Dismayed by mounting costs, Sudeep Thomas decided his new car would be an electric vehicle.
The Tarneit man was driving 120 kilometres a day from Melbourne’s west to his job in the eastern suburb of Mulgrave.
He calculated it was costing him $30 a day in petrol, not including tolls.
It was a difficult decision initially because of the price — the car he wanted was $85,000.
Despite taking out a loan to pay for it, and estimating it would take seven years to pay back, Mr Thomas has no regrets.
He can get to and from work in one charge and has reduced his running costs to $50 a month by powering up at home using rooftop solar.
Electric Vehicle Council energy and infrastructure head Ross De Rango said electric vehicles were practical for people living in the outer suburbs.
“The housing mix in the outer suburbs is tilted more to the direction of standalone homes, which makes it easier to charge a car in more homes,” he said.
“An electric vehicle is increasingly valuable the more kilometres you drive, and people who live in the outer suburbs tend to do more driving than people in the inner suburbs.”
Mr De Rango said it was expected a new technology would price people out.
“Any new technology is likely to be adopted first by people who have disposable income,” he said.
“It’s going to be important to ensure as this transition occurs, we don’t leave people behind.”
He said there were ways to make the price drop faster, such as accelerating the second-hand electric vehicle market.
The average car in Victoria is 10.8 years old, and it is getting older, indicating Australians are not buying brand new cars in droves.
(ABC)
