All-electric utes on road by Christmas

GREATER Geelong residents can expect to see their first all-electric utes on the road by Christmas as LDV Geelong prepares for its shipment of the ET60 model in mid-November.

The Chinese automotive company is premiering three of its new Electric Vehicle (EV) models in Sydney on November 14 and dealerships expect to have display models in their show room days after.

LDV Geelong’s General Manager Joe Presilski has confirmed he’s already taken pre-orders on the manufacturers ET60 ute, even though pricing is yet to be confirmed.

“If everything goes to plan people can expect to see them on the roads by Christmas,” he said.

“We expect to have some display vehicles to view [by the] middle of November, the 15th or 16th.”

Mr Presilski said interested customers are well versed about whether EVs will be up to the task of what existing Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles can do.

“People have already done their research on EVs, we’re not getting questions about their capability, they’ve already made up their minds.

“The only question we’re really getting is around range, that’s the main thing people are asking for.

“E-Vehicles are the way of the future.”

Australia’s take up of EV’s has just been captured in a report released last week from the Electric Vehicle Council that shows they now represent 3.39 per cent of all vehicle sales in the country, a 65 per cent increase on 2021.
There are currently 45 EV models and 95 variants on sale in Australia according to the report, and 3,669 public chargers across 2,147 locations have been installed.

Electric Vehicle Council Head of Policy Jake Whitehead said while the increased enthusiasm was welcome, Australia still needed a strong National EV Strategy to catch up to the rest of the world.

“It’s great to see so much momentum behind EV sales in Australia, but to put our 3.4 per cent in context – Germany sits at 26 per cent, the UK at 19 per cent, and California at 13 per cent.

“The global average is 8.6 per cent so Australia has a long, long way to come,” Dr Whitehead said.

“The good news is the new federal government understands the opportunities of EVs and is working on a genuine EV strategy.

“Although that strategy will need to include a range of measures, high on the list must be fuel efficiency standards.”