Most Australians would buy an electric car if the price of petrol doubled

Most Australians would buy an electric car if the price of petrol doubled, but only if it didn’t cost them any more, survey finds.

Up to three-quarters of Australian car buyers would consider switching to an electric vehicle if the price of petrol doubled, a Deloitte study has found.

However, two-thirds also expect an EV to cost the same or less than an equivalent petrol- or diesel-engined car, and almost half thought an EV should cost no more than $20,000.

And more than half of the 500 Australians polled for the Deloitte report said their interest in EVs would significantly diminish if they could buy a car with fuel use of 4.7 litres per 100km or better.

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The responses highlight the gap between what consumers want and what car makers are currently able to deliver, with dedicated EVs trickling onto the market in limited numbers and costing up to double the price of equivalent cars powered by conventional internal combustion engines.

Only a handful of vehicles in Australia — mostly diesel-powered city-sized cars — are capable of real-world average fuel use under 5.0L/100km.

However, EV makers can take heart from the survey’s finding that more than 90 per cent of the 500 Australians polled travelled fewer than 120km each weekday.

Mitsubishi spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher says her company's experience indicated green sentiment was more important than the price of petrol in driving buyers towards an EV.

"I think people will be taking [petrol prices] into account, but I don't know that it has a huge impact at this point," she says. "I don't know about you, but I like to shop where I understand that I'm not making a major impact on the environment."

Fletcher agrees pricing is a key motivator for buyers, but says Mitsubishi is aiming to eventually bring the $48,800 price tag on the tiny i-MiEV down to a more affordable level.

"The ultimate goal is to have the electric vehicle as a common part of our range, at comparable pricing," she says. "The price of the i-MiEV has come down by 23 per cent in the last 12 months. Name me one other car that has done that."

In other key findings:

* More than half of those surveyed — 59 per cent— identified themselves as either ‘‘potential first movers’’ or ‘‘might be willing to consider’’ when it comes to EVs; more than the US (54 per cent) and Japan (48 per cent) but fewer than Europe (69 per cent) and China (93 per cent).

* More than half (58 per cent) believed an EV battery should be able to be charged in two hours — the current industry standard is between eight and 12 hours.

Deloitte motoring industry services partner Danny Rezek says the results should prove instructive to car companies and their dealers.

‘‘While the study indicated that the mass adoption of EVs in Australia is likely to be some way off, it strongly reiterates consumers’ continued move towards more fuel-efficient vehicles,’’ he says.


SMH

Now the Prius can power your home...

Japan’s earthquake disaster has inspired Toyota to offer its Prius hybrid with a power outlet that can run household electrical appliances for two days.

Japanese car maker Toyota is set to offer an optional AC power-point in its Prius hybrid car that will allow owners to run their electrical goods from the car’s battery pack.

Industry journal Automotive News reports the idea was spawned following the devastating earthquake that struck the country on March 11.

Victims were apparently using Toyota’s hybrid-powered Estima (Tarago) van – the only Toyota model which already has an AC plug-hole – to power household appliances in the aftermath of the disaster.

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Following a demonstration showing a Prius hatchback powering household electrical items such as a refrigerator, hotpot, fan and desk lamp, Toyota – which ironically is jokingly referred to as the “whitegoods” car maker within the industry, said it would offer a power-point as an option on Prius models from 2012.

The modified Toyota Prius was fitted with an onboard inverter to change the current of the batteries (DC) to that used for appliances (AC).

While there are accessories that can be powered by your car such using a similar inverter (such as low wattage portable fridges and DVD units that plug into the cigarette lighter), the Toyota-developed system has a maximum output of 1500 watts which allows it to power larger appliances like fridges and microwaves.

The whitegoods are powered by the car’s battery pack, with the petrol engine cranking over automatically to recharge the battery when the power level starts to dip. Toyota claims a full tank of fuel will power appliances at maximum output for about two days.

The technology will initially only be available in Japan because of different voltage requirements and regulations, but bloggers around the globe are already singing the praises of the idea.

“That would be a huge selling point down here on the Gulf Coast, where it can take days for power to be restored after a hurricane,” cwallace wrote on The Truth About Cars blog.

“I went for 15 days without juice after Hurricane Ike, and it took 15 more to finally get the smell of gasoline out of my nose after searching for it, hauling it, and pouring it into a generator for two weeks straight.”

SMH

Electric Rolls Royce

Drive takes the wheel of the quietest Rolls yet – the electric-powered 102EX.

A marriage made in heaven, or an odd couple bound for divorce? Not even Rolls-Royce knows if the arranged nuptials of its ageless flagship, the Phantom, and the alternative fuel technology du jour, a plug-in electric drivetrain, will make it beyond the honeymoon phase.

Still, though, what a honeymoon it will be. The 102EX Experimental Electric - as the $3 million, emission-free, one-off concept is known - will spend the next year touring most of the company's major markets (but not Australia) to gauge the reactions of customers, media and influential decision makers to the union of a couple of unlikely bedfellows.

Even though Rolls-Royce firmly vows "we won't" when asked if it will put this model into production, it's clear from the time, money and effort expended that it would dearly love to get some sort of commitment from its notoriously fickle clientele.

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Or, at the very least, a mandate for another direction that will hedge the company and its thirsty V12 engines against the planet's dwindling oil supplies.

