What’s it like to live with an EV in Brisbane?
Troy Rolley, CEO of Electrical Embassy bought a Tesla to find out.
Charging at The Home Maker Center - Fortitude Valley.
At Electrical Embassy, we’ve been installing an increasing number of EV chargers and battery systems. It’s no surprise, as more Australians make the switch to electric vehicles.
As the cost of fuel (from the cartels) continues to rise, while the cost of EVs has been falling, the transition to EV has been accelerating in the past 12 months, beyond even the government’s initial projections.
But what’s it really like to own an electric car living in Brisbane? Our CEO, Troy Rolley, recently purchased a Tesla Model 3 to find out.
Life with an EV
We’ll pass the mic over to Troy:
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the whole experience of owning an electric car. For locals who know me, I’m a real motorhead. If I’m not working, I’m at the racetrack! So some might assume I’d be the last person to convert to an EV…
My initial impressions summarised in a few words:
Practical features and size
Easy to drive and smooth on the road
Feels simple and low-fuss
Economical to run (already realising cost-savings)
The first concern of an EV is usually “range anxiety”, how far it can drive on a charge. We regularly took the car outside the city to places such as Esk (150km north west of Brisbane) and the car only used 50% of its charge.
Whenever you plug in a long distance trip, the car will run its own calculations to give you an accurate projection of how much battery it will use per trip. I’ve found it be as accurate at +/- 1%, which is impressive.
You can even check out our website on your Tesla!
The cost vs convenience
I was initially concerned about where and when to charge. The car itself will locate nearby chargers, and there’s also third party apps such as PlugShare.
There are 3 main types of chargers:
Level 1 - Typical home plugin to wall (slow)
Level 2 - Home charger, hard wired to wall (medium)
Level 3 - Supercharger by Tesla (fast)
You can find Tesla Superchargers at most major shopping centres. They can charge your car to 100% in less than 30 minutes, however, it can cost you about $50 for a full charge, whereas a well-structured home charger set up can only cost around $5.
As competition grows for EV, some electricity providers are now selling off-peak electricity at 8 cents per Kilowatt-hour. This allows you to charge your car overnight very cheaply. It pays dividends to work with a local electrician to install a home charger system and configure your electricity plan to suit.
I expect that over the coming few years, more and more EV charging stations will appear at your local shopping centres, making it even easier to recharge while you pop into the groceries or to get a haircut.
Further Reading: Our running guide to EV Chargers
We’re your local EV Electricians
At Electrical Embassy, we’re investing heavily into EV technology, including:
Home charging stations
Home smart battery systems
Body corporate EV charging systems
Workplace charging systems
Wireless charging (new technology)
There’s a lot changing with the technology and new solutions arriving in Australia. Rest assured, our team is researching, testing and training up in the best solutions — so that you don’t have to!
We’ll update this blog over time and create more helpful content in this EV & Smart Home space. Subscribe to stay up to date.
Talk to us to get a home charger quote or get your EVs questions answered by our friendly team.
Call 07 3622 6443