Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Electric cars?

Would you buy an electric car?

  • Already own one

    Votes: 10 5.1%

  • Yes - would definitely buy

    Votes: 43 21.9%

  • Yes - preferred over petrol car if price/power/convenience similar

    Votes: 78 39.8%

  • Maybe - preference for neither, only concerned with costs etc

    Votes: 37 18.9%

  • No - prefer petrol car even if electric car has same price, power and convenience

    Votes: 24 12.2%

  • No - would never buy one

    Votes: 14 7.1%
  • Total voters
    196
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Value Collector said:
There is a sun shade from Tesla that slots into that roof nicely for those of us who like to be sun smart, the last road trip we did Mrs VC went a step further and put a pillow case in-between the sun shade and the glass for added protection.
View attachment 153748
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Thought about the sunshade but my wife and I haven't had an issue with sun from the glass roof, and we've been in the outback with over 40C temp.
 
sptrawler said:
On the jeep, I also put some foil and foam insulation in between the glass and the shade, so I had glass sunroof a layer of cloth, a layer of 8mm foil backed foam insulation, then the sunshade.
The last thing I wanted in the E.V was a sunroof, or any other colour than white, best move ever for Perth climate. ?
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My wife and I love the glass roof, it lights everything up and makes the interior look and feel open to the world. The glass is very reflective, no sunburn so far and we have traveled in over 40C days during the las bad bushfire season.

Tesla has tested its cars in real-world situations at a whopping 50 degrees Celsius.​

 
JohnDe said:
My wife and I love the glass roof, it lights everything up and makes the interior look and feel open to the world. The glass is very reflective, no sunburn so far and we have traveled in over 40C days during the las bad bushfire season.

Tesla has tested its cars in real-world situations at a whopping 50 degrees Celsius.​

Click to expand...
So you don't have to run the air con on hot sunny days, that's amazing. It was one of the common complaints that people had with the tesla model 3. if i had known it wasn't a problem I would have given it more consideration.
It might not be an issue over East, but in W.A with limited charging infrastructure, having to run the A/C all the time is a real problem. A friend who has a model 3 went to Albany, from Mandurah and said t was worrying. They then a few weeks later went to Kalgoorlie and decided to take the Mazda 6.
As I said it might not be a problem over east, I just googled the Tesla forum and some say it is fine others say it is hot, so probably very subjective.

My Tesla Model Y Long Range finally delivered at the end of March. I like the car a lot. It is a great car but the downside is the glass roof. Summer time is coming and it is getting hot! Did anyone tint their glass roof for a model Y? My tint shop was not willing to do it for me. It is a big surface area to tint inside the car. I live in San Francisco. It is not super hot but when I am parked in the sun, it is like almost 100 degrees inside. Sometimes the weather outside is only high 60’s. I just got the roof sunshade. It is helps a little. I believe adding tint to the glass would keep the car much cooler.

I live in Florida and just got my new Model 3. It’s winter and already the heat coming through the sunroof is oppressive. What is the best way to keep that cooler. Does the Tesla sun shade work?

Last week, I had the chance to test how quickly the temperature rises in our Model 3 with white interior. I brought the cabin temperature to 72 degrees and then shut off the AC while the car was in full sunlight (80 degree weather) and sitting on black asphalt. In just 6 minutes the cabin got back to 110 degrees and in 10 mins was already at 115. I decided against running the AC to conserve energy while away from the car until the last five minutes of our approach.

Cabin overheat protection is convenient, but from an energy savings perspective it makes more sense to cover your windows or park in the shade. The trouble with these vehicles is the sheer surface area of glass. While driving under intense sun, I can definitely feel the heat in the cabin - especially within a few inches of the upper glass components. I have a tendency to wear a hat while driving which helps a bit.

Really good ceramic tint and a sunshade in the 4-5 months of heat here in Phoenix does the trick. I'm tall with my head not far from the glass. The combo makes it so I don't even notice any heat. Tint alone is nice, but the radiated heat from hot glass can still be felt on my head.

When it cools down, it take the sunscreen off and store it in the frunk.
 
