Sales of hybrids are outstripping those of electric vehicles with experts concerned the developing consumer trend will slow the national reduction in transport emissions. By comparison, sales of EVs declined last month for the second time since 2020. The latest figures confirm a trend where many new car buyers are opting to ditch standard petrol cars but choosing hybrid vehicles over full battery EVs.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
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.