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EV Quest is the electric vehicle podcast for New Zealand, Australia and beyond. Hosted by Adrian Maidment in New Zealand, and joined regularly by Riz Akhtar from Carloop, EV Quest delivers the latest EV news, reviews and industry insights from across New Zealand, Australia and the global EV market.
Each week you’ll hear conversations about electric cars, charging infrastructure, EV ownership and the future of sustainable mobility.
From interviews with EV industry leaders to reviews of the newest electric vehicles, EV Quest keeps you connected to the fast-changing world of electric transport.
EV QUEST podcast-250
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[00:00:00] Kia ora, and welcome to the EV Quiz Podcast special edition 250th episode Rounds of applause. I can hear it- Woo-hoo ... in the background. Yes, we'll be looking back, we'll be looking forward, we'll be looking a bit sideways, and our special guest, as usual, some- it's still special, it's Riz Akka from CarLoop.
Hello, Riz. Hey, Adrian. Good to be on. 250th episode. How good is that? It's pretty good. It's pretty... Just show some more enthusiasm. It's great. Yes- It's great ... it's very exciting. All those-- I've, I've gone back through the, through the list a bit, so I've, of what previous episodes, so thank you to everyone who's been involved, and the car dealers, the guests, car owners, the YouTube comments, offensive YouTube comments, the positive YouTube comments.
It's been, it's been a rollercoaster, Riz. It's been a [00:01:00] rollercoaster. Ah. Look, there's plenty more ahead. Yes. Yes. So that's, that's good. So we're at 250. I've got a few... Have I got anything special for it? I tried to make s- do some special stuff. I've got some sound coming through, so we'll see how we go.
Obviously, since it's a special occasion, I will be bringing in Game Changer, and a bit of a look back. But first up, maybe in Australia you were just at, well actually it's still on today in our time, but when this is published it won't be, at the Everything Electric Sydney event extravaganza. Yeah. So that was, that was on.
I did get to meet some, some of our Kiwi friends there. I saw Gavin and Richard Edwards and a couple of other guys, so that was, that was good. And then of course, people from Australia as well. So that show, as, as you just said, it's currently happening while we're recording this, but won't be, it'll be all, all done and dusted by the time this episode goes online.
Quite interesting. You know, it was at the Sydney Olympic Park, and weather was great when I popped in on Friday. [00:02:00] And just lots of exhibitors, reasonable amount of sort of mixture of vehicle brands, charging companies, sustainability. There were test drives, there were, you know, I'm not sure how many test stuff they'll end up doing, but there were a lot of cars to test drive.
There were car brands showcasing their current models, their future models, and yeah, there was a bit of buzz when I was there on Friday. Met a lot of car industry friends and colleagues, and others in the sort of the car vehicle space, charging space, and I'm glad I went. Any sort of key points in the industry?
Yeah, everybody seemed quite positive about what's sort of been happening in terms of the sales of electric cars are going up and, you know, it's sort of looking like a little bit more certainty coming in. Obviously, the key challenge, you know, that we've got with space is, you know, affordability was one.
That's sort of being solved now. Charging is another one. There's not enough chargers in the ground, and that's sort of changing. But looking at the cars, which is what we're interested in, [00:03:00] there were a lot being showcased mainly by the newer brands. I mean, there wasn't a lot of legacy car brands there. I think I remember Hyundai was there, and- You know, the rest of it sort of felt like a lot of the new brands had a lot more of a bigger presence.
So, you know, your Geely, your Zeekr, the Cherry Group, which had Cherry, Omoda, Jaecoo, Lepas, uh, and I'm sure I'm missing obviously Cherry's own products as well. So there's-- There was quite a bit of buzz around that. There were electric vans from Verizon and others. There was some BYD dealer group that was showcasing cars and getting people to sit in them and test drive.
And yeah, all in all, there was quite... Oh, GAC was there, of course, one of the newer brands or recent brands to enter our market. Forthing was also around. Polestar, of course. Tesla was not there. But looking at those brands, a lot of them brought [00:04:00] in plug-in hybrid vehicles. The boxy-looking Defender-like cars, which, you know, I think is a growing trend.
