David Waterworth, Author at CleanTechnica

Please Turn Off “Fart Mode” When Exiting The Vehicle

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 10:40:16 +0000

Believe it or not, this instruction is included in the “Key Tips” section of the South West Health Service newsletter sharing the deployment of two Tesla Model Y SUVs for use in the town of Roma, Queensland, Australia. The town is situated 6 hours’ drive southwest of Brisbane and can ... [continued]

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BYD SEALION 06 Launched in Australia — Our Quick Review

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 10:42:38 +0000

As I write this, BYD is holding its EOFY “Festival BYD” one-day event. I decided not to attend. Why? Because it will be so busy that no one will have the time to answer my unending questions. So, Majella and I chose to visit yesterday and got the information and ... [continued]

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Are Drivers Giving Up On EVs & Returning To Fossil Fuels?

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 21:50:09 +0000

My experience watching the transition from fossil fuelled transport to electric vehicles has taught me that there is always some basis for the FUD. A quoted statistic, that 1 in 3 drivers are supposedly giving up on EVs and going back to petrol, has some truth. However, what I usually ... [continued]

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Is It The Death Knell For Thermal Coal?

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 07:42:25 +0000

Coal will move further into decline as an energy producer in Australia, after several superannuation companies announced that they will no longer support investing in companies that derive 10% or more of their income from thermal coal production. As a former government employee, my superannuation is invested with QSuper. Over ... [continued]

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Electric Cars Reach 20% Penetration in the Australian Capital Territory

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 22:21:11 +0000

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), home of Canberra, the nation’s capital, has the highest rate of EV ownership per capita in the country. It is similar to that of California in the USA. At the end of 2023, over 20% of new cars registered in Canberra were EVs. The adoption ... [continued]

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Cybertruck Tripping in Australia

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 15:01:32 +0000

We want to dispel some FUD and have a lot of fun at the same time. Colin Stiff recently told me how he towed his teardrop caravan from Yeppoon to Sydney for an early “surprise” viewing of the Tesla Cybertruck. He went Cybertruck tripping. We are frequently told: “You can’t ... [continued]

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EV Sales in Australia Show Slight Improvement — May Update

Sat, 08 Jun 2024 03:55:46 +0000

EV sales in Australia showed a slight improvement in May. Although, the battery electric vehicle (BEV) penetration of the market remained steady at approximately 8% in May in a rising market for all vehicles. There were 8,974 BEV sales, a big improvement on April (6,194 units sold) and also greater ... [continued]

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6 Months with a BYD Dolphin Premium

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 22:28:53 +0000

By Kurt Conway, as told to David Waterworth (with any further notes from me in italics). Continuing our series of owner reviews. You can read about my own impressions of the BYD Dolphin here. Kurt tells me: I have always been intrigued by electric vehicles ever since Nissan released the ... [continued]

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Big Batteries — Squeezing Out The Gas In Australia

Wed, 22 May 2024 16:23:20 +0000

Why is squeezing out the gas so important? Electricity produced by gas peakers is the most expensive in the Australian grid. All electricity providers can then match that price even if they are producing electricity from free wind or sunshine. Batteries can store Australia’s massive oversupply of electricity produced during ... [continued]

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My Cupra Born Experience

Mon, 20 May 2024 23:55:48 +0000

Curious about the Cupra Born? Ann Robinson’s experience with the Cupra Born adds to the stories of satisfied EV drivers. She was happy to share her story here. About Me I was forced to look at new car options when someone rearranged the back of my car. I’m not a ... [continued]

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How To Not Die In The Bush In Tesla Model 3 (Installing Solar Farms) — 5 Lessons For Dummies

Wed, 15 May 2024 18:27:00 +0000

Bushfires. Floods. Droughts. Cyclones. Welcome to Australia! It is a vast, diverse country that demands total respect. Clark is an electrician who travels to remote solar farms in the Darling Downs region on a weekly basis from his home in Brisbane. He drives his Tesla Model 3 SR+ over 700 ... [continued]

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New Electric Vehicles In Australia — Volvo EX30, Tesla Model 3 Highland, and … Toyota Cybertruk?

