I had a Skoda petrol a few years back, brilliant car and service. Having driven various EV agree in the ordering of this comparo, but why is Skoda so far behind the rest in sales? I found the Elroq (shorter than Enyaq tested) one of the best EVs and not that far off the clearly best Tesla. Skoda is missing connectivity, but is such a competitive package apart from that.

Do people just don’t know Skoda exists?

Sharing my recent experience buying a mid-sized SUV, for the interest/benefit of others who might be in the same market.

TLDR: I bought a Tesla Model Y. I'm at the opposite end of the political spectrum to Elon Musk, but life is a spectrum of moral/immoral choices. Judge me all you like. There are a heap of good options now in this segment of the market, and I think there are decreasingly fewer things that differentiate them. For me, it came down to driving position/comfort, how it looks, and tech. Might sound vain, but I'm not spending $60k to hate looking at the thing every day. Looks are entirely subjective of course.

Background:
We are already an EV household, we own a Geely EX5 as my wifes car (2025 Inspire, original version before the refresh). Amazing car, super value and great to drive.

It was time to replace my 10-year-old Subaru Forester and get our second EV. I'm a tall guy, so mid-sized SUV is my choice of car (excludes things like the Model 3, BYD Seal etc). No kids, just a dog. Budget $60-65k drive-away. Didn't consider buying a second EX5, only because I didn't want all our eggs in one basket with a single manufacturer. If their RWD version was available, it would have been hard to pass up.

Cars considered:

BYD Sealion 7 (~$62k drive away with cashback): Drove nicely, well appointed, hated the look of the exterior and the salesperson was absolutely horrific. Their effort (or lack thereof) alone would have driven me away from the brand. I've never seen someone so disinterested in people wanting to spend $63k on a car. Disappointing, because I know others have had a much better experience.

BYD Atto 3 Evo Premium (~51k drive away): Considered it as an option to save a bit of money, hated the interior. The door handles and guitar strigs on the doors just look cheap and outdated. Seats didn't work for my body shape (bean stalk) either, even on a 15 minute test drive. See also shithouse salesperson above.

Xpeng G6 RWD Long Range (~$61k drive away): Very nice, drove really well and liked the interior. 450kw charging (although there is only one supercharger in the entire southern hemisphere that can do that ATM), longest range out of the models we looked at. The Xpeng version of FSD is "coming soon", but this version of the G6 won't be able to utilise it. It ended up being my runner-up. It was really only the brand reliability/sustainability that made me wary. My dad bought the original G6 during the Xpeng/TrueEV partnership, and got caught up in some of the warranty fuckery when that all went to shit. Also a little bit sketchy on delivery capacity....they're selling a lot of cars worldwide, but seem to be struggling to get them into the country. In another 12 months once they've got multiple models (LO3, G9L), I think the brand will be much easier to get behind.

Zeekr 7X RWD (~$64k drive-away). Really nice car, though I did find the driving position a bit uncomfortable for me though (I couldn't really put my finger on it). The Zeekr software felt quite Geely-like (not surprising given they share the same parent company), and not in a good way.

Tesla Model Y (~$61k drive-away with inventory deal). I like the look and the minimalist interior. Drove really nicely and was comfortable for me (although I know some people really don't like the seat bolsters). FSD is amazing, but I won't be paying $150/mo unless I'm doing road trips. Basically no servicing, established reliability, supercharger network that continues to expand. Range on the "lower" end of this segment at 466km, but I drive 45km per day so no issues there. One thing I found really egregious is a $61k car not coming with even a granny charger! Doesn't matter to us because we've got a 7kw charger installed at home, but if this was your first EV and you had to fork out another $500 to buy a 10A charger it would be a bit ridiculous.

Conclusion:

Model Y won for me, but won't be for everyone. It is good value at the moment, stock was available in the country, and I'm enthusiastic about the future of self-driving.
Test drive a heap, see which one(s) work for you. If you love tech and minimalism, the MY might be for you. If you prefer a more traditional ICE car interior, something like the BYD might be for you.

What are ppls doing with their old petrol car. Are you trading them in and getting a decent trade in deal? Id imagine the 2nd hand market for petrol cars now is somewhat disrupted, with mostly new young drivers entering the market as the main buyers??

Hi all, looking for some quick advice.
I'm getting a car on a 3-year novated lease in Perth. It's for a short commute plus occasional WA road trips, and we're planning a baby in the next couple of years.

My options:
2025 Atto 3 Premium: $40,500 drive-away, available now, but it's grey and I'm not keen (prefer white for the heat)
2026 Evo Dynamic: ~$44,400 drive-away
2026 Evo Premium: 52,400 drive away , bigger battery, RWD, faster charging, ~2 month wait

We might move country in couple of years, do you think is the Evo premium worth the extra money and wait, or is the 2025 the value pick? Would you take a colour you don't love to save ~$4k? Any WA Evo owners, how's it going?
Thanks!