So GWM had their H7 that they showcased, looks very boxy and quite tough, priced at under 50 grand. And Cherry had a few models there as well. Geely had their battleship 700. There was a couple of other sort of plug-in hybrid models. The Cherry had their Cherry Stockman, the diesel plug-in hybrid ute. Um, iCar, of course, had their other-- their models that they were previewing as well.
So quite a bit there, but you could get through that in a couple of hours. You know, a couple of years ago, this sort of stuff would've taken a couple of days because there'd be so much. But it was, it was good, but just I think the buzz that we had a couple of years ago is starting to sort of become more mainstream.
Mm. Yeah. That's, that's good. That's our summary there of Sydney Olympic Stadium. It's a [00:05:00] lovely spot. And we'll get to the big pre- the big story of the week price-wise, the game-changing price drop of the BYD Atto 1 price now in Australia, Australia's lowest priced new vehicle. Is that correct, Riz? That's what they're, that's what they're saying.
Is that right? It is $19,900 or $990 drive away. So BYD has slashed the prices on that. It's, believe it or not
That's like $7,000 off the price of that car How much does it cost to make it is what I'm thinking. Well, yeah, like I think in China they sell that particular model for around about, starts at, I think 16 or 17,000 Australian dollars. So it's pretty much the same price- Yeah, it's close ... if you factor in. Yeah.
So yeah, that's, that's that. And then there was a, a bit under the radar, Adrian, that-- So that offer, sorry, is limited until the end of this year if you buy the Atto 1 base model. Yeah, the base model. It's not the, the other one, [00:06:00] is it? It's just the base model. And then the next one was, and that this was a bit, flew a bit under the radar.
BYD's Dolphin 288 drive away, that is a saving of over $4,000 compared to what the Dolphin Essential normally goes for. So yeah, just worth keeping an eye out that all of this stuff is starting to happen now, and Dolphin now competes with MG4 Urban. MG4 dropped the prices on that by about two grand, and might have covered it on the last episode.
GAC Aion UT, there's a more affordable version of that coming. There's the Geely EX2 that you mentioned. So yeah, quite a few affordable electric hatchbacks coming into the market, and of course, the Atto 1 now is the cheapest new car you can buy. And it's quite a lot of car for the money. It's five-star ANCAP rated.
It [00:07:00] doesn't have the biggest range, but if you're just driving around town and all around the suburbs, plug it in every night, there's no dramas. Just, you just won't be able to do, you know, you won't be able to cross the Nullarbor into WA with it, but it's, it's, it's a good enough sort of ride to get around, and got plenty of new tech and features that BYD is known for.
So watch this space as there is more announcements from BYD that I think we might be allowed to talk about within either next episode or the episode after. They're really about to give some of the legacy car makers a huge scare if this, if this announcement isn't enough That's a good tease there, is a good tease.
We'll let that sink in for a second. It sunk. Yeah, that's good. Okay, I'll carry on. Now, the next story, I thought I'd just, while there's been so mu- like you just talked about so much change, I thought I'd just mention the first episodes of the EV Quest podcast, just as a, EV Quest podcast, what I covered.
Just to note, this was four years ago, how much things have [00:08:00] changed. Episode one was introduction. Episode two, should I buy a used Leaf? I might just play a little clip of that now on the podcast. That was my first interview. Hi, I'm Adrian from EV Quest, and I have a guest today, Joe Alex. How's it going? Hi.
Yeah, good. Great, thanks. Good, thanks. And you've got a Leaf. Yeah, a Nissan Leaf. Yes. Yeah. Yes. We're, we're gonna do a tour now. Yeah. But, but it's not here, is it? It's not here, no, no. It's, wh- where is it? It's, uh, stuck in Auckland. And then I did an IONIQ 5 owner review, just got that, and then I did a Tesla owner re- review.
Says Tesla Model 3, and that was probably the, that remi- that experience of just the acceleration was, I still, still remember that very well. And now moving along to the China desk, Grizz. Your China desk. Yeah. The top 10 selling cars in China in August, and how they're basically all here. I've got here T- China's top 10 selling cars in August.
