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Everything Electric Podcast
EXCLUSIVE! Chinese & Korean Carmakers X Aussie & Kiwi Consumers = Supercharged Sales?
00:44:25
The axis of the automotive world is tilting towards Australasia; its proximity to the EV leaders in China & Korea makes it amongst the hottest export markets. The Fully Charged Show finds itself in Sydney for its 3rd show there on the 7th-9th...
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- [00:00]
Elliot Richards
Foreign.
- [00:04]
Unknown Host
The world is changing and when it comes to electrification, the Asia Pacific region is clearly in the ascendancy. China is of course number one when it comes to electrification, but South Korea is bringing to bear its expertise in both batteries and building really good cars. What's more, resource rich, Australia could be the biggest beneficiary in the region. While we've been covering China for five years and we've been running shows in Australia for three years, we felt felt it was time for the fully charged show and the Everything Electric empire to expand its horizons in a more meaningful sense. So we're really delighted to announce a new YouTube channel, everything electric Australasia, led by our very own Elliot Richards. We will have more to say about this in the weeks ahead, but for now, Elliot is catching up with all things Australasium with a few familiar faces from Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. And all in time for Everything Electric next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the 7th, 8th and 9th of. And let me just say, this is going to be our most complete exhibition ever. 35 different car manufacturers offering 10,000 test drives of different cars. Unbelievable. There's a huge array of electric organic technologies to help you save and even make money. And we can't wait to see you there. Love the Everything Electric show. Then join us live in Sydney in March or London in April or in Vancouver, Farnborough and Melbourne. Melbourne in September, October and November 2025.
- [01:42]
Elliot Richards
Okay, we're live. So this is the first time we've all met virtually for the Everything Electric Australasia kind of launch video podcast thing that we're all doing now. We're all in different parts of the Asia Pacific region. Right. So I can get you all to introduce yourselves. So maybe DK, do you want to start first?
- [02:04]
DK Kim
Hi, I am DK Kim of Cars in Korea YouTube channel. But I am together with fully charged team tuning in all the way from South Korea and well, we are one of the market leaders hope to say. And so I am all here today to discuss what we've got to say about the whole ev.
- [02:25]
Elliot Richards
Great. Good to have you here. DK Sarah, do you want to go next?
- [02:29]
Sarah Aubrey
Yes, My name is Sarah Aubrey and I am from the primarily Instagram TikTok and a little bit of YouTube electrify this, which is all about decarbonization as a whole. And part of that I do actually review electric cars, talk about E bikes, home electrification and all that sort of stuff. So it's great to be here. Thank you for having me. And I'm in Sydney, Australia And I'll be at the fully charged live show in Sydney very soon.
- [02:52]
Elliot Richards
Great. Hopefully catch up together there. Over to you, Gavin. Where are you at the moment?
- [02:59]
Gavin Shoebridge
G'day. My name is Gavin Shoebridge. I am in Stockholm. I'm falling in love with my captor here developing Stockholm syndrome. And I am basically a car reviewer and clean tech reviewer for Ecotricity New Zealand, which is a climate positive power company based in New Zealand. I'm basically on YouTube. Check out Ecotricity New Zealand.
- [03:18]
Elliot Richards
Great stuff. I'm actually following your Allegro story very closely. Gavin is converting and probably the best British car ever made, the Austin Allegro.
- [03:29]
Gavin Shoebridge
That's generous. Well, I thought that if I picked an Allegro it's safe because everyone hates the car so you know I won't be ruining it. But you say that, but then the Austin Allegro Appreciation Society found out about it. I think I'm on their hit list.
- [03:45]
Elliot Richards
Don't go to the UK then. You might get in a bit of trouble. Yeah. So this is obviously new project for, for myself, a fully charged, so launching everything electric Australia, which is a bit of a mouthful, but it's a real focus on, on this side of the world because every time I look to the US and Europe I'm always a bit disappointed with how it's going. Now I know US is obviously on a completely different trajectory at the moment, but with Europe things seem to be electrifying very slowly. But over on this side of the world with South Korea, obviously China and then Australia, New Zealand are really picking up on the electrification game. It's not just EVs but it's greening the grid, solar battery storage. So I think my first discussion point is just around. If we told you 10 years ago that Chinese and Korean EVs would be dominating this region, would you have believed it?
- [04:45]
Sarah Aubrey
No, I would have laughed. Yeah. I mean in Australia, the Japanese are still dominating the car market in Australia, but certainly not in the EV space. I mean it wasn't in on the map, wasn't it? I mean EVs full stop. But yeah, they're definitely dominating the Australian market. It's actually amazing to see all of the cars that are coming now to Australia and we're obviously getting stuff that the UK haven't gotten yet. I think you've only just gotten in the UK the Xpeng G6 and I drove that recently and I think it's one of the most impressive cars I've ever driven. I thought it was better than the Tesla Model Y. It's the first mid sized family suv, which we are very fond of in Australia. I just went, that's outstanding. Absolutely amazing. We've got the Leap Motor C10, I'll be driving the Geely EX5 next. And they're just, we're just getting them all and I feel like we are actually embracing them. It's really going to be exciting to watch, especially what this next year brings.
