The Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars podcast – Episode # 132 – The Tesla Model S Road Trip

Episode: 132 – The Tesla Model S Road Trip

Podcast: Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars

Date: 2026-08-10

Hosts: Trevor Long & Stephen Fenech

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[00:00:00] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars with Stephen Fenech and Trevor Long. Thanks to NRMA Insurance and Uniden.

[00:00:09] Trevor Long: Great partners of the show. NRMA Insurance helping Australians protect what matters most for 100 years or more. One of Australia's largest insurers of electric vehicles. And if you're like me and your insurance is due, my comprehensive insurance is due. Me too. Yes, because we're both kind of in that same cycle.

[00:00:23] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:00:23] Trevor Long: You know what I did this morning? I got my renewal and I went, righto, I'm going to go and check the NRMA and I got a very competitive price that they do have. And look, even if you don't sign up, we just want you to make sure you get a quote so you know what's out there. And I found sliding with the, how much am I willing to pay on the excess to let me understand.

[00:00:41] Stephen Fenech: You know what, just on that, if I can just indulge myself a little bit here, I reckon it's a great idea to up your excess because look, the odds of you having an accident are very low. So if you do, then pay the $1,000, $1,500 excess because you're likely to save money.

[00:00:59] Trevor Long: I mean, it made a pretty massive difference to go from, I think it was 750. What did you end up with? I went from, I haven't signed up yet, but I did the, in the quote thing, I went from, changed it from $500 or $700 to $1,500. 'Cause I thought, and again, it is, it's dependent on your circumstances. Like I get it, not everyone's doing very well, but I just went, look, if something happened, I could come up with $1,500.

[00:01:19] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that's what I thought.

[00:01:21] Trevor Long: When I was 20, give me the lowest excess possible. But right now I think I could come up with $1,500 no matter what happened.

[00:01:27] Stephen Fenech: Touch wood, yeah, the likelihood of something happening is very low.

[00:01:31] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:01:31] Stephen Fenech: Okay, we're safe drivers, we're very responsible. So yeah, I think I always go for the higher excess.

[00:01:37] Trevor Long: Always worth a look.

[00:01:38] Stephen Fenech: The good that NRMA lets you have the, lets you check it and see exactly what you're gonna get.

[00:01:42] Trevor Long: Play around with it and see what works for you. And of course you need in smart dash cams, get yourself a dash cam for your car. It doesn't matter whether you've had the car for 5 years, 1 year, 1 month, or you're getting one in a month or 2. If you've got a car, you should have a dash cam front and rear to give you all eyes view of whatever happened around you.

[00:01:57] Stephen Fenech: So that you've got coverage.

[00:01:59] Trevor Long: If something did happen, you've got some proof, evidence. It may not be used in evidence, but certainly when you're debating with someone on the side of the road and you point at your car and go, hey, I've got a dashcam, are you ready for this? It can make a difference. It's been a wild few months in the EV world, and full declaration because we mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but we are pre-recording in advance many episodes because we've got some big trips and I've got a holiday coming up. So the timeliness of some of our news and information on this show isn't— we're not meant to be newsy, but we just wanted to touch on the, the lower price sector because initially we drove the BYD Atto 1 recently. We'll get the MG4 Urban down the track, but that entry-level price point is super fascinating for a couple of reasons. One, when I was in China, I had a look at the Geely EX2, which they've now put on sale. Deliveries have probably started as well, but a sharp, sharp price on that before on-road.

[00:02:56] Stephen Fenech: So we're talking mid-$20s, mid-$20,000.

[00:02:58] Trevor Long: $26,490 plus on-roads, which means it's going to be a $31,000 car, right?

[00:03:03] Stephen Fenech: You think about the importance of these cars. Yeah. Because for many drivers, this is their entry into EVs. They're not going to go to the most expensive. They're going to, they're going to try to save a bit of money and make a soft entry. This is really critical that there are attractive cars at this price point.

[00:03:20] Trevor Long: This car is the best-selling EV in China.

[00:03:23] Stephen Fenech: Wow.

[00:03:23] Trevor Long: Right. 400,000 of these were sold last year.

[00:03:25] Stephen Fenech: Wow.

[00:03:25] Trevor Long: So let's just be very clear. This is not some beaten-together little favorite. This is a great little car. And there's a couple of things going for it.

[00:03:31] Stephen Fenech: It's actually big.

[00:03:33] Trevor Long: Big compared to the ATTO 1. So I, I would say in— and I did mention this when we talked with the other one— I feel like the ATTO 1 is actually slightly overpriced, weirdly, because it is such a compact car. Whereas this is— it's probably sized very similar to the MG4 Urban, which is slightly bigger again than the ATTO 1. But mate, this thing has like a 70-liter frunk. Wow. Now think about frunks in cars. Tesla did it from the get-go. It's still remarkable to me the every other car company hasn't gone, yes, what are we doing here? Like You pop the hood of the cars we drive and you go, there's space there. Also, why didn't you make that more compact?

[00:04:08] Stephen Fenech: Funny enough, my current car, my Mercedes EQ350, you can't even open it. You can't, only the mechanic can open the bonnet. But my Tesla Model S had a decent front trunk.

[00:04:17] Trevor Long: Yeah, it fits 6 pizzas in there.

[00:04:18] Stephen Fenech: That's where I used to put the pizzas.

[00:04:18] Trevor Long: Yeah. And I just think little things like that are absolutely appealing to people.

