Electric Advice

Sound has never been a hotter topic in the world of cars than it has been in the past decade. From the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles to even the more muted soundtrack of modern F1 cars, the noise cars make has become a major talking point.

How long does a Tesla battery last? According to official Tesla-sourced data, Tesla batteries lose between 12 and 15 per cent of their capacity, on average, after approximately 321,868km (200,000 miles in American speak) of usage.If this data is correct, the average Australian driver won’t need to consider replacing their Tesla battery until 26 years into ownership, because the national average driver travels a touch over 12,000km a year.I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest people who buy Teslas, or electric vehicles in general, travel fewer kilometres than the average driver.Tesla battery lifespan is the kind of thing EV shoppers consider carefully, because they’ve all owned Apple iPhones, or Microsoft laptops, and noticed that battery life seems definitively finite. It’s important to realise, of course, that the batteries in an EV are vastly bigger.Elon Musk is aware, of course, that Tesla battery life is something buyers worry about, and it provides an eight-year/192,000km warranty with the purchase of all Australian-delivered vehicles, except the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, which come with a similar eight-year/160,000km warranty.The terms of these warranties are as follows; if the Tesla battery drops below 70 per cent capacity in less than the aforementioned time period or distance, Tesla covers the cost of a replacement battery.Replacement batteries for a Tesla can cost anywhere from $15,000 up to $20,000 across all models.A study in April 2024 by British motoring insurance company NimbleFins - which examined nine years of Tesla battery lifetime data - found the batteries should deteriorate by around one per cent of their range per year.In terms of how you can look after your battery, there are multiple factors that affect Tesla battery lifespan.For any electric vehicle, you want to avoid fully charging the battery to 100 pre cent regularly, to preserve maximum battery capacity.Canadian lithium-ion battery researcher Jeff Dahn claims that, treated properly and kept in the right “voltage window”, a Tesla battery can stay fully operational for 100 years, or 1.6 million kilometres.Dr Adam Best (just call him Dr Best), Principal Battery Researcher at our own CSIRO, claims that, if owners employ the appropriate maintenance techniques to prolong battery health, Tesla batteries can achieve a “pretty impressive life cycle”.But what are these maintenance techniques? Dr Best suggests you try to keep the charge level always between 20 per cent and 80 per cent, as opposed to running the battery from zero to 100 and back again, which will “help to extend the life of your EV”, regardless of battery chemistry and composition.Teslas predominantly run on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) or nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) chemically composed batteries, while other brands like Polestar use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC).Both NCA and NMC batteries thrive in conditions where they aren’t being charged to maximum capacity and drained to empty.So if you are a responsible and battery-conscious EV driver, who can you know if your EV is responding well to your gentle treatment? What are the signs that your battery is dying, or that it’s functioning properly?Other than the most obvious indicator of declining battery capacity - getting less mileage out of each charge - other signs that your EV’s battery might be suffering are slower charging times, a change in the driving sensation (sluggishness, lack of responsiveness), strange smells or noises while charging or driving, and, of course, the Tesla multimedia system telling you that your battery may be in decline.In terms of real-world results, it’s also worth pointing to a test conducted by a Tesla Model S 70D owner, Branden Flasch. Branden's vehicle had reportedly travelled 234,964km when he put his Tesla battery to the test, and the results were very impressive.The Model S in question was purchased in 2015, and its owner charged it to 99 per cent before the test, and then drove it until the batteries were completely depleted, measuring its kWh usage to check the battery's depletion.The reported results have the Model S using 58.5kWh, roughly 83 per cent of their original 70kWh capacity.

The difference between Mercedes classes is methodical and distinctly German, devised to distinguish Mercedes car models by size and purpose.

Why are Chery cars so cheap?