- [05:44]
Elliot Richards
Yeah, I think what happened with Australia was quite remarkable because we had the first fully charged or everything electric show there was it three years ago just after Covid. And at the time there was, we had a handful of car brands there, maybe four or five. But then this year there's, I think there's about 20 going to this, the show and it's quite remarkable how much it's accelerated. The growth has really grown in the last kind of few years and it's only getting faster and faster. In 2025 looks like there's going to be a huge number of evs coming onto the Australian market, including ute.
- [06:21]
Sarah Aubrey
Well, that's the big thing. So yeah, pickup trucks are very big in Australia and we've got the BYD Shark, which is a hybrid of course. But that's that big segment in Australia that's just completely missing in the EV space. And that you see in the comments are like, when's the next electric, you know, you coming? And there's a frustration definitely from people certainly. Yes, As I said, we've got mid sized family SUVs sewn up, we've got that entire market sorted. But yeah, Utes and, and small cars too. I, I personally would love to see more small cars come on the market in the EV space. But somehow we're being told that oh, people won't buy them or we're being convinced that we don't want them. Whereas I just think that's marketing spin to say we just want to sell you bigger cars. So there's a bit of frustration there on that part as well. I'd love to see the BYDC goal, I'd love to see that car in Australia. But whether we get it is another matter.
- [07:14]
Gavin Shoebridge
Oh yeah, I'd love to see that. Can't wait. I've been, I've been, I've heard rumors that it's coming to New Zealand.
- [07:20]
Sarah Aubrey
Oh really?
- [07:21]
Gavin Shoebridge
But of course that was, that was before the market went upside down, so who knows.
- [07:26]
Elliot Richards
So Kevin, what's happening in New Zealand? Because I think it's been a bit quiet on the international scene when we hear about New Zealand. Maybe that's just in general. But you guys seem to have electrified a lot quicker than Australia. You were kind of.
- [07:38]
Gavin Shoebridge
Well, yeah, we had a clean car discount which took $7,800 or so off the price of a new car, which for a lot of people made it much more affordable. But that was before this huge wave of new entrants like the Leap motor C10 for example, before they came in. So yes, it did help quite a lot. But then that rebates now being gone and now of course the market's also on its head. So right now things are sort of just idling. There's, there is uptake of electric cars but it's, it's fallen down that the whole market's fallen down. So it's not just what you might read on Facebook, that all these people aren't buying those electric cars, but people aren't buying cars in general. It's. It's really, really slowed down. That being said, I just saw that the BYD Shark 6, the, the plug in hybrid ute that is now, that's just dominated 2% of the site of all sales in New Zealand just last month, which was unexpected. Which is, it's, you know, that's good. Of course RAV4 is still king, but you know, that's, it's not bad for you.
- [08:36]
Sarah Aubrey
That's kind of what's happened. Sorry Gavin. That's kind of what's happened in our market too in that things have kind of. We were on a really good trajectory there in about 2023 and we thought it was all going to go gangbusters and then cost of living crisis and so we didn't quite crack 10% by the end of 2024. We really hoped to. And then it's all just kind of. And then January unfortunately was like 4.4%. That's not a trend. But it was just the whole market went backwards and unfor hybrid sales are of course going up. We've got a lot of people pushing hybrids. A lot of particular car makers. The Japanese car makers for example.
- [09:13]
Gavin Shoebridge
Oh yeah.
- [09:13]
Sarah Aubrey
Spreading lots of stuff that hybrids are right for Australia. Evs aren't right. You know, there's not enough charging. It's all the same tropes and unfortunately. Oh yeah, they're also advertising based stuff.
- [09:24]
Elliot Richards
Not.
- [09:24]
Gavin Shoebridge
Not. Yeah, A lot of emotion based, wouldn't say disinformation but sewing a little bit of doubt and uncertainty around electric cars. When you ask someone that owns one, they just work.
- [09:35]
Sarah Aubrey
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [09:37]
DK Kim
We've been talking about the byd. Speaking of which, BYD Actually officially launched about a month ago here in Korea. So we now have the BYD distributor and the dealerships included with the service and well, the more the choices of course, the better for US customers and us being Korean, having the Korea manufacturer in our country, of course, Genesis, Hyundai and Kia. So we are. A lot of Koreans are focused and their judgments are solely based on the Korean cars and make the comparison to that of the German European cars, American cars, you name it. So the response about the BYDS and other overseas EV cars are essentially the same. I mean we are all the same being. But people are now able to criticize, have the critical thinking to themselves and make come up with a conclusion decision of their own looking, judging at the cars included with the ride concrete as well. So people can. So speaking of which, certain manufacturers do certainly tend to have a different experience both inside out. I mean the exterior, interior, the ride. But the level of consumer, the consumer level decision making is very surprising which ties together with the fast growth we are seeing in this Asian, Asian market as well as we've been addressing and seeing. And a lot of people are just as excited as all of us seeing more BYD cars and other. We're very welcome about and quite opened about other import cars coming in, especially Chinese being one of the market leaders in EV segment, no doubt.