[00:04:25] Stephen Fenech: That's what sell the car, I think, those little features, especially features, okay, they're moving away from a petrol car, but those features that you can only get on an EV help.

[00:04:33] Stephen Fenech: They're the little, the little one percenters percenters that help sell the car.

[00:04:36] Trevor Long: So there's two variants of this car, basically, you know, longer range. So the entry level, the 26490 car, is 252km range, and the— I think it's the Inspire model— is 345km range, which is a pretty good jump.

[00:04:49] Stephen Fenech: Bad for getting around.

[00:04:50] Trevor Long: Yeah, which starts at $30,990 for the other one. So, you know, more power, more performance, all those things. But actually, you know, on, on general inclusions, safety-wise, they've both got them all. It's really just a 360 monitor that the Inspire model has, and then some changes in the decorative look and different—

[00:05:07] Stephen Fenech: nice big screen too for a car that size too, I noticed.

[00:05:10] Trevor Long: Yeah, and a dash cluster as well. So nice, kind of get, get everything you want. Um, I just think it's not a bad looking car. It's a good looking car.

[00:05:19] Stephen Fenech: I like it.

[00:05:19] Trevor Long: Yeah, it's, it's not as bubbly as the GWM Ora, but it's, it's not, uh, it's— I don't think it will age. I think it's a really mini SUV sort of style, that whole raised hatch style, you know.

[00:05:31] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:05:31] Trevor Long: Um, I think this thing could do amazingly well for Geely. Geely, uh, had 3,500, uh, new cars deliveries back in June. 2,300 of them were the EX5, which we've driven.

[00:05:45] Stephen Fenech: Of course.

[00:05:45] Trevor Long: Yeah. This thing, you know, if they pump them out, if they get deliveries.

[00:05:51] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. This, I think it's going to go off.

[00:05:54] Trevor Long: Yeah. This will pump Geely into the top 10 most likely.

[00:05:56] Stephen Fenech: So value, performance, quality, you're getting it all.

[00:05:59] Trevor Long: Yeah, it's ticking a lot of boxes. So good. I'm sure there's people I'd love to hear from, people that bought this car. Yes. There's people that put their money down for this earlier in the year at the motor show in Melbourne when it was just kind of, you know, announced. Yeah. Basically you just saw a right-hand drive version. There's people that again put their money down for this before it was even announced. So I want to hear from people that have put their money down for this and taken delivery. We'd love to hear from you. 0477 657 657. Because I think in that price point you're talking about people who might be moving from a Corolla. Yeah. You know, they might have that size or that kind of car.

[00:06:34] Stephen Fenech: I reckon it's kind of like younger people. And older people, don't you reckon?

[00:06:38] Trevor Long: Do you know how sometimes we talk about, 'cause we're tech guys, right? So we have a tech podcast, Two Blokes Talking Tech. If you haven't listened, please give it a listen. It's 16, we're coming into our 16th year now.

[00:06:48] Stephen Fenech: 16th year, if you haven't discovered it by now.

[00:06:49] Trevor Long: What have you been doing?

[00:06:50] Stephen Fenech: You've been living on the moon.

[00:06:52] Trevor Long: But we often talk about phones, like the first phone, and I often get caught saying first phone and last phone, but it's the wrong way to put it. But, you know, phones for kids and phones for seniors, right? I think it's the same with cars. Like, you know, it is a look at a $30,000 car is a lot for a first car. But if you're a family looking at your second car, which is the car the L-plater, P-plater is going to drive. Yeah, this is a great option, but it's also a great option for my mum. Yeah. You know, those kind of people. You can see your mum doing this. Absolutely. So yeah, they're going to do very well, I think, with this one, mainly, mainly because I think they've, they've done well to build the Geely brand already in Australia. It's not quite got the, the oomph that BYD has in the market. MG has an inherent, you know, brand proposition going on.

[00:07:40] Stephen Fenech: But they're, they're, they're, you know, they're tapping away. They're going, okay. Yeah. And yeah, with cars like this, of course they're going to get lots of attention.

[00:07:47] Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:07:47] Stephen Fenech: The EX5 was a quality car that we drove.

[00:07:49] Trevor Long: Still is.

[00:07:50] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:07:50] Trevor Long: Great car.

[00:07:50] Stephen Fenech: Still doing, doing well. But this is another addition to the portfolio.

[00:07:55] Trevor Long: So we'd love to hear from you. 0477 657 657. A little later on, we're going to talk about the Kia PV5, which we've been driving. But before we do, Again, the last month has been tumultuous in terms of the Strait of Hormuz. And it's interesting if you reflect on how tumultuous it is, you literally go back to where petrol price dramas and then the prices came back down, the excise went away and all this kind of stuff happened and it kind of just petered out. And we worried about whether or not that would have a negative impact. I think negative is the wrong word, but you know, if it would slow the rise of the electric vehicle and then you have another drama like they're bombing again or whatever's happening and doesn't matter how long there's been Drama or peace in the area? I think we've now learned that I don't think anyone can really trust in the supply in that sense.

[00:08:45] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, just the volatility of the whole situation is one week it could be up and next week it could be down. You just, you can't predict, it's unpredictable. But I think, yes, we've spoken about how a lot of people thought, okay, the people that were on the fence, I keep saying about EVs, the fuel crisis tipped them into the EV. But I think now people who are still on the fence and maybe seeing that everything's sort of getting back to normal, are they, do they then sort of go to their comfort zone and think, well, I might stick with petrol now, or at the very least maybe a plug-in hybrid?