Who owns Polestar?The answer isn’t quite as straightforward as you may think. While Polestar began as a Volvo subsidiary the brand is actually part of the Geely automotive empire, alongside the likes of Volvo, Lotus and Zeekr. If it feels like Polestar started in a flash, that’s because it did - both metaphorically and literally.Polestar is a performance electric brand that first came to prominence as Volvo’s performance and racing division, but is now solely focused on building the most sustainable automobiles possible.But who owns Polestar? Who makes Polestar cars? Where are Polestar cars manufactured? We’ll answer all those questions and more in this deep dive into the brand’s past, present and future.Originally the company was a joint-venture between Volvo and Geely, but the Swedish brand decided to divest the majority of its stake in the operation, making Geely the primary Polestar parent company. Geely founder Li Shufu owns a significant stake in the brand via his personal company, PSD Investment.So, how did Polestar begin in a flash? Well, the brand’s origins trace all the way back to 1996 and a Swedish touring car racing team called Flash Engineering. The name came from team owner Jan ‘Flash’ Nilsson, who had a history racing Volvos.In 2005 he sold his team to businessman Christian Dahl, who renamed the team to Polestar Racing and began forging deeper ties with Volvo. In 2010, Geely took over Volvo from the Ford Motor Company as part of its first steps towards international expansion.Then in 2013 the first Polestar Performance road car project was launched with the S60 Polestar. This was an Australian initiative originally, designed to coincide with a Volvo/Polestar entry into the V8 Supercars championship.The road car project went global in 2014 and by 2015 Volvo had decided to buy Polestar Performance and establish it as its own in-house brand.In 2017 Geely and Volvo made the dramatic shift away from performance and instead reinvented Polestar as an electric vehicle brand, launching the Polestar 1 coupe in October that year (a model that was never offered in Australia).By 2019 the Polestar 2 small sedan/hatchback had arrived as a rival to the Tesla Model 3 and then in 2024 the brand added the Polestar 3 mid-size SUV and Polestar 4 SUV ‘coupe’ to the line-up.While the brand likes to highlight its Swedish heritage it has taken a more global approach to production. Polestar’s headquarters is in Gothenburg, Sweden, which is where it designs all of its cars. Production takes advantage of Geely’s Chinese manufacturing base, as well as the brand’s other industry connections to keep costs and emissions during production down.Because of that the Polestar 2 is built in China, the Polestar 3 is made in China and the USA and the Polestar 4 is produced at factories in China and South Korea.Polestar currently offers three models for sale - the Polestar 2, Polestar 3 and Polestar 4.The Polestar 2 is a mid-size sedan/hatchback that rivals the likes of the BMW i4, BYD Seal and Tesla Model 3.The Polestar 3 is a mid-size SUV based on the same underpinnings as Volvo’s EX90 and has been designed to sit above the sportier Polestar 4 coupe-style SUV.While similar in size, the 4 is built on different underpinnings, the so-called 'Sustainable Experience Architecture' that is the basis for Volvo EM90 and Zeekr 001, amongst others.The brand has already confirmed three more models , scheduled to arrive by the end of the decade. The first will be the Polestar 5 (you may have a feel for the brand’s naming protocol by now) which will be based on the Premacy concept, due by the end of 2025.It is reportedly a mid-size sedan to challenge the likes of the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT.The Polestar 6 will be a sports car, based on the O2 concept, was meant to arrive in 2026 but development of this hero model has been delayed to prioritise the Polestar 7, which is expected to be a compact SUV to sit underneath the Polestar 3. 

Trying to pin down the cost of a Tesla in Australia is a bit like swatting a fly - just when you think you’ve got it locked in it suddenly changes.

Affordable electric cars are an emerging market in Australia - and the timing couldn’t be better.

Public charging and electric vehicles go together like the chicken and the egg - you can’t have one without the other.