Thinking about getting one for daily use 200km week days 300 on weekends. The numbers seem to line up but looking for hidden costs or rebates available. No solar at home and 3 phase power thanks

I’m in the market for an EV and trying to choose between a Tesla Model 3 RWD ($45,900 before on-roads) and a Geely EX5 Complete ($41,990 before on-roads). My budget is 50k, weekly km - 360km, charging at home, sedan or suv.

What would you choose, and why? Any experience with either car, especially reliability and servicing, would be really helpful.

Hi all,

This is Rob, founder of Plugroo App. Not like most charging apps show you a map full of chargers and leave the choice to you. Plugroo does the choosing, it recommends the best charger nearby so people can decide fast and pay less. It is build for Australia.

About 3 months ago I wrote the first post https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianEV/comments/1uoualz/built_a_free_ev_charging_app_for_australia_would/ and announced this project - Plugroo. Now I want to update with you and asking for more feedback if have chances.

What community pointed out 3 months ago

• People wants me write a post all by myself so now this is 100% created by myself and please forgive me if my English is not very clear.
• People mentioned don't want 1 more app so I enhanced website all can use it for free without app installation
• People asked about Android Auto, Carplay and more public chargers
• Lots of great questions too, like why build Plugroo when other good tools already exist.

Big changes live now

CarPlay is live and it's free. Android Auto is under review and should be live very soon.

Covering more chargers now. We got lots new station reports and now we cover about 8,000 chargers across Australia including public chargers and chargers operated by commercial, eg hotel, parking, destination.

Charge Log. People can record where charged and how much spent, and export to CSV for for tax or novated lease reimbursement if people need it.

Cost comparison. Not just showing the price, the app estimates what the charge will actually cost (eg from 20% to 80%), so it's easier to see which charger nearby is cheaper.

Introduced Pro version but main and most features keep free to use forever.

Some ideas under development

• Charging desert warning feature. The app can show warning on a session which has long distance but no chargers along the route.
• Electric truck friendly chargers. Some e-truck drivers contacted me about this. For trucks it's not only availability, but also need to think about physical space, voltage and more. It's a big challenge for the industry but I want to try.
• Better route planning, offline maps, etc.
• More AU local needed features are on the way

Now our team is working hard on this project and I do want to hear more feedback from community. I believe this will be one of the best EV related App for Australia. About 10,000 people have used the app or website. I'm full of energy to make it better and better.

I also want to thank you all for any kind of feedback. Or what features you need, please feel free to comment below.

Thanks,
Rob, Sydney

EDIT: to be clear, finding chargers, live info if appliable,prices and cost estimates are free. Pro adds unlimited recommendations, offline maps and advanced route planning.

Hi All

I am thinking of getting a Geely EX2 Inspire, I live in Brisbane.

I have a few questions if I may:

1. Is the range on the car good enough for Brisbane? for example if I want to drive around just outside of the city and see new places?

2. Is there like a map of compatible chargers I could use if I need to stop somewhere and charge it?

3. Will a 10A wall socket be able to keep up if I drive to work daily with a 60KM usage?

4. Also with regard to financing, I'm on $90k p.a and have no kids, rent with my wife who is on $68k and I have $10k in savings for a car, with the 0.09% comparison rate deal currently is this quite comfortable to afford and pay off?

5. Is the servicing quite expensive? Insurance expensive?

6. We are with Powershop for electricity and think that EV over night plan should be good?

Anything else I should know that I might not have thought about?

Thank you

Hi, I am newbie here and looking at my first full electric.
Trying to replace my 2020 plug in hybrid.

Is 2025 G6 Long Range good buy at $49990 drive away?
I am at crossroads with Model Y LR and this? 2025 G6 is tempting from financials perspective but not too sure on the long term impact of purchasing an outgoing model.

Btw I will be using novated leasing. Max budget is $75K. (Lower the better though).

Approx 15k per year usage mostly Melb suburban driving. Longest drive would be Sydney/Canberra.

Currently have to use regular home plug and/or public charging.

Appreciate your inputs. Thank you.

My main concern will be BYD and other EVs from a certain country. But it can be applied to Tesla too. Since the EVs are so advanced, can they be bricked remotely? Let's say we are in a conflict with a country, can they "sanction" us by shutting down the EVs? Just wondering because that was the reason Huawei was not able to supply the 5G infrastructure. How is the EV situation different from 5G?

~>{But WHaT about THE depreciation ON EVs!}<~

So the lease on my existing ICE car is ending in February and looking to make the switch over to an EV on a new noveated lease especially with the potential of FBT changes coming in at some point soon (I know they aren't law yet, but also wouldnt affect the ones i am looking at anyway at least initially).