[00:09:19] Trevor Long: I look, I hate making predictions, but I feel like we talked about when it first happened, we talked about April and June being good months and they were, May being a tough month because of supply. And I think now that the EV companies, specifically the new brands, have had had time to forecast and plan out their deliveries to Australia. I think that this volatility, as you call it, creates a new demand again for EVs because people who went, I'll think about it, and then went, ah, it'll be okay 'cause the prices are okay again now, they're probably gonna go, you know what? I can't stand the volatility. I can't stand the potential up and downs. I may as well just bite the bullet.

[00:09:58] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, there was a story on car sales about this and how the decline for EVs once petrol prices settle down a little bit. And they're saying their research said that most Aussies will still be driving a petrol car in 2035. So this is Car Sales, their research. And but still a higher percentage though from previous years, still a higher percentage of people who prefer an EV.

[00:10:27] Trevor Long: So there's still growth. Yep.

[00:10:28] Stephen Fenech: But just not as much growth as they're saying. Yeah.

[00:10:31] Trevor Long: And what will be interesting is how it's being and been and goes on to be reported because when EVs hit 22%, 25% or whatever it is, if the next month they're at 15%, people are going to— some media will want to report it as being a slump. Yes, that's like—

[00:10:47] Stephen Fenech: well, it's not so much a slump, it's sort of a reduction in the rise. It's not— it's like it's still a rise, but it's not as big as they thought.

[00:10:55] Trevor Long: People aren't handing back the keys to their EVs, you know, of course it's just the wrong way to look at it.

[00:10:59] Stephen Fenech: The term they use here is EV intention is the term they're using. So EV intention is still high. Just the, the, that level has dropped slightly after, after all the dramas of the last couple of months.

[00:11:11] Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think, I think it'll be fascinating one to track. Sales is continually interesting to track and you should, you should be like the places I go, Car Expert, great people, Drive, the guys at thedriven.io are excellent and probably because they're dedicated to EV reporting. So great numbers reporting there as well. So yeah, pay attention. But I think, I think the intent Yeah. Compared, contrasted, or combined with volatility. Yeah. Equals EVs are not going anywhere anytime soon.

[00:11:41] Stephen Fenech: Of course not.

[00:11:41] Trevor Long: But it does continue in my mind to put pressure on governments and, you know, companies to ensure they continue to build out the network.

[00:11:49] Stephen Fenech: Absolutely right. You can't have— I think EV charges like money. You can never be too much. You can never have too much.

Gavin — road-tripping in a used Tesla Model S, and getting his parents into EVs

[00:11:55] Trevor Long: You can never have too many of them. That's absolutely spot on. All right. We'll take your calls. 0477 657 657. Send us a text. We'd love to hear from you. Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, and we'd welcome your input in the show. If you're listening and you're, you're thinking about getting an electric car, let's just give us a call, send us a text. It's just in your phone, save the Two Blokes, 0477 657 657. We'd love to hear from you, uh, wherever you're listening, however you're listening or watching. Gavin's on the line. G'day, Gavin.

[00:12:33] Gavin: G'day, Steven and Trev.

[00:12:34] Trevor Long: Mate, where do you live in the world of electric cars, mate? I think you commented on YouTube, mate. You've got one or two, and I think your parents have been introduced to the EV world as well.

[00:12:46] Gavin: Well, my story goes back a bit further.

[00:12:48] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:12:49] Gavin: But it's about mum and dad I'll be talking mostly today. But yeah, I did have a Tesla Model 3 when it first came out. I was one of the first to get one. To get one up here in Brizzy. My mum and dad are in Tassie. Yep. But we had that Tesla Model 3 for about almost 4 years. And I also hired it out on a website called EV and I had over 100 people hire our Tesla.

[00:13:19] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:13:19] Gavin: And about a third of them went on to buy their own.

[00:13:21] Trevor Long: I'm just going to say a bit of a bit of a public test drive before you buy. What's that website?

[00:13:25] Gavin: Torii. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I had thousands of kilometers of free supercharging, which of course couldn't really use much during COVID It was pretty useless. So I just let the people who hired it use it.

[00:13:39] Stephen Fenech: I had the free supercharging with my Tesla Model 3 and I absolutely hammered it.

[00:13:43] Trevor Long: He did too.

[00:13:44] Stephen Fenech: He did.

[00:13:45] Trevor Long: What did you move on to after the Model 3?

[00:13:48] Gavin: Oh, well, last year, wife and I leased a BYD Sea Lion 7. We did look at the Model Y. We did look at the Model Y. And in many respects, as an EV, it's still for doing things like road tripping and that sort of stuff. It's, it's still a, you know, very, very, very good car. It went further than the Sea Lion 7. It, you know, had full-on, you know, proper route planning and things like that. But for us, our family's very tall, our kids, our teenage sons, they're 6'4" and 6'2". Whoa. And even my wife's 5'11". So we're all, we're all tall. And the Sea Lion 7 had the most legroom. And because we don't do a lot of road trips now, it's the, the longer range of the Y wasn't really required. And the build quality of the Sea Lion 7 was great. Yeah. Had lots of other features. It's, you know, and, and the dealer was 1 kilometer from where we live. So, you know, that all worked out nice. It was pretty easy. So it was a bit cheaper to lease as well.

