Thread: EV general discussion

100 trucks per substation is bugger all. In the Laverton area alone there must be at least 10,000 trucks - and 2 substations. How’s that going to work?

All the areas where warehousing, etc are is where all the trucks are and the power is decent but not up to that kind of use.

Of interest perhaps is the Vans. UK and eu are rather big. Just walked home from work and went past a Mecr EQA EV I had not seen before. There was a EQC as well. Both are medium hatches SUV style. A delivery driver at the place really was interested in them which had me thinking Vans.

The EV vans at Merc UK are interesting.

Little ticklers like "You could reduce your fuel and maintenance costs by up to £2,775 a year*.

• Reduce your yearly fuel and maintenance costs
• Pay less on taxes and tariffs
• Unlock up to £6,000 in government OZEV grants^†
• Get a free home charge point and installation^‡ worth £549

"
Nissan is as well ,VW but of course and others UK and else where just not here.

The maintenance question is very interesting I think.

With thousands plus delivery vehicles driving about here (CITY) traveling a few hundred km at most daily often just sitting still burning fuel, I expect that will be here soon as well.

It is a no brainer segment for reducing costs I think.

If you compare spending $100-150 to fill a vehicle's tank with fuel with $3-4 to recharge an EV, then there is an obvious huge saving, particularly if the charging comes from solar and is effectively free.
Maintenance costs should also be lower since it should normally just involve fluids and brakes.
A tradie could write off any extra cost of buying the EV, the cost of installing the home charging point, and part of the cost of installing home solar to charge it, as a business deduction.
An EV version of a typical tradies' van from Ford, VW or others to run maybe a couple of hundred keys a day, and recharge overnight, sounds like a very good deal.

[QUOTE=DiscoMick;3100049
A tradie could write off any extra cost of buying the EV, the cost of installing the home charging point, and part of the cost of installing home solar to charge it, as a business deduction.
An EV version of a typical tradies' van from Ford, VW or others to run maybe a couple of hundred keys a day, and recharge overnight, sounds like a very good deal.[/QUOTE]

Whether all of that can be written off,i dont know for sure,but i doubt it.A good battery will be needed as the van will be in use all day.Unless its charged from the grid.

The vans dont do those sort of k's loaded.
They may do it empty,driven very slowly,but many need to do well over 200k every day,loaded,Ac on,etc.

And if they miss a charge overnight for whatever reason,maybe a cloudy day and the batteries havent been charged,that will be a work day lost.

No where near reliable enough to be a commercial vehicle to use for work,for most,or probably all tradies or Couriers.

Sure, i think EV's are a great idea,but if they dont have the convenience or cant do the job that we need them to do,they are not worth having.

In fact,as our second car,one will probably turn up,but need to sort out(get out of) our business first.

Esprinter to start from £52,000 plus VAT, Diesel Sprinter from £24,500 plus VAT. Saving a few thousand quid a year on fuel as claimed would still take 10 years to break even and most businesses don’t keep their vans half that long so purchase price is still a killer. If it was half as much again you’d almost be thinking of it, but at more than double the price that’s a bit steep.

In Aus, Sprinters start from low $40K so the Esprinter will be closer to $90K or more based on this - for the short wheel base, low roof. Add up to $20K on that for the long wheel base, high roof. That’s a lot of money for a delivery van.

I wouldnt go near a Sprinter,VW,or Ford for a work van anyway,particularly as it needs to be ultra reliable,and low maintenance.

Either Jap or Korean are the sales leaders,and have been for many years,in Aus, for good reason.

Seeing lots of Ford Transit vans around here. Prices start from about $48,000.
I see Ford is introducing hybrid versions of some of its vehicles, but haven't seen anything about a hybrid Transit yet.
It will come in time.

Originally Posted by scarry

I wouldnt go near a Sprinter,VW,or Ford for a work van anyway,particularly as it needs to be ultra reliable,and low maintenance.

Either Jap or Korean are the sales leaders,and have been for many years,in Aus, for good reason.

Yes, we used to kill Transit vans with amazing regularity when they were field service vehicles. Turbos and flywheel/clutches were made of soft cheese I think, but the really tall gearing also didn’t help especially when we towed with them all the time as well. The good old Hiace was the pick for longevity. Company was too tight to try a Sprinter/Vito/VW so never found out.