Should you replace your petrol or diesel family car with an electric car? Ask yourself these questions first | Opinion

Let me preface what I’m about to write with a caveat: it truly depends on your family and your situation. So, let’s unpack it.

There’s no doubt that electric vehicles (EVs) are gaining popularity here with most car brands dipping their toes into the EV market in some form or another. However, if you look at the general market share, electric variants (including hybrids) only make up roughly 16 per cent of the sales in Australia. SUVs with internal combustion engines (ICEs) dominate the market share by about 45 per cent.

So, while the UK has announced that they will ban ICE cars from 2030 and the European Union will hop on that bandwagon from 2035, I have strong doubts that Australia will join them in an outright ban.

I mean, you can travel for 30 minutes and sometimes you haven’t even left the suburb! Australia’s sheer size and the distances between urban areas and regional/remote parts of the country means that there is a (current) practicality issue with going pure electric.

While the public charging infrastructure is getting better, chargers (and particularly rapid chargers) are still widely spread out in urban areas, let alone in regional or remote areas. Sometimes, they’re even out of order and you have to leg it to the next closest one. If you live regionally, like me, that could mean a fair distance of travel. Whenever I have an EV test vehicle, I always have a firm eye on my remaining battery percentage and for my family range anxiety is real.

So, if you’re considering making the plunge and going electric, my first question to you would be: is it practical for your family?

If my brother were to ask me if his family should go the EV route, I would say no. My brother is in the Army and he has three children. They currently own a Kia Carnival to ferry them all around. Can you imagine trying to organise the logistics of charging an EV large enough to house them all that has a driving range worthwhile for a family that travels a lot? Now imagine doing that with three children under the age of eight!

And before you say it, yes – they could install a wall charger if they have access to a garage or if they weren’t renting because they moved around a lot or they could simply build their charging times into when it was most convenient for the kids.

But children can be chaos gremlins, who do not bow to routine. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve had to abandon a task to take my son to the toilet (despite ensuring he went before we left the house) or he has simply cracked it and gone into the shadowlands (what some might call a ‘witching hour’ or ‘grumpy station’) because he is tired/ hungry/ hot etc.

Besides the time factor – I would also argue that even if you could leave the car and take the kids somewhere while it’s charging, you’d still be spending money on drinks/food or an activity. Which sort of negates some of the savings that EV owners can benefit from. While you might not spend money every time, there are unicorn parents out there who have got their house in order - I have totally been caught out while on the run.

A lot of people don’t consider the value of their personal time either. Do you even have the ability to regularly wait for your car to charge?

Whenever I have an EV test vehicle, my scheduling shifts. I start thinking about where I’m going and how many kilometres it's going to use – and it’s not just range anxiety, I’m factoring in when I would then need to charge the car and if that’s going to fit into my work/school week with all of the extra-curriculars that my son seems to have been signed up for (note for future self: take some stuff of your plate).

I’m lucky that I have a garage and can utilise an at-home wall charger (alas, it’s a slow 2.3kW system) but access to an at-home charger might not be possible for some families because of how many of us rent. Have you ever tried getting your rental agent or body corporate to approve cutting a new building key? Try getting an EV charger installed! It gets harder if you’re in an apartment building with resident parking but no allocated spaces. And what about those who don’t have access to a garage or parking area and just street park?

Having to rely on external charging sources is doable but a pain. However, if you’re a city-dwelling family, there’s a good chance you do most of your driving on the weekends anyway. So, you may not need to use a charger as often. The ‘hassle’ of finding a charger that’s free and working out your timing with charging may not be a bother for some families and the benefits of not paying for fuel, which is outrageously priced at the moment, cannot be discounted.

Personally, the EV life may be a while away for my little family but if I were to look at swapping out my trusty Volvo station wagon for an EV, these are the questions that I would ask myself. It’s a good starting list for any family considering an EV life.

1) Can the family fit into it?

2) Does it have a decent driving range? You want an absolute minimum 450km if you travel a lot.

3) Is it affordable? You have to weigh up the initial purchase price vs ongoing maintenance costs too.

4) Is it available to purchase? (Wait times, anyone?)

5) Can it tow? And does it need 4WD capabilities?

6) Does it have a CCS enhanced port? AKA the magical port that allows you to hook up to a fast charger?

7) Can the EV actually accept the faster charging speeds? EVs are all built differently and some can’t accept fast charging speeds. If I’m hanging around for a car to charge, I want it done as efficiently as possible.

8) Do you have access to local public chargers?

9) Are the public chargers in a busy area/well-lit/safe place? Safety is definitely a factor to consider when you might have children with you on a charging mission.

And if, after all of your research, you’re still on the fence about going pure electric, why not get the best of both worlds and try a hybrid or plug-in hybrid? You still get the convenience of an ICE but can still go a little greener.