Top tips from our EV community to mark World EV Day
Saturday 9 September, marked World Electric Vehicle (EV) Day. To mark the occasion, we spoke to some of our staff and asked the EV owners in our staff EV community to share their experiences of the day-to-day ownership and running of an EV.
Here are their top five tips, and the things they wish they knew when they first started thinking about purchasing an EV
1. Don’t worry too much about range
While there’s a lot of anxiety about charging range, Reuben says for most people it’s not a huge issue day-to-day. “Charging range (i.e. range anxiety) is not important for 95% of your driving, and could even be 100% for some people. I've only once charged at a public charger, and that was just to test it. With more and more public chargers coming online every day it will become even less of a concern,” he says.
Mark agrees, “We haven't had much of an issue going anywhere, but you do need to do some planning, and it’s wise to do a top-up charge whenever you do stop.”
Read more about being out and about in an electric vehicle.
2. Work out your home charging set-up
Travis and Ali both recommend looking into the most effective home charging set-up for your needs.
“Once you order your EV, look at getting your home charger installed (if you are getting one) as it helps get you ready and reduces anxiety,” says Ali.
“Charging from home will (almost always) be the cheapest and most convenient way to charge your EV,” says Travis.
Paul is looking forward to integrating his EV with his overall energy usage via a home management system. “Home management systems will be a game changer in the near future where PV, battery, EV, and home consumption are all optimised against your retail energy contract. There are many apps well down this path such as ChargeHQ and Amber.”
Read more about EV chargers and charging at home.
3. Consider the initial investment
The purchase cost of EVs is certainly decreasing, and we anticipate this trend to continue over the coming years, so keep an eye on the prices of your preferred model/s and also any government incentives or subsidies available.
Michelle is looking forward to seeing more EVs in the second-hand market, as this will make them even more accessible to the average driver.
With the introduction of any new technology, there comes uncertainty around the longer-term impacts. Veli is taking a pragmatic approach, saying “For the record, I like my EV but I'm expecting my car to depreciate faster than any internal combustion engine (ICE) I've owned in the past 10 years. Time will tell.”
4. Spend some time understanding your vehicle of choice
Just like their ICE counterparts, electric vehicle models vary in their capabilities and added features.
Edward says it’s important to “Learn and understand your car; they do loads of different things and sometimes there are settings applied globally which don't work in Australia/for your personal circumstances.”
This would also help you to understand how long it would take to fully charge your EV and how far you can travel in one go.
Read more about the types of EVs and their benefits.
5. Be prepared to not want to go back!
One thing the EV owners in our community had in common was that they were glad they made the change.
An unlikely advocate for EVs, Veli says, “As a former lover of 6-cyl fuel guzzlers, it took me less than a month to appreciate the silent, instant torque of an EV.”
Mark agrees. “My tip is be prepared to really not want to step back to an ICE car. The EV is what we use as the primary vehicle wherever we go, including interstate. Both my wife and I prefer to use the Tesla. So, the other car sits there idle until we both need to drive at the same time. We didn't think it would be a preference thing as much before we bought the car.”
Ali says, “Most of all, go electric as soon as possible. You won't regret it, but you may wish you had done it sooner.”
More information
Check out the electric vehicle information on our website to find more information on: