Australia’s electric vehicle market is heating up with the recent fuel price rise.
Fuel Prices
The war in Ukraine has had global impacts on oil production and supply have hit the Australian petrol prices hard.
From a price just over $1.60 Litre less than a month ago, to over $2.20 Litre now has hit the hip pocket of all Australians with Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles.
It is hard to fathom paying over $100 dollars a tank of fuel for your average car.
Tipping point
I have spoken of the tipping point in a few blogs in the past one like “EV Opportunities for Australia“. It has always been looking when that tipping point might be.
There is no doubt anymore that the tipping point has passed. Now with the added pressure of the increased fuel prices, the demand for electric vehicles has hit new heights.
EV ordering Today
To give you some idea here is the availability of vehicles in the Australian marketplace if you ordered today.
With the limited supply in Australia and ordering times taking many months even years is it any wonder that the prices of the used car market for electric vehicles have jumped significantly.
Hope
But don’t lose hope. Electric vehicles are proving they have a future far greater than the ICE cousins. They will only increase in demand until the market has enough supply for the demand.
Companies like Tesla are increasing their manufacturing volume to meet this demand. With Giga Factories in Berlin, Germany and Austin, Texas USA out of which will be produced, initially, the Model Y Tesla is doubling down on supply.
The Model Y is not yet available in the Australian market but once it is able to be ordered it will undoubtedly become the most sort after vehicle.
Next time
One of the greatest challenges for purchasing an electric vehicle is the price. Check out my next blog where I talk price and how the government is attempting to help.
Dave
David McCann
EV-HQ founder, passionate about sharing the passion for Tesla and Electric Vehicles everywhere.
The last couple of weeks I have had to keep a secret. In doing so it made the reality so much better.
3- 4 weeks ago I was working from home and my wife walked in the house and said,
“ It cost me $93 to fill up the car today. The petrol price was $1.79. This is ridiculous I am seriously going to crunch the numbers to see if we can afford a Tesla.”
My wife
Well to say my jaw just about hit the ground was an understatement.
It turns out that in the last 12 months there has been a shift in the interest in the electric vehicle industry. There has been more attention paid to electric vehicles as the global push towards renewables.
Trade-In
The key to the purchase was the trade-in of the existing vehicle.
Trade in vehicle
We tried to find a place that might purchase the vehicle out right, but most places offered way less than the expected amount we were both after.
Due to this we paused for a moment as we needed to get the right price for the trade in.
After a few trade-in prices that were not close enough, I went back to the Tesla website to droll over the Model 3.
I noticed that Tesla does trade-in’s.
So, I, entered all the details of the vehicle and went about my day.
Out of the blue a couple of days later I had a phone call from the Sales rep at Tesla. He mentioned that they had sent an email with the trade in price and that they would be able to cover the value I entered.
I was completely surprised and realised the Model 3 was back on the cards. Tesla had the best trade in price of any place we had visited before.
Test Drive
Master plan realised – Tesla Model 3. So, we booked another test drive to just confirm that this was the direction we wanted to go. Seriously who were we kidding we wanted the Model 3 and we just wanted to test drive it again.
Now I have test driven a Tesla Model 3 before and they continue to be an amazing car. Both my wife and I had no doubts that this was what we wanted to do.
We signed on the dotted line that day and the Hedgehog was ours.
The hedgehog
Whilst we were doing the order in the store with a fantastic salesperson, Jerry, he asked the question if we were health employees. It turned out that we received some extra benefit for being health employees which meant no delivery fee and 3 years of maintenance support.
This was a benefit we hadn’t expected but appreciated that Tesla was acknowledging the hard work the health professionals are doing right now. Well, done Elon and Tesla.
So, over the next 3 weeks we worked out financing, provided through tesla, trade-in, also through Tesla, and delivery.
Delivery Day
So, the day came, and I had taken the day off work as this was one thing I was not going to miss.
Both my wife and I went to the delivery center, a non-descript warehouse that had been set up with a waiting area and all the vehicles being delivered. The warehouse was full.
Brisbane Delivery centre
It seemed we were the first customers of the day. On our arrival, we were greeted by a lovely Tesla employee. They promptly had us sign the final documents.
Once this was complete, they pointed out the new vehicle and said we could take as much time as we needed to look over the vehicle, ask questions and get advice.
The new car
We took photos and couldn’t wipe the smiles of our faces. We spent a good 20 minutes just looking over the car to make sure nothing obvious was wrong or missing.
Delivery day
The car was perfect.
No panel alignment issues, no blemishes on paint or interior.
The car was glistening and perfect.
The quality of these vehicles is just incredible.
One thing that you never get used to is the quietness of the vehicle.
It is sneaky quiet.
As we drove out of the delivery center my smile grew wider and wider.
This is the car I had been dreaming of owning for over 5 years. It was a pipe dream that now was a reality.
We slowly worked our way out of the delivery center and onto the freeway where I put my foot down and felt the sheer excitement of the vehicle as it hurtled down the road. This vehicle is something else.
We have driven the car over the last week and have been amazed at its drivability and features.
It is a generational step forward and has just reinforced the need for everyone to take this leap.
I am sure there are positives and negatives to this decision, and we will discover these as we move into the future.
But I have dreamed of this moment for over 5 years and now that it is here it is has exceeded my expectations.
Looking forward
Master plan realised – Tesla Model 3, I look forward to bringing you with me as we discover the ins and outs of this new reality I find myself experiencing.
My family and I have achieved a goal we set many years ago as the last step to completing my original master plan.
Time to reset the plan and start again and see what comes next.
Hope you will come along with me on this journey and we can discover things together.