- [11:19]
Sarah Aubrey
I mean we have no car industry in Australia so there's nothing to, you know, protect or anything like that. Which is why it's a bit of a free for all Funny because BYD now is the established Chinese brand because they've been around for long enough and so all these other cars that are coming in, it's almost like you're starting to compare them to the byds because I. Tesla was the thing. But it's like we don't really know what's going on there. So yeah, they're, they're like old school players now. Yeah.
- [11:47]
Elliot Richards
And they've only really, they've only been in the market for what, two years? Maybe two years, yeah.
- [11:53]
Sarah Aubrey
Yeah.
- [11:53]
Elliot Richards
I mean you do have to worry for the Japanese automakers, but do you, I mean have. Are they in denial or are they just slow to adapt or is it a combination of both for like the Japanese and even the US automakers.
- [12:07]
Gavin Shoebridge
What.
- [12:07]
Elliot Richards
Or the German legacy ones. What's like, what's going on? Why? Why? I don't, you know, they must be seeing what's going on in China and thinking we should probably do something in response, but they're still just dragging their feet.
- [12:21]
Sarah Aubrey
I think it's, I suspect they're very.
- [12:23]
Gavin Shoebridge
Well aware of what's going on and they're in panic mode right now. I mean, you look at what's happening with Nissan and Honda merging, could you could imagine telling someone 10 years ago that Honda and Nissan would be considering merging, which, as far as I've heard, that's fallen through. But. But imagine telling someone 10 years ago that mighty Honda and Nissan would be in such dire straits that they'd need to merge. It's like British Leyland all over again.
- [12:43]
Sarah Aubrey
They're in such denial. Shall we? I'll use the word denial, but they're on the front foot trying to stop it because we have a new vehicle emissions standard here in Australia. So, you know, we want to clean up our cars and clean up our air. Toyota, the Japanese carmakers, they're pushing back against that and sowing fear about it. There's a whole campaign going on that your, your Suzuki or your, you know, your ute's going to go up $20,000. There's a whole scare campaign around it to try and stop this. And to me, that's just despicable what they're doing. And then you've got the car lobby, which is essentially a front for the Japanese car makers, who are also, every time they talk about new vehicle sales, oh, people don't really want electric cars. And again, they sow that seed of doubt about the charging network and then saying, we really should rethink that emission standard. And so that's what's happening. Plus, you've got a lot of advertising for hybrids, plus you've got misinformation and disinformation online and it's all kind of coming together. And unfortunately, yes, petrol sales are suffering because of hybrids, but so are electric cars, which is really annoying.
- [13:52]
Elliot Richards
I can probably give you some insight into how badly it's going for Japanese automakers here in China, because I think what happens here is kind of five years before, maybe elsewhere around the world. So I just saw last week that Toyota is now discounting from the manufacturer their new petrol SUV. So you can buy that now for about US$12,000. Brand new SUV, petrol, because no one's buying it. People don't want to buy it. And so they're. They're so desperate to get these sales that they're really pushing down the price of these, these petrol cars. And I think Honda sales are down about 30% in just a year. You know, it's, it's really brutal for the Japanese automakers over here and it's only going to Repeat that in, in you know, Australasia as well, I think. Decamp. I'm interested to hear about the South Korean car companies because they've been able to crack the US market, right? And they're in there selling electric cars in the US and it's, it's almost like that that market is now closed off for other brands, especially the ones from China. What, what's been the, the secret sauce for their success do you think over the last few years.