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sptrawler said:
So you don't have to run the air con on hot sunny days, that's amazing. It was one of the common complaints that people had with the tesla model 3. if i had known it wasn't a problem I would have given it more consideration.
It might not be an issue over East, but in W.A with limited charging infrastructure, having to run the A/C all the time is a real problem. A friend who has a model 3 went to Albany, from Mandurah and said t was worrying. They then a few weeks later went to Kalgoorlie and decided to take the Mazda 6.
AsI said it might not be a problem over east, I just googled the Tesla forum and some say it is fine others say it is hot, so probably very subjective.

My Tesla Model Y Long Range finally delivered at the end of March. I like the car a lot. It is a great car but the downside is the glass roof. Summer time is coming and it is getting hot! Did anyone tint their glass roof for a model Y? My tint shop was not willing to do it for me. It is a big surface area to tint inside the car. I live in San Francisco. It is not super hot but when I am parked in the sun, it is like almost 100 degrees inside. Sometimes the weather outside is only high 60’s. I just got the roof sunshade. It is helps a little. I believe adding tint to the glass would keep the car much cooler.

I live in Florida and just got my new Model 3. It’s winter and already the heat coming through the sunroof is oppressive. What is the best way to keep that cooler. Does the Tesla sun shade work?

Last week, I had the chance to test how quickly the temperature rises in our Model 3 with white interior. I brought the cabin temperature to 72 degrees and then shut off the AC while the car was in full sunlight (80 degree weather) and sitting on black asphalt. In just 6 minutes the cabin got back to 110 degrees and in 10 mins was already at 115. I decided against running the AC to conserve energy while away from the car until the last five minutes of our approach.

Cabin overheat protection is convenient, but from an energy savings perspective it makes more sense to cover your windows or park in the shade. The trouble with these vehicles is the sheer surface area of glass. While driving under intense sun, I can definitely feel the heat in the cabin - especially within a few inches of the upper glass components. I have a tendency to wear a hat while driving which helps a bit.
Click to expand...

I never turn off my A/C, even in winter.

My first two cars did not have A/C, I was young and didn't know better but bloody hell they got hot inside & I think I still have scars from the metal seat belts.

When my wife and I decided to travel around Australia I purchased a FJ55 with A/C, never turned it off when it was hot.

When we decided to start a family in the late 1990's we swapped the Landcruiser for a 1988 Volvo 740 turbo Estate, magnificent car until it was t-boned, that had climate control and the A/C was on all year round.

Then we picked up a new Ford Territory in 2004, again the Climate Control was on all year.

It's not worth turning the A/C off. It keeps the interior at an ideal temperature and removes excess moisture. And the A/C system last longer in vehicles that use it all the time, compared to those that are turned on infrequently.

When an A/C is off the lubricating oil drains to the lowest points, the oil is also a sealer. The hoses in an A/C system is not as leak tight as metal pipes, but with a coating of oil on the inside it is almost if not as good. And modern A/C compressors do not have a reservoir, they rely on the refrigerant to carry the lubricant. By running the system on a regular basis, the refrigerant loss is minimal, compressors are constantly lubricated and last longer.

Not one of my cars have had an A/C issue.

Air conditioning systems are made to run. If you don’t run your car’s A/C during the colder months, you can potentially face problems in the future. As some would say, you should either use it or lose it. If you stop using your car’s A/C, the liquids inside it such as refrigerant and oil can break down and leak.
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autoowls.com.au

Why Run Your Car's Air Conditioning Service in Winter - Auto Owls

It may seem counterproductive to run your car's air conditioning system during winter, but it actually saves you a lot of money on services and repairs. Most experts advise against ignoring your car's aircon during the colder months and there's a good reason for it too. Here are a few benefits...
autoowls.com.au autoowls.com.au
 
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Electric vehicles use an average of 30 kilowatt-hours to travel 100 miles (160 km), equivalent to the electricity used by a typical American home per day to run appliances, computers, lights, and heating and air conditioning.

If you use auto, you can use a 1kW A/C ballpark, which is more efficient and allows the fan to adjust to the temperature of the room. If you averaged 60 mph (96 km/h) over 1hr, then AC at 1 kW consumption would be 1 kWh, or approximately 4-5 miles (for a car with 200-250 Wh/mi efficiency). 1 kWh represents 16.67 Wh/mi when traveling 60 mph (96 km/h).



