Fear of Change & Promise of a Brighter Future
Majella and I spent the weekend in Bundaberg talking with the general public about electric cars at yet another regional EV expo. Our fifth one so far this year. People who live in Bundaberg are called Bundabergians, just in case you need to know. One of the fascinating topics of conversation was Toyota’s recent announcement about a 1000-mile-range solid-state battery. This promise of a brighter future with longer range seems to have gained a great deal of traction with a public looking for EVs that have equivalent range to a diesel car. Another frequent comment was that battery electric vehicles were a step towards a future to be dominated by hydrogen-powered vehicles. [Editor’s note: Yikes.]
No number of facts seem to dissuade people from believing these versions of the holy grail for sustainable transport, while simultaneously ignoring what is happening around them. I wonder if it is another excuse to avoid change and kick the EV revolution a little further down the road. Events like the Bundaberg EV expo are a great opportunity to test the level of knowledge in the public at large. As a recent CleanTechnica reader has observed: “BEVs are ‘thinking-people’s cars’.” People need to do the arithmetic. Not all buyers are willing to do this.
There we were, munching on our “sausages in a blanket” ably supplied by the local Rotary Club surrounded by a field of battery electric Teslas, BYDs, MGs, and Polestars discussing how they would stick with petrol and diesel until Toyota provided them with a car that had “decent” range or perhaps even a hydrogen car. I pointed out that even Toyota says it will be a few years till the solid-state battery is installed in its vehicles, and also the fact that there are only 4 hydrogen refuelling stations in the whole of Australia.
Bundaberg is about a 5-hour drive (or, if you like, two recharging stops) from Brisbane. It is a conservative town (just like Gayndah), with a federal MP from the not-so-liberal Liberal National Party. Not surprisingly, he declined the invitation to attend, but we did have a local council member. All local car dealerships were also invited but also declined (strange because Great Wall has just released the Ora and MG the MG4). But that’s okay, Fully Charged Sydney got the same treatment. I expect things to change shortly.
Tesla Owners Club Queensland co-sponsored the event, along with Rotary Club, both providing the necessary public liability insurance. This covered the 200+ participants, the owners, and the 17 cars and one motor bike present. We attracted four Model 3’s, two Model S’s, three model Y’s, four BYD Atto 3’s, one Polestar, a Kona, an i-MiEV, and an electric motorcycle. The i-MiEV and motorcycle were brought by locals — just as well, as they only had 70 km of range. Some people brought their cars but declined to include them in the display — perhaps they felt they couldn’t answer the questions. I am not averse to telling people I can’t answer their questions when they get technical about amps, ohms, watts, and volts. There is usually someone who is part of the display who has an electrical background — I’m happy to pass them along.
I wonder if they ask the same sort of questions of car dealer salesmen? They could have a technical discussion about scavenging of burnt fuel in the cylinder head.
We assembled at the Bundaberg Recreational Reserve, used by the local council for many events. The field was dotted with power access boxes which some drivers accessed to top-up their cars. Each box was fitted with a 10 amp and a 15 amp power point as well as a 3 phase outlet. Plenty of power! Who needs a solid-state battery or a hydrogen fuel cell.
Having a range of vehicles on display meant that those who said the Tesla was too futuristic — “I couldn’t cope with that screen!” — or who disliked the new owner of Twitter could check out other cars. Though, there were some who were worried about the fact that they were all made in China — even the Polestar! The i-MiEV made the point about how far EVs have come.
Many had never heard of BYD but were impressed with the value-for-money package and the fact that the car owner was boiling his kettle to make a coffee. A brighter future indeed.
Bundaberg (population 70,000) is a coastal town 362 km north of Brisbane. It is most famous for its sugarcane production — much of which is used to produce the famous Bundaberg Rum at the local distillery. The town is infamous for the use of forced (though legal) labour from South Sea Islanders in the mid 1800s, a practice called “blackbirding.” Many tourists visit the region to access the southern portion of the Great Barrier Reef.
The organiser of the event, local John Baldwin, has done a tremendous amount of work to inform the public. He visited all the high schools and businesses in town, as well as providing copy for articles which appeared in the local newspaper, and he has been interviewed on local radio. He is already planning next year’s event. I am looking forward to supporting him again as we prepare the public for a brighter future.
As the crowd thinned towards the end of the day, Majella took a young family for a ride-along. They had never been in an EV, let alone a Tesla. It was a short 5-minute drive, but long enough to impress with rapid acceleration and deceleration. The main concern addressed was the possibility of getting booked for speeding. “That’s where Autopilot comes in,” Majella explained. Like many that day, they had to be educated about charging — you don’t have to go somewhere special, you can charge at home. Australia has a 240-volt grid, which gives more than adequate charge at home overnight. Or better still, the many homes with solar can charge for free from the sun during the day.
The end of the day found us sitting at the government-provided QESH charger with Romance Mode on the screen eating hot pizza and reflecting on time well spent educating the people of the Queensland regions.
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