[00:15:00] Stephen Fenech: How was the switch though? Like, I know going from a Tesla to a BYD, that was— how was that? Not a jarring shift, I'd imagine. It was a smooth transition.

[00:15:11] Gavin: Oh, look, there's no one-pedal driving. The software is good and it is a connected car, unlike some of the VWs, you know, that you can get now which have no connectivity. So the BYD at least had those smarts, but the software wasn't as good as the Tesla. The sound system was pretty good. That was a good thing. It wasn't quite as good as, as again, the on the Tesla, but it, it was extremely quiet. It's actually quieter than the Zeekr and it's quieter than the Model Y, the Sea Lion 7. It is. It's really well put together. I'd say equivalent to E-Class Mercedes. Oh, not S-Class. I've got familiarity with both those classes. S-Class is still, is still better. Yeah, but E-Class, the C-line 7's build, its quietness, it's, it's, it's, it's really good. We got the all-wheel drive performance one.

[00:16:10] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:16:11] Gavin: And, you know, it's not going to— it's no track weapon, but most of these cars in this class aren't. And the ones, you know, the BMW petrol ones, that sort of thing, they don't take them to the track either. It's no GT3.

[00:16:24] Trevor Long: So loving that car. And then it became evident you became the EV salesman for the family, mate. And what was the reasoning behind the parents who are obviously in Tasmania, you mentioned. So there's a remoteness to your support to them. But tell us about that story.

[00:16:41] Gavin: Well, they, let's just say mum and dad, they have a 2008 Land Cruiser. And a 2015 Mazda 2. So they've never had a hybrid before, let alone an EV. And so they use their Land Cruiser for towing their 3.2-ton caravan around Australia, and they've done that for almost 15 years. And they were gonna do Well, that was going to be one last trip. And they're going to go out to WA this year, which they tend to do in the cooler months and escape the Tassie winter. And so that was what the plan was. And of course, the Iranian situation intervened and I got a call from from them. And, and let's put it into context. Dad had been a long time, let's say, armchair, had an armchair interest in Tesla.

[00:17:52] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:17:53] Gavin: Had never owned one. You know, they had the Mazda 2 for locals, you know, local stuff and the big Land Cruiser. But and Mum had had a, you know, like a lot of women. Mum had a passing interest in cars. Yeah, but both Mum and Dad were now calling me and saying that they're thinking about getting an electric car.

[00:18:17] Trevor Long: Boom. Isn't it? Isn't it amazing how that political situation, obviously with a very clear financial ramification, just triggered so many people, Gavin?

[00:18:27] Gavin: Yeah. Yeah. And so, look, if it hadn't have been for that, they'd probably be tootling around somewhere in regional WA, not too far off the beaten track because Dad's turning 82 in a few months, so they promised there's no more, you know, remote like they used to do.

[00:18:45] Trevor Long: They're not only Oodnadatta, but they're keen.

[00:18:49] Gavin: So have they done bungalows, that sort of stuff?

[00:18:51] Trevor Long: Have they pushed, have they made the commitment? Are they in an EV now?

[00:18:56] Gavin: Well, this is what happened. So when they said, you know, they're going to can this, all this WA thing and they want an EV, I had the impression that they were they wanted something to drive around town. And Mum was saying, I want it to be easy to park, and I want it, you know, not too big, and, you know, something comfortable, uh, to, you know, to get the groceries or a trip to the airport, or, you know, park, you know, up to Northern Tasmania for something. Um, and I was, um, looking around it. I had penciled in some models to have a close look at and see, because they were happy to get used as well, because I said there were some used deals there.

[00:19:40] Trevor Long: Yeah, that's true.

[00:19:41] Gavin: And I was looking at EQCs and EQAs from Mercedes, something nice and, you know, with heated seats. And I was looking at a Volvo XC40 and an iX3 from BMW because I thought, well, you know, they can have something a bit nice, you know, now at this stage in their late '70s and early '80s.

[00:20:07] Trevor Long: They've earned it.

[00:20:10] Gavin: Yes. And so I was looking at the used values for these and these were still just before they sort of went up a bit because of the situation in the Middle East. And I actually test drove a Mercedes EQA in rose gold, which Mum thought was lovely. And it was, it just come off lease and it had done about 45,000 km., and it was in very good condition. I drove it though, and that's the thing is with these, these cars, a base model Mercedes, if you don't tick the options boxes, it didn't have electric seats. Yeah, it didn't have a whole bunch of things and it had a fair bit of torque steer, was front-wheel drive and it had run flats and, and, and so it was good in many ways. But I was also going to, you know, check out the BMW and the XC40 and Then I had a conversation with my mum and we don't normally talk about cars, but this was about— and Dad wasn't in the picture because as I said, he'd long been a Tesla armchair fan, but, and sort of followed what they did. But obviously they've never owned a car of theirs. And mum was saying, actually, oh no, we actually want to do road trips. We want to see our relatives and friends in regional Australia, interstate, you know, in Queensland, New South Wales and— Wow.

[00:21:32] Stephen Fenech: South Australia. Yeah.

[00:21:34] Gavin: Oh, okay. And because I'd noted that, you know, the charging speeds and the range of some of the cars that I was looking at, which would be fine for tootling around what they were going to be doing.

[00:21:46] Trevor Long: And, and I thought, oh, I don't think it's going to be quite the experience given that they're thinking road trip and you're thinking, oh, I'm a bit daunted by, you know, getting the phone call from my late, late '70s parents.

