Your questions answered: Why don’t EVs have spare wheels?

Electric cars are back in force in this week’s carsales mailbox – everything from dealing with the practicalities of a tyre puncture and battery recharging to an affordable SUV option and how it compares with petrol-powered alternatives.

One Tesla Model X owner is also wondering about long-term reliability and whether it’s worth trading into something smaller and fresher – that is, a Tesla Model Y.

Other readers are considering whether to splash out on a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), and whether upgrading from a Toyota FJ Cruiser to a used HiLux is a smart move given the well-publicised diesel particulate filter and ‘dusting’ issues.

Question: I’m very keen to buy a smallish EV for my day-to-day driving. I live in North Queensland and I still have a 4WD diesel dinosaur for camping trips and the suchlike, so I don’t expect my EV to perform those occasional duties, but I do expect that it will be able to safely transport me to my nearest major town which is about 150km away.

Last time I blew a tyre on the Bruce Highway, admittedly a few years ago, it was on a blistering hot summer Sunday and the tyre shredded completely because I hit a water-filled pothole. I was lucky not to also wreck the alloy wheel. No tyre inflator kit would have helped me in those conditions and, since there was no mobile phone reception on that stretch of road, I would have been sitting there for a very long time if I had not had a spare wheel.

My question is: how do car manufacturers as a whole, but specifically small EV makers, justify not providing even a space-saver spare in their cars? I know that modern tyres are more reliable than the older ones, and that the roads in the cities where most EVs are sold are much better than where I live, but not having what I regard as an essential piece of safety equipment in small EV models makes them a lot less attractive to anybody living in a regional area than they should be – after all, we probably do more driving than those in capital cities and so contribute more to the carbon dioxide problem.

Answer: Spare wheels have been on the way out for many vehicle types, with the exception of proper off-roaders. That includes many cars powered by fossil fuels. But the shift away from spare wheels is particularly prevalent with EVs.

The challenge with EVs is where to put them. Battery packs are currently heavy and huge, taking up a big chunk of the underfloor. So given the choice of giving up boot space or battery size (which translates to range) car-makers inevitably leave the spare wheel on the factory floor.

There will be EVs with spare wheels coming, especially once we start seeing more utes and proper four-wheel drives. And when battery tech improves, allowing for smaller batteries. But it’s not a priority for car-makers in the still-early phases of EV development.

One option is to fit a spare wheel to a roof rack or bracket attached to the rear of the vehicle, in much the same way as many four-wheel drives add an extra spare or reposition it to account for a larger fuel tank.

Question: Would like to get your advice on my situation. I currently have a Tesla Model X 2018 75D that has done 144,000km. It still has six months’ warranty as I purchased used from Tesla.

Answer: Reports from the United States suggest older Teslas are holding up well with many kilometres under their tyres. The biggest concern with a used EV is the state of the battery pack. But, again, Teslas seem to be performing very well, with minimal degradation.

Of course, there’s also the often reported sub-standard fit and finish of earlier examples, especially those built in the US.

Our biggest issue with the Model X would be those rear doors. They’re massively complex and never gave us a whole lot of reassurance when the car was new, let alone when it’s done its falcon-wing-opening trick thousands of times.

But the bigger factor here is the love of Model X EVs on the used car market. They still have plenty of fans so values remain solid. It obviously helps that the updated Model X won’t be coming to Australia, so what you see is what you get.

So, yes, if you’re happier with the size of a Model Y then we’d recommend offloading your Model X for a decent price and stepping into the smaller (but still sizeable) Y. It also helps that Tesla recently dropped prices of the Model Y.

Plus, you’ll notice better build quality on the Model Y, which is sourced from China.

Question:

Answer: The first question you need to ask the seller if you’re buying used is whether it will come with a portable charging cable (Tesla calls them a Universal Mobile Connector). Some owners may want to hold on to theirs, so make sure you check whether the car will be supplied with that.

If you are travelling on average less than 100km per day then you’d be able to use that portable charger, which plugs into a standard household power point to provide a trickle charge.

The next step up is a wallbox charger. Companies such as EVSE and JET Charge sell them from around $600-700 or you can get the Tesla home wallbox for $750. They are all single-phase units that will provide a maximum of 7.4kW of charge (about 3.5 times more than you get from a standard power point). That would add around 40km of range for every hour of charging.

