Tesla Advice

What is the most popular car in Australia?

Q: How much does it cost to charge an electric car? A: In a nutshell, charging at home on solar panels is the cheapest way to recharge your electric car; using a commercial fast-charger will be the most expensive. But, this is another one of those apparently simple questions that produces a relatively involved answer.

Q: What are the most reliable car brands you can buy in Australia? A: It’s a heck of a question – but a popular barbecue discussion point - and there’s no definitive answer, mainly because there are so many variables (not to mention the sheer number of available car makes and models).

Self-driving cars have become one of the most hot-button topics in the car industry in the past decade. Everyone from General Motors to Google is involved in trying to remove the human being from the driving process.

Like most other elements of the Tesla experience, the EV-only brand does servicing somewhat differently to its competitors.For example, scheduling a service appointment needs to be done via the companion phone app, and Tesla offers either a mobile service or a service centre appointment option for each visit. If the car is dropped at a service centre, Tesla will notify the owner via the app when the car is ready to be picked up.Visits are also not defined by kilometre or time-based intervals, the car’s computer will inform owners when servicing is required on a condition-based interval.The service manual for a Model 3 and Model Y stipulates that, at very least, the brake fluid and cabin air filter needs to be checked and replaced if necessary every 24 months, the air conditioning desiccant bag needs to be replaced every six years, and tyres need to be rotated every 10,000km.Tesla’s new-car warranty is behind the pace compared to most mainstream automakers, limited to just four years and 80,000km. However, a separate high-voltage component warranty for the drive motors and battery pack covers eight-years and 192,000km. Seventy per cent of the car’s original battery capacity is guaranteed at that time.In summary: Condition-based servicing seems to make sense for an EV, and there should be significantly fewer parts and, subsequently, costs involved. However, Tesla is hardly transparent about the costs or intervals involved and its new-car warranty is behind the pace. 6/10If you want to find out more about a specific manufacturer's capped price servicing, please see below:

Depending on who you ask, the second-generation Tesla Roadster might just be the quickest series-production car of all time – or maybe it’s the stuff of dreams, literally.Since its reveal all the way back in November 2017, the new Roadster has been the subject of much debate, with Tesla founder Elon Musk claiming at the time it would sprint from zero to 60mph (0-97km/h) in a record 1.9 seconds while on the way to 100mph (161km/h) in 4.2s.Yep, that was an insane set of claims, which was complemented by two others: a quarter-mile (0-402m) time of 8.8 seconds and a “provisional” top speed of more than 402km/h.Fast forward to June 2018 and Mr Musk announced at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting that those performance claims were for the Roadster’s entry-level variant, rightfully describing it as “crazy”.So, just how quick and fast can the Roadster get? Well, we still don’t know for sure, as the flagship version with the SpaceX-inspired ‘rocket thruster’ option is yet to have its acceleration and max-speed claims issued – well, clearly.To make matters a little more confusing, Mr Musk took to Twitter in July 2019 to claim the Roadster would complete the zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) dash in 2.1s.When asked which variant of the Roadster he was referring to, Mr Musk clarified it was the entry-level version without the ‘rocket thruster’ option. Confused? We are, too.For what it’s worth, Tesla’s website still lists the entry-level Roadster’s zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) time as 1.9s, so maybe that’s with the ‘rocket thruster’ option? And if so, how quick is the flagship with it? As always, time will tell.What is seemingly for sure, though, is the Roadster will be up there with the quickest and fastest cars money can buy when it’s officially released as early as late 2021. And in case you were wondering, yes, it’s been delayed, having originally been scheduled for deliveries from 2020.Either way, the Roadster will face stiff competition from the very best from this millennium, including from within the Tesla model line-up, with the eagerly anticipated Model S Plaid large sedan revealed in September 2020 with zero-to-60mph (0-97km/h) and -100km/h claims of less than 2.0s and 2.1s respectively.It remains to be seen exactly how the Roadster and Model S Plaid measure up, but you’d be wise to put your money on the former to come out on top in a straight line… and around corners.Other official Roadster challengers include the Ariel Atom 500 (0-100km/h in less than 2.3s), Dodge Challenger SRT Demon (2.3s), Bugatti Chiron (2.4s) and Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (2.5s), among others.For reference, the Roadster’s tri-motor powertrain features one electric motor up front and two at the rear, combining to deliver a ridiculous 10,000Nm of maximum torque to the wheels, all four of which are driven. Its peak power hasn’t been claimed yet.Despite its epic performance claims, the Roadster can still travel 1014 kilometres (620 miles) between full charges thanks to its 200kWh battery, according to Tesla. And yep, that’s yet another unprecedented claim.Assuming the Roadster comes to reality, it will be very interesting to see what its official acceleration and top-speed claims are, along with its other data. That said, the inevitable tests that look to confirm them will be even more so. Bring on the unofficial videos already!

To modern Australian families, the SUV is what a Commodore or a Falcon used to be - the sensible, obvious and most common choice of family vehicle.

Is 2017 the year of the new car for your garage? It's pretty easy to work out what's available now, but here are the most exciting models that are yet to arrive in showrooms.

We break down the big players by auto group, and which vehicles on the Australian market in 2019 and 2020 are owned and produced by Chinese car companies.

How much does it cost to charge a Tesla in Australia? Well, if you were an early adopter and bought one of the first Teslas sold, anywhere in the world, it was a pretty attractive-sounding offer - “free Supercharging - forever”.