[00:22:01] Stephen Fenech: They seem to have an adventurous spirit to them. They do road trips. They've got a caravan, so they're not scared to get out there. Yeah.

[00:22:08] Trevor Long: And, and cutting to the chase, Gavin, they ended up going right in on Tesla, but a used Tesla, mate.

[00:22:15] Gavin: Well, look, I look, they had a limit. They wanted it to be under $70,000. Yeah. And, and they could have, you know, I could have just said, well, you can get a new Model Y, but that would have been just too much tech too soon. Remember, we're talking the 2008 Land Cruiser, the highest tech thing on that Mazda they had. Yeah. And the Land Cruiser was a reversing camera. Camera.

[00:22:38] Trevor Long: Sure.

[00:22:39] Gavin: And in both of them, it was as blurry as the vision of a drunkard at 2 AM. And so going from that to the absolute state of the art where, you know, there was— you had to change gears with the touchscreen.

[00:22:52] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:22:53] Gavin: And there was no console behind the wheel.

[00:22:57] Trevor Long: No, it makes perfect sense for that not to be the right choice.

[00:23:01] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:23:01] Gavin: Yeah. And so although, yes, I could have said, But I thought, no, it's not going to fly. And also, you know, the phone being the key and that sort of stuff. And so I thought, well, although it's not small, a Tesla Model S, which happens to be my favorite EV of all time.

[00:23:22] Trevor Long: Many people's, many people's, including ours.

[00:23:24] Gavin: And it was the first electric car I drove. I was a bit curious back in 2018 about these Teslas. I drove a 75D. It flipped my lid.

[00:23:36] Trevor Long: It did for everyone.

[00:23:38] Gavin: Yeah. And I put down— was on the list for the Model 3 when it came out. So, so the, the Model S, I explained to Mum, it's not exactly small and it's not exactly an SUV, although this did have air suspension.

[00:23:53] Trevor Long: Sure.

[00:23:53] Gavin: But it will, because I was looking at a Long Range at like 2019, 2020, the what they call the Raven, which has the same motor from the, from the Model 3 in the front and an induction motor in the back. And, and although it's a 600-horsepower car and my— and they, you know, that sort of thing, I didn't mention that, but it does have a long range and it could use all the Tesla Superchargers and all, all the other chargers. And importantly for them, because they're newbies, it has really good route planning. And I thought if I could teach them how to use the navigation.

[00:24:31] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. So did you need to—

[00:24:33] Trevor Long: did you need to get involved with them when they got the car? Have you been down and worked them through that, or are they self-learning this through the process?

[00:24:40] Gavin: Well, okay, well, that is another issue. So I found a bunch of cars. One got sold before I could put any money on it, but another one was from an owner in Melbourne and he was very knowledgeable and he promised to give him a guide. And we'd worked out the price that we got this for 66 grand and they came over and drove it and he showed them how to drive it and he set up their profiles and things, which is pretty good.

[00:25:12] Trevor Long: That's very nice of him, yeah.

[00:25:13] Gavin: But it's not quite the same as me running through all the details and that sort of thing.

[00:25:19] Trevor Long: Of course.

[00:25:20] Gavin: And they managed to get it back to Hobart and then a bit over a month later they were going to start this road trip. And I'd sent them videos on how to do this and that. Which I think they, they watch, but they don't— they didn't fully, you know, take everything on board.

[00:25:40] Stephen Fenech: Sounds like they learned on the job.

[00:25:42] Trevor Long: It's the best way to learn. I mean, I think as long as you're willing, I think if you're willing to give it a crack.

[00:25:47] Stephen Fenech: Well, as I said, they sound pretty adventurous. They're not scared to get out there and do stuff.

[00:25:51] Trevor Long: So, and so, so, Gav, I think I said this to you, Gav, we've got to get them on the show. So we'll talk about getting their details. So just fast forward to where they are now. Are they on this road trip? Trip?

[00:26:02] Gavin: Yeah, they're still on the road trip. So they, a month after, a bit over a month after they got the car, they drove up to Devonport, caught the ferry, went across to Geelong, it is at the moment. And then they started via, they didn't want to go via the coast route. They wanted to go via inland via Wagga and the Newell Highway. And I was giving them a lot of help. Help on the phone and trying to tell them what to do. And at one point they wanted to charge at a Tesla charger, but it was early in the morning and it was in an organization and the gate was locked. But they hadn't realized if you just tap on the screen, it'll say what the passcode is to get access to it.

[00:26:48] Trevor Long: Little things like that.

[00:26:49] Gavin: Yeah. And they were getting stressed and then Mum didn't realize that. She looked on Plugshare and there was a charger just up the road from NRMA. And the lady at the NRMA was very friendly and helpful, but unfortunately that one wasn't working. And so I then said, oh, look, just go back to the Supercharger in Wagga or wherever it was. And so they did and it worked and they've had a learning curve. But once they got up to us here in Brisbane, I went through a full the full monty and also had all checked all the settings in the car and made sure they were about as ideal for them as possible.

[00:27:33] Trevor Long: And so how long have they been on the road, mate? What's the duration currently of this road trip?

[00:27:37] Gavin: I must be close to a month.

[00:27:38] Stephen Fenech: Nice.