During warm summer months running the air conditioner in a gas vehicle will lower your MPG, which happens in an EV too. However, it’s not nearly as bad as some people would have you think. I’ve seen comments online that the AC will lower an EV range by 50%, which is not true, especially on modern electric vehicles.

For example, in 2019, research from AAA suggested that when outside temperatures reach 95-degrees F during the summer and AC is used in a vehicle, the driving range can decrease by around 17%. And while that’s certainly not good, it’s not awful, either.

However, in a comment to The Verge, a Tesla spokesperson disputed AAA’s findings and suggested that based on real-world data from the millions of Tesla cars on the road, users won’t experience a decrease anywhere near 17%. Tesla claims that at 95-degrees Fahrenheit, using the AC will only lower your Model S range by roughly one percent.
 
JohnDe said:
Thought about the sunshade but my wife and I haven't had an issue with sun from the glass roof, and we've been in the outback with over 40C temp.
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We haven’t had any big issue either, but being from Brisbane in the middle of summer I can feel a bit of heat radiating down, and my wife also is really cautious with sun, so like to have it on.

I also thought it might slow down how hot that car gets and save some energy in the cabin over heat protection.
 
JohnDe said:
It's not worth turning the A/C off.
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Not sure about EV's but in an ICE car it takes longer for the cabin to heat up with the A/C sucking heat straight back out again.

Perhaps different if the car has a fancy control system but for a manually operated heater and A/C controls that's definitely the case. :)
 
Smurf1976 said:
Not sure about EV's but in an ICE car it takes longer for the cabin to heat up with the A/C sucking heat straight back out again.

Perhaps different if the car has a fancy control system but for a manually operated heater and A/C controls that's definitely the case. :)
Click to expand...

My wife drives the EV during the week, I drive my VF SSV Ute. I never turn of the A/C, I leave the climate control on between 21 to 26 C depending on the weather. I did the same thing with my previous car, a Ford Territory.
My dads XC Ford Ute that I inherited 20 or so years ago was another story, the heater in that took ages to warm up. No A/C in that on, just a thick solid iron block.

Modern engines are designed to warm up very fast.
 
mullokintyre said:
Howdy Farmerge,
We took delivery of a BYD atto3 back in December, not because of desires to save money on fuel, save the planet, or to flout my virtue signalling credentials.
It was a form of Insurance in case we could not get fuel for some reason, and as we had a substantial solar panel / battery storage system, it made sense.
I chose the Atto3 for a couple of reasons.

1. The SUV type of vehicle is significantly easier for my arthritis ruined old body to get in and out of.
2. Of the three vehicles I ordered (Tesla, Volvo and BYD), it was the first to arrive.
3. The changeover price was pretty much the same as replacing the existing CX5 with a new model.
4. The claimed range (480 km's) should have been enough to get us to Melbourne and back without having to recharge along the way.

The first thing we found out , was the claimed range is nothing like the truth if you are travelling at 110 kmh on Freeways. We now plan on around a safety margin of 330 km's if travelling at the 100 or 110 kmh speeds.
Living some distance away from the big smoke of Melbourne (around 200km's), most of our driving is on country roads of varying degrees of quality. Things such as lane control, self steering etc don't work to well on roads that don't even have a clear centre line, much less a solid edge line. As for non paved roads, less said the better.
We recently went on a weeks trip up through NSW to the Hunter Valley.
Planning a route is crucial, because
1. The number of Charging facilities is nowhere near the amount of diesel/petrol stops.
2. At sites where charging occurs, the number of physical chargers is limited. While Charging at Barnawatha , I sat down and had a coffee while waiting the 25 minutes or so to go from 40% to 100% charge. There were 16 separate diesel/petrol pump stations to fill up, versus four EV charging stations. In a five minute period, I counted 23 vehicles who filled up at the pumps as I waited with the bloke in a Polestar next to me.
3. The high number of charging spots that don't work due to broken cables, damaged plugs, no electricity, no comms connections or something else is a worry. Its bad enough if one out of four charging stations is not working, but when all of them are out of action you could be in a little trouble.
4. On long trips, do not stray from the freeways. We chose to go up through Wagga to Mudgee via Bathurst to catch up with friends. Ended up having to stay at a Motel in Cootamundra that allowed us to plug into their (slow) wall socket to get to Bathurst because all of the Junee chargers were out of action.
5. Apps like plugshare are great if everyone checks in. There were a number of instances where we would check on a charging station that said they were not being used only to find them in use when we arrived because not everyone checks in.
6. just on the apps, I now have eight different apps on my phone for charging, finding EV charge points etc. Be prepared to have to stand on a hill in some places to get mobile phone reception to be able to start charging.
7. Beware of Tesla drivers. Although there is an excellent network of high quality Tesla chargers around, a lot of Tesla drivers shun them because the cost of charging, and so head to the cheaper (or free) non tesla chargers. Most Tesla chargers are unavailable to non tesla owners, so the reverse is not true. Tesla have made 5 tesla stations in NSW available to non tesla users, and we were able to use two of them, one at Bathurst, and one at a Holledene estate Winery North of Singleton. They work really well, are fast, but are not cheap. Wish all charging stations were built by Tesla.
8. Never pass up an opportunity to charge, you never know if the next on on the planned route will be available or working.

