Arthur Hunt's EV Diary: 85

No. 85: 25 August 2025

Hyundai Inster - chargers on the Burnett and Brisbane Valley Highways - Road user charge - Tesla discounts 

Thanks to our Electric Vehicle Display on 7 June in Rockhampton, my friends, the Herberts in Yeppoon have bought another EV - a Hyundai Inster made in South Korea. A demo Inster was exhibited by DC Motors. The Herberts immediately saw that it was just what they wanted due to its compact size. They were impressed by salesman Riley who was able to obtain a new one in less than a month.

The size of the Inster makes it ideal for driving and parking in town. At 3.825 metres long, it is shorter than all other EVs currently available in Australia and shorter than most petrol cars. They bought the model with the larger 49 kWh battery giving an extended range of 360 km. It has a Vehicle to Load (V2L) facility which will provide 240-volt power which will be very handy during grid power outages. Regenerative braking is controlled by the use of paddles on the steering wheel, providing five levels of braking. The highest level which switches on the “I-Pedal” function, can bring the car gradually to a halt just by lifting the foot off the accelerator. The levels can be changed while driving along and the energy goes back into the battery rather than being lost as heat on the brake discs. The Inster has all the usual features that new cars have these days. While the Herberts will normally use their Kia Niro, with its 480 km range for long trips, there are now sufficient charge points on the Bruce Highway to drive the Hyundai Inster to Brisbane.

The Herberts