popular color
and so I'm assuming then if there was an electric
ute that might be the thing that replaces
the other car in the driveway John
yeah I would really
want a single cab but that's probably going to come
eventually
and with the aluminum tri on it
I mean
if I could say
usually the single cab utes
a lot of them come up with
sort of a body style
that's sort of like a dual cab
but a single cab if you know what I mean
and basically they take
that part off and put the aluminum tri on top of it
that's right
so basically I think
it's coming so I'll wait a bit longer
he's going to hold out and you might get there in the end
John well that's made that super exciting
I hope your wife lets you drive the Tesla occasionally mate
I'm sure she will
I get to drive the Kia now and then
whatever
mate congratulations
is that the wife right there she's still listening in
yeah she is
what's her name? Mary
Mary oh well done Mary
don't let John drive the car
I'm a bit nervous
driving it myself I haven't even
sat in the driver's seat yet could I be nervous
about it you picked it
it's your car
there's just so much about it
that we have to learn
you'll be fine
you'll be fine
everyone loves them
well good on you
congratulations on your car
congratulations Mary and John
on your EV journey and you keep in touch
if there's any questions you've got about the car
or anything in the world of electrics okay
thank you guys
thanks guys thanks for reaching out
good on you John thanks good to hear from you
there you go John and Mary
I could hear her in the background there
so
she was just
wanting to chime in she was nervous to be on the phone
and driving the car apparently
well you know what the only thing to do
is to get behind the wheel and give it a go
I mean
they've had the car for a little while
getting the driver's seat
I had my Tesla for five years my wife
sat in the passenger seat
but never drove it once
she's never driven the Mercedes
she's afraid of you
no
she doesn't want
a ding a scratch
anything
life that's life life happens
I don't mind okay
I'll take your word for it
but you know what I can't wait
for Jo to get an electric car though
she'll be able to enjoy it as much as we do
I hope so she's sort of more
leaning towards a plug-in hybrid
I think given the
grandma duties at the moment
we'll cross that bridge
when we come to it
alright well let us know where you are in your
world of electrics and electric journey
send us a text 0-4-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
or on whatsapp
thanks for voting for the phone just save two bikes
in your phone as 0-4-7-7-6-5-7-6-5-7
two bikes talking electric cars
we'd love to hear from you
Brenton's on the longer day Brenton
hey good day guys
what's happening in your world of electric cars mate
well we've just got one
about a week ago
800 kilometres
what'd you get
Kia EV3
nice great little car
yeah it goes like a rocket
but now we'd like to
charge it
pretty hot
that's important
so what you set up at home
Brenton do you have solar
do you have a battery
what's the go
Monday the solar's going in
batteries all that sort of stuff
so
yeah but
we're sort of about
50 kilometres round trip from
the nearest
business
charger so you're sort of limited
to the bit you need to make sure that you're
got
50-100km in the tank to get back to work
sort of thing it's a company car
so
don't really want to charge it at home
but
we might just have to have one up our sleeve
for that rainy day
if you're getting solar and the battery
you could maybe look at
having
if you're even using the granny charger
at least during the day you may be getting
the free energy from your solar
and then if you're on a plan
you might get the overnight cheaper
cheaper cost of as well
sorry to jump in but it feels like a
strange situation where
you're getting solar and a battery but you actually don't want to charge it
home because it's a company car
you want to be able to charge the company for the charging
is that what you're saying
well yes in the past it's been a petrol
car yes
so what you're saying is
you want the solar that you're putting in to charge
the battery in your house to save your electricity
for your house usage
you don't want to waste any of that stored usage
stored power or generator power
on a car that the company should be paying
for
yes correct
in this situation it's very interesting
because I'd say you do have a company
car that normally give you like a
petrol car that's what he's saying
is it possible to maybe
get an allowance for instead
of the car if you're charging at home spending
your money
could that be maybe negotiated with the business
to say well I'm charging at home how about giving me
give me 50 bucks a month allowance
to cover those costs
yeah look you're probably right
but that's a conversation
that yet to be had
and so but you say you're looking for a solution
in that sense and you're
50 you have 25k's distance
so 50k round trip from
what a Tesla charger or another brand
a company charger
when you say company your company's charger
yeah yeah
at one of the branches yeah
gotcha gotcha gotcha so if you
were to charge publicly
and then you've got a receipt
to show then for your
charging could you get that back
you could get that very embarrassed as well then or
probably
but we're just trying to
be very company orientated
right okay
yeah so
the granny charge
about 150 odd kilometers
a day
I'm not sure if does that
keep up
well with the granny charge you do 150 a day
so I'd assume you'll be home in the afternoon
evening and then charging overnight
I don't think you're going to get back
150k's charging with the granny
charger overnight you'll get that back
with a wall charger if you've got a 7
