Ronald Checks Out Electric Cars Part 2 — Range, Charging, And Trivia

Electric cars - range and charging

Nine days ago I attended the Charge Together electric car event in Adelaide and scored some sweet electric rides.  Last week I wrote about 5 specific electric cars and today I’ll describe what I learned about driving electric cars in general from their owners.  I’ll cover range anxiety and how it’s not really a problem provided you get an electric car that suits your needs.  I cover charging at home, at public charging stations, and even what to do when out-the-back-of-Burke and desperately seeking a charge.  I’ll even cover a little bit of electric car history. [Read more…]

Ronald Checks Out 5 Electric Cars On The Streets Of Adelaide

Electric car review - Charge Together

Ronald attended the Charge Together electric vehicle event In Adelaide. Here’s what happened…

I attended an electric car event here in Adelaide on Sunday.  I thought it was a reasonable thing to do as I’d recently written about how electric cars don’t result in more CO2 emissions than the typical petrol car. Because some people have made apples to oranges comparisons between the greenhouse gas emissions produced by, lower performance petrol cars and larger, higher performance electric cars when charged from the grid, it seemed like a good idea to see with my own eyes that these people aren’t being fair dinkum. [Read more…]

Should Electric Cars Be Subsidised?

Electric car subsidies

Nope! But We Should Make Cars Pay For Pollution.

So far this year there has been a fair bit of debate over whether electric cars should receive subsidies in Australia.  The Greens are in favor and SA Labor were planning to make electric cars exempt from registration fees up to the point they were defeated in savage hand-to-hand voting.  Our Federal Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh “build me a fleet of new coal power stations” Frydenberg has come out of closet, or possibly coal bunker, as a fan of electric cars.  Probably because they can be charged with coal power.  [Read more…]

Craig Kelly Is Wrong: Electric Cars Are Better For The Environment Than Petrol Ones

Craig Kelly on electric cars

Craig Kelly Is Either Illiterate, Incompetent, or Machiavellian.  But I’m pretty sure it’s the middle one.

Toyota Prius Beats Nissan Leaf And Tesla S On CO2 Emissions In Australia

It has become clear to me there is some confusion over whether electric cars offer an environmental benefit in this country.  Craig Kelly, who is an extremely honorable Member of Parliament, has told the nation they result in more greenhouse emissions than conventional petrol cars.

If you are standing up while reading this you may want to sit down due to your shock when I tell you Craig Kelly is actually wrong on this. [Read more…]

Gas Lamps And Electric Cars: Dr. Alan Finkel

Defending electric cars in Australia - Dr. Alan Finkel

Image: Left – Public Domain | Right – Blomst

Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr. Alan Finkel has defended electric vehicles and taken on the naysayers, saying that instead of focusing on the current challenges, we should look at the potential of EVs. [Read more…]

Elon Musk Says Tesla’s Electric Truck Will Beat Diesels On Total Cost – He May Be Telling The Truth

Elon Musk presentation

Elon Musk with a semi.

Elon Musk’s Latest Announcement Is A Big Trucking Deal [Read more…]

How Many Solar Panels Do You Need To Charge An Electric Car?

dude charging his car with solar

If you are thinking of buying an electric car and have solar then you need to read this.

I recently wrote about how an electric car revolution is coming thanks to declining battery costs and rising environmental concern.  I made a promise in that article I would soon write about charging electric cars with rooftop solar and soon is now.  Or at least it soon will be. [Read more…]

Electric Cars Will Roll Over The Competition

Tesla Superchargers

Tesla superchargers connected to Tesla S electric luxury vehicles in Adelaide sitting opposite Mitsubishi MiEVs.

The Electric Car Revolution Is Coming And Cannot Be Stopped

Electric cars are approaching a major milestone.  Soon they will reach 1% of total world vehicle production.

If you don’t think that’s a big deal, consider how quickly things changed once 1% of people had the internet or 1% had smartphones.  This might not seem like a reasonable comparison, as a brand new electric car costs more than twice as much as the latest iPhone, but things are definitely taking off. [Read more…]

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