Their prices may be dropping, but here's why I won't be buying an EV
It's not because I'm on some sort of anti-greenies crusade, but here's why I can't see myself picking up an EV when I go car shopping soon, writes Adam Lucius.
Memo to EV sales teams.
Pull on your best chinos, splash on the David Beckham cologne, and come at me with your strongest pitches. Because I'll soon be entering the car market. But it comes with a warning. The chances of me buying one of your EVs are about the same as me winning the high jump at the Paris Olympics.
Not because I'm on some sort of anti-greenies crusade or want to rob poor, struggling Elon Musk of a sale. I'm happy to do my bit for the environment and back any initiative aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.
But as hard as I try, I just can't picture myself behind the wheel of something that relies on battery power.
I'm a set and forget type driver. I check the tyres and oil about as regularly as I check my elbow fat. I don't want to be freaking out about losing power every time I drive three postcodes away.
Petrol stations are everywhere in the city. EV chargers are not.
I know the day is fast coming when I will reluctantly part with my petrol-chewing, but extremely reliable, caboose.
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Despite a recent drop in the sale of EVs in Australia, around one in three new car purchasers are expected to have opted for battery-powered vehicles by the end of the decade, no doubt seduced by a drop in price and attractive government incentives.
It's just that I won’t be one of them.
I might not know a Hyundai from a Holden, a Kia from a Kombi, a Merc from a Mazda.
But I know reliability.
As long as they start first time and get me from A to B, I don't care what a car looks like or where they were made.
If they're good to me, I'm good to them. I tend to drive them to the point of submission. My cars usually give out before I do. I'm close to that point now with an old BMW that was "born" early last decade and will never see 150,000km again.
It's one major breakdown away from saying hello to the wreckers.
People see EVs as 'disposable, not an investment'
As I mentioned, that will force me back into the car market for the first time since EVs became a thing for thousands of Australians.
And it's during these times I lean on a close family member who has been in the prestige used car game for 30 years. He's my go-to man for all things vehicular and will help with my next purchase. But prepare to stand back if you mention EVs in his company.
He is currently trying to offload two expensive EVs clogging up precious showroom floor space after he was forced into taking them as part of a trade-in and is counting the days until he sees the back of them.
He may be counting for some time.
"It's like trying to sell a second-hand washing machine and dryer," he told me. "Most people see them as disposable, not an investment.
"New car yards might tell a different story but I reckon one in a hundred people who walk in here ask about EVs."
Lack of plugs makes all the difference
No doubt they're spooked by the stories of being on long drives and running out of power?
"Maybe. But it's not even so much about those long-haul trips," my relative continued.
"How many people in the suburbs have off-street parking with a garage and three-phase power point?
"You will be driving around shopping centres looking for somewhere to charge your car, taking up more of your time.
"The infrastructure just isn't there yet and that worries people.
"There's too much uncertainty about them."
I ask you: How can you possibly plug something in when you can't even find a plug?
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