kilowatt charger you'll get that back
overnight not a problem granny charger
you may you'll be lucky
to get half of that back I reckon
it's pretty slow
yeah
so what Steven's saying is
the expense of putting in a wall charger
but again it's another expense for you isn't it right
which the company's
paying for is going to give you the quicker
top up which would also then allow you to do
what Steven's talked about only early with another caller
is look at those companies
and I don't know what's like in South Australia
but a company that has an overnight
charging rate
so that you can get a really cheap rate
from midnight to 6 a.m. for example
and make sure that you use the wall charger
which is fast and efficient in
that time yeah so it's only cost
you like 8 cents a kilowatt it'll be
pretty cheap like it'll be cost you like 5 bucks
so to top up the car overnight
yeah yeah yeah
and but that became
a bit confusing because ATL
they wanted that special
charger that they can control
OCCP
yeah and
protocol yeah
so that's a thousand bucks
without installation
roughly
there is
I've been looking around Bunnings have got
one of their home brand Dita
I think there's about 300-400 dollars
Bunnings have got a few and you're right
like there's cheaper charges out there
installation
in addition but the
the offset of
speed versus efficiency
is why a wall charger is
a better option mate I'll be honest
with you you know what you need
but your biggest challenge is you're trying
to you're trying to put it through
it's an expensive situation
so like and we've
talked about this is like someone's
a man to say to me like why
why do you want
why do I want to go and charge it
as opposed to at the house
because I can put like the company can pay
for the charge as opposed
to using our electricity at home
I get that I totally do
but I think that Steven's point about
what you probably need to do is do some
calculations about what it truly costs because
it's not petrol right filling up
a petrol tank is a hundred bucks
filling up your electric car
not not a full tank but you know the
hundred and fifty K's that's
56 bucks right now
if you were spending 1520
a week that that's pretty
good it's obviously your hip pocket
but it's it's far cheaper
than having to use your hip pocket to do the petrol car
and then I think Steven's right you're better
off thinking about that conversation around look
I'm going to try and use the company site
whenever I can with a runway home
and driving past it whatever but
when I'm at home and I do this I'm going
to calculate that we're going to use it six times a month
and you know can we just get an allowance
of fifty bucks a month and you'll feel
you'll at least feel like they're they're
contributing that way
exactly it look it is a bit of a first
world problem
but you're I understand
Britain you're a sparky yourself aren't you you're an
electrician so if you're a
pinch you could install this charge
of yourself couldn't you
definitely yes
yeah so you'd send them in boys
too wouldn't you you'd invoice them as well
well you can't
apparently you can't claim it
on your tax is that
oh we're not account so wouldn't want to give
financial advice
I'd be very cautious about what you can
and can't claim on tax in this regard
exactly if it's a business expense
if you if you got a like a log book
it's part of a business expense
if you're running it as a log book
because if you're running it as a bit like my car's
business registered and we run a log
book and every drives a review
so there's that
you know there's difference but I'd be
I feel like that's the battle you've got
Brinton he's really just balancing that
that personal versus work
versus the overall convenience because
mate in the end the utter convenience
of you because
you could go to Bunnings buy a charger today
install it yourself yeah
that's saved you couple of thousands just there
you're 350 in the can right you've saved a few
hundred on installation a sparky
is going to charge you but the convenience
mate of just going boom
charge done
he's going to far outweigh
the complication true honestly
the five minutes you spent explaining your
charging needs and situation with regards
to work is saved just by plugging
it in and paying for it yourself
but a sparingly you're not going to do it all the time
yeah in your own mind you're going
to go whenever possible let's go down the local
depot and charge
when exactly when as
a part of our regular routine let's always
try and have the car at 50
percent battery so if we come home and it's a 30
let's top it up overnight and get it back to
150 or 60 and then let's do the
the remaining part at the corporate
site and things like that I feel like that's probably the balance
is finding how much you need to do
at home versus doing it all at home
yes yeah and you said
you've already got the car you've already got the vehicle
it might only yes
and it might only be on a Sunday night
that's right yeah
yeah and how do you
like enjoying the car
it's
it's very very good
yes that's a great review
I bought a
petrol car earlier this year
and I wish I'd have got a
a battery car for sure
well mate good luck with any day
good luck with the business expenses my friend
I think you'll work it out
but yeah there'll be a balance
I think there'll be a balance required mate
so great to hear from you keep in touch
alright thanks for the great show
cheers Breton thanks so much for getting in touch
mate yeah I mean it's a balance
I mean well I think that's reasonable
if it's a company car
and you previously had a petrol car
to cover you like why wouldn't you then get a
it wouldn't cost it'll cost them less
so I think
what we probably should have got to there was
