So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

[Quickstatus]

Yeah but the EV fires dont start from those places

 

[TheRealTMA]

any spare change?

Bernie Ecclestone puts £500m car collection up for sale a year after record £652m tax bill

Selection of 69 vehicles, including Ferraris and Brabhams, has been described as ‘the most important race car collection in the world’

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Flyerwin]

Tesla Model 3 and Y

 

[vdj_145]

Aiming to go to a Toyota Hybrid. Re the post about electric cars, unfortunately batteries just can't match the energy density of gasoline until battery technology improves.

 

[prozac]

Aiming to go to a Toyota Hybrid. Re the post about electric cars, unfortunately batteries just can't match the energy density of gasoline until battery technology improves.

Hybrid is the way in Australia for the current time imo. Toyota make a great hybrid product.

 

[Cossie]

Hybrid is the way in Australia for the current time imo. Toyota make a great hybrid product.

All the ones I have driven have, imo, the horrid cvt gearbox. For someone as a new driver, this might not be a problem, however, in my case growing up with close ratio gearboxes and the like, the cvt never seems to know what gear ir should be in.
Last one I hired was a RAV 4 in Dunedin, when I returned it, the person behind the counter asked how it was, I remarked that I hated the gearbox, join the club, they said.

 

[tgh]

lock up tc is a great transmission interface.. smooth and efficient….all this other stuff does nought for me

 

[33kft]

Re the post about electric cars, unfortunately batteries just can't match the energy density of gasoline until battery technology improves.

Goal posts. Gasoline cars can't match the low cost, flexibility (charge at home) or efficiency of BEV vehicles, sure they offer greater energy density which is great and all, if you exceed the distance available on BEV vehicles (300-500km) in a single day. If not, what does that energy density give you that is so critical?

In Australia, the average vehicle travels 33.2 kilometers per day. The average EV range is 400km to a charge. For most people, they could get away with charging once per week (I'm being generous, it's actually once every 10 days).

Remember that you don't need a week's worth of energy in a BEV to avoid having to go to the petrol station daily, you simply need the range to do a day's worth of driving. You can always plug it in at the end of a day. Comparing them on that single aspect is simply applying the inefficiencies of one platform to the other erroneously.

 

[moa999]

Exactly. If you can charge at home/ work then you never go to a dedicated fueling station for 50wks a year.
Offset by some slightly longer stops on holiday trips.. but to be honest if you can combine charging with an eating / toilet stop the car is ready to go (typically above 80%) before you are.

 

[Quickstatus]

unfortunately batteries just can't match the energy density of gasoline until battery technology improves.

Energy density is irrelevant
The car's range is still limited in the amount it can carry. Therefore accessibility of charging or refueling stations Is the important factor.

Battery technology is also not an issue
One metric is the number of Powerpoints in the country compared to the number of refueling stations.you can now drive across the Nullarbor in an EV
I can charge overnight while sleeping. Millions of EV owners do this. What matters is actually to increase the number of superfast charging stations for those who need it for longer trips

PowerPoints at home
Kerbside charging
Superfast charging along highways
Superfast charging at Petrol stations
Charging at Airbnb
Some electricity plans even have zero cost for overnight charging.

This morning Im going to the airport to drop off a family member who is going to Japan.
I charged the car overnight from 30% to 50%. I anticipate I will arrive home with 30%.

My energy consumption will be 0.145kWh/km.
Total km to be driven 100km round trip
Total energy consumption will be 14.5kWh
Total cost of electricity @20c/kWh = $2.90

Unleaded U91 petrol near me today $1.80
Equivalent U91 = $2.9/1.8 =1.6 litres
Equivalent petrol car efficiency = 1.6L/100km

If i used my solar panels to charge the car the day before at $0.07/kWh (the cost of forgoing income from exporting solar power, then the cost would be $0.07 x 14.5 =$1.02
That would be the equivalent of buying $1.02/$1.8 =0.567 litres of U91 for a 100km trip

But I didn't buy it for the "fuel efficiency" or "green credentials",
I bought it because EV are eligible for zero FBT (if supplied by your employer or via novated) meaning 100% tax deductibility even for private use - meaning no log book required. The To also rebates electricity use at 4.2c/km. Only need to submit annual odometer readings.
Also the acceleration is insane.

In short there are very few reasons (and getting less) to own a hybrid over a full EV.

 

[cove]

I bought a third car and this one is a Toyota Camry Hybrid SL. It goes a lot more more than 1,000 kms to a tank full.

 

[kelvedon]

The government collects $16 billion in fuel excise p.a. As the popularly of EV cars increases how long will it be before they introduce a km based road tax for electric vehicles to replace the lost fuel tax revenue ?

 

[33kft]

The government collects $16 billion in fuel excise p.a. As the popularly of EV cars increases how long will it be before they introduce a km based road tax for electric vehicles to replace the lost fuel tax revenue ?

They'll fill that hole with one tax or another. If they're smart they'll learn from the abortive attempt of the Victorian Govt on the same approach and go with a regime that doesn't involve the stupidity of logging kms driven - user pays is not an imperative for a tax that simply goes into general revenue and isn't ring fenced in any way for roads or transport, so perhaps they could just hike taxes on cigarettes even further and make it up that way, I don't care how they fill the gap frankly, it's got 100% to do with taxation and 0% to do with vehicles.

