00:00Car sales people understand psychology, and they know that when the market's fresh, the
00:07people who are really buying them are the really keen people, but we've gotten past
00:11that now, and now we're into the mass market, and those people are going to have slightly
00:16more hesitation about it, and of course, car sales people being who they are, they can
00:21make more money out of a petrol car, and they'll try and sell those.
00:24But are EV sales, actually on a trend line, they're still actually slightly increasing?
00:28Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just, it's like spring, you know, the temperatures
00:33go up and down a bit, but the trend's always going towards summer.
00:36But hybrid, you can't deny hybrid sales are increasing faster than EV.
00:40Oh, true, but that's because the people who are going to buy a petrol car are looking
00:44for economy, you know, because petrol's expensive, so they're trying to find the
00:49one that's going to give them the cheapest weekly bill at the petrol station, so they're
00:54going for a hybrid because you're definitely spending less on a weekly basis, but what
00:58they don't appreciate is if they had an electric car, they'd spend even less on their electricity
01:04bill than that.
01:05But are they also opting for hybrids because of a lack of infrastructure? We keep on hearing
01:10that Australia is lagging when it comes to the provision of infrastructure.
01:15Sure, and that is right, because as I said, these people are not the keen, enthusiastic
01:20beginners, you know, the innovators. These people are the ones that are starting to get
01:25a bit concerned, and they worry about, well, am I going to be able to recharge the car
01:30on a day-to-day basis? You know, they think they might need a special contraption in the
01:35garage, you know, but no, like me, you know, I've had an electric car for eight years,
01:39you just plug it into the garage wall, never bothered with the proper fitting, I just plug
01:44it in. And it works, because on a day-to-day basis, you're actually not going far enough
01:49to warrant one of those special EBSIs.
01:53And so...
01:53Sorry, what's an EBSI?
01:54Oh, an EBSI, Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment.
01:58Right. Does that mean going to an established spot where there is a charger and stuff?
02:05No, no, it means the thing you put in your garage, so that it supplies it at a slightly
02:10higher rate than a normal power point. So, you know, a 10-amp power point will do the job.
02:16What about a lot of people at the moment still driving around and thinking,
02:20jeez, I'm thinking about an electric car, but I just don't see electric charging stations?
02:25Well, the problem, that is, you've hit the nail on the head, that is exactly the problem.
02:30They don't see them, because the signage isn't like a petrol station, where you see these
02:33massive signs on the highway, and you know where they are. And even your car will tell
02:38you where, when the petrol bowser's coming, you know, if you're on a long trip, it'll
02:41tell you where they are. But, you know, you have to look at an app, there's an app called
02:46PlugShare, where you can find out where they all are, and there's a lot more of them than
02:49people actually realise, but they just don't see the signage. So the signage is very poor,
02:55and people's, it's not within your consciousness. You know, it's like when you buy a new car of a
03:01particular brand, suddenly you start seeing them all on the road, because your brain is
03:05tuned to that. But if you haven't got an electric car, you're not tuned to where are they. So it's
03:10just psychology. So you don't think people who are considering buying an EV don't really have
03:16to worry too much about the range issue? Absolutely. And that's the thing, once people get one,
03:22like our neighbour across the road, he bought one, he thinks it's fantastic, and he said,
03:26oh I won't be going back to a normal car, because you suddenly find out that PlugShare is an app
03:32that works, you can find out where the recharges are, and you can do your long trip. It just needs
03:37a little bit of pre-planning at the moment. But what about those longer trips, say I was driving
03:40up to Cairns? Well, okay, so if you're doing a long trip to somewhere like Cairns, gosh now that's a
03:46trip I would never take, I'd just get on an aeroplane. There's so much to see between wherever
03:52you are in Australia and Cairns. Oh of course, you know, I understand that. But you know, a long trip
03:57like that, yes it might be inconvenient, because you know, if you've got to stop every two hours
04:02anyway, because the government says, you know, you should stop from a health point of view,
04:06just for your own sake. But if you were swapping drivers, and the car's not really stopping for
04:11more than about 30 seconds while you do the swap over, that's going to be difficult, because you
04:16haven't got time to recharge it, and the range of the vehicle might only be 500 kilometres.
04:21And so how long would you have to wait for it to recharge? Well if it's 500kms, you'd probably
04:26have to wait, or it depends on the speed of the charger, and that's the thing. There's all sorts
04:31of different speeds, and you need a high speed charger, which you could do it in probably half
04:34an hour. So it depends on if after five hours you're going to stop for lunch anyway. So there
04:40are still those kind of challenges, and is that going to improve over time? Oh absolutely, but
04:46you know, because you see it comes down to battery, the chemistry of the battery, and they
04:52are developing new kinds of batteries that are increasing what they call energy density, and so
04:58it is improving that aspect of it. And so how concerned are you about the rate at which Australians
05:04are taking up EVs in terms of Australia's commitment to cutting emissions? Oh it's not as
05:09fast as I personally would like, you know, I can honestly say that, and I wish that the government
05:16had a higher target, because if you don't, like any business knows, if you don't set targets that
05:22are what we call a stretch target, then the market's not going to try and meet that. And if you
05:27don't set regulations, I mean I'm so relieved they brought in the fuel efficiency standard,
05:33that's been a big help, but I just wish that the targets were a bit stronger, but I can see
05:38politically where they're coming from. So you wish the targets were stronger, but what else
05:41could the government do to practically get more people buying EVs? I think it comes down to the
05:48infrastructure more than the price of the vehicles, to be honest. You know, if they're saying that
05:54government departments need to buy them, so you're getting that procurement there, and that's
05:58increasing the second-hand market within a few years, and they're certainly doing tax things for
06:04businesses, so that's all great, and then that within a few years will satisfy people who only
06:11buy second-hand. But there needs to be more education about this, having open days where
06:16people can go and ask questions and actually get in a car, actually plug it in the wall. People have
06:21no idea what these things look like, so until you've actually seen it and done it, it's a little
06:25bit hard to make that mental step to go that far. And why are you such a supporter? Me? Because of
06:31climate change. I mean, I've got grandchildren, and I'm really worried for their sake, you know.
06:38To be honest, I'll be dead before the real impacts start coming, but my grandchildren won't be,
06:43and anyone who's got grandchildren must think about their welfare. I mean, I'd hope they do,
06:48and I hope they don't think, oh, I'll be dead, who cares? And I sometimes wonder about politicians,
06:54do they actually think of future generations, or are they just thinking of next time there's a vote
06:58on, you know? And that's where it comes down to, the morality of the whole thing. And, you know,
07:04you can't escape climate change is a real thing, and that's why I worry about it, and that's why I
07:09do what I do, because I am trying to get people to understand that there are things that we can
07:15all do. So every grain of sand in the bucket, we'll end up filling it up. Everyone thinks, oh, but I'm
07:21only one person, but, you know, the way to fill up the bucket with a bucket full of sand is keep
07:27adding a grain at a time, and that's how we will get there. So everybody who buys a car, hopefully
07:32they will think, oh, actually, if I just get some information and encourage people to get out there
07:39and actually try one, get in a friend's car and have a go.
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