Running discussion on SP, page-45139

EV sales are powering ahead, sitting at around 6.5% this year against 2.4% last year from memory, and before the naysayers bring up Covid for poor sales in 2020, 2020 was still nearly double the sales in 2019. I’m sure Frank could give a clearer picture of this.


One thing that is Clear, at least over here in Oz atm is things are looking up as,

TrueGreen says it has three EVs coming to Australian market under $35,000

The CEO of TrueGreen Mobility, the company bringing three sub-$A35,00 electric vehicles to the Australian market starting in just a few months, has called on global car companies to step up and meet the country’s “significant pent-up demand” for affordable electric vehicles, rather than wait for more favourable government incentives.

Luke Todd on Monday revealed that his company, which has the exclusive distribution rights to BYD EVs in Australia through its subsidiary Nexport, was opening orders for the BYD’s T3 electric van in July for just under $A35,000 (excluding on-road costs), in partnership with the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund and charging infrastructure company Evie Networks.

The electric van, which will offer around 300km of range from its 64kWh battery and will begin deliveries in September of this year, will be closely followed by two BYD passenger vehicles, each of which will also be priced at sub-$35,000, before on-road costs.

Todd said this “significant step forward for e-mobility in Australia” had been made possible by his company with the support of the StBEIF, including a $20 million investment, and with the support of Evie Networks, which is planning to ramp up its charging infrastructure roll-out in response to the news.

But in an interview with The Driven, Todd stressed that his company had – through “signficant investments of our own” – got to the position where it was able to offer three electric vehicles at price parity with ICE cars without government subsidies and without compromising on quality. And he said that other car companies should be able to do the same.

“I’m growing a bit tired of automotive CEOs saying they’re not sending their vehicles to Australia because there are no subsidies,” he told The Driven.

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“You shouldn’t need a subsidy. If the car’s good enough and it’s at the right price, it’ll sell itself. It a bit of a call to arms.”

To back up this call to arms, the BYD T3 van will be followed by the EA1, an electric hatchback designed by Wolfgang Egger, the former Audi design chief who is now the Global Design Director at BYD.

This will also cost around $35,000, with an even longer range reportedly nearing 500km.

After the EA1 will come the BYD Yuan Plus, the company’s latest take on its all-electric compact SUV, which is sight unseen at the moment but, according to Todd, will leave people “astounded” when unveiled in the near future, considering its price and range.

“These cars really do set the new benchmark,” Todd said, adding that in the case of the Yuan Plus “we have what we believe is a more practical more high quality vehicle” than the Tesla Model 3.

Todd said the company was starting with the electric van, first, in Australia because it had identified the e-commerce sector – last mile deliveries and Tradies – as ripe for the greatest impact in the shortest space of time.

He said the company anticipated deliveries in the “tens of thousands” in the first few months due to “significant pent-up demand” for more competitve EVs.

“We’ve been strategically waiting for the right time to come on the market,” he told The Driven.

“We are two leading Australian companies, including a leading EV charging company in Australia, connecting two of the biggest dots of how to get EVs on the road.

“It’s about proving how good they are. Once you drive an EV nobobdy really wants to go back to a normal vehicle,” he said.

“We don’t need governments to provide grants, or mandates, but just guidance around decision making, helping send the message that [electrifying] transport is one of the easiest ways we can make a difference.

“To me this is not about climate change – that’s a far bigger problem. To me this is about pollution in the air in and around cities and streets, and how removing that is a major health benefit.

“So some encouraging government messaging around EV uptake would be welcome. But I sit very differently to other CEOs,” Todd said.

“Electric vehicles are more reliable, better for the environment, better for the community and range anxiety or any of those earlier arguments have now dissipated.

“ The only question now is ‘why not ? ”


“Turning point:” Fleets of BYD electric vans to hit Australian roads by September

A “game-changing” all-electric van offering 300km of range for roughly the same price as an ICE equivalent will be on Australian roads within the year, after it was confirmed on Monday that the BYD T3 2021 would open for orders here in July, for delivery as soon as September.

The van, made in China by the Warren Buffett backed BYD, is being brought to Australia through a partnership between TrueGreen Mobility and Trevor St Baker’s Energy Innovation Fund, the owner of electric vehicle charge point operator Evie Networks and the EV charging manufacturer Tritium.

TrueGreen, which has the exclusive distribution rights to BYD EVs in Australia through its subsidiary Nexport, said the T3 vans would go on sale next month for just under $A35,000 (excluding on-road costs) with the backing of a $20 million investment by the StBEIF.

To further support the electric van rollout, a partnership with Evie Networks would also deliver comprehensive vehicle charging infrastructure “within months,” TrueGreen said, including pubic and depot charging facilities.

