This guest blog post comes courtesy of RevBECCA from Rev-Bikes. I first met RevBECCA at the Melbourne at the Sustainable Living Festival, when I awarded her one of our Environmental Excellence Awards for her incredible passion and work getting more people on electric bikes. She agreed to do a guest blog post about the changes she is seeing in e-transport (she was on her e-bike as we chatted about this!)- and true to her word, here it is! Enjoy! NG.
Coming into e-bikes from the environmental angle, RevBECCA wanted to see people be able to do more than just run their house with the solar energy systems she was selling them. Seeing e-bikes as a great middle ground between bikes and electric cars, she set about 9 years ago to change the perception of e-bikes, through building super stylish custom bikes, to overcome the negative stereotypes and dispel the myths. Electric assistance is about making more possible by bike, by a wider audience than regular exercise-focused cyclists and it creates a fantastic mode of active transport. Rev-Bikes can turn ANY bike into an electric bike, and she especially loves the most custom and creative vehicles (such as hand cycles, recumbents, tandems, and cruisers).
Electric vehicles come to town!
Guest blog post by RevBECCA LEE.
There’s nothing quite like the raw acceleration power of an electric motor, with immediate 100% torque straight off the line.
If you haven’t felt it before, then now is the best time ever to have your chance.
On Sunday, February 18th, Australia’s largest event focused on Electric Vehicles (EV’s) took place in Port Melbourne, Victoria (AUS).
This is the 5th time the annual event has been run, with previous EV Expo’s attracting over 3000 people. This one was predicted to be much larger, with much more on offer for guests to learn about and experience.
The new venue was chosen to allow a strong focus on ‘Feeling the EV Grin‘, meaning people could test drive cars, bikes, scooters, and other vehicles, in the safety of closed circuit tracks.
Alongside the track, there were various retailers of the different vehicles available to be ridden and driven and who showed people how they worked, and answer questions.
A variety of electric cars were exhibited, including many of the factory models previously and currently available in Australia.
Electric bikes and more
A large range of electric bikes of all shapes and sizes, some with over-powered motors and long-range batteries (including some from Warrandyte’s own REV-Bikes), were all available to try.
In addition, there was a diverse range of one-off custom vehicles on display, in Australia’s only ALL-ELECTRIC Show’N’Shine competition.
This showcased creative and innovative vehicles such as a pure solar car, a home-made Batpod replica, a converted Capri, and the authentic vintage 1917 Detroit electric car we’ve seen attend in previous years.
A description of the vehicles was provided by the owners for the public to read, including the power and range specifications, and the vehicles were judged while competing for prestigious rosettes.
Demo laps were a way to show off many of these vehicles throughout the day.
To satisfy the community’s thirst for knowledge about the emerging technology in EV’s, there was a diverse seminar series, where experts delivered presentations on a range of topics, from introductory level to the more technical.
Special guests – world record holders!
One very special international guest is Eva Hakansson, who designed and built the fastest electric motorcycle on the planet (400+km/h), and she also raced it herself (what a woman!).
Another World Recording holding special guest is Alan Johnson, who converted his 4WD to full solar-powered electric and drove across the Simpson Desert last year. The vehicle was on display, and he was there alongside it to answer questions.
There were also many more technical presentations on various aspects of vehicles, the industry and the potential incentives our government could be offering to increase the uptake of EV’s in Australia.
Awards
(Oooh! Who won that the last category?! Congrats RevBECCA! NG)
What are the next steps and take-aways?
The goal of the EV Expo is to demystify this exciting and sustainable technology, which is indisputably coming to disrupt the existing status quo; the unnecessary burning of fossil fuels for personal transportation.
The organisers aim to empower consumers to make informed decisions in their next choice of vehicle and prompt governments to take action to encourage faster uptake of EV’s.
Other countries are already in the middle of this revolution, thanks to progressive governments encouraging early adopters through financial incentives.
Norway already has more than 20% of new car sales being pure electric (and over 50% are electric/hybrid), a result stemming from decisions made as far back as 1990 to eliminate import taxes on electric vehicles, making them cost comparable to similar petrol and diesel vehicles.
Until they have the target 50,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road, Norwegians also enjoy free parking, free toll travel, and are able to use bus lanes. All policies started back in the 90’s.
Currently, in Australia, we only have about 4000 electric cars on the road, a mere 0.1% of new car sales.
The main barriers to buying an electric car are around the price (higher than petrol equivalents, although much lower ongoing costs), battery range per charge (most models are about 200-300kms per charge) and the limited infrastructure available out there for charging (although there are more powerpoints around than petrol stations, and charging normally happens while the user sleeps).
So, I think the main barriers are really a lack of understanding and the upfront cost.
The EV Expo aims to address the first point directly, and the second point by engaging government in conversation.
“A global revolution in electric vehicles is underway and with the right preparation, planning and policies, Australian consumers are set to be the big beneficiaries,” said Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg.
In his recent opinion piece, the Minister pointed to what needs to happen to increase the uptake of EV’s here in Australia but fell obviously short of actually committing to any incentives being rolled out by the Turnbull government. So why did he write this piece? I think something is coming.
With the major auto manufacturing industry now officially over in Australia (perhaps due to a lack of investment in future markets), there is little reason not to encourage the importing of cleaner vehicles over dirtier ones. Watch this space for breaking news, hopefully soon.
The Electric Vehicle Expo 2018 was held at the Melbourne International Karting Complex, just near the West Gate Bridge, 5kms from the CBD.
More details can be found at www.EVexpo.org.au
See you all at the next EV Expo!
Video: Rev-Electric Bikes. Riding high-powered.
All Images: @Rev-Bikes and EV Expo.com