Charged Up: Taking on the tough EV questions

The recent boom in electric vehicles has thrown up more questions than answers around charging infrastructure, battery life and used car prices.

As with all new technology, electric vehicles have sparked lively debate in pubs and lounge rooms.

Here are some of the most contentious issues.

● Will EV batteries need replacing – and will they be expensive?

Yes, battery packs are hugely expensive. But the battery is designed to last the life of the vehicle in most instances. As with all batteries, they lose their ability to hold charge over time. Early indications are that most will lose about 10-15 per cent of their capacity over eight years.

● Do you need to install a wallbox charger at home?

If you’re travelling less than 100km per day then you’ll easily be able to top up an electric car from a standard power point, although the process is a slow one. A wallbox costs roughly $1500 to $2000 installed and can add hundreds of kilometres of range in an overnight charge.

The charging process is remarkably simple. Picture: Supplied.

● What about road tripping in an EV?

Our charging infrastructure remains inadequate at best. That means any sort of big road trip in an EV requires planning and patience. You’ll have to stop for an hour or two every few hundred kilometres. Broken down chargers and busy holiday periods can mean queues and frustration.

● Will there will be better batteries and better EVs in a few years?

That’s guaranteed. Just as petrol and diesel cars have got better over the years, so will EVs. And batteries – the expensive part of an EV – will be a key focus of development. That doesn’t mean that today’s EVs will be instantly outdated, but progress is likely to be quicker than with petrol and diesel vehicles.

● Should I always use the fastest charger I can find?

As a general rule you want to have an EV charging for the shortest time. But not all EVs will benefit from using the ultra-rapid 350kW chargers. If your EV has a maximum charge rate of 50kW then any charger over that is overkill. On any charger, the car will determine how much electricity it will take on board at any particular time. It’s all about looking after the battery and maximising its life span.

The range of electric cars is constantly improving. Picture: Supplied.

These are plenty more hot topics surrounding electric vehicles and we’ve tried to answer them in our new video series on electric cars, Charged Up.

Our expert panel asks whether second-hand EVs are worth the money?

We look at how hard it is to charge an electric car and what buyers should look for in a new electric vehicle.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has been developed to take driving fun to a new level.

Are the new wave of cheap Chinese-made EVs any good? Is range anxiety still a thing when some of the new EVs can travel a claimed 650km on a single charge?

We also debate whether Australian governments should use public money to subsidise the cost of electric vehicles?

Charged Up panellists Richard Blackburn, David McCowen, Emily Agar and Dom Tripolone.

Join our team – Richard Blackburn, Dom Tripolone, David McCowen, Emily Agar and Toby Hussey – as we dig deep into the issues on Charged Up.

Originally published as Charged Up: Taking on the tough EV questions