“This is a significant step forward for e-mobility in Australia – this is the turning point,” said TrueGreen Mobility CEO Luke Todd in a statement on Monday.

“With our products, electric vehicles have now reached price parity with combustion engines, so a switch to EVs makes perfect economic, commercial, environmental and moral sense.

“Aussies will soon be seeing these vehicles on their streets en masse.”

Todd told The Driven that the company would wait to see what demand looked like once they opened up orders next month on EVDirect.com.au, but that it was anticipated that the inital volume would be considerable, in the tens-of-thousands.

The electric vans use BYD’s new Blade battery technology, which uses more thermally stable lithium iron phosphate chemistry and arranges the battery cells in an array before insertion into the pack, resulting in a 50% improvement in use of space with a super thin, flat battery.

The T3 vans offer a 50.3kWh battery which can last for up to 300km on a full charge (280km on a full capacity), putting an end to concerns about range anxiety.

The van also offers a max power of 70kW (94bhp), a max torque of 180 N.m and a top speed of 100km/h.

“Range anxiety is one of the most common concerns in the uptake of EVs, but with new charging infrastructure and these long-range vehicles, people can now get where they want to go,” said StBEIF founder and deputy chairman Trevor St Baker.

“The StBEIF is providing the charging solution with Evie Networks installing Tritium ultra-fast chargers at key transportation hubs across Australia and TrueGreen Mobility is providing affordable and reliable vehicles.

“This partnership means Australia has now reached the point of mainstream transition to zero emission vehicles,” St Baker said.

TrueGreen Mobility’s Todd said businesses in the growing eCommerce industry – particularly during times of Covid – would benefit significantly from the lower costs and more efficient transport options afforded by EV models.

“Australia’s ecommerce home delivery space has tripled over the past 12 months, which puts a strain on our environment and communities. Considerable volume of logistics traffic has moved from our highways to suburban streets,”he said.

“The demand is there from companies wanting a sustainable transport method so we’re incredibly excited to offer our affordable T3 van model to open the possibility of a transition of approximately 3.4 million light commercial fleet vehicles to EVs.”

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Nexport has been working hard on plans to dramatically broaden Australia’s EV menu with the launch of EVDirect, an online platform that will allow international EV manufacturers to bring cars into Australia without having a local dealership network, starting with BYD models.

It has also unveiled plans to spend $700 million to create an electric vehicle manufacturing hub in southern NSW, based near Moss Vale, that will focus on buses initially, then probably move into electric vans and trucks, and possibly into electric cars.

And earlier this month, the TrueGreen mobility subsidiary nabbed its first large-scale order – and the largest EV order of its kind to date in Australia – for 3,000 electric vehicles, mostly from vehicle subscription company Splend, Australia’s largest supplier of hire vehicles to ride share giant Uber.

Coal baron St Baker, meanwhile, has been doing his bit to speed up Australia’s transition to EVs, with his fund being the major shareholder in Evie Networks and tipping tens of millions into Evie’s nationwide rollout of ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers.

https://thedriven.io/


St Baker’s $20m to boost $35,000 electric car rollout

Australia should “join the world in electrifying the transport sector,” energy investor Trevor St Baker said after sinking $20 million into TrueGreen Mobility to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.

The deal between the St Baker Energy Innovation Fund and TrueGreen Mobility, which invests in electric vehicles and aims to list on the Australian Securities Exchange within the next 12 months, is being touted as a strategic alliance to encourage drivers to buy electric cars and vans.

TrueGreen Mobility, which is raising about $110 million in a pre-IPO funding round through Goldman Sachs, holds the rights to exclusively distribute electric cars and small vans made by Chinese manufacturing group BYD, which is backed by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

It is marketing the vehicles on a website and will open a “customer experience centre” in Sydney in late June.

TrueGreen Mobility chief executive Luke Todd said the most crucial part of the agreement was the relationship formed with Mr St Baker’s fast-charging company, Evie Networks.

“The key reason why people haven’t moved across en masse to EVs is charging range anxiety,” Mr Todd told The Australian Financial Review, adding that the partnership with Evie Networks would help TrueGreen Mobility sell electric cars and vans because “we have the charging aspect now covered.”

Presales for BYD electric cars, which will be priced just under $35,000, start in August and deliveries will begin in March 2022.

Electric BYD vans will be available sooner, will deliveries scheduled to start in September.

www.copyright link/companies/energy/st-baker-s-20m-to-boost-35-000-electric-car-rollout-20210531-p57wl4




GLTA- AVZH's

Cheers

Frank