Your questions answered: When will we see affordable EV utes?

The arrival of the first electric ute in Australia has kicked social media and the carsales mailbox into another gear. Or, at least, the price of that EV ute has.

It seems Aussies want to know why the new LDV eT60 arrived with such a big price tag.

It’s one of the many questions on electric vehicles we’ve fielded over the past seven days, with one buyer undecided between a Hyundai and Kia.

There’s also interest in small SUVs, particularly those assisted by a hybrid system, while a couple planning a lap around Australia with the van want to know if the Subaru Outback is up for the job.

Another owner is torn on whether to sell his beloved V8-powered Holden Commodore SS…

Question: I was really looking forward to the arrival of the first electric ute into Australia. Then I just about fell over when I saw the price. I expected a premium because it’s an EV, but nothing like $93,000!! What’s going on? Is this really what we’ve got to look forward to with electric utes? – James C

Answer: You’re not the only one who almost keeled over when we saw the price of the LDV eT60. We knew it would be expensive, but we didn’t think it would be quite as expensive as it is.

It’s not helped by being an adapted ICE (internal combustion engine) architecture – ground-up EV designs tend to have better-value propositions – nor having a large battery pack because it’s fairly inefficient (energy use is almost double that of a Tesla).

Obviously there’s a lot happening in the EV ute space, but we don’t think big price tags like this will be the norm. We’d expect electric utes to cost more than their diesel-powered alternatives, but they should be within the realms of affordability.

If we’re guessing, we’d expect to ultimately see some well-equipped and convincing EV ute options (which the LDV isn’t) to come in comfortably below $80K, likely a lot less over time.

Sure, that’s expensive, but keep in mind a lot of people are paying that much and more for diesel utes these days. And there will be paybacks in lower running costs.

Hopefully in the next couple of years we’ll start seeing more EV ute action.

Question:

Answer: You’re right, the IONIQ 5 and EV6 both share plenty underneath. Each is based on the Hyundai Group’s E-GMP architecture and uses the same 800V electric system. But, as you’ve pointed out, there are big differences, the most obvious of which are styling, price and equipment.

Let’s tackle other attributes first. Freshy crowned carsales’ Car of the Year 2022, the Kia EV6 is a better drive, mainly because it has a local suspension tune that really works nicely on our roads. The Hyundai IONIQ 5, which was carsales’ 2021 COTY, is not as well controlled over bumps. All of which makes a big difference: the EV6 is a much nicer car to take on a snaking strip of bitumen.

Performance-wise, there’s nothing in it, and with the recent update to the IONIQ 5, the Hyundai and Kia are now lineball on how far they can travel on a charge.

In the cabin, the Kia is more traditional and formal, the Hyundai more fun and funky, which will be accepted differently depending on your taste.

Interestingly, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries classifies the EV6 as a large SUV and the IONIQ 5 as a mid-size SUV. We wouldn’t take any notice of that (it comes down to hard dimensional cut-offs in defining the categories), because both have a heap more cabin space than their exteriors suggest.

A recent price rise for the Hyundai means it is now almost lineball on pricing with the Kia, too. However, there’s a catch with that. Hyundai has been selling the IONIQ 5 online for fixed prices whereas Kia has been selling the EV6 through its dealer network, sometimes with plump dealer delivery charges added.

That alone could make the decision of which one to buy easier, because with the Hyundai you have more pricing certainty, whereas with the Kia some buyers have been shocked.

In summary, the EV6 is the better car, but some people have paid more to get into one. We’d be almost as happy in the IONIQ 5 and it’s potentially easier (or, at least, fairer) to get hold of one.

Of course, getting hold of either is a challenge due to very limited supply. Good luck!

Question: We all agree that people are the earth’s largest problem with emissions. That’s a pipedream to have an earth without humans existing though. But current talk on emissions reductions seems to miss an important piece. At least to my way of thinking anyway. Not sure why this is not a large point of discussion.

That is, we keep talking about cars needing to move to EVs and governments pushing consumers this way too, while changing rules to suit different agendas. There’s a lot of wealthy influence here in this space no doubt. Clear to see. Is this why it never gets spoken about that production of EVs are way dirtier than ICE? The reading I’ve done is that the payback period is about four years. Or 60,000km before an EV has paid back its debt in ‘how dirty it is’. Effectively, its first four years of life is worse than an ICE vehicle.

Now I’m no genius, but on those maths, many consumers are about to upgrade their vehicles at that point. It’s a counterproductive argument that EVs are cleaner in this space.

Are we really just shifting the blame, and don’t have a solution but we can convince ourselves to feel good about what we don’t have real knowledge of? Or are we happy to have Australia and countries who no longer manufacture feel good about what we do, and pass further emissions creation on to those manufacturing countries so we can have clean air and a clean conscience in our home countries?

Not sure about you, but I smell a rat with all this EV and emissions rhetoric… Not as clean as people think. – Andrew S

Answer: You are 100 per cent right and it’s something that often gets lost in the headlong rush towards EVs. Lifecycle or well-to-wheel vehicle emissions depend largely on the ‘greenness’ of the energy used to make and power them.