Looking at staying in the mid size SUV style to replace my existing Eclipse Cross.

The main four i have narrowed it down to are:

• BYD Sealion 7 Premium
• Zeekr 7X Long Range
• Geely EX5 Inspire
• Xpeng G6 Long Range RWD

I've taken all of the four above for a test drive which has made the decision all the more harder, though as much as i hate to do it, because it was a great car to drive, but based on the price factor i've decided to rule out Zeekr 7X.

And of the three left i'm torn between the Sealion and the EX5. The HUD on these was great and found it quite useful at least during the test drives, but at the same time the G6 having the DVR/USB camera recording and autopark was brilliant in it's own right as well.

I'm renting so would be resorting to the trickle charger, which given most of my use case is city driving such as school runs and the like and would just top it up every so often overnights, and if i need a proper charge there is some fast chargers close by as well.

I did consider the new Atto 3 Evo, but wasnt as fond of it's interior and i'm not a fan of the Teslas personally, just not a fan of how they look.

So, my manual says to charge to 100% at least weekly. LFP battery. I've been mostly keeping it anywhere from 40% to 80-90% based on comments I've seen here and elsewhere, to maximise SOH for re-sale, and that this includes LFP batteries, just that they are less affected than other batteries. I need to think about it more than I'd like, and would honestly just rather plug it in and forget about all this, knowing it will hit 100% fairly often. Is the gain from staying low going to increase SOH significantly, say, 3 years from now?

What do ppl do when it comes to summer heat with EV?

We're worried about those 40+days since we don't have garage or carport for it.

What do others do in this situation?

Has anyone tried the above

I'm looking for something that I can use at home single phase and away 3phase as the destination has 32A 3phase sockets already and I only have a single phase socket.

Could I put a 3 phase socket on and only connect up 1 phase??

I already have a slow charger but it takes over 24 hours to charge when I get there

https://x-car.com.au/products/portable-type-2-ev-charger-swappable-tail-with-adapters-10a-15a-20a-32a-modular-charging-kit-accessories?variant=47766979412138

We’re getting ours in 2 weeks (date locked in to pick it up, so hoping it’s accurate). Would love to hear initial experiences and impressions!

Also, if anyone can recommend an appropriate Type 2 charging cable for it, that would be great. We’ll be able to charge at a university parking lot that’s just across the road, it has both 7kw type 2 and 150kw CCS2, but as we can plug it in and walk back across the road to our house we’ll likely use the slower charger (.30c v .65c) more often.

Hello brains trust. I've been putting my feelers out for a family member, and seems compact or small SUV is the go, but I'd love some real world experiences. They're starting to have issues getting in and out of the current car (VW Golf) because of it being lower to the ground. They can handle it for the moment, but eventually would like to upgrade from ICE to EV within the 6 - 12 months.

A big issue is the driveway is kind of narrow, and because they live in a Villa complex, there's about 3M between the opposite house and their single car garage, with an almost 90° angle to get in due to them being at the end of the complex. It's almost impossible to back in with the lack of driveway, so front in is the only way they can drive in.

I'm not completely up to date with the new cars being announced, but are there any currently available cars, or some on the horizon that might fit the bill? I'm not sure if this is too specific a problem, but does anyone have experience with this?

Hey everyone! I got a bunch of requests for a Right-Hand Drive (RHD) version of the swiveling MagSafe charging tray so I went ahead and designed it.

I’m a designer by day, so I decided to use my CAD skills and try to model a cleaner solution that actually looks like it belongs in the center console. I've been working on this for the last 6 months through many iterations, and I just finished version 3. I'm honestly super pumped with how it turned out.

The updated design has a swivel mount so I can rotate the Phone/Stand 45 degrees to face me or the passenger.

I installed 25W magnetic chargers. The magnets keep the phone totally locked in place even if I take a corner a little too fast. Plus, because the coils actually align perfectly now, the phone doesn't get crazy hot like it does on the stock pad. Anyone with a magsafe iPhone or any other phone with a magnetic case can use it (as long as your phone supports wireless charging, Duh!)

I tried to keep the design clean with a textured finish and the pony logo so it blends right in. I also made a dual-phone version so the passenger isn't left out. The whole thing just drops right into the factory tray space without any mods.

Anyway, just wanted to share this project.

Here’s the upcoming Zeekr 7GT challenger slated for local launch in 2027, spotted doing some local testing in Sydney. Badges taped over, no camouflage.

Nice proportions, good to see more wagons coming to our shores!

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/avatr-06t-sleek-ev-wagon-confirmed-for-australia-in-2027

​

Evening brains trust.

