I’ve just driven one of the first commercially available electric utes on a six-month trip through regional Australia. Driving more than 10,000 kilometres, visiting 25 communities and talking to hundreds of regional Aussies, here’s what I learnt about how ready regional Australia is for electric vehicles.
When I climbed into the giant LDV eT60 electric ute in my home town of Ballarat, I discovered its power outpaced many petrol cars – the instant torque electric motor meant it was smoother and quicker off the line. As a former petrolhead, I loved the gurgle of a petrol exhaust, but the melodious note from the ute at low speeds turned many heads, especially in Tamworth where they’re no strangers to musical displays.
Throughout my summer-to-autumn trip, I dealt with plenty of rain and plenty of sunshine, but most places where I charged the ute had no weather protection. At truck stops, the petrol pumps would be undercover while the electric chargers were often at the edge of the car park. I found the solution – some chargers are shaded by solar panel canopies, providing weather protection while generating clean energy.
In Ballarat, Shepparton, Yackandandah and Taree, other EV owners kindly used their cars for electric-powered barbecues to provide a feed. Our ute didn’t have this vehicle-to-load feature, but it’s available in overseas models. And that’s the biggest problem – we’re at the back of the global queue for EVs. Australia is the only developed nation without a mandatory fuel efficiency standard. Fixing this would increase the variety and supply of vehicles and drive prices down through competition.
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