Wed, 15 May 2024 16:17:13 +0000

What do you do on your day off? Wednesdays are our designated adventure day, so we checked out some electric vehicle stuff! We visited the new high-speed chargers BP has installed just around the corner, checked out the new Tesla Model 3 Highland with plaid signage, and checked out the ... [continued]

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Plug & Play Ozdiy Electric Ute Conversions

Sun, 12 May 2024 13:39:49 +0000

After hearing Jo’s story about the restoration and conversion of Peppermint Pattie, I thought I would check in with Graeme Manietta at OZDIY to see what he is up to these days. He tells me that OZDIY is currently designing solutions for battery pack upgrades for the Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan ... [continued]

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Are Tesla Sales Slowing Down Under?

Thu, 09 May 2024 23:31:08 +0000

The mainstream media would have us believe that electric cars are facing stagnating demand. No doubt they will be encouraged by the drop in Tesla sales March to April. In April 2024, Tesla Australia delivered 2077 vehicles (1166 Model Y and 911 Model 3), a drop compared to over 6000 ... [continued]

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Peppermint Pattie Conversion — Powered by OZDIY

Thu, 09 May 2024 12:34:52 +0000

Converting a classic petrol-powered car to electric is a time consuming and expensive business. CleanTechnica has published many articles about the practice. Here’s a recent one about a Mazda Bongo van conversion. Some begin the process and never finish. Peppermint Pattie is a love story, true romance told in the ... [continued]

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1975 Mazda Bongo Meets 2012 Nissan Leaf

Tue, 07 May 2024 11:00:18 +0000

Overcome by the desire to write about electric car conversions after a recent conversation with Graeme from OZDIY, I shared my interest with Facebook and received several generous offers of story. Here is one, written by Ra Cleave and Boyd Benton of New Zealand, with some slight edits by me, ... [continued]

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Two EVs For The Price Of One!

Fri, 03 May 2024 03:50:54 +0000

Recently at a Coffee, Cake and EVs morning, a friend told me how he had just bought a Great Wall ORA Cat for only AU$30,000! That’s cheaper than a petrol Corolla! Mind you, the AU$6,000 government rebate helped. The ORA Cat was launched a year ago for $46,000 as the ... [continued]

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Electricity From Carbon Dioxide

Fri, 03 May 2024 02:43:30 +0000

When I first read about the work of the University of Queensland research team claiming to create electricity from CO2, my initial thought was that this was a cross between a fossil fuel funded beatup and a fairytale. But, digging deeper, and talking with Dr Zhuyuan Wang of UQ’s ARC ... [continued]

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Australian Outback Postie Goes Electric

Wed, 01 May 2024 23:57:40 +0000

The Australian Outback can be rugged, dusty, and dangerous. But parts of it are quite flat, very suitable terrain for the Benzina Zero Duo electric delivery vehicle. So, when Ben Silver spoke to me about a postie in Longreach converting from four-stroke petrol mail delivery bikes to electric, I thought ... [continued]

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Wind Power in Australia’s Energy Transition

Wed, 01 May 2024 15:30:49 +0000

A glance at the open National Electricity Market widget tells the story of Australia’s energy transition. We are still dependent on coal for almost half of our generation needs. Solar is major, wind power is minor. Gas is a constant irritation. But things are changing — obvious for those who ... [continued]

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2024 Year of the Electric Ute? Australia March Sales Update

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:35:25 +0000

Will 2024 be the year of the electric ute in Australia? 2022 was the year of the electric SUV — with the launch of the Tesla Y, the BYD Atto 3, and the refreshed MG ZS EV. 2023 was the year of the affordable car, with the release of the ... [continued]

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Car Exhaust & Alzheimer’s — Thank You, Mickey Mouse

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:11:37 +0000

New research from Australian and Singaporean scientists have found a link between car exhaust and Alzheimer’s. It was even on the mainstream news last night. This opens up a whole new argument in favour of the uptake of electric vehicles and the removal of fossil fuels. It has long been ... [continued]

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The Battle for EV Charging in Strata Title Buildings Continues in Australia