- [15:04]
DK Kim
I mean I am not really going to address things that I am uncertain of such as the government side and also hold negotiation with the Korean government and US government but Hyundai dealership has been there for many, many years now. Decades literally. And something that I find to be the ultimate answer to that would be bringing, being able to bring the ICE internal combustion engine experience to the EV as well. And I want to Certainly address the Ioniq 5N EV6GT the fun part of the ICE 2 EV. Hyundai Motor Group has done an amazing job with that I believe. But in terms of the general EV sales, the interior wise and also the infotainment plus the driving sensation, I think Hyundai Motor Group made a very smooth transition from the conventional ICE cars to that to the evs. And I think that is quite important because we are not really very open towards brand new technology. We've seen, we've seen how the market responded. I don't know if it's the right example here, but from the pitch the typical phones that we've been using to a smartphone, it was a complete different experience. So there were the very last people who resisted against the smartphones but eventually had to turn into the smartphone. At the end of the day, however, again Hyundai, I think they made a great transition from the Ice2 EV and I think that is one of the reasons behind it. And also the service with the EV experience, the whole thing of course the charging has to work and for North America market Hyundai responded to that with allowing the cars to have the next NACS, right. So Ioniq 5 and EV6 is now are able to use the Tesla superchargers as well. So things, you know, small things like these add up together. So overall great experience on the user end I think and of of course spreading the word and as a car we share the experience together with family and friends. So people get in, hop in, they test out, feel the ev, Korean evs and they actually are a legitimate the market competitors. And I think that is the reason behind it like a genuinely a good product for its price. It's for Its price, that's the most important part.
- [17:35]
Elliot Richards
I'm. I haven't driven the Ioniq 5 yet, so I haven't even driven the standard one especially. And I haven't driven the. The N version. Have you guys all driven that?
- [17:44]
Gavin Shoebridge
Oh, it's. It's a masterpiece. It would have been so easy for Hyundai to do it badly, but they did it so well. Like. Like you put your foot down, going up a hill in a high gear, your gear, and you can hear as if there was an engine just straining under the load. It's. And when you're decelerating and there's crackle and pop, it plays through the back speakers. It's. It's a masterpiece. And of course, the comments under the YouTube video I made driving it were. What happens when you get sick of that. That noise? You can turn it off. Like, if you want to have your Sade moment, you can turn it off.
- [18:16]
Sarah Aubrey
Actually, Actually, Elliot, I'm actually getting the Ioniq 5N again. They're going to loan it when I come and do everything electric. So we should go for a drive. You can have a drive, but this.
- [18:26]
Elliot Richards
Is a bit of a difficult question if you guys. And I know what I'd answer, but if you're in charge of a legacy brand for one day or for a while, what would be the first thing that you would do to try and turn things around? I mean, it's quite a difficult question, but who wants to go first?
- [18:45]
Sarah Aubrey
Could I have a time machine?
- [18:47]
Gavin Shoebridge
I've already thought this in the shower. I would love to magically control Nissan because I've got a soft spot for Nissan because they made the Leaf at a time when no one else was really making Eevees. They made the Leaf and they made it in big numbers. Sure, it wasn't a brilliant vehicle, but it, it was a great vehicle for its time. What I'd like to do is take, just take the underpinnings, the, the suspension, the drivetrain, the inverter, the motor, everything that works. About the Leaf, the first generation 80 kilowatt motor tried and tested, just put that in something like a Nissan March or, or some other generic hatchback. Get a more recent LFP battery that's liquid cooled with a CCS plug on it. Keep the suspension, keep, keep everything, keep the cost down, keep everything, keep the seats, all that, and just release it on a very basic new car, platform or basic new car, using as many old parts as you can do a British Leyland. And I think that maybe they could have a shot competing with the Chinese or this is just a fantasy in my mind.
- [19:46]
Elliot Richards
I think you're right because the Focus so far has just been on the premium end of the market, the big end of the market, the expensive end of the market. And then the Chinese are like, well we're going to come in and even Hyundai with Insta are coming and saying, well we can actually do a really affordable small platform car which people actually want, you know. You know, people like Ford, Ford need to do like a Ford Fiesta or Ford Focus which is just the same but with electric motor. And that's the car that people want. They don't really want the Ford Capri which looks a bit ungainly or, you know, they just haven't got it right, have they?
- [20:23]
Sarah Aubrey
No.
- [20:25]
Gavin Shoebridge
Yeah, I think 2025 is going to be make or break for some car makers that obviously didn't even see it coming. And like if you've been following the industry, like I'm sure you guys have been following the industry for years, since the early 2000s, I've been screaming at the wall asking Carmack, begging them to make this, make that, make this electric. And we've had 20 years of concept cars and weird looking jokemobiles and compliance cars and it's just frustrated me for 20 years. And now finally they're making EVs and for some of them I think it's too late.
- [21:00]
Sarah Aubrey
I'd actually like them to start making cars that look retro. I just reckon, you know, the Renault 5 is so cool. I know, right? The Renault 5 is so cool and the Honda E was so cool. I thought that was a cool looking car. I just want more cars that are happy cars. Just, you know, hark back to our youth, those boxy cars. You see kids driving around, you know, young, young guys and girls, they're all driving around those boxy cars because they think it's cool. And, and we grew up with that. Like I grew up with that and.
- [21:31]
Gavin Shoebridge
I'm like, yeah, Sarah Cruz, I'm on board with this one.
- [21:34]
Sarah Aubrey
I drive a car that looks like that. I would be all over it. I would also like to have a time machine and go back and tell Toyota not to sell their Tesla shares.