I am sure city dwelling owners will have more benign views of charging.
However, if as I suspect you are not in the big smoke, range and the charging is a big issue, not insurmountable, but something that takes a little planning and some unscheduled stops.
And don't get rid of the cruiser, you always need a backup.

Mick
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Thanks forthe update on your vehicl Mick. We are 45k out of Perth, used to be frming and is now what is termed landscape living for the wnna bees living a rural lifestyle at mostly mine and a couple of thers expense. We do have a double charging facility in Mundaring, but we are like you in that we have a pretty substantial amount of solar panels on the shed roof. Not ina mad rush to do the change over just yet but when I have have nothung better to do it makes interesting reading about the various models.
Ithing the cruier though 14 years old will be creamated with me at my demise. It knows it's away around the farms better than She Who is Never Wrong.
 
Australia's first full size electric bike, by an Australian company.

Savic’s new electric cafe racer

b230ca9175018639981cdab50a5715c4?width=1280.jpg

The nation’s first full-sized electric motorcycle is a 300kg monster of machine that can get from 0 to 80km/h in just over four seconds.

The fully automatic bike, which has just three modes – forward, neutral and reverse – is set to be launched next month as the venture capital-backed start-up behind it opens a Series A raise in search of $10m in working capital.

Ahead of the launch, The Australian test rode a prototype of Savic Motorcycles’s Delta model, a slightly heavier and slower version of the bike which retails for $19,990. A second model known as the Alpha is available for $26,990.

The motorbike drew quite the crowd at Pie in the Sky, a bakery along the Pacific Highway about 43km from the Sydney CBD, which is known as a biker hangout and meet-up spot.

Unlike some electric motorcycles, the C-series is a good looking machine, largely modelled off cafe racers, with the rider positioned in a forward-leaning position and clinging to clip-on handlebars.

At 300kg, it wasn’t the easiest to manoeuvre around corners at slow speeds or when turning around. However, the bike did not feel as heavy as a standard 300kg road bike.

The prototype is said to get to 100km/h in about 5.5 seconds and some testing by The Australian found the bike to get to 80km/h uphill in a little over four seconds.

The finished product is said to be a lot faster, reaching 100km/h in 4.5 seconds, and the Alpha model faster again at 3.5 seconds.

As all electric models go, the bike takes some getting used to without a gear lever or clutch.

06f67ae6821af6d75de8030c7e90c4e2.jpg

Being electric, the motorcycle was largely silent, which is rather pleasant, and allows the rider to take in more of their surroundings.

Between the Alpha and the Delta, both bikes are identical in appearance. Savic Motorcycles chief executive Dennis Savic said the Delta has smaller motor internals and a smaller battery pack which effectively limited the power.

Savic is the second Australian-made electric motorcycle to enter the market after FONZ, which produces a small electric motorcycle which looks similar to a moped starting from $8990.

Other competitors include Chinese brand SUPER SOCO which offer two models ranging from $5490 to $8290.

The C-series has a range of 150km on the Delta and 200km on the Alpha model.

d3865aa1903a83e9920831b3cb04a8d7.jpgThe nation's first full-sized electric motorcycle the Savic Motorcycles C-Series is set to launch in April.,

Mr Savic said this was a modest measurement and that both bikes could travel much further over smaller distances.