[00:27:38] Gavin: And by the time they finish, they're currently down in Central Coast in New South Wales seeing friends and relatives. And while we were up here in Brissy, we got a bit of mechanical work done on the Tesla. They had the half shafts replaced, charge from Tesla because there's an issue with the half shafts of those cars and they replaced those and they put a new 12-volt battery.

[00:28:02] Stephen Fenech: It sounds to me like there's nothing that'll faze your parents. Yeah, they're out there having a go, which is great. And you know, again, that spirit is always good to see. And I—

[00:28:16] Gavin: they're feeling much better about the car now.

[00:28:18] Stephen Fenech: A favorite car I drove, I had a Model S 2 for 5 years and loved it.

[00:28:21] Trevor Long: So it's a great car. Yeah. And here's the thing, Gav, I think what we'll do is we'll be in touch with you during the week. We might try and hit your dad up for a chat, mate, because I think, I think it'd be fascinating to hear that, that perspective from, from his end and where he's at now. And, you know, as a man with many years of experience in cars, what's it feel like to be living in the future today?

[00:28:41] Gavin: Well, that's right. And look, the thing is, they're now in a much better place with the car. They've understanding, you know, some of the way they use the navigation and that sort of thing. So it was very very tense at the start. Yeah. And Mum didn't drive it at all until we got to Brisbane. And I— and then, you know, so I showed her how to do the one-pedal driving and all that sort of stuff.

[00:29:01] Trevor Long: What a good son. What a good son you are, Gav. Well done, mate. Well, very glad you could guide your parents through that journey, although it seems like they took it upon themselves to really jump on board, mate. But we'll definitely be in touch and try and get you— get a chat with your dad, mate. Enjoy the C-Line. What a cracking car you've God.

[00:29:20] Gavin: Yeah, it's not too bad, I tell you.

[00:29:22] Stephen Fenech: Thanks, mate.

[00:29:23] Trevor Long: Good on you, mate. Great to chat.

[00:29:25] Gavin: Have a good one.

[00:29:26] Trevor Long: Cheers. Thanks, Gavin. Yeah, what a legend. That's great. That's a great story.

[00:29:30] Stephen Fenech: I couldn't imagine, like, you would— your mum— my mum wouldn't even think about that.

[00:29:35] Trevor Long: I mean, I could if I knew that my mum— my mum still loves a road trip, right? If I knew my mum was done with road trips and she was always gonna, you know, let someone drive her somewhere or do the big big trips in the planes or whatever. I would, I think I could get her easily on board with an electric car around town. Especially now, I was in Young on the weekend. They've got a new big 3 chargers from BP. So good options now in town for fast charging, plus you could do it at home. So I think around town I could convince my mum easy. She'd love the savings. But I don't think I would want the stress of knowing that my mum might need to call me for help on the highway and me being like, it's a stupid life we lead, right? On telly or on the radio, you can't just take your mum's call, you know? So I just wouldn't want that stress.

[00:30:22] Stephen Fenech: Absolutely.

[00:30:22] Trevor Long: But what a great thing for Gavin's parents. So we will reach out to Gavin's mum and dad and see if we can get them on the show.

[00:30:29] Stephen Fenech: And that Model S, I love that car. That was great. I have, looking back, a bit of regret that letting it go. I could have hung on to that a little bit longer.

[00:30:37] Trevor Long: Easily.

[00:30:38] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. I had 5 years, could have been another couple.

[00:30:40] Trevor Long: And for those to say I'm a Tesla hater, hater. I just hate the look of the Model Y, right? I think the Model S is still one of the best looking cars on the road.

[00:30:47] Stephen Fenech: It is. It is. Yeah. Although I can remember you telling me, because I was coming from Mercedes and I could still distinctly remember you going, mate, you're coming from Mercedes, you're going to go to a Tesla. You're crazy. Do you remember that? No, I remember you saying, mate, you're going to— I don't think this is a right fit for you. You were sort of— and I said, look, I'm going to give it a crack. And boom, just like Gavin's parents.

[00:31:06] Trevor Long: Gavin's very snooty. Gavin and I, you know, I didn't know that it would work for him. Turns out he went back to Mercedes. Hey, did I say that coming on?

[00:31:14] Stephen Fenech: Only because Tesla, they jibbed.

[00:31:17] Trevor Long: I've poked the bear, folks. I've poked the bear.

[00:31:19] Stephen Fenech: I'd be in that Tesla today if that was out.

[00:31:23] Trevor Long: You'd be in a brand new.

[00:31:24] Stephen Fenech: I'd be in the new.

[00:31:25] Trevor Long: You'd probably be into your third one now.

[00:31:26] Stephen Fenech: Well, they've discontinued it even in America.

[00:31:28] Trevor Long: Yeah, in America.

[00:31:28] Stephen Fenech: So it's gone.

[00:31:29] Trevor Long: Yeah, well, they're not making money on them. All right, Two Blokes Storing Electric Cars, we'd love to hear your story or you can introduce to anyone in your life life. 0477 657 657. Thanks, Stephen. Thanks for bringing us out of the break there. Really appreciate it.

[00:31:52] Stephen Fenech: Better finger-pointing than the Wiggles right there.