- [21:42]
Elliot Richards
Yes, that one, yes. What is that?
- [21:45]
Gavin Shoebridge
It's got bad mirrors as well.
- [21:47]
DK Kim
Doing a great job with this.
- [21:49]
Sarah Aubrey
Drive that car.
- [21:50]
DK Kim
They have this on Heritage series. So this is actually the Hyundai's, one of the first cars, Pony and then they made it into a full EV electric. This is a car Ionic 5 was.
- [22:04]
Gavin Shoebridge
Was slightly based on, was the original Pony.
- [22:06]
DK Kim
That is right. That is right. That is this very car. And they also have made another version with Granger which is a full size saloon back in the days. It's also very edgy and it's so turned into electric. And they also have the Gallopers version which is the, one of the early SUV's as well. So they got these coming out and the feedback comments I've been getting in my comment section were just out of this world and people love this car and a lot of people were asking if it's on sale. So just like Sarah pointed out, I mean the market, it's gonna, it's going to be a very small market. But just this could be their halo car. Just the word of what we are capable of, how we are different from other manufacturers and also putting together, bringing over their heritage, making it out of the, one of their early cars and all the companies that we've just named are fully capable of doing so. Ford, American cars, Japanese car, Honda. Just imagine they, they make this tiny, cute. From the K cars.
- [23:12]
Gavin Shoebridge
Prelude.
- [23:13]
Sarah Aubrey
Yeah, well, yes. And give me like those little cute little boxy utes and the, you know, the, the K trucks and the cake. I mean the Japanese could have just.
- [23:21]
Gavin Shoebridge
Like just sold the auto industry in one podcast.
- [23:25]
Elliot Richards
Done. Right, I'll give Honda a call in a minute. But I think it's a really good point because the legacy brands, they can't really compete in any other area other than heritage. And that's just one thing the Chinese brands don't have. They don't have a catalog of cars that people love or grew up, you know, driving. And that's what Renault have really managed to tap into. Hyundai is tapping into as well. I think that's, that's one of the, probably the best solutions, probably out of this mess is to tap into that back catalog. You know, I'd love to drive an old BMW 3 Series which looked like an old 3 Series but had a, you know, electric motor in.
- [24:05]
Sarah Aubrey
Oh yeah.
- [24:09]
Elliot Richards
Sarah, you just mentioned Utes again. And Aussies and Kiwis love their utes. They love their V8. I got into a lot of trouble last year when I dissed the petrol engine at the show. Someone told me off and said, you're very wrong. So I mean, it's going to be very difficult to convince those buyers about the benefits of the EV revolution. What, you know, what do they feel about the EV invasion and what can be done to convince them it's a good thing?
- [24:44]
Sarah Aubrey
I think the biggest concern is that, you know, the first question, if it actually is a workhorse as opposed to a vanity male fragility wagon that's just driven to the shops. Please. Sorry, anyone, I've just offended with that. But there are do seem to be an awful lot of tradies in Australia with all the utes on our road. Goodness, you know, what does it tow like? That's a common one, right? If it doesn't tow, if it is just for looks, then you've lost the actual part of the market that needs to buy it as a work vehicle, potentially. So I think, I think the reception to the Shark has been exceptional. They sold like 5,000 of them or something before they even hit the ground. Like it just. It was quite crazy and I think the reception has been fantastic for it. So we're very primed to have sure hybrids. That technology's been around for a long time. That's okay, you can have that as long as it's still got a petrol engine at that point. But I think once they've experienced that instant torque and that power and maybe the vehicle to load and things like that that are really useful as that creeps into work sites and people are like, oh, okay, you know, it'll sort of filter through. But it's got to work, it's got to go the distance and it's got to be able to tow and actually be a workhorse. I think that's the issue as well because the ones we've had previously, like we had an LDB and it wasn't very good. So any good utes that can do the job?
- [26:04]
Elliot Richards
Gavin, what's the picture from New Zealand like?
- [26:08]
Gavin Shoebridge
It's pretty much spot on with Australia. It's okay. For example, when do you remember the. The LDV ET 60. It was the basic electric ute with. The fascinating thing is they put the motor attached to the diff, they spun the diff around the backwards, put the motor on at a 90 degree angle. Very agricultural. It's their first proper electric pickup truck or ute. And that was interesting. When I took that for a good drive. I went into Newmarket, which is a very upmarket part of Auckland city, and I wanted to see how many Utes I could find in Newmarket in an upmarket part of the city where you wouldn't expect to find them. So I stood there for an hour and I apologize for the noise above me. I'm in an airport and I counted about 70 something Utes, most of them empty or polished up, driving through the centre of Auckland. So Obviously it's not all just farmers and tradies. Facebook, it turns out, might be lying. But once that I know. But once these come along with, with the hybrid engine, it's, it's generate a lot of interest. Not only because you know it's got that petrol engine, but it's, it's a rare thing. It's a hybrid that's not practically useless because hybrids have labored under the horrible, laboured under horrible drivetrains of a tiny battery, a gutless electric motor, a weak petrol engine just to make the worst of all of both worlds. Like the first generation Prius for example. You know, in theory, on paper it sounds amazing, but reality, it's pretty, pretty meh. But the shark's done that differently. They put a decent sized battery in it, a reasonable engine, 1.5 L turbocharged engine mated together. It, it's. It seems to struck a chord with a lot of farmers, tradies and Bob from accounts in Auckland.
