Ultimate Guide To The Fully Charged Show Sydney

This weekend (11/12 March), a big EV show is happening at the ICC in Darling Harbour, Sydney. It’s called Fully Charged Live and is run by the Fully Charged YouTube channel, which is about to hit a million subscribers and does a great job of getting people excited about electric cars and clean energy.

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UPDATE: Finn spent the weekend in Sydney at Fully Charged Live. Was it any good? What did he learn? Should you go next year? Read Finn’s Fully Charged Live Australia review to find out!
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It’s a great cause, and it looks like it will make for a great day out if you are considering an EV as your next car or just love anything with an electric motor.

You can see the official Fully Charged Live program here. Tickets for the show can be purchased at a 30% discount thanks to NRMA here, and you can read on to discover the highlights (and a couple of low-lights) in my not-too-humble opinion.

To be clear, there are two categories of EVs on show – ones you can test drive and electric vehicles you can only look at.

All The EVs Available For Test-Drives

You need to book test drives at the relevant stands, and they are subject to availability. If you are dead-set on many test drives – get there early on Saturday, bring your licence and get them booked!

Electric Cars:

• BYD Atto 3 – An electric SUV under $50,000
• Cupra Born – small hatchback under $60,000
• Honda e: – funky small hatchback ~$65,000
• Nissan Leaf – Starting at $19,000 (used import) for the GEN1 or $35,000 (used import) for the GEN2 from the Good Car Co
• MG4 –  small hatchback – approx $40,000-45,000 : getting rave reviews in Europe
• MG ZS – SUV for $45,000
• Polestar 2 – 5 door sedan starting at $65,000
• Peugeot e208 – small hatchback starting at $55,000
• VW ID.3 – small hatchback under $50,000

Electric Motorbikes:

• Energica
• Fonz Moto (mopeds)

And The EVs You’ll Be Able To Look At But Not Drive:

• Genesis GV60 :~ $110,000
• Hyundai Ioniq 5: from $72,000
• Kia EV6: from $68,000
• Kia eNIRO: from $65,000
• LDV Ute: from $93,000
• VW ID.Buzz (the electric kombi!): expected to be over $115,000
• Smart EQ
• Tesla Models S 3 X Y from ~$70,000
• Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin
• Savic motorbikes

EV Conversions At Fully Charged Live

Traction EV will be displaying:

• Series 3 Land Rover with HyPer 9 motor and Tesla battery pack
• VW Kombi with Tesla motor and 75 kWh battery pack

Electro Gusto will be displaying:

• A beautiful converted 1973 VW type 3 squareback.

Unique EVs will be showing off their:

• “Zombie”, a 1969 Volkswagen Dual Cab Kombi retrofitted with a Tesla Small Drive Unit and a 52-kilowatt-hour battery pack.

The “zombie” was previously used as a market garden truck in the local area and was in terrible condition, but it is now fully restored.

If you like restored VWs, you’ll be in electro heaven.

Solar Race Cars On Display

• ANU
• Aurora
• Sunswift
• Team Arrow
• Western Sydney Solar Team

…and the ABB Gen 2 Formula E Car will also be there.

EV Chargers

If you are looking for a hard-wired EV charger for your EV, then you will be able to see chargers from:

• ABB
• Fimer
• Wallbox (including the Qasar bi-directional V2G charger)
• Jetcharge
• EVolution Marvin (a home charger under $700)
• myenergi (feeling mischevious? ask them about the time they threatened to sue me!)

Top Tip: ask which chargers are OCPP compatible. This video explains why OCPP matters.

Solar Installers

• Penrith Solar Centre (SQ clients and all-round fantastic people)
• Origin Energy

Talk-fests (AKA Theatre Sessions)

There will be two stages at Fully Charged Live running all weekend from 10 am-4:30ish. I counted 33 sessions. My advice from visiting many clean energy shows over the years: avoid the corporate talkers as they’re often pay-to-play and dull. Seek out the enthusiasts and experts.

My Pick Of The Fully Charged Live Show Sessions:

Saturday

11:15-11:45 How far ahead is Tesla and can it be caught? Some great panelists here – no corporate wonks.

12:45-13:15 Engines Out, Batteries In. Everyone needs a hobby – so keep your beloved petrol car on the road by making it electric. Find out how.

13:45-14:15 Electric Motorbikes – When Nigel Morris talks about e-motorbikes he gets so excited ‘a little bit of poo comes out’ (direct quote!). Even if you don’t ride a motorbike, this will be entertaining.

15:00-15:30 Preparing for floods and fires. Sorry to be a party pooper, but you are in denial if you think you won’t be affected by a climate emergency soon. Hosted by, in my opinion, the most knowledgeable YouTuber at the event – Engineer Rosie Barnes, with an expert panel. This session is important.

Sunday

10:30-11:00 Can Australia be a clean energy superpower? Worth going to see because Saul Griffiths is talking, and he’s a bloody legend.

2:15-12:45 From Red Dwarf to Scrapheap Challenge to Fully Charged – If you were raised on Red Dwarf like me, this should be great. Hear Robert Llewellyn explain how he went from Kryten to creating the wildly popular Fully Charged YouTube channel.

14:15-14:45 Micro-mobility – Skateboards, Scooters, Mopeds & E-bikes. The happiest people I know ride e-bikes instead of driving e-cars whenever feasible. No joke. Come and be converted to the joy of micro-mobility by Saul Griffiths and others. Hopefully, Saul will bring some of his homemade e-bikes.

Come And Say Hi!

If you want to say hello, I’ll be wandering around Fully Charged Live. I plan to be at Penrith Solar Centre stand at midday Saturday. When I’m not there, I’ll be drooling over the classic EV Conversions, dreaming about owning an ID.Buzz or thrashing the e-bikes on the outdoor two-wheel test track.