#SelEVies...all hail the EV sun god!
We love hearing about your EV experiences; why you decided to buy one, what you love or what you hate about low-emission driving. Which is why when we saw Matthew's post on the Electric Vehicles for Australia Facebook page, we got in touch to talk more about his new Hyundai Kona (and frankly awesome numberplate).
Although not an EV newbie, it was still a leap of faith for Matthew to pick up his very first longer range pure EV...and then immediately head out on holiday!
"People are ready for EVs, they're just waiting for the price to come down and, for some, the towing capacity to come up...
We know this because, as well as EV enthusiasts, my wife and I have become EV advocates - every time we stopped to charge up on our recent 1200km round road trip we'd spend an extra half an hour talking to people about the how, what, why and 'how much does it cost to buy / charge / service'!
We had previously completed the PlasmaBall Run, in a loaned Nissan 40kWh LEAF, with with Chris Jones in a loaned Renault Zoe and John Edwards in his recently acquired Hyundai Kona. This introduced us to the 3 phase Electric Highway network that the great people at the AEVA, Synergy and Telsa Owners Club of WA had set up.
After the Plasmaball Run we could not settle into our Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in quite the same enjoyable way. The pure EV grin the confident LEAF tempted us with was missing. Silence, convenience and fume free. The Kona was the best fit for us in our townhouse lifestyle. We teased ourselves and entered Hyundai Osborne Park on Monday, and unfortunately for us, they had a few in stock! However, we had a holiday planned some 600km away as of the following Monday. However, my wife said so why not? Why delay? Let's just do it! Drove away in on Friday.
We literally picked it up from the dealer and hit the road! Which is why I put in a panicked call to EVolution to get a cable that would accelerate the recharge experience.
To connect to the extensive AEVA/Synergy/TOCWA bridging infrastructure we used a Giger which worked first time, no issues at all. It was effectively 50km/h, much better than the 1.4-2.4 kWh portable brick ( 9 to 16km/hr) the Kona came with.
We pretty much used the network for the 600km distance. A donated 40Kw fast charger in Jurien Bay plus the Tesla charger at Geraldton's Ocean West Holiday Units Upon arriving in Kalbarri It was too easy, just plug and play with the Giger. The only problem with the Giger was that I didn't have a knife to undo the cable tie! Thank goodness for prepared friends!
The conversations with people along the way were interesting. I don't talk about the environmental aspect because I feel like people switch off, but they want to talk about how long ot charge, cost of charging, range and the cheap servicing ($165 annual service per year for ten years) and the fact there's very little carbon footprint on the fuel.
I love explaining how my home charger takes, cheekily, 8 seconds. Just 4 seconds to plug in and 4 seconds to unplug. Then I explain the brilliance of a Zappi charger with the Eddi controller.
EVs really are a form of fuel security. Oil is subject to all kinds of pressures, like cheap fuel day and international conflicts, but with an EV you can generate the power in one place and use it immediately.
My advice to anyone - including friends, family and our the people in places we stopped for a recharge - is there's nothing to fear.
If you're a two car family and do a lot of urban driving, there's really no excuse NOT to consider an EV as a runabout. If you want to push it further, look at the options.
People worry about charging, but it's so easy and convenient to charge up at home. It's really just a case of choosing the right EV for your needs; personally, I had my heart set on a Tesla Model 3, but out of the blue came the Kona and for the two of us the Kona is a much better fit for our townhouse. The luxury of choice.
The transition to low-emission transport is one to embrace, not to fear. We just didn't worry about it, just jumped in and it works.
My numberplate is RAVOLT, for RA the Egyptian Sun God and VOLT is electrickery hence Solar Electric ... also I was originally intending to convert a RAV4 to electric, so all related. I ask “when will you join the RAVOL(u)T(ion)?”