- [27:47]
Sarah Aubrey
Big.
- [27:48]
Gavin Shoebridge
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think I'm still hanging out from All Electric Ute and I'm really keen to see what, what key is going to do with the unfortunately styled Tesman.
- [28:00]
Elliot Richards
Oh yes, what happened there, dk? I mean that I. I think I saw your picture you posted online, Gavin. I was like oh dear. What, what's happened there? I mean it's great that they bring out.
- [28:15]
DK Kim
Actually Korea. Well let me show you this thumbnail from my fellow friend Tasman actually looks quite all right when you properly tune it, let's put it that way. So with some of the AT tires and all but going back to the EV part, there is a also a Korean company called KGM which used to be S now M and A by KG Group, hence KG Mobility, kgm. They actually recently released their Musou ev. So this is a full electric car that is a ute and it's looks like that on the profile and it is going to launch in March and it's. We don't really know the numbers about the car just yet but it is going. It, it is going to be quite practical. I think it's going to crazy. Ssangyong is quite known for this SUV's and very robust, tough, you know, know the workhorse and it can do its job, I'm pretty sure and I am really keen to test drive this car and see what it's capable of.
- [29:26]
Elliot Richards
I think my, my biggest disappointment has been is Geely because they had the radar or Radara or whatever it's called overseas and I drove that nearly three Years ago now here in China and they're like, oh yeah, you know, this isn't really for China because you can't easily register it in China. Not many people have interested in it. It's definitely for overseas markets. Where is it? Where is it? It doesn't come out anywhere and I think they had the greatest opportunity to, to, you know, spearhead into the Australian, New Zealand countries. But they did, they, they haven't released it. They haven't even announced they're releasing it. So I think for me it's a bit of, a, bit of a disappointment. So.
- [30:08]
Gavin Shoebridge
Good.
- [30:09]
Sarah Aubrey
Yeah, we've been promised that now for a while and it's just not appeared.
- [30:12]
Gavin Shoebridge
Like I said after, after 20 years of, of press releases and promises unfulfilled, I'm kind of jaded. So I'll wait till it lands, then I'll get excited about it.
- [30:22]
Sarah Aubrey
Well, we've got the Julie EX5 now coming. Literally it. I saw it yesterday. Well, I saw it today and I'll be driving it tomorrow, so at least they're here, so maybe that'll come next.
- [30:33]
Elliot Richards
Yeah, just bring the ute. That's all you need to do to, to dominate that market. So I think let's move on to kind of away from EVs, onto the greening the grid. Because I think every country's got a very interesting story here. China's got these mega projects, battery storage projects, wind and everything else. But I kind of want to know what's happening in New Zealand, Australia and South Korea. What's going on with these kind of technologies in your countries? What's the most exciting thing that's happened in the last year?
- [31:12]
Gavin Shoebridge
Well, the most exciting thing that's happened in the last year and continuing to happen is solar. Finally we're starting to get interested in solar because New Zealand is one of the last relatively wealthy, relatively sunny countries to adopt solar. For some reason, we are so far behind. New Zealand's power grid is generally very clean. It's generally operating at around 90% renewable, but that's largely just by chance. We've just built lots of hydro over the last hundred years, but then investment has stopped recently. But now we are starting to finally adopt solar. And because solar is now, I heard it's now the cheapest form of energy generation in human history and now it's starting to roll out, so that gives us a lot of hope. And there's some big projects underway right now And I think 2025 is going to see finally solar really get a strong foothold. They're even talking about finally increasing the feed in tariffs for customers. That's I think financial incentive, like what Australia did. I think New Zealand's ready for that.
