This page contains links to reference sites for the material used in the EnergyZE ‘Thinking of Buying an EV‘ talk.

General Information Sites

  • Home charging options video by Solar Quotes
  • Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) vs Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) EV Batteries
  • Ku-ring-gai Council Local Charging Map.
  • PlugShare is a free app with Australia wide charging maps (actually most of the world). Shows whether charger has available plugs, power ratings and costs and comments from recent users.
  • Another free app, A Better Route Planner has similar features to Plugshare but goes further allowing you to plan long distance trips with charging stops which take account of your vehicle’s range and road conditions.
  • Instead of using all the different network apps to start a charging session you could join AEVA and invest $8 in an AEVA RFID card. Also allows you to start a charge if you phone has no signal. Currently works for: AGL; BP Pulse; Chargefox; Evie Networks; EVX; Exploren; Everty; Solarhub; Wevolt.
  • Willoughby Council webinar about cost effective EV charging in Strata using a company called NOX
  • Another similar system for strata charging.
  • Owners Corporation Network (OCN) has lots of information about EVs in strata but some of it requires membership.
  • NSW government position on EV charging in strata.
  • EVs have a significantly lower fire risk than ICE or hybrid vehicles. The Australian Government resource Electric Vehicle Facts (EVF) has a good discussion of fire risk.
  • While fires are very uncommon in EVs they are serious and require specialised fire fighting techniques. Australia leads the world in this. EVFireSafe is an Australian organisation funded by the Australian Department of Defense which records and reports on every fire related to an EV (in the world) and advises first responders. EVFireSafe’s information is technical and is intended to inform first responders but also act as an official source of data on fires. This is their key findings page.
  • EV batteries are proving to have a long life, likely longer than the rest of the car. After use in a vehicle man will have a second life before being recycled. Read more from the NRMA or the Electric Vehicle Council. Here is a news report of a West Australian company who is establishing an EV battery recycling facility.
  • The question of whether EVs are more environmentally friendly than ICE vehicles has been settled for a long while. Read here from the Electric Vehicle Council or here from the Australian Government.
  • The ABC has put together a very nice comparison of lifecycle carbon footprint of EVs vs ICE. More can be found here from the Australian government and here from a big European analysis.
  • The most common type of EV battery now is Lithium Ion Phosphate (LFP). This eliminates the issues around mining for cobolt and nickel which are used in Nickel Cobolt Manganese (NCM) batteries. Here from Sydney University and Climate Home News.
  • These and other myths are discussed in this UK publication adapted by the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) called The Little Book of EV Myths