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 04:16:07 +0000

Things are looking up for those who want to charge their electric vehicle in new strata title builds. The Australian Building Codes Board has issued this note: “To support Australians making the switch to electric vehicles (EV), the National Construction Code (NCC) is requiring new buildings to be ready for ... [continued]

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New Zealand Passenger EV Penetration Just Under 10% in March 2024

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 05:27:59 +0000

The New Zealand passenger EV market has seen a rise from the doldrums of February, when it reached a low of 4.1% market share. Just below 10% of passenger vehicles sold in NZ in March came with a plug. Thus, the quarter’s average was at about 6% plugin vehicles. Put ... [continued]

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CSIRO — Science Fights Back in Small Nuclear vs. Renewables Row!

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:22:38 +0000

In a rare move, CSIRO has defended itself against attacks by Australia’s conservative politicians and the Rupert Murdock media. The fossil fuel focused are reacting to the latest CSIRO GenCost report, which reaffirms yet again that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity generation. CSIRO is Australia’s premier science and ... [continued]

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New Zealand EV Market Seeks New Normal — Dips to 4.1%

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 00:12:47 +0000

Is it too early to tell where the New Zealand electric vehicle market will settle in the medium to long term? I hope so, as the figures from February are slightly worse than those of January 2024. We are still waiting for a recovery from changes in government policy. James ... [continued]

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Australian Plug-in Vehicle Sales Exceed 10% in February 2024

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 06:09:35 +0000

It has been a very newsy month down under. The most important item has to be that Australian plug-in electric vehicle sales in February have once again exceeded 10% — the last time was September 2023 — with 9.6% BEV, 1% PHEV. There were 10,011 BEVs sold in February — ... [continued]

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ELu Gathers Electric Vehicles, Sporting Greats, & Good Food

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 12:01:03 +0000

Doug Fraser, Queensland Director of eLu , certainly pulled out all the stops when he marshalled a range of players in the electric vehicle space to promote EVs at the Titans Rugby League home ground on the Gold Coast this week — Parkwood Village Golf Club. Doug is a master ... [continued]

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Renewable Energy Gains in Australia

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 10:01:08 +0000

It is a sweltering Queensland summer. The air conditioner is belting out cold dry air as we hit a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius in Brisbane with very high humidity. Down south in the “colder” states (Victoria) they are achieving maximums of over 40 degrees, whereas in the west, records ... [continued]

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Kerb Charge — No Garage, No Worries

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:08:35 +0000

Rod Walker is the brains and the brawn behind Kerb Charge. He graciously accepted my invitation for an exclusive interview for CleanTechnica. He has been a public accountant for 40 years and was a registered builder for 10 years. He is not the sort of man to eschew the tools ... [continued]

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Toyota Installs Chargers as the EV Penetration Rate Goes Over the Cliff in Australia

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 07:39:09 +0000

Now that’s two pieces of almost contradictory news. Toyota’s installing chargers, but there are fewer EVs being sold. Added to that, Fully Charged, now rebranded as Everything Electric, has come to Sydney for 2024. As we speak, car manufacturers that snubbed the program last year are exhibiting their offerings. 2024 ... [continued]

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New Zealand EV Market Crash: 5% Penetration in January 2024

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 04:50:02 +0000

January delivered an EV market crash in plug-in electric vehicle sales in New Zealand, to their lowest level in several years. After the monster sales records of December 2023, the removal of the EV tax incentive, and the double whammy of the Road User Charge (RUC), it was to be ... [continued]

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Is Elon the Man in the White Suit?