- [32:07]
Sarah Aubrey
We're going the opposite direction with solar where they've reduced the feed in tariff to potentially negative. And we're all like, because we have too much solar in the middle of the day, because we still have a lot of coal generators which are very old and breaking down and very expensive and very expensive gas in the mix. But we have obviously the highest uptake of solar in the world per capita. But we have this duck curve in the middle of the day where we have way too much solar and it's even being curtailed and wasted, which just, it just hurts my heart so much that I once I learnt that I was like, that is dreadful. I think we're now seeing more batteries so I think we're sort of. People are going, hang on, I want to be able to use that solar I'm generating and getting nothing for it going into the grid. So we've got battery rebates in Australia and lots of people are taking that up and I think we'll see more of that. There's a lot of talk in Australia about vehicle to grid and vehicle to home. So that says all sort of approvals now being allowed to let that happen. We're starting to see bi directional charges come in as well. Well, a lot of interest in that. So I think that's going to be potentially some people will skip the battery and go, it's going to be the car. And we've thankfully, because our current government is much more open to renewables and keen to get them going as opposed to the previous government. We're now at, I think we were at in the last quarter about 42% renewables in the grid and we were like 27% with the previous government. So it's really ramping up unfortunately what's happening now. And there's lots of projects in the pipeline that are all happening and planned or being being sort of constructed, but we've got a lot of anti renewable stuff happening in Australia. So anti wind farm in particular, even anti solar stuff, which is mind boggling. I mean they've really, they've just completely missed that boat but they've given it a red hot go. It's really extraordinary. It's like we don't want offshore wind, we don't want onshore wind, put it on the, you know, it's that kind of thing. And we've got this nuclear debate happening with the, the Conservative government in Australia, who. And we've got an election coming and it' all talk about we should do nuclear, which is essentially a delay tactic to stop renewables and to extend the life of coal and gas in our system. So it's very frustrating. Thankfully, the current government are on track with renewables, although they do seem to have a very happy relationship with coal and gas, which is just really unfortunate. But they are committed to building stuff out and we will get there, I think. But it's, there's, there's, there's real pushback. Don't, don't be mistaken. We are seeing serious pushback against renewables in Australia right now. It's. That's silly.
- [34:43]
Elliot Richards
It seems to me that you're. There's people pushing it against renewables when you've got so much, you know, sunlight and so much willing and desire to switch across. It just seems insane to me. But vested interest smells off. Yes.
- [34:59]
DK Kim
Yeah, it is currently focusing on spreading the charging facility. There's, there's more and more charging charging stations here and there with Hyundai Motor Group being. They have what's called EPIT that pushes out the supercharging fast facility which enables there, which kind of completes their EV architecture because the car is able to charge from 10 to 80% under 18 minutes using that facility. So of course it's not widely accessible. However, at least there are some charging stations here and there that pumps out super fast charging speed like that. And I've been thinking if there is any thing on the government level, but not that I am keen about, but on a consumer level, I do feel and see more, more and more charging stations nowadays. One interesting tech that industry is working on and it's been there for years. I know, but there has been this wireless charging station here and there and I actually shot a video on that as well myself. And Genesis has worked together with the Korean company. Well, it's, it's actually the overseas company that's in Korea and it actually works just fine. It is like the. I think it pushed out somewhere around 10 kilowatts, which is not bad. So imagine it had. It's all in the, you know, shopping mall. You just park there and the car is charging. And of course hassle three, you don't have to do any charging tagging, just it's, it's getting charged. So that kind of, um, interesting text is something that I would like to share. Yeah, that's pretty much about it, I think.
- [36:37]
Elliot Richards
Yeah. I think some of the charging technologies coming out are ridiculous. Like, like you said 10 to 80 in 18 minutes. I've seen here in China got 10 minutes. You know, that's, that's the same amount of time it takes to fill up your car with petrol, just without all the smelly fumes and everything else. It's. And I think that's the really exciting thing. Then you can have a smaller battery, a lighter car, it's more, etc. Etc. We, you know, I think there's a lot to look forward to. So I think my last question is, whilst Gavin's still here and not taken off on his airplane yet, what, what is the most exciting thing or one thing that you're most excited about coming to your country in the next say year to 18 months.
- [37:20]
Gavin Shoebridge
I'm just going to let Sarah go because they're all doing competing with announcements above my head right now.
- [37:27]
Sarah Aubrey
I think I'm really looking forward to a price war between the Chinese automakers so that prices get even cheaper because they've slashed some prices. Like the MG4 was slashed briefly there to $31,000 for a brand new car, the 51 Excite, which is amazing. It's 33 grand now. I mean that's getting into really affordable territory. The BYD Dolphin has got a two in front of it before on road costs. So we're getting into a, that kind of, you know, competition which is really exciting to see and I do think that vehicle to load, vehicle to grid, vehicle to home, vehicle to X, you know, that's going to be the exciting thing that happens. And batteries, I think people are going to really embrace that, being able to store their own power and instead of having decentralizing our grid, instead of having that one central source that we're used to, we're going to become this amazing mesh and it's going to just change. We'll become, will be able to make money and sell to the grid and I think people will play the wholesale market. We have something here called Amber Electric and you can play the wholesale market and you can buy and sell power and make money. And that's just. There's so many possibilities on that front for people as well. And hopefully the biggest thing is that as we see more renewables come online, people's bills will come down because they are expensive right now because of unfortunately nine years of inaction. On climate policy, sorry, on energy, on energy policy with the previous government, you know, we've got to build out that network that is expensive and get coal and gas out of the network which are the most expensive energy sources. So as that happens, I hope to see people really kind of go, hey, renewables are awesome, not evil like they seem to think right now, which is really important and that nuclear is not a good idea. Wouldn't that be something?