maybe rather than arguing that they give
them allowance maybe
but I was gonna go there but I felt like he didn't want to
because what I thought was why wouldn't you get the company
to get you a charge fox account or an EV account
or a Tesla account right
but then it was like they wanted
they want you to charge at the office
and that may be because it's cheaper
for them if they're paying
30 or 40 cents at the office
for electricity
that's cheaper than 65 cents at charge fox
right so the company's also being smart
but I wonder how many people
if it's 50k's away
like that's not convenient though
is it it's not the convenience of it
a charge is going to be somewhere else as well
he's got to drive to a charger somewhere if it's charge fox
if he was given a charge card
with charge fox or someone
he's got to go somewhere for that as well
it may be closer, it may not be
so I think it's a good question
if anyone is listening and has
migrated from having a company car
with a motor car, motor charge
or petrol car into a petrol car
what did the company do
for the running costs
absolutely and that's a good question
he already had the car
this should have been discussed before you got the car
that's why I asked him
you got the car haven't you already
shouldn't you have worked this out before you got the car
because I'm like he said
we've got solar and a battery going on
that's what a lot of people say because they're trying to do the whole charging at home situation
whereas he's like
we've got solar and battery coming on but I don't want to charge here
but I want the company to pay
well look if it's a company car it's a fair call mate
100% if it's in your deal
now speaking of cars
we've had the pleasure of driving
the BYD ATTO 1
for a little while
I got to tell you I was
it took us a long time to get to this car
just because our schedules are
we're booked so far in advance with cars
and look it's a fascinating car for me
because I was super excited when it was announced
this was going to be Australia's cheapest electric car
and it still is by a few hundred dollars
but it's also a very small car
and I'm partly torn by my enthusiasm
for it
it's a $23,000 car for the essential
about $27,000 drive away
$27,000 for the premium
which we're driving
it's a $31,000 drive away
and $31,000 drive away
is roughly the same price as that MG for
Urban
last week or the week before we had a call about that
so it's a very similar price
so they're head to head there
and I'll be negative for a start
I'm very positive about this being
Australia's cheapest electric car
but for comparison and clarity
you could buy a Kia Picanto
which is
shoebox size like this
for $22,000
so it's $10,000 more
what about range though? How's the range
compared? Well, Kia Picanto is a petrol car
so plenty more
I'm talking petrol
to electric comparison
you're still paying... this is Australia's cheap
electric car, no question
but if you're looking for a cheap small car
there are petrol options
and a Kia Picanto is very
fuel efficient, right? It's not like it's burning through
a V8 engine, right? So
efficiency wise, it's going to be hard
to suggest to a
pensioner or a first car buyer
that you should spend the extra $10,000
on an electric car. I'd say that up front
however
it's a bloody good car to drive
I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed this too
it's a fun car to drive
I think that
ideal driver for this would be
obviously someone who's not going to be going
long distances, it's like an older
this one's got like a 280 odd k-roll
it says 310 on the website but let's call it
280, for someone
who just sort of wants something for
around town, short drives
maybe someone older, maybe someone younger
this is obviously isn't
a car for those
customers, those drivers who
want to go down the coast or go on trips
what I found fascinating was
did you jump in the backseat for testing?
no mate, it's got
a roomier than you think
for adults, easy
because I jumped in the back with my normal driving position
and went oh, this is totally fine
I expected it to be cramped. I didn't even have to
adjust the seat much after because I had it after Trevor had it
and normally I've got to push my seat back I'm a little bit taller
than Trev but I
hardly had to move the seat and I'm a big bloke
and there was plenty of headroom
is it like a sardine getting out of the thing?
no, not at all, it was quite comfortable
it's a small car
it is a small car but I think
for
someone like me, I fit in it
and most people are smaller than me
I thought I had good get up and go
and I truly believe
and again, design is
very subjective
and I think you can probably see from my Cooper that I have a style
I like sharp lines
and hard lines, that's why I like this car
sharp lines, good design
whereas I feel like the Addo 2
and even the Addo 3 are more rounded in their design
I think this is the design style
that would win them sales across the range
but maybe
I'm Robinson Crusoe on that
I don't think so, no, I agree
it's a 5-star Ancap Safety 2
so that's tick that box as well
it does have a driver attention camera
it does, yeah, in fact, I
copped me a couple of times, I was driving home from
when was I coming home from 2GB on Monday night
and yeah, I leave there 10 o'clock at night
I yawned probably twice
and a picture of a coffee cup came up
so no, you know what I noticed about that?
it's not a loud warning though
you notice the cup but it's not
an over-annoyingly aggressive
because I get the yawn warning when I'm singing
sometimes when I'm belting out a tune
you're belting out a tune and you're like
hey, hey, hey, I'm just belting out a song
really? you didn't pick that up?