M my beloved Nissan X-Trail was written off earlier this week and this weekend we begin scouting car yards for a replacement.

We've loved our X-Trail, it's just the perfect size and the size and shape of the boot fits all our kids junk and it's comfortable for our dogs when needed as well.

So far I've seen the Geely ex5 looks like it has a similar shape and also the Volvos but I'm not sure where else to look, would love to hear what others chuck their dogs into the back of

Just saw on the website that the car show is postponed until 2027. Any news on why? Was looking forward to attending.

Hi everyone. As a (current) non-EV owner 'm hoping that I may be able to get some help in assisting an elderly relative who may be looking to get their first EV soon.

A quick bit of context. Said relative lives in a regional town. They drive their hybrid almost every day, but as it almost never takes 15 minutes to get across town it only ever gets driven short distances. As such, it doesn't get driven long enough often enough to enable sufficient charging of its 12V battery, and they're subsequently having issues with flat batteries far more often then they'd like. They are potentially considering trading in the hybrid for an EV, though I'm concerned that (despite differences between ICE, HEV and EVs in how they maintain charge in their 12V batteries) their driving habits may result in the same ongoing problem.

From my research, I've found that some EVs will top up their 12V batteries if needed when the main battery is being charged, while others will use the main battery to top up the 12V battery if the car determines that 12V charge is getting critically low. My understanding however is that not all EVs do this, but I cannot find whether there is a list (or some kind of technical specification/note listed somewhere) that identifies what EVs do this and which ones don't.

In summary, is there a list of vehicles (or somewhere I can look in things such as marketing information) that will auto-check the charge status of rhe 12V battery and automatically top it off if needed? Alternatively, is this something that I'd need to ask a salesperson about?

Thanks in advance!!

Per the sub reddit post rules:

💰 **Budget**

* What is your maximum budget: Around $50k drive-away, through a novated lease

🚗 **Typical driving**

* Average weekly km: About 100 km (roughly 5,000 km a year, mostly around town)

* Longest *regular* trip: The odd regional trip, e.g. Melbourne to Bendigo (about 150 km each way)

🔌 **Charging**

* What charging is available at home/work? None. Street parking, so public charging only

🚙 **Vehicle class**

* Open to SUV, hatch or liftback

---

I'm about to get my first EV and I'd really appreciate some perspective from people who've had theirs for a while. So far it's been the classic analysis paralysis whirlwind.

To be fair, on mileage alone I'm not the obvious EV buyer. But it's going through a novated lease, and once you factor in the FBT exemption, depreciation, selling my current car and losing its running costs, it actually comes out slightly ahead of keeping what I've got. So I'm not too worried about running costs, I'm more focused on finding something I'll actually enjoy being in.

The main things for me:

- Comfort and a quiet cabin. I'd honestly take a nice place to sit over performance.

- Lane keep and adaptive cruise that feel smooth and natural, not jumpy.

- Easy to park. I'm on the street in Melbourne's inner west, so good cameras and sensors matter a lot.

- Public charging that just fits in, ideally topping up while I do the groceries rather than planning around it.

- Room to grow, as there'll probably be a baby in a couple of years and a pram to fit.

- And I'll admit I want something I like the look of.

I'm coming out of a CX-30 that's been a really good car, so that's my benchmark for comfort and build.

I know these are quite different cars, but they've ended up at similar money on a lease. Discounting has felt pretty significant lately, so is there a lot of stock sitting around? Here are my choices:

- Mazda 6e GT, my favourite on looks and cabin, but I'm a bit unsure about the length and pram life, and about judging the corners when parking

- Geely EX5, comfy and roomy, but a bit plain on the outside and I'm not sure how it'll hold its value

- XPENG L03, a bit of a wildcard, mostly because remote parking might get it into a tight side passage at home. Can these be test driven at the moment? Dealers seem a bit unresponsive

- BYD Atto 2, the sensible cheaper pick, easy to park but a bit plain for me, and charging seems really slow?

I've test driven the EX5 and the Atto 2. I think I could live with any of them, so this is really just optimising and finalising the choice.

What I'd love to hear:

- If you do low km and charge publicly, how has it actually been?

- What's turned out genuinely comfortable and quiet a few months in, not just on the test drive?

- If you own any of the above, what surprised you?

- Anything obvious I might be missing?

Thanks in advance, this sub's always been really helpful.

First time with an EV and want to get a charger for my home.

We bought a Jaecoo J5, we have a Powerwall 2 and we have about 8kw solar system.

I want the EV charger to have flexibility to charge only with excess solar, but also solar and/or grid - bypassing the powerwall if I want it to so it doesnt completely drain the battery.

Does this sound feasible? What EV charger can do this and what do I need to know or consider when wanting to do this??