- [39:08]
Gavin Shoebridge
All right, now that they're finished announcing, I'll continue. Apologies for that. I think the most exciting thing for 2025 I'm looking forward to is more affordable cars because New Zealand is well unfortunately a lower wage economy. So we need cheaper cars. The second hand market now thanks to the rebate largely has been flooded with affordable used EVs. It's one of those, in my worthless opinion, one of those examples of trickle down economics. It does actually work where you help incentivize people who can afford electric cars even if those people happen to be wealthy because you know in three years those leases are going to end and they're going to end up on the secondhand market market. And that's what's happening. And so now New Zealand is flooded with affordable used electric cars. You can get a really decent 40 kilowatt hour Nissan Leaf for 15,000 New Zealand dollars which is probably about 7 pounds. You know, it's a really, really great thing. And new renewables kicking off 2025. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's happening there. Bi directional charging is going to be a game changer because right now even on my basic power plan I get paid 16 cents per kilowatt hour that I sell back to the grid in the middle of the day and 21 cents during peak times. This is fantastic. So I'm excited about that.
- [40:18]
Elliot Richards
That's awesome. Dk, how about you?
- [40:20]
DK Kim
I think people just getting more familiar with the EV in general because there are just so many things that we can do with an EV that we couldn't with the traditional ICE cars. And I think Hyundai is also doing a great job of portraying and showcasing how our lives can be around and with devs. And so the more there so that there are checking out some community posts and how people react about the cars, people who are already enjoying the EV to the fullest are kind of tiring tired already tired of persuading people to switch over from the ice. How great it is money wise, the life wise and so on and so forth. And then I, I now see people charts trying to be just people trying to be funny I guess saying that hey evs are terrible, don't buy one so I can actually enjoy the EV all for myself. So the experience are there are generations who have Already seen and felt how great how an EV could completely turn your life around in a good way. So I think we'll see the more we see with the EV infrastructure growing up and people experience the evs in general, that will definitely alter and shift the market and the manufacturers to focus on the right track. You know, making cars around people for us, for the drivers. So that being said, I think Korean cars are doing a great job going down that path and can't really wait to see what they have in the store for us next. Especially with the next generation platform coming out from Hyundai Motor Group, which is the em. So the cars that we are currently seeing will be the last cars of the egmp. So I mean when it comes to the platform, the chassis, the whole system of behind the ev, that is the crucial part, as we all know. Right. So I can't even imagine what they have with the ems. I have very high hopes for that. And of course the same thing goes for the other manufacturers as well.
- [42:19]
Elliot Richards
Yeah, absolutely. So I think from that there's both infrastructure, which is very, very exciting, that's building up around, you know, electric cars and everything else. And then the cars themselves are getting better and better, more and more affordable and more people are experiencing them. Which leads me to segue nicely into. If you want to experience lots of electric cars, come to everything electric in Sydney from the 7th to 9th of March at the Sydney Olympic Showgrounds. Be there. There's so many cars to test, to look at. There's so many other vendors showing off solar batteries, home tech. It's honestly, it's, for me, it's the best time of the year. I love going to Sydney and the energy from the people there is out of this world. I think it's really fantastic.
- [43:08]
Sarah Aubrey
Is a curiosity for that stuff. There is a hunger for that stuff rather than all the stuff that you see online. All these people come and they're so excited to drive a car, to ride a bike, to ride a motorbike, to ride all the things. There's so many things to do. But to learn about solar and heat pumps is so exciting to see that and it's real. And actually, I'll give you a little stat. In Australia, the highest demographic of people who are buying electric cars are the people in the outer suburbs of our cities, which is really great. So it's not just latte sipping in a city shop no more. People who are living in the outer cities are buying cars and they're the people who are doing the most driving and they've done the sums and they've gone, you know what, that's a no brainer. I'm going to buy an electric car. They've got solar on their roof, in all likelihood, charge at home. It just makes financial sense. So that's actually really exciting to see as well.
- [43:54]
Elliot Richards
Yeah, absolutely. So I think that's it. We've run out of time. Thank you very much to the three of you for helping me in this first everything Electric Australasia kind of launch pad. Gavin, safe flight. And you're about to take off?
- [44:09]
Gavin Shoebridge
Yeah, we are boarding now. I'd better go.
- [44:11]
Sarah Aubrey
Don't miss your flight.
- [44:13]
Elliot Richards
See you all in Sydney in a few weeks time. All right, cheers.
- [44:17]
Gavin Shoebridge
Look forward to it.