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44 Messages

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 8:21 PM

Electric Utes - are they coming to Australia in 2023 and would you be interested in buying one?

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, has kicked off has a Twitter conversation about electric utes by posting a picture of himself with a shiny EFord150. There is scepticism in the responses as to whether a ute with 500km range and a heavy price tag would have genuine utility in Australian conditions.

What do you reckon? Would you be interested in an electric ute? What would be the key considerations you would want answered before considering one?

Bronze user

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52 Messages

2 years ago

It's a lie to say the F-150 Lightning isn't here because of policy. They aren't here because Ford dramatically underestimated the demand for EVs and were producing a tiny volume. They have 200,000 US reservations for that ute, and they only planned to produce 15,000/yr. They're doubling and redoubling their production and expect their run rate to increase to around 150,000/yr as of next year. They won't have the scale needed for exports for some years, and they haven't traditionally sold the F-150 in Australia anyway.

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@PCLoadLetter​ Interesting!

I see your point that a huge reason may be Ford's undersupply but it does feel like Australia could do a lot more to incentivise manufactures to prioritise the Aussie market; stronger fuel efficiency standards, for example, would be a start. 

I wonder will 2023 be the year when we see the first electric utes being used in Australia, a few years after that infamous "end the weekend" line!  Or will it take longer? Is 500k range really enough for a utility vehicle that needs to tow?

(edited)

New user

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3 Messages

Interesting.  I read on do many pages from people asking where's the electric Ute and vehicles able to tow a caravan. Wonder how much impact these bigger vehicles would put on those RTM50 chargers? 

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32 Messages

@Jboz​ unless they are travelling extreme distances most people really don't travel that far on a daily basis. On average we travel 30km to 50km a day at most. I'm from Wollongong and a few here commute to Sydney each day. Even then it's ~150km round trip. These new cars have over 400km range on them. Most people will charge from home, so 10 secs at the end of the day to plug yourself in and you're full again by the next morning. If you're worried during the day a 50kW NRMA charger will top you up enough in 15 to 30 mins.

If you're on a road trip  and need to charge and go, then 75kW .. 150kW .. 350kW the more power the better. In those cases I just want it to max out what my EV can except.

New user

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32 Messages

2 years ago

To help popularise and promote EV life the Ute can't come soon enough to Australia. I can't help but think that as soon as tradies understand just how much they will save in fuel and maintenance, plus the benefits that come from having a massive silent generator with them for tools at all times. They'll have a hard time keeping up with demand.

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