Electric + Human-Powered Vehicles

[stevebrooks]

All the new EV models coming to Australia in 2025:

[stylofone]

All the new EV models coming to Australia in 2025:

Getting rid of petrol and diesel is great. I'm also looking forward to the right-wing EV haters getting their comeuppance.

On the other hand cars of all kinds are bad, and drooling over this avalanche of consumer aspiration is somewhat offputting. The desire for larger vehicles, SUVs, big utes etc., is part of the heritage of the auto industry and its environment-killing marketing practices, and it caries over to EVs. The Hyundai Inster is the only one he details here which sticks out as breaking that pattern.

[stevebrooks]

All the new EV models coming to Australia in 2025:

Getting rid of petrol and diesel is great. I'm also looking forward to the right-wing EV haters getting their comeuppance.

On the other hand cars of all kinds are bad, and drooling over this avalanche of consumer aspiration is somewhat offputting. The desire for larger vehicles, SUVs, big utes etc., is part of the heritage of the auto industry and its environment-killing marketing practices, and it caries over to EVs. The Hyundai Inster is the only one he details here which sticks out as breaking that pattern.

Oh agreed, I would also say there are uses for large cars like big utes, but if your main driving activity is the school drop off and there's no other practical reason for it and you drive something like an F150, well you're an idiot of some sort. The big problem with cars these days is that big cars are pushed to people who don't need them.

And with that, news.com 2024 car of the year, BYD Shark 6, there are many reasons for it winning, but again, do you need it? That's the question to ask, a smaller car with similar specs would do most people these days. Granted it's not a full EV, but with a 100km range on battery alone most people living in small towns and even cities could drive it for most of the time as a full EV, charging at night when the off-peak prices are available, heck it would last me nearly a week before needing to charge.

Interestingly only one of the cars in the news corps car of the year finalists was not an electric of some type, either hybrid or full EV, which is certainly indicative of something, maybe the impending end of the ICE car era.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 02e64102d2

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 30b19b19a8

[Loki]

Don't hold your breath

[Loki]

For example, when the shark 6 showed up i, like many, was quite interested.

So i went looking for reviews and tests.

It became rapidly apparent that all the reviews were sponsored by the manufacturer and were very careful to avoid any actual test.

"The headlights are cool", "you can plug your coffeemaker in", "the wildlife doesn't even hear you coming" (a positive apparently). Yippee.

Reading between the edits though it seems the fuel consumption is appalling (not even close to the manufacturers figures), the 80 k battery range estimate is optimistic, there is no wheel travel, and it couldn't pull the skin off a pumpkin spiced latte.

So, great for trips to woollies, in which case there are vastly more appropriate options.

Anything else, not fit for purpose.

[stevebrooks]

Reading between the edits though it seems the fuel consumption is appalling (not even close to the manufacturers figures), the 80 k battery range estimate is optimistic, there is no wheel travel, and it couldn't pull the skin off a pumpkin spiced latte.

Yeah there's no doubt manufacturers have a sort of fantasy review of their own vehicles, nothing like waiting for reviews by actual proper motoring reviewers, I would certainly recommend not basing purchasing decisions on the makers reviews. However one of the big differences between the BYD Shark 6 and many other hybrid utes is the power train, the petrol motor isn't actually connected to wheels at all but just charges the battery, which removes a lot of unnecessary complications in hybrids and also removes some unnecessary weight in the drive train, but yes milage varies;

BYD says the Shark 6 can travel up to 80 kilometres on electricity alone and 800km combined. Running as a hybrid rather than EV, the fuel consumption rate is claimed to be 2.0L/100km. But once the battery drops below 25 per cent full, this escalates to a claimed 7.9L/100km, which is around the same as a diesel

That second figure once the battery drops below 25% is almost certainly because the motor is running constantly to generate the required power to keep the car running, it isn't ideal and you are right it's not well advertised. The RAV 4 PHEV uses the same system and might be a better bet coming from a long line of already proven vehicles.