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 03:36:51 +0000

In my childhood, I enjoyed watching English movies — having recently left the UK and emigrated to Australia. One of those, I still remember, is Man in the White Suit from Ealing Studios, produced in 1951. Wikipedia describes it as a “satirical science fiction comedy.” It looks like this film has ... [continued]

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Glow-in-the-Dark Red Herrings & Dead Whales — Offshore Wind Nonsense in Oz

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 03:44:43 +0000

During 2023, Australia made steady progress towards its goal of 82% renewable energy in the grid in by 2030. Some would say that we are halfway there! Progress is being hindered but not stopped by the usual suspects — fossil fuel vested interests and their puppets in politics and the ... [continued]

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2035 — Living in Tony Seba’s & Elon Musk’s World

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 16:31:37 +0000

We are woken at 7:00 am by Optimus bringing us our coffee in the year 2035. He has already disconnected our old Tesla Model 3 SR (yes, I know, very retro) from the solar array and plugged in the pool pump. He has also fed the dog and given her ... [continued]

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Australian EV Sales Steady in December — 2024 Looks Bright

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 08:06:42 +0000

Within a resurgent Australian auto market in 2023, electric vehicles have maintained a steady presence at around 8% market share. December’s numbers indicate that 7.2% of the market was fully electric (BEV) and 1% PHEV. Over 98,000 vehicles sold in Australia in December, with around 8% having a plug. This ... [continued]

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Electrifying Motocross — the Stark Varg (Wolf)

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 00:15:42 +0000

Ripping around the motocross (MX) track, riders mainly care about power. This makes the niche MX sector ripe for disruption by electric motocross bikes. Especially one as powerful as the Stark Varg. In a recent interview with Tobin Page, founder of Australian Electric Motor Co. (AEMC), he discussed with me ... [continued]

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New Zealand Exceeds 50% Electric Vehicle Penetration In December 2023!

Mon, 08 Jan 2024 04:49:38 +0000

With the threat of loss of subsidies, New Zealanders have bought electric vehicles at an unprecedented rate, achieving 50% penetration in December 2023. Changes in government regulations around the so called “ute tax,” a bonus malus tax that increased the prices of diesel- and petrol-powered cars and decreased the prices ... [continued]

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New Zealand EV Penetration At 33%, For Now

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 03:49:18 +0000

Electric vehicle numbers in New Zealand are holding strong in recent months, with the segment recording 34% share of the auto market in September, a slight dip to 29% in October, and a dead cat bounce back to 33% in November. All expectations, however, are that with the recent election ... [continued]

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Australian Electric Vehicle Penetration Holding Around 8% For November

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 17:41:09 +0000

Like many Australian electric vehicle owners and market watchers, I feel it has been a disappointing 2023. After the surge of November 2022 (with the introduction of the Model Y, the Atto 3, and the refurbished MG HS EV), the market has held steady all year at around 8% of ... [continued]

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6 Months With A Cupra Born

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 03:19:31 +0000

I was ambushed by the good looks of the Cupra Born when I went to Indooroopilly Auto Mall to check out the newly arrived Dolphin. I was impressed, to say the least. Although the Cupra is unlikely to sell in massive numbers in Australia, it is a welcome addition to ... [continued]

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Electric Delivery Trucks Growing In Australia

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 23:14:23 +0000

Just as Australian state and federal regulations are being adapted to the transition to electric semi trucks, local councils are being urged to examine their regulations to allow quiet, less polluting electric delivery trucks to operate at night. These trucks could then charge during the day, using cheap solar and ... [continued]

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Volvo Makes Longest Ever All-Electric Truck Journey In Australia

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 23:31:15 +0000

As previously reported on CleanTechnica, Australian states and territories are reviewing trucking regulations around the width and weight of prime movers and their “dogs.” Various trials are taking place around the country, to make sure that Australia is ready for electric trucks. Volvo is now pleased to announce that it ... [continued]

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Politicians & Insects Drive EV Market in New Zealand & Australia

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 08:20:11 +0000

The turbulence in New Zealand’s political scene is affecting the automotive sector. It is likely that a right-leaning coalition will take control of government and end the country’s generous tax incentives for EVs and punitive taxes on fossil-fueled cars. This means that sales for EVs are likely to be strong ... [continued]

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Volvo Leads The Way — Electric Trucks For Australia

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 22:43:45 +0000

Last Friday, I was able to chat with Matt Wood, public relations and media manager at Volvo Australia, about Volvo’s plans for electric trucks Down Under. I was inspired to do so by several news reports about state and federal changes to regulations which will allow wider and heaver haulage ... [continued]

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