What is the best car for Uber in Australia? The obvious answer is a Toyota Camry Hybrid. That’s not just because it seems like almost every other Uber you catch is a Camry, nor even because Uber’s own research reveals that it’s the most popular model of car used by its gig economy drivers in Australia, it’s because it really is the best blend of comfort, space and economy for taxi-style work.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car at a public charging station in Australia? The entirely wonderful news is that the answer starts at a very reasonable “nothing” because there are some free charging stations out there.Much like service stations, with their highly combustible and holiday-dependent fuel prices, however, how much it costs to charge your EV at a public charging station will vary based on the supplier, the cost they are charging per kilowatt and the size of your car’s battery.If we base our answer on the average EV battery capacity of 60kWh and the mid-range charger price of around 40c/kWh, the average price to charge an EV would be $24, while the maximum price could be pushing $50.Keep in mind, of course, that that’s the cost for filling an entire battery from empty to 100 per cent, which you will never do, because running your EV completely flat is not great for your car, and even worse for you, because you’ll be stranded, and you can’t put a hose onto a nearby car and suck out volts with your mouth.Of course, once we take into account the widely different size of EV batteries - from a Fiat 500e with a 42kWh battery to a Porsche Taycan with 105kWh - and the speed and power of public chargers, which vary from 7.0kW to 350kW plus the pricing of public chargers, which range from that lovely free number to as much as 85c per kWh, you can see that calculating an accurate average is a task akin to juggling chainsaws on ketamine. Albeit slightly less dangerous.The other new wrinkle that EVs throw up that makes the price of charging them so different to filling a car with fuel is that the faster you’re filling up, the more it costs.Much like the “convenience” stores attached to service stations, and main streets everywhere, you’re paying for the convenience here, and this is a case where time really is money.What you probably really want to know, up front, is whether charging an EV at a public charging station is cheaper or more expensive than filling up a car with fuel at a petrol station.Considering the very cheapest price you can charge your electric car for is “free”, the answer is yes. Even if you use the most expensive ultra fast 350kW DC chargers, the price is still going to be around 20 per cent cheaper than filling a comparable vehicle with petrol, according to the EV Council.The other thing you’re probably very keen to hear is where can I find one of these free public charging stations? The good news is they do exist, the bad news is that they are all Tesla ones - or Tesla Destination Chargers, to be exact, which charge at a relatively modest 22kW but are free for Tesla owners (and sometimes for other EVs as well, it’s worth plugging into one to check).As of February 2024, there were 668 Tesla Destination Chargers around Australia, and more than 40,000 worldwide.Then we have the independent company JOLT’s free 7.0kWh of DC charging every day (15-20 minutes of charging, or roughly 50km of range) and the limited power (12-14kWh) free (albeit limited) charging stations found in council areas in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We can expect, or hope, to see more of these in the future.Until recently, the NRMA was also offering free fast DC charging at more than 100 locations, but it brought in a charge for those in September, 2023.The NRMA is rolling its Fast (up to 150kW) and Ultra-Fast chargers on highways around the country and it is currently charging 54 cents per kilowatt hour for the Fast ones or 59 cents per kWh for the Ultra Fast, which offer 175kW charging.So, let’s use a Tesla Model 3 Long Range/Tesla Model Y as our standard size of battery from this point on, as they share a 75kWh battery and are two of the most popular EVs on our roads.For our typical Tesla, then, charging from 30 per cent full to 100 per cent would cost around $30 at an NRMA charger.Being a Tesla owner, of course, you could also avail yourself of the Tesla network of Superchargers, which offer between 100 and 120kW charging, and cost between 64 and 81c per kWh, depending on variables including membership fees, and whether you’re charging a Tesla or a non-Tesla.So again, that’s between $33 and $43 to go from 30 per cent to 100 per cent on a Tesla Model 3 Long Range or Tesla Model Y battery.Other providers of fast charging of between 100 and 120kW include Chargefox (45c to 60c per kWh), AmpCharge (at some Ampol service stations, between 60 and 69c) and Exploren (prices change by location).There are also DC chargers offering 25 to 50kW, 75kW, 150kW, 200 to 250kW and 'Ultra Rapid' charges at more than 350kW and prices range widely, from 15c per kWh to 85c.It’s important to remember that most people - more than 80 per cent, according to research - will do most of their EV charging at home, and another 80 per cent of EV purchasers have solar panels on their house, meaning they can, in theory, charge their vehicles for free.But there are more than 3700 public EV charging stations in Australia, and 100 per cent of EV owners will, at some point, have to use a public charging station.This inevitability leaves EV owners questioning whether a gas-guzzler would financially suit them better, but to compress a lengthy debate into a concise point; you’re better off with an EV.As for the physical process of charging an EV at a public charging spot, it’s almost identical to that of traditional refuelling. Approach the charging station gently with no sudden movements, plug your vehicle in, and retreat backwards whilst maintaining eye contact with the charger at all times.Unlike a fuel bowser, however, you can then walk off and have a coffee, or write a short novel, while waiting for the process to finish.