[Loki]

They advertise 7.9 but i suspect the actual figure is significantly north of that. Just going on a couple of things these very biased reviewers mentioned about their trips.

But the marketing fluff reads well

[stevebrooks]

They advertise 7.9 but i suspect the actual figure is significantly north of that. Just going on a couple of things these very biased reviewers mentioned about their trips.

But the marketing fluff reads well

That 7.9 was probably under perfect driving conditions and running at speeds that drew least current from the battery so the petrol motor was not running full tilt, the faster you drive of course uses more electrickery, requiring more charging from the electric generator/motor, using more fuel, but lets be honest, when was the last time a car company, I mean any car company, used actual real world results in their advertising. I mean some of them just outright lie so it would certainly be no surprise to me if this was indeed some jiggery pokery with figures to make them look good.

Anyway I will probably wait until I can get a decent full EV with a decent range for a decent price, meanwhile my long distance car, my i30 diesel has and advertised fuel use of around 4.6l/100km, it does in fact seem to do quite well in that regard.

[stevebrooks]

They advertise 7.9 but i suspect the actual figure is significantly north of that. Just going on a couple of things these very biased reviewers mentioned about their trips.

But the marketing fluff reads well

A fairly comprehensive road and towing test here of the Shark 6...pre-production I should note. They actually got good mileage out of it compared to other similar sized ICE vehicles, but there are some clear.....well let's call them design compromises.....that make it far less attractive than it appears on the surface.

and it couldn't pull the skin off a pumpkin spiced latte

They actually gave it good marks for pulling power....with caveats. As long as the battery is fully charged it has more pulling power than most of the competitors, but when that battery gets low is where the entire thing trips and lands on it's arse! So it can actually pull the skin of a pumpkin spiced latte, as long as you don't want to do it twice I suppose! They didn't make a lot of comments on ride and wheel travel, but then they were only doing a road test so that's not surprising.

So no, probably not what I would buy after all, given its compromises it would probably make a good short distance towing vehicle, tradesmen working in the city with no off-road requirements would probably find it ideal, but if you are working country probably not so much.

[stylofone]

They advertise 7.9 but i suspect the actual figure is significantly north of that. Just going on a couple of things these very biased reviewers mentioned about their trips.

But the marketing fluff reads well

A fairly comprehensive road and towing test here of the Shark 6...pre-production I should note. They actually got good mileage out of it compared to other similar sized ICE vehicles, but there are some clear.....well let's call them design compromises.....that make it far less attractive than it appears on the surface.

and it couldn't pull the skin off a pumpkin spiced latte

They actually gave it good marks for pulling power....with caveats. As long as the battery is fully charged it has more pulling power than most of the competitors, but when that battery gets low is where the entire thing trips and lands on it's arse! So it can actually pull the skin of a pumpkin spiced latte, as long as you don't want to do it twice I suppose! They didn't make a lot of comments on ride and wheel travel, but then they were only doing a road test so that's not surprising.

So no, probably not what I would buy after all, given its compromises it would probably make a good short distance towing vehicle, tradesmen working in the city with no off-road requirements would probably find it ideal, but if you are working country probably not so much.

If an EV has a big enough battery to tow heavy things for long distances, it will be much more expensive. Suck it up boomers*. It will also have to lug around that battery when it's NOT towing, so you'll be paying again for the inefficiency. I while ago I saw an article about a caravan which had its own battery and motor. That could be one solution, but it was not cheap.

Another solution is... stop towing heavy things for "fun", get another hobby. My Mum's retirement village has a special car park full of trophy caravans and mobile homes. They just sit there and don't go anywhere. It's stressful and dangerous to drive them long distances, and very boring to sit around in a caravan park for a few days drinking cask wine after you get there. Spend your super cheque and family home downsizing tax-free capital gain on something else. Buy a farm and rewild it or something like that.

*It's my 62nd birthday today, I claim B-word privilege!