Number one was the Geely EX2, Linc [00:09:00] Motor A10, Tesla Model Y. Fan- so they have Fan Qianbao Ti7. Ah, it's a Ti- Ti7 is not here yet, but it will be- Yeah ... soon. That's a standout one. Then the BYD Atto 2, Tesla Model 3. Those are the top six. Then the Changan Nevo Q05, Li Auto i6, BYD Dolphin, Xiaomi SU7. Uh, now that's, it's good that that Xiaomi's still in the top 10, but I've heard they've dropped right off.
Like the buzz that the Xiaomi brand had, now there's a lot of Xiaomi competitors. Like MG's got a really affordable car that looks like a Porsche Taycan and like the Xiaomi, original Xiaomi did, and it costs I think something like 20 grand or 22,000 Australian dollars. So yeah, there's quite a lot of affordability, and Chinese market itself is a bit slower than it used to be in previous years for [00:10:00] new car sales.
So this is going to get a bit interesting. It's obviously pushed brands like Li Auto and Xiaomi to really go into the international markets, but price is a big factor, and setting up in any international market isn't cheap. So we'll just continue to watch this space. But yeah, Xiaomi, the buzz has come out a little bit out of that brand in China and globally.
So yeah, let's watch this space. Okay. And, and now to my Japan desk. I'm st- So Subaru, Subaru, this was about their new Trailseeker, and when it was announced, I said, uh, you know, "Trailseeker out and about and adventuring, but where's the spare tire?" But n- that's what you'd expect, but it's got... The press release says, "All new Subaru Trailseeker strengthens its claim as the ultimate adventure BEV with new spare wheel kit and tow bar."
So they're putting in a... This is just the press release. "Better equipped for Australian adventures with Subaru Australia intro- introducing a locally [00:11:00] developed, securely mounted, fully integrated underfloor spare wheel kit and genuine Subaru Australia tow bar available for the vehicle." Photos were, are included.
So that's just a, a little side story really. I know people were saying, "Where's the, where's the spare tire? You wanna go adventuring, you want a spare tire, don't you?" Yeah. So that's, that's the Austra- That's the Japan desk, and that model's also coming to New Zealand soon. Four. So they're on fire, the Australian, the Japan desk is on fire at the moment.
Big, that's a lot of news. One, one article. A lot of news. Got one article. But there's more to come. Japan desk- Yeah, yeah ... the Japan desk is expanding. We're looking to hire. Uh- Well, yeah, if anyone's interested. If anyone's interested for zero pay. We, we are open to offers. So that's that. And Riz, have you been driving anything this week?
Riz down the avenue. Shiny wheels spinnin' new. Turn the corner, there he goes. What he's driving, no one knows. [00:12:00] Neon lights are flashing bright. Speeding up into the night. Everyone just stops and stares. Riz and car make quite a pair.
What's Riz been driving? Can't keep up, but we're trying. What's Riz been driving? Heads turning, we're crying The IM5 Performance. Oh, yes. I was driving the IM5 Performance. It is a fun car. It's actually-- I think they've cut the price on those quite a bit because, like, dealers have stock, they're trying to move stock.
So I think it's probably the highest in terms of the power output and the rest, and the tech that it delivers for its price. It's about 20 or $25,000 cheaper, or maybe $20,000 cheaper than the Model 3 Performance. So yeah, interesting, but it was good fun while I had it for the week. I am putting together a review on that [00:13:00] as the same time as I'm putting together a review on the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric that I've been driving.
And coming up, I have, I think the Leapmotor B10 is going to be the next car that I will have, uh, later on this week, and then Geely ET2 and a couple of others. So it's gonna be a pretty busy sort of vehicle driving week, but I'm back in my Tesla for the time being. Really, really sort of, you know, uh, just making sure it doesn't sit there for months, so pretty happy with that.
And that's what's happening, Adrian. What about you? Are you-- Did you get a chance to see anything interesting at the dealers or around? Uh, I, I went out and have a chat to some dealers yesterday, podcast time, and probably the, probably the overriding thing was that there was new, new models were coming in, was sort of the vibe, I'd say.