[00:31:55] Trevor Long: Oh, that's a big call. Listen, we've been driving something a little different. Yeah, not your average everyday drive, and still a bit of a head-turner, to be honest. The Kia PV5. Yes. Super excited to get behind the wheel of this one. I saw it at the Melbourne International Motor Show when it was announced. And this, this to me, we talked about Verizon with, with a caller in Melbourne, the tradie, the sparky. And this to me is a perfect example of the slow but gradual transition to electric. And I've had delivery drivers come here. We see a lot of delivery drivers, you know, in our line of work and ask all about it. I've, I've had them come in electric LDVs. I haven't had one on the horizon yet, but this is not the first electric van. And to be clear, in other markets there is already a passenger version of this, but there's absolutely no clear talk about the passenger version coming to Australia yet. But it's funny because if you think about the success of the Kia Carnival in Australia, it's like the people mover. I, I don't think Kia would bring the PV5. I think Kia Australia would be pushing for an electric Carnival, full stop.

[00:33:01] Stephen Fenech: So what would this be, the wheelbase they use?

[00:33:03] Trevor Long: I think this would be the wheelbase.

[00:33:04] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:33:05] Trevor Long: And they just need to—

[00:33:06] Stephen Fenech: because you had a The Kia Carnival, greatest car. So yeah, similar size to this and height to this, or is this bit bigger?

[00:33:11] Trevor Long: No, this is taller. It's a very different shape. The Kia Carnival feels more like a car. This feels like a van to drive. Let me be clear.

[00:33:18] Stephen Fenech: It does.

[00:33:18] Trevor Long: It does.

[00:33:18] Stephen Fenech: So much space in it too.

[00:33:19] Trevor Long: Feels like a van to drive in the front, the cabinets. There's so many storage. There's storage in the dashboard. There's storage in the doors. There's storage in the— every place they could put storage, they put storage, which is the kind of thing a tradie slash delivery person wants.

[00:33:31] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. So it's adaptable, eh? Like there you can, whether you're a tradie, you can sort of fit it out, you know, with your shelves shelves and room for your tools and all that. And if you're a delivery driver, whoa, so much room. It's, what is it, 4,420-liter capacity.

[00:33:44] Trevor Long: My favorite thing about this car is the time you're going to need to set aside to spec it up. Right now, just sit down, folks, because you'll need to put in your postcode to get the price. Now it's a $55,990 car on roads, $61,000 for me in my postcode, right? But then, decisions, Steven.

[00:34:04] Stephen Fenech: Build and price, are you doing this?

[00:34:05] Trevor Long: What color do you want, mate?

[00:34:07] Stephen Fenech: Color.

[00:34:07] Trevor Long: It only comes in one, white. What fit and finish do you want? It only comes in one. So there is just one PPF.

[00:34:16] Stephen Fenech: I see you're being sarcastic. I get it. Sarcasm.

[00:34:20] Trevor Long: But it's hilarious to me because why? Like, you know, vans.

[00:34:23] Stephen Fenech: Well, how come they put— there's a build and price tab on that.

[00:34:26] Trevor Long: It's a standard part of the— okay, you know, there's literally a color tab on the build and price module, right?

[00:34:31] Stephen Fenech: Whatever color you want, as long as it's white.

[00:34:33] Trevor Long: But, you know, a van is going to be sign written or wrapped, you know. Australies don't care about the cloth color interior. It is just what it is.

[00:34:40] Stephen Fenech: You know what, sleek looking van too.

[00:34:43] Trevor Long: I'd love to signwrite this.

[00:34:44] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, it's not just your average sort of, you know, flat boxy looking car. It's actually pretty nice.

[00:34:49] Trevor Long: It's uniquely Kia. It's uniquely Kia electric as well. So it stands out as being part of the electric family.

[00:34:55] Stephen Fenech: Similar operation to the Kia passenger vehicles.

[00:34:57] Trevor Long: Oh yeah.

[00:34:58] Stephen Fenech: You know, the same gear shifters and all the switches are all the same spots.

[00:35:02] Trevor Long: Yep, totally the same. Press and hold the mute button to turn off the—

[00:35:06] Stephen Fenech: Same annoying beeps when you go over the speed limit.

[00:35:06] Trevor Long: Press and hold the mute beep button, mate, gets rid of that every time. And yeah, it's a good looking car. Chargers at the front.

[00:35:13] Stephen Fenech: So I've got a— I can suggest a way that I play the vision of you parking today.

[00:35:18] Trevor Long: Yeah, you might do.

[00:35:20] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, yeah. The Benny Hill music. I parked it the wrong way.

[00:35:23] Trevor Long: I've got security cameras in the studio, so I saw Steven back it in. I thought, that's interesting. And then he— then you came to the door and the car beeped and you went— and you did expletive. And then you went back to the car and then you turned, you aggressively left and came back and parked it to the—

[00:35:36] Stephen Fenech: I had to park it. No, then you moved it.

[00:35:37] Trevor Long: I'm like, oh mate, yeah, just relax.

[00:35:39] Stephen Fenech: That in the front.

[00:35:40] Trevor Long: Yeah, charges in the front.

[00:35:41] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, just forgot. But I'd suggest a couple of improvements here.

[00:35:45] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:35:46] Stephen Fenech: When you get in the car, there's obviously the car we drove, two— driver's seat, passenger seat, and there's just a black wall behind you, right? And yet there's still a rearview mirror. Now, is it electric?

[00:35:59] Trevor Long: Can they have an electric option of a rearview mirror? I'll tell you, I'll tell you about that because I bagged that— not bagged it, I mentioned in one of my videos, someone said in the comments, idiot, is an ADR, Australian Design Rules, requirement to have it to fit a mirror to a car even if there's no rear window.

[00:36:14] Stephen Fenech: Right.