I just wish people understood what a scam the existing tax was in the first place, given how much effort goes into working out how to replicate it. Fuel excise is collected by the Fed Govt, who try to convince people that it is a fair tax because it's levied against those who drive the most (by virtue), however none of the taxation filters down to states or below (hence why the Vic Gov tried to usurp it and failed), with Councils managing 75% of roads in Australia and states most of the rest. The Fed govt allocated $9.9bn to roads in 2024-25 budget yet collect $16bn in fuel excise revenue. Anyone concerned with how we'll find a way to give more tax to the govt rather than making it the pollies problem to justify and modernise what is essentially a tax on all of us (who pays the most excise? transport co's... we're paying it at the end of the day) is wasting their time imho

 

[Cossie]

In my younger days working for the local parks and gardens mob here in Canberra, one of the vehicles we had was a forward control Land Rover.

It was great, except no seat belts and if you went around a corner too fast the flex in the cab would cause the door to open....
Anyway, there is one on fb mp at the moment in Cooma, pity I don't have anywhere to put it...

Scroll down, Land Rover series - Wikipedia

Mind you, the most fun I have had in an off road vehicle was this Tatra 813 in Germany a few years ago. Apparently there is one in Australia, but it needs a special permit to be able to drive it on public roads as it is a bit to wide.

Tatra 813 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Sabot]

They'll fill that hole with one tax or another. If they're smart they'll learn from the abortive attempt of the Victorian Govt on the same approach and go with a regime that doesn't involve the stupidity of logging kms driven - user pays is not an imperative for a tax that simply goes into general revenue and isn't ring fenced in any way for roads or transport, so perhaps they could just hike taxes on cigarettes even further and make it up that way, I don't care how they fill the gap frankly, it's got 100% to do with taxation and 0% to do with vehicles.

I just wish people understood what a scam the existing tax was in the first place, given how much effort goes into working out how to replicate it. Fuel excise is collected by the Fed Govt, who try to convince people that it is a fair tax because it's levied against those who drive the most (by virtue), however none of the taxation filters down to states or below (hence why the Vic Gov tried to usurp it and failed), with Councils managing 75% of roads in Australia and states most of the rest. The Fed govt allocated $9.9bn to roads in 2024-25 budget yet collect $16bn in fuel excise revenue. Anyone concerned with how we'll find a way to give more tax to the govt rather than making it the pollies problem to justify and modernise what is essentially a tax on all of us (who pays the most excise? transport co's... we're paying it at the end of the day) is wasting their time imho

Part of the problem is the lack of a direct connection between taxation collected and the "service" it's being used to fund. The free riders/free loaders problem is real and something needs to be done to ensure the user pays. They should strike the excise completely and just make it based on km driven for everyone OR implement a higher license fee across the board.

 

[ozmille]

EV9 and EV6 now, had the EV6 for a couple of years and when the Prado was ready for replacing we jumped on the EV9, drives like a cloud

 

[TheRealTMA]

Put B Class in for annual service today and they won't give it back - small fuel leak in one injector seal, requires parts ex germany, 6-8 weeks!

Gave me a loan GLC 300. Fair but expensive price for seal replacements given on 25K on clock.

Tempted to go out tomorrow and buy a BYD Automotive | BYD SEAL - New Energy Vehicles

 

[tgh]

Benz are probably the bellwether for the future of European cars; a table guest at a recent shipboard dinner lamented the state of his country.
He spoiled my night by opining that even the mighty Volkswagen Company was in dire straits……
Go ahead and reinforce the unstoppable rise of Chinese economic might.. I will continue to support the Europeans come what may...

 

[OZDUCK]

Benz are probably the bellwether for the future of European cars; a table guest at a recent shipboard dinner lamented the state of his country.
He spoiled my night by opining that even the mighty Volkswagen Company was in dire straits……
Go ahead and reinforce the unstoppable rise of Chinese economic might.. I will continue to support the Europeans come what may...

But VW have done themselves no favours over the last few decades. Losing billions of Dollars paying fines for their calculated illegal tampering with emission control software. And I gather from reading car reviews and owners comments, producing cars of late that have had numerous poor and also cheap seeming interior design choices in expensive models. Why should they be supported if they choose to become second-rate?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Benz are probably the bellwether for the future of European cars; a table guest at a recent shipboard dinner lamented the state of his country.
He spoiled my night by opining that even the mighty Volkswagen Company was in dire straits……
Go ahead and reinforce the unstoppable rise of Chinese economic might.. I will continue to support the Europeans come what may...

Have had European all my life, Peugeot, Alfa, Fiat, Mercedes but one does pay through the nose for service and repairs. They are quoting, in 6-8 weeks, around $1500 to replace fuel injector seals on a 4 yo car with 24k on the clock. We missed the 5 y warranty by 12 months so only 3 y for us. Annual service around $1200-$2k. Byd 7 year warranty and annual service around $180-$300.