They're looking forward to new model. I passed the Suba- Subaru desk and the news that Subaru was coming in soon. Spoke to other [00:14:00] dealers, just new models, the continual arrival of new models. That's what I got out of my walk. A local New Zealand story was that the Evnex chargers, this is in the news, crossing 2,000 chargers is a proud moment for-- Oh, this is, this has got obviously them.
"For, for me and the Evnex team," said Ed Harvey, who I've spoken to on the, on the podcast, founder and CEO of Evnex, Christchurch-based company, shipped its first charger in 2017. The first 10,000 sales took eight years. The second 10,000 took just nine months. So that's a successful local New Zealand business.
Good to see. Four. Good products. Lovely- Doing great, yeah. Lovely looking website as well. Just a lovely website. That's what I got from them. So that was good to see. Good, good news story, and that brings me on to Big Questions with Riz, this section. Big Questions with Riz. Dramatic music.
Are you ready, Riz? [00:15:00] I'm, I'm, I'm ready. I- I'm hearing the music. Yep. He just dropped this Edo, Edo1, "Do you think this will mean a further EV price war?" Oh, we're, we're, we're getting started with it, I think. It's, it's gonna stir up a few things, and I've just ... Not only EVs. What would it do to the, to the, like, petrol or diesel- car market Well, what's-- Yeah, the other thing is what, you know, the secondhand market, is it gonna take a hit as well with all these sort of price reductions on the new vehicles?
Oh, I think so. People are just gonna be like, "Well, why buy a three-year-old X-Trail when I can buy a, I don't know, an ATTO 3 or something or the T- the EX5?" So yeah, that's worth watching this space. Okay. My next big one is what is the biggest thing happening in the global EV industry that you think New Zealand and Australian consumers aren't paying enough attention to or need to be aware of?
Look, I think if you're talking about what they n- what, what we all need to be aware of, we're gonna see a lot more electric trucks and vans because diesel prices are skyrocketing, [00:16:00] not only in Australia and New Zealand, but globally. And y- you know, we've got a couple of options, either we pay more for everything that gets transported by vehicles that are using diesel, or we slowly start to transition.
So this truck space is gonna really take off. Tesla with their semi-truck is now officially available in Europe, so that's happening as well. So just worth keeping an eye out on that space because we don't wanna be paying more for our groceries and other things in the future, especially if we can do it cleaner with cleaner electric trucks over the current diesel fleet.
I think the diesel fleet served us well for a long time, but I think the time has, has come with where the diesel prices are going to start to really think about what that looks like and what sort of charges do we need for that. No. And, uh, and my last big question, Riz. We've gone cr- three questions.
We've talked about cheaper EVs, more brands and better technology, what ultimately [00:17:00] determines who survives the next phase of the indus- of the EV industry? Is it- Look, I think the, the, the main, the main sort of thing is like, can you bring products that are affordable enough that consumers want? If you charge a lot more for your electric products over your petrol or diesel products, people will s- people have no loyalty in terms of brands.
They will switch, they will move. Oh, okay. So we'll have to just keep an eye out on that end of the market. Good to know. That's all I've got for my big questions. That was big questions with Riz. Big questions. Looking for a sponsor for that segment. Yeah, that's pretty much it, so that's all I've got for Riz.
Anything, any sort of parting notes? Look, I think I'm a bit showed out after this Everything Electric show that has just gone on, but yeah, looking forward to driving some of these more affordable cars that are coming into our market and I'm just, you know, getting lots of people just asking, "Hey, what car, what electric car should I get?"
It's [00:18:00] no longer, "What affordable car should I get?" "What electric car should I get?" So yeah, it's good times, Adrian. 250 episode. Once again, congratulations to you- Thank you ... and the production team. Yep. Um- I'll let, I'll let them know. I've told them. At 250 episodes, anyone's that's keen to sponsor the podcast, get in touch with Adrian.
I'm sure he won't turn you down. Well, we've, I've got some standards, Riz. Yeah. That's true. And we'll leave it there. We'll see you next time, Riz. See you next [00:19:00] time.