Kathy Gandolfi
“Is it going?” I ask as Paul Clark lifts the bonnet to show off the engine in a newly arrived electric vehicle (EV) at Barry Maney Hyundai.
“Yes, quiet isn’t it,” says the sales manager, obviously intrigued as much as myself by the electric Hyundai Kona.
With my ear almost resting on the engine the only thing I can hear is the tiny whirr of a fan, and inside the car it’s a similar story as all I can hear is the air-conditioner – which is not noisy – and the radio going softly in the background.
It has all the interior creature comforts and all the expected modern safety aspects of any other car, and it’s electric engine torque means its no slouch off the mark either; the difference is it doesn’t sound like a normal car.
If you enjoy the thumping roar of a V8 engine, an EV is most definitely not the car for you.
The Kona’s electric engine is whisper quiet making for an almost space-age, futuristic experience allowing you to be completely aware of the world around you.
This is an experience that became a more realistic possibility for country people when the State Government last month announced a $12 million project to install, over the next two years, 536 new publicly available quick charge points for electric cars in many parts of South Australia, three quarters of them in country areas including Mount Gambier and other South East towns.
With these charging points no more than 250kms apart, the ‘range anxiety’ that country people currently have about EV’s will be taken away.
The new Kona’s 540km range also helps to dissolve this ‘range anxiety’ which refers to the fear of being stranded by an electric car running out of charge so that EV owners do not drive far from known charging points.
Now though, the Kona’s range means getting to Adelaide and back, with a lunch break while charging at existing charging stations at Tailem Bend or Keith, is a reality.
Also, with the Ukraine/Russia conflict causing petrol prices to soar, EV’s have an increasing economic attraction to add to their environmental benefits.
To further encourage EV ownership, the State Government is also also offering $3,000 rebates on the first 7000 full electric vehicles purchased in the State and three years of free registration for new EV’s purchased before June 30, 2025.
Mr Clark said the Mount Gambier dealership had only recently taken delivery of its first handful of EV’s after they had previously only been available through metropolitan dealerships.
“We’ve had a really positive reaction already; we sold one in the first week,” he said.
“In the next 20 years or so we can see that they will become the majority of the market; most people will be driving electric cars.”