The 102EX's very first stop is Singapore, and it's here that Drive is among the first in the world to get behind the wheel of the electric Roller. In total, only 500 people - mostly current customers - will be asked to drive the car during the year-long tour; only a select handful of media will be granted access to the Frankenstein-like creation.

On a grey, typically sticky day in the Asian hub city, our first glimpse of the 102EX comes outside a makeshift gallery that Rolls-Royce has set up directly adjacent to the city's bustling seaport.

Piles of shipping containers and a noisy fleet of forklifts and cranes form a drab backdrop as the object of our curiosity hoves silently and elegantly into view, resplendent in a unique silver-green paintwork that took 18 coats to apply and whose "ceramic nano particles" that lend the car its metallic sheen are said to be 8000 times smaller than the thickness of a hair.

It's our first lesson in the attention paid to detail by the UK-based super-luxury manufacturer, which set out to create a car that is more than simply a test bed for an experimental drivetrain.

There's also some startlingly modern detail inside the cabin, with the traditional wooden panelling replaced by aluminised foil, while seats made of "corinova" leather intentionally show more character flaws than traditional models. The leather look extends to the floor with thick plates of the stuff replacing luxurious woollen carpets.

Outside, the famed "Spirit of Ecstasy" bonnet emblem is bathed in a funky blue glow, while a beautifully designed power plug replaces the fuel filler cap and can glow different colours to denote modes of recharging.

But that's all a sideshow to the main act, which is the replacement of the Phantom's stock 6.75-litre V12 engine with a bank of 96 batteries under the bonnet, while two electric motors inhabit the space where the petrol tank used to be.

The result is a combined 290kW of power and a handy 800Nm of torque, the latter all available from the moment you press firmly on the accelerator (one never "mashes" the pedal in a Roller).

The 2.7-tonne, 5.8-metre long behemoth surges forward with an even more ridiculous ease than its V12-motivated Phantom brother, surfing a fat wave of torque all the way up to the signposted 70km/h speed limit on one of Singapore's industrial artery roads.

Sure, it's not as quick on paper as the Phantom - 0 to 100km/h in 8.0 seconds versus 5.7 - but it does feel more responsive to both standing and rolling accelerative requests.

The unique Rolls-Royce "power reserve" meter shows that under brisk acceleration we're not even tapping half the engine's potential, and you fancy the electric car's governed 160km/h limit is selling it a long way short of its true capability.

Absent from all of this is the expected snarl of a big-block engine, and the rhythmic rise and fall of a convential auto transmission. This is a Rolls-Royce, after all, but even for owners accustomed to the serenity of their own cars this almost-total aural deprivation will be something quite new.

The twin electric motors are silent save for a barely perceptible whine, and the single gear builds momentum in a satisfyingly - if slightly disconcerting - linear fashion.

The only real noise, then, comes from the tyres - not entirely unexpected given a 2.7-tonne car riding on massive 21-inch rims on coarse chip surfaces around the Singapore docks precinct.

It's nigh on impossible to separate the Phantom - which we drove directly before the 102EX on the same roads - and the 102EX on ride quality, because the Rolls-Royce suspension system that uses airbags instead of springs is superbly calibrated to both cars to produce the trademark "waftability" that the marque's owners demand.

The 102EX also maintains an extremely similar weight balance to the Phantom, with a 640kg battery pack replacing the engine block at the front of the car, and motors replacing the fuel tank at the rear.

Set a fairly direct out-and-back course and with a lead car governing our pace - and a nervous team of engineers in the back seat - there was little opportunity to find out how the 102EX fares in corners. But given the air suspension and a tall, boxy body, it's probably not going to cause Ferrari's engineers any sleepless nights.

Range anxiety was not an issue during our short time with the car, although with others scheduled to drive the car later in the day we were politely requested not to run the airconditioner above its lowest setting - somewhat of a problem as the temperature outside hit 31.5 degrees and the humidity hovered around 80 per cent.

Notwithstanding that the maximum range of 200km will probably only be achievable by turning off some creature comforts that some owners won't be happy to forgo, the 102EX is the most resolved electric car I have experienced, because it ticks almost every box its customers are likely to demand.

Rolls-Royce even has a dignified solution to recharging, eschewing unsightly cables in favour of an induction pad that sits under the car and received a wireless transfer of electricity from a loop embedded in the customer's garage floor.

The marque already has a head-start on other electric vehicle suppliers who are hampered by the inflated costs of building the technology on a relatively small scale, forcing prices out of the reach of most ordinary customers.

Rolls-Royce customers care little of cost; if the car performs to their high standards, and has a a tinge of green credibility about it, it could well prompt enough of them to pledge "I will" for this marriage of convenience to finally be consumated.

ROLLS-ROYCE 102EX EXPERIMENTAL ELECTRIC

Fast facts
Engine: Two electric motors mounted on the rear sub-frame
Power: 290kW (2x145kW)
Torque: 800Nm
Transmission: One-speed auto with integrated differential 0-100KM/h: 8.0 seconds approx
Top speed: Limited to 160km/h
Emissions and CO2: Nil
Weight: 2720kg
Range: 200km
Battery: 96-cell nickel cobalt manganese battery located beneath the bonnet; 71kWh capacity
Recharging: 20 hours (single phase); or 8 hours (three phase)
How much? $3 million approx

SMH