Electric bikes, in comparison to internal combustion engines, are more efficient at lower speeds than on highways.

The first allotment of bikes will include seven fully-built models, two of which are reserved for customers, three of which will be used for marketing and two will be reserved for engineering purposes.

Mr Savic said the brand had 240 bikes on pre-order which represented around $8m in revenue. The Series A capital raise — Savic is looking to raise $10m of $20m pre-money — will be the working capital the business needs to ramp up production.

Current capacity is expected to see between 70 to 100 bikes built this year and between 250 to 350 in 2024.

The business raised a pre-seed in 2020 and a seed round the following year, which brought in a total of $2.4m led by alternative investment venture capital fund Artesian.

The start-up also received a $657,000 Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre grant from the federal government.

b59a3259009300d70a2392e5ff91439e.jpgThe nation's first full-sized electric motorcycle the Savic Motorcycles C-Series is set to launch in April.,

There was little to fault on the prototype The Australian rode except the bike’s LCD screen. For most of the ride it was impossible to monitor speed on the screen due to the glare. Mr Savic said a glare-free LCD would come with the finished bikes.

On the tech front, the brand is still working out whether to charge users a subscription fee for access to data insights and a predictive maintenance algorithm.

The bike has a total 180 data points per second which give insights into how the bike is performing as well as its steering ability.

The bike will also be able to display maps via a connection with a user’s phone.

Each bike will arrive with its own sim card which will allow for over-the-air updates. It’s understood a single network provider will be used.

One of the more interesting features is the keyless entry which works over bluetooth. When a user’s phone has run out of battery it can be overridden with a code.
Click to expand...


www.savicmotorcycles.com

Savic Motorcycles

Welcome aboard the Savic high-performance electric road bike - designed and built in Australia for passionate motorcyclists who care about the future.
www.savicmotorcycles.com www.savicmotorcycles.com
 
farmerge said:
Thanks forthe update on your vehicl Mick. We are 45k out of Perth, used to be frming and is now what is termed landscape living for the wnna bees living a rural lifestyle at mostly mine and a couple of thers expense. We do have a double charging facility in Mundaring, but we are like you in that we have a pretty substantial amount of solar panels on the shed roof. Not ina mad rush to do the change over just yet but when I have have nothung better to do it makes interesting reading about the various models.
Ithing the cruier though 14 years old will be creamated with me at my demise. It knows it's away around the farms better than She Who is Never Wrong.
Click to expand...
You could always convert the cruiser to electric.
I presume its a 79 series ute, which can be converted (see Evolution Australia).
I seem to remember my Hi lux ute spent most of its time on the farm idling as I put out hay, rounded up recalcitrant cows or fixed fences.
Would be an ideal candidate.
Mick
 
sptrawler said:
An article on the real life consumption of some E.V's

www.drive.com.au

Top 10 most efficient electric vehicles – UPDATE

Here are the most efficient vehicles you can buy in Australia, based on real world data.
www.drive.com.au www.drive.com.au
Click to expand...
Into the 6th month of driving my Atto 3 and I have averaged 14.6kWh/100km.
As I live 2km from the M1, to travel anywhere I use it as an artery, so spend a lot of time at 100kph until traffic inevitably snarls somewhere.
Although I tried Eco and Normal modes earlier on, I only drive in Sport mode now as it's much safer getting on and off roundabouts, and in merging traffic.
 
rederob said:
Into the 6th month of driving my Atto 3 and I have averaged 14.6kWh/100km.
Click to expand...
Very similar to the Kona, it is surprising how much I'm enjoying not having to worry about finding time to go to the fuel station, the wife never used to fill up the Jeep, so it was always down to me.
Now I just plug it in at home, done, it really is good from that aspect IMO.
 
sptrawler said:
Very similar to the Kona, it is surprising how much I'm enjoying not having to worry about finding time to go to the fuel station, the wife never used to fill up the Jeep, so it was always down to me.
Now I just plug it in at home, done, it really is good from that aspect IMO.
Click to expand...
It certainly flips the script on the people that say the reason for not owning an EV is the don’t like the thought of wasting time charging, when in reality you soon realise petrol stations are a waste of your time.
 
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