You can also look at three-phase wallbox, which can provide up to 22kW. But it will likely mean some more serious electrical work at your home. And most EVs will only accept half that power (11kW), so you’re potentially not using a lot of what’s available.

Even if you can utilise the full 22kW, for most people it would be rare they’d need that sort of charging power at home.

Question:

Answer: The particulate filter issues with Toyota affected cars with the 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel (and 2.4-litre version of the same engine fitted to Hilux models), which started appearing around 2015.

As you probably know, Toyota copped a big hit from the ACCC and has worked to rectify the problems. It included replacement of the faulty DPF (diesel particulate filter) and fitment of a manual burn-off switch. It means owners doing shorter trips (when the exhaust system may not get hot enough to burn off the particulate matter) can manually instigate a burn-off.

All second-hand cars should have that fix, but if it hasn’t been done you can get it done at no cost at a Toyota dealership.

The dusting issue isn’t quite as clear cut. It involves the air filter allowing fine particles of dust into the engine, which then triggers a warning that puts the engine temporarily into a limp-home mode (there’s a lot less power).

Toyota knows it’s an issue but recommends people travelling regularly in dusty areas clean out the air filter to minimise the chances of it happening. The company also updated the computers of later cars (from about 2021 onwards) to accept more dust going through the filter.

We’ve had the issues occur twice on big road trips when we’ve been travelling in lots of dust. It’s frustrating but can be fixed by cleaning the air filter and disconnecting the battery to reset the computer.

Question: Just interested in your opinion on the Nio ES6, and the solid-state batteries that they are changing over to. Will this car be available in Australia any time soon? They are indicating some very impressive range with the new battery technology. – Dave

Answer: No word on when exactly Nio will be coming to Australia after the company said it was looking to expand into new markets – including ours.

Nio is an interesting company because it has developed its own battery swap tech, allowing the entire battery pack to be exchanged in about five minutes. As well as the advantage of not having to wait to charge, it also means owners can buy an EV without having to buy a battery pack; instead, they can lease one and pay depending on how many kilometres they drive.

Of course, lighter and higher energy density solid-state batteries – which many brands are working on, including Nissan and Toyota – could partially make that battery-swap tech redundant.

Solid-state is seen as a huge leap for EVs, but we’re unlikely to see the tech in Australia for the next couple of years, possibly longer. When it comes, it’ll be a game changer.

We’ve also driven a variety Nio models in China – including the new ES6 – and have come away impressed.

Question:

Answer: The BYD Atto 3 is the most convincing of the affordable electric SUVs on the market today. If you can stretch the budget slightly (10-15 per cent) then a Tesla Model 3 offers a lot more car, albeit in a sedan body shape rather than an SUV.

Comparing the Atto 3 with ICE cars is an interesting one. You could look at a Kia Seltos or Toyota Corolla Cross and get cars that have better driving dynamics but will usually have less equipment. That said, the Kia and the Toyota are more affordable to get into in the first place.

However, being an EV, the Atto 3 will pay you back with lower running costs. We’d reckon within a few years you’d be well and truly ahead with the EV.

If you can finance the EV with a novated lease – in turn paying with pre-tax income – it would be more affordable from day one than a vaguely equivalent ICE vehicle.

So… with that in mind we’re steering you towards the EV. But don’t look at the Atto 3 in isolation. Also consider a Tesla and have a look at the new MG4 and GWM Ora.

Question:

Answer: The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is basic motoring and while the plug-in hybrid offers decent performance it would not be enough to convince us to splash out a decent price premium for the ability to travel short distances on electricity.

If you’re only doing 30-40km per day and can charge easily at home we’d recommend going straight to an EV. An electric car will give you better performance and the longer range (most of them 350km or more) will mean you’ll be plugging in a lot less than you would with a plug-in hybrid. Plus, you have more affordable servicing, something you don’t get with a PHEV.

An EV priced below $68,750 will also give you access to the $3000 NSW government rebate, whereas PHEVs are not eligible. If you package it on a novated lease through your employer you could also finance it through pre-tax income.

If you can stretch the budget to a Tesla Model 3, it’s a lot of car for the money. Or check out the BYD Atto 3 or GWM Ora.

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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