[00:36:14] Trevor Long: So it's a requirement that the mirror is there. Now, yes, I thought to myself, why wouldn't you just put an electric one in? But now you can just push while you're, while you're driving, you can push the camera button and the camera appears on the infotainment screen. But perfectly fine.

[00:36:29] Stephen Fenech: I found it. And look, I don't drive vans often, okay? But I found that not having that rearview mirror, like, especially when I was backing. Like, the mirrors can show you around you but not up, you know, behind you further.

[00:36:42] Trevor Long: It's got a reversing camera though.

[00:36:43] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, it has, but I just wanted to be able to see, like, you know, when you say you pull in sideways and you want to see if traffic's coming that way, the rearview mirror's not— the rearview camera's not going to help you. You need to be able to see a bit further.

[00:36:56] Trevor Long: Anyway, I think it's got rear cross-traffic alert too.

[00:36:58] Stephen Fenech: Well, I think that what didn't help was that there's no back windows to look through. Side windows. Yeah.

[00:37:04] Trevor Long: But it's a different experience for me. I don't think many delivery drivers—

[00:37:08] Stephen Fenech: I'm not a qualified driver.

[00:37:09] Trevor Long: Exactly. He does not have delivery driver credentials.

[00:37:12] Stephen Fenech: Do not.

[00:37:12] Trevor Long: But look, the stated range is just over 400 km fully laden. That's going to decrease. But I would just simply argue that that's low. I think it needs to be higher for this to really take off. But if you're a delivery driver who doesn't— if your freeway driving is less than 50% in a day, I think you're okay.

[00:37:34] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, EVs, as you know, love stop and start. So if you're going small, short trips, yeah, delivering, this is gonna— that's built for that.

[00:37:41] Trevor Long: This is the car which most needs not a tech guy or a motoring guy to review. It most needs to be in the hands of a courier driver for a month to understand.

[00:37:52] Stephen Fenech: Amazon Flex driver or someone.

[00:37:54] Trevor Long: Genuinely, what numbers are you doing? Yeah, that's what we need to know. So look, I thought it was a great vehicle. We now need to work out how to get a hold of a Horizon because I think that's an interesting comparison. But broadly, shout out Kia, well played, beautiful car. $61,000 is not cheap for a van, so you are probably paying a decent premium. But if you, if it fits your driving day, i.e., kilometers and whatnot and size, this thing's going to save you money over the 3 to 5 year lease. This thing is going to save you big time.

[00:38:24] Stephen Fenech: And so much space in it too. Like it's really spacious inside. You could fit any kind of thing in there. I was going I was going to drive up the 85-inch TV for my daughter in this.

[00:38:34] Trevor Long: You didn't?

[00:38:35] Stephen Fenech: No, it didn't work out. Have to wait for you to get the next one.

[00:38:38] Trevor Long: She's going to be waiting a while. All right, the Kia EV PV5, cracking, cracking vehicle. Now before we go, there was an update here from Vidoo who we spoke to maybe 3 to 4 weeks ago.

[00:38:50] Stephen Fenech: Is that the Tesla seats?

[00:38:51] Trevor Long: Yes, Model YL, the middle row seats. Because of the shape of them, if you hook a car seat up the, the seat belts of the car seat would fall down the side. Turns out there are some certified car seats for that vehicle. So the Maxi-Cosi brand have 5 different models of car seat and Mother's Choice have 1. Basically each of them need the extension strap. So what happens is from the bottom tether of the seat you put in a 30cm tether, and from that tether is where then the Y shape of the belt goes out.

[00:39:27] Stephen Fenech: So we're talking about the compatibility with the captain's chair in the Tesla captain's chair in the center row of the Tesla for a child seat.

[00:39:35] Trevor Long: So if you do your research, you'll find that Maxi-Cosi does have a compatible bunch of child seats. It's kind of weird thing because, okay, you got to buy a new car seat as well as a new car.

[00:39:45] Stephen Fenech: And so Vidu in his message says he actually now is going to buy the YOYO.

[00:39:49] Trevor Long: That's it.

[00:39:50] Stephen Fenech: Thanks to this update, he's basically— he was dead set on the Tesla, wasn't he, before?

[00:39:54] Trevor Long: Yeah, he, he said to the wife, you know what, great news, we're getting a new car and two beautiful new car seats. And she's like, can't we use the existing ones? He goes, oh, I think for safety reasons, probably best that we get new ones. Don't you reckon?

[00:40:05] Stephen Fenech: Absolutely, good on you.

[00:40:06] Trevor Long: I think that's beautiful.

[00:40:07] Stephen Fenech: Well played.

[00:40:08] Trevor Long: Well played. We'd love to hear from you. And if you've got updates, if you've got contributions to— look, we don't claim to be the Knowles. In tech, yes. No, no. In this space, we are pure enthusiasts, right? We love our electric vehicles. We've been driving electric cars for a very long time, over a decade, and we've owned them for a long part of that as well. We just love cars, we love electric cars, and we wanna join, share you, share with you our experience and your experience with us for everyone because it's great to hear.

[00:40:41] Stephen Fenech: That's the best part of the show is hearing from you guys, from your experiences, your opinions, and that could help others as well.

[00:40:47] Trevor Long: That's all we want. So get in touch, send us a text or a WhatsApp, 0477 657657. We'd love to hear from you and we'll see you again next week. Stephen.

[00:40:55] Stephen Fenech: See you then.