I often get a yawn warning
on a song
maybe it just says you're boring
maybe it's yawning
saying oh mate, can you lease off on the singing
go and help us
that could be right
could be it
but anyway, one other thing
one little bugbear I had
I've been using Android
for the last six months
and Android Auto didn't automatically connect
now, I don't know whether it's an issue with the phone
I won't mention the brand of the phone
I will not mention the brand
but I will say this, you had issues with another car
from another phone
same brand of the phone
it's the only thing I'd say
my bugbear is that
it didn't automatically connect to Android Auto
it was paired via Bluetooth
and Android Auto didn't automatically
start up despite the settings
on the phone that was meant
for it to happen
it resulted in me having to
un-pair
several times before I got here today
I had to do that five times
before I could leave
I would have been here 15 minutes earlier than I was
because I had to get
I didn't want to drive without Android Auto
I told you a million times not to exaggerate
I seriously would have
it took that long to get it to recognize
and start up Android Auto
automatically, it just didn't do it
I don't know, other people had that issue
you had a live phone
Apple CarPlay didn't have an issue at all
wirelessly
there was a wireless charger
right there in the centre
no centre console
but a lot of centre console under storage
there's two cupholders there
no actual
storage box but there's plenty of storage underneath
the console so it's a compromise
and the dial
took a little bit while
to hang on, where's the normally you're used to
the stuff being up in front of you
hang on, you've got it twisted up to reverse
and twisted down for drive
and poked the side button for park
it took me a while to work out the park to be honest
the side button
that's BYD
it also has
interestingly
you can just jump in the car
and it starts up
it's got a start button
and so even when you jump out
it stops but it's got a stop button
so make your mind up, you've got both choices
that is annoying because I want one or the other
just tell me
works either way
impressive
I like the car a lot
I would highly recommend it
for people that just want to run
city run about, this is not a highway car
because of the range
but as a city run about
the size
I'm not used to driving cars this small
the size was handy for parking
you can park this anywhere
you can slot these in a shopping center
the boot size is small
but under the boot floor there is
storage for cables and things
which would allow you extra space
but it's not tiny
you can drop the seats by day
so if I wanted to
put the golf clubs in it
I'd have to drop the back seats down
it'd be tight
you'd squeeze it in
but for shopping
which is what this car is going to be used for most
there's a bit of depth to it
when you open the door
shopping for two, no dramas at all
shopping for a family, it's going to be boot down
or two trips
but I love it
I just stack them, pack them and rack them
great little car, big fan of the BYD
I can see why it's doing so well
but I can also see why
in a dealership this car draws you in
and then you go, ah
so $280 range but for a bit of extra money
I could get something with a bit more
that's why I think the Dolphin is still selling well
so I think BYD has now made it to a point
where they've got enough cars in the range
that they're able to
explain to people or have people discover on their own
that there's a reason why this one might not be perfect
and we've got the next one or whatever it might be
love it, great little car
let us know if you've bought yourself a BYD
at 01, we'd love to hear from you
send us a text 0447657657
and we'll do it all again next week
Stephen, I'll see you then
I'll be here, see ya
About this episode
Dash cams and rear visibility kick things off, then the conversation turns to why EV charging is rising—especially as plug-in hybrid owners start using their electric mode. Callers weigh in on EV misconceptions and debate objections. The hosts then shift to BYD Atto 1 ownership and delivery: why they chose BYD, how fast allocations sold, and what it’s like day-to-day (city practicality, rear-seat comfort, and ADAS quirks). Home charging plans with solar and time-of-use rates round out the discussion.
Chris finally got on board, with a BYD Sealion 7 - dealership woes turned great when he switched dealers and he's loving it.
John is wondering about cab-chassis ute's going EV but meanwhile he's purchased a Tesla!
And Brenton has a new EV3 - but doesn't want to charge at home.
Stephen and Trevor drive the BYD Atto 1!
