EV general discussion

A 50% loss of range when towing seems about right.
For a work truck like a Lightning, if it was towing a trailer with tools, that could still leave a range of maybe 250 ks, which should be plenty in the suburbs, particularly as power is available at most work sites for a recharge.

Important issue is what happens with EV owners who live in apartments, who total more than 2 million in Oz and are often poorer than those who can afford houses.
Urban consolidation and rising housing costs mean more people will live in apartments in the future.
The Feds and states have agreed that from October 2023 all new apartment buildings must be wired for EVs, so that's good.
What about existing buildings? Will the states make it mandatory for body corporates to rewire them?
It seems to be a bit of a mess at the moment. Leaving it voluntary isn't working.
Seems likely a deadline will have to be set.
Most EVs can recharge off normal power points, but wiring and connections to the street may need upgrading because of the extra demand.
Would also be smart to cover the roof in solar panels and install batteries to save money for all residents.

The EV 'social equity' dilemma that may put apartment residents off electric cars
The EV '''social equity''' dilemma that may put apartment residents off electric cars - ABC News

Also interesting to see Rex Airline trialling electric engines supported by hydrogen in its Saab 34 seat aircraft for short routes of up to an hour.
Rex says operating costs would be halved, tickets could be cheaper and marginal routes could become more viable.
Lots of stories around about this. Just Google it.

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Important issue is what happens with EV owners who live in apartments, who total more than 2 million in Oz and are often poorer than those who can afford houses.

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I read recently that an electrician did an analysis of the Melbourne Docklands development as he had been asked to test the viability of EV charging points.
He found that the electrical supply was totally inadequate and that not only that the whole electrical infrastructure of that part of Melbourne would have to be upgraded at mind boggling cost.
It's not only the building that has to be considered but the whole sub station district.
Regards PhilipA

Mick, I understand what you’re saying regarding get to work sites etc, and then charge up. However, standard charge points only put very limited capacity back - like 10hrs required to top back up.

I also would see it as completely unfair to a person having a project constructed to be expect to foot the “fuel” bill for a dozen tradies.

Now expand that to have each tradie wanting to top his battery off and most sites couldn’t sustain the power feed.

In context here - a tradie can do 300-400km in a day travelling between job sites. Currently not a viable alternative unfortunately.

This is interesting - Aussie Toyota HiLux EV plan confirmed - carsales.com.au

They seem to be on the money with range as well - assuming the empty ute weighs around 3,000Kg with its 88KWH battery, 300KM is about right.

Might zap them an email and see what it would cost to repower my company Hilux - it's due for replacement - and 300KM would do me 99% of the time - the other 1% I can take one of the ICE vehicles we have at work.

I can charge it at work from the 20KW rooftop solar as well, so wouldn't cost me anything at home - and it gets parked on the street so no way to charge it there anyway.

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Originally Posted by Homestar

This is interesting - Aussie Toyota HiLux EV plan confirmed - carsales.com.au

They seem to be on the money with range as well - assuming the empty ute weighs around 3,000Kg with its 88KWH battery, 300KM is about right.

Might zap them an email and see what it would cost to repower my company Hilux - it's due for replacement - and 300KM would do me 99% of the time - the other 1% I can take one of the ICE vehicles we have at work.

I can charge it at work from the 20KW rooftop solar as well, so wouldn't cost me anything at home - and it gets parked on the street so no way to charge it there anyway.

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300km is a bit light for me. The race to get the EV utes in to Australia looks like going to a Chinese company. 2023/2024 looks realistic for some options. 2025 for Solid state battery or FCEV options which will allow towing and very quick recharge/refueling is my guess.

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Mick, I understand what you’re saying regarding get to work sites etc, and then charge up. However, standard charge points only put very limited capacity back - like 10hrs required to top back up.

I also would see it as completely unfair to a person having a project constructed to be expect to foot the “fuel” bill for a dozen tradies.

Now expand that to have each tradie wanting to top his battery off and most sites couldn’t sustain the power feed.

In context here - a tradie can do 300-400km in a day travelling between job sites. Currently not a viable alternative unfortunately.

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I would bet the ATO FBT would get involved in employer charging my car at work[bigwhistle]

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Originally Posted by NavyDiver

300km is a bit light for me. The race to get the EV utes in to Australia looks like going to a Chinese company. 2023/2024 looks realistic for some options. 2025 for Solid state battery or FCEV options which will allow towing and very quick recharge/refueling is my guess.

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My round trip is 80KM each day and the vehicle sits in a parking bay for 10 hours until I go home. Weekend use is fairly light as we take SWMBO Hybrid longer distances as it's more comfy. The odd towing trip or site inspection to the further reaches of the State would require a different vehicle is all.

Just been working through the price. Based on an 88KWH battery pack, conversion, engineering etc we can't see how the price will be under $60 to $70K for this, so not viable - we'll wait until Toyota release a factory version.

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Originally Posted by PhilipA

I read recently that an electrician did an analysis of the Melbourne Docklands development as he had been asked to test the viability of EV charging points.
He found that the electrical supply was totally inadequate and that not only that the whole electrical infrastructure of that part of Melbourne would have to be upgraded at mind boggling cost.
It's not only the building that has to be considered but the whole sub station district.
Regards PhilipA

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No surprise there,some have no idea how much power Ev's use to charge.

Oh,just change the legislation to make body corporates have to supply the charging points in existing unit blocks.
Its going to be a very game Govt to bring in something like that.
Imagine doing a block of 200 to 300 units. [bigsad][biggrin]
Particularly a high rise with a very small roof area,so solar would not be suitable.

And work utes,charging them on site,that is never going to happen.
Residential house site,maybe 3 to 6 utes there a day parked on the street.
Leads running everywhere,that is going to go down well with WH&S
Small commercial site,10 to 20 utes parked close by,no hope of getting power to them to charge.
And like Tombie said,who is going to pay for the power,and the upgraded temporary switchboard,etc, for the job?

Hydrogen or hybrids are what is needed,EV for commercial vans,utes,used all day every day,loaded and often dragging trailers,is not going to happen for a while.
In fact quite a few are saying battery tech has actually stalled,there are going to be no real improvements in the near future.
Sure we hear about this and that,but its not going to happen for quite a while if ever.

Mate of mine has a new RRS coming,hopefully sometime in the next year or so.It is a hybrid,battery does around 120Km,uses a 7KW home charger for 6 hours when battery is flat,so thats around 30Amps,if my maths is correct?Maybe Gav would know?
If so,thats a huge amount of power.An extension lead is going to warm up a bit[bighmmm]
It is petrol,the published fuel economy is around 1L/100Km,looks like they fudged the figures somehow[biggrin][biggrin]
Heavy as well,weighs something like 400 to 500KG more than the diesel model,and very expensive.