As we’ve reported, even in countries with more renewable power than Australia, the CO2 payback period is about 146,000km – nearly 10 years at 15,000km a year – according to Volvo.

Various sources suggest a similar outcome.

A report released last week by Bloomberg NEF showed that the estimated CO2 emissions of producing an EV in 2022 is between about 10 and 15 tonnes (production in China has higher emissions). By comparison, producing an ICE vehicle emits about 7-10 tonnes of CO2.

The payback with the EV is that it has much lower CO2 emissions during its life, suggesting that after 250,000km of operation the total CO2 emitted will be less than half that of an ICE vehicle manufactured and driven in Germany and the US.

Those CO2 emissions during production are forecast to drop dramatically for cars produced in Europe and the US by 2030, less so in China. It means that an EV built and driven in Germany in 2030 for 250,000km will emit something like 12 per cent of the emissions of an equivalent ICE vehicle. In the US it’s more like 21 per cent while in China it’s a bit under half.

Short story is the EVs have a lifetime CO2 advantage today and the gap between ICE and EV is forecast to grow substantially by the end of the decade.

And remember that the lifetime CO2 emissions run a lot deeper than your few years of ownership. Subsequent owners will continue driving down a vehicle’s carbon footprint, even if they sell it after four years.

And that’s apart from reducing NOx and smog-producing diesel particulates, and further CO2 reductions from future battery recycling and repurposing technologies.

Question: I’m not after an EV or anything that can rip stumps out of the ground. I just want an around-town runabout that will look after me with reliability. The old hips are getting a bit creaky so a small SUV would work nicely so that I don’t have to fall down into it. Which would you recommend? – Kane W

Answer: There’s loads of competition and some great buying in the compact SUV space. The Hyundai Kona is well worth a look for its all-round value and was awarded carsales’ Best Small SUV in both 2021 and 2022.

If you need a bit more space then the Kia Seltos is a terrific compact SUV – and one that has just been updated with more features and a punchier engine for all-wheel drive models. The Kia also comes with a seven-year warranty.

The new Toyota Corolla Cross is also great buying and has the advantage of an available hybrid system, which can save plenty in fuel. Toyota’s well-earned reputation for reliability means it should soldier on for many years provided you get it serviced to the book (which is every 12 months or 15,000km).

Question:

Answer: The Subaru Outback is a terrific crossover and one that would be extremely comfortable for the sort of trip you’re considering – depending on how adventurous you plan to get.

Those big off-roaders compromise comfort and on-road driving manners, but they have proper 4WD hardware that’s designed to tackle very challenging terrain.

The Outback surprises in terms of what it can traverse, but it’s more soft-roader than proper off-roader. That said, if you’re mainly sticking to the blacktop (or well-maintained gravel roads) it should be fine. And, as mentioned, you’ll have dynamic benefits over the dedicated 4WDs.

One challenge with the Outback is towing. It’s only rated to tow 2000kg, although a soon-to-arrive turbo model – with 42 per cent more torque – is also rated to tow up to 2400kg.

We never recommend towing at the limit on big trips like you’re embarking on, so look to limit the trailer to around two tonnes or (ideally) less.

Question: An EV would be almost perfect for me, except that I drive from Melbourne to Queensland once a year, so would need it to do that journey. Am I living in fantasyland or would it be possible to have my cake and eat it too? – Harry B

Answer: You can absolutely make an EV happen for a big trip between Victoria and Queensland. But it will require more planning and, possibly, some patience every now and again.

The planning comes in because you’ll need to know where the charging stations are, particularly the fast ones that can juice up your EV a lot quicker. A Tesla makes life easier because you can not only use all the regular public charging stations but all the bespoke Tesla ones as well (they’re locked to the car).

There’s no shortage of charging options along the major routes up the east coast of Australia. Make sure you pop the Plugshare app on your phone so you can work out where to charge and for how long.

There will be some times of the year (the summer holidays in particular) when you’ll find you’re not alone in wanting to charge, so you may have to wait for a car (or two) to finish charging before you plug in. You also need to check in advance if the charger you’re aiming for is actually working; there have been big issues with some of the DC fast-chargers failing, which can lead to longer queues at the nearby slower chargers.

If you plan your regular stops around your charging it makes EV long-distance motoring a lot easier, because you can be munching or stretching your legs while the car is charging.

Short story is you can do it, but you’ll need a lot more planning and some patience.

Question:

Answer: Lucky you! The VF Series II got the LS3 6.2-litre V8 that works beautifully in the Commodore body. It’s such a great package and one that has already performed exceptionally well on the used car market.

No one can say for sure if prices of V8s will appreciate in future, but it’s worth noting that many have already had an exceptional run over the COVID era.

Our recommendation would be to hold it if you’re still loving the car and still look forward to driving it every day.

If you’re going to hold it predominantly as an investment, we wouldn’t bother – there are likely better non-motoring options for your money.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

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