That is the story Jonathan and Michelle instructed me after our final Espresso, Cake and EVs assembly at Bracken Ridge Tavern. He went from first impressions of a buddy’s Toyota Prius, to a Hyundai Ioniq, and ended up with a Tesla Mannequin Y — with a detour in a Hyundai i30 diesel. The journey started when Jonathan watched the film, “Who Killed the Electrical Automobile?”
“In 2002, my sister’s buddy had a Toyota Prius. I didn’t even have my driver’s licence but, however sitting in that automobile felt so subsequent degree. Who knew they wouldn’t transfer on? I used to be in Melbourne and amazed by the environment friendly, futuristic automobile. I watched the animation of the regenerative braking going again into the battery. Twenty years in the past, we had been on the precipice of the long run. Why hasn’t Toyota superior considerably since then?”
Jonathan and Michelle purchased their first new automobile collectively in 2010, a Hyundai i30 diesel. Again then, diesel was touted as essentially the most environmentally pleasant gasoline supply and there weren’t many EVs round on the time. The Prius was twice the worth.
When it was time to go electrical, Jonathan researched electrical automobile choices for fairly some time. He needed a Tesla however solely the Mannequin S and X had been out there and method past their price range. So, he widened the search and checked out the Kona Electrical and the Kia e-Niro, because it was named in Europe. Tesla Bjorn did a very good comparability and after this evaluate Jonathan knew what he needed. In March 2019, Jonathan went to Zupps and checked out a petroleum Kona. The EV was not out there but. However the boot was tiny. By now, a child had arrived and so they wanted room for a pram. The clever salesman recommended the Ioniq Electrical with a 28 kWh battery (we’re referring right here to the sooner model of the Ioniq, not the Ioniq 5). One take a look at drive later, Jonathan was in love. Please be aware: the Mannequin 3 was not but out there in Australia, and any method, the boot entry wouldn’t enable for the pram.
Jonathan and his Hyundai Ioniq. Picture courtesy of Michelle Curro.
Jonathan nonetheless misses their Ioniq. “The driving suggestions was nice. The automobile would go from zero to 100 in about 8 seconds, which was lots. The brand new Mannequin Y isn’t a lot better. The Ioniq in sports activities mode had loads of go. Suspension was softer within the Ioniq. Within the 3.5 years we drove it we by no means had an issue with the 260 km vary on the guessometer (GOM). It was moderately correct. If I turned on A/C the vary would drop to compensate. It was a reside calculation. We constantly used 9.5 kWh per 100 km on the each day commute (round 60km distance). So, the GOM was correct and constant. The app wasn’t intricate but it surely did the job and didn’t use a lot energy. In case you left the automobile parked, while you got here again even two days later, the facility was successfully the identical.” No vampire drain!
After-baby beard. Picture courtesy of Michelle Curro.
Jonathan and his ever rising household acquired their Tesla Mannequin Y on September 22, 2022. With two youngsters now, they had been having bother becoming every part into the Ioniq. With the pram for procuring journeys and all of the junk you need to cart round, it was nice to have two boots and a frunk. He bought the Ioniq for A$50,000, stored it for 3.5 years, then offered it wholesale (as a result of it was handy) for $28,000.
The pleased couple with their new supply. Picture courtesy of Michelle Curro.
Jonathan is eager to inform me about charging choices. He says that is essentially the most frequent query when discussing EVs. He’s on a time of use (TOU) plan with Powershop. “Our Ioniq was a 4 four-hour cost at 7 kW, midnight to 4 am. This is able to price 8.73 cents per kWh on weekdays. This equates to $2.44 to cost the Ioniq for 230 km. The Mannequin Y prices us about $5 charged over two nights to journey 350+ km.”
Earlier than making any choices about an electrical energy supplier, please contemplate all choices.
Because of Jonathan and Michelle for sharing their electrical journey. Let me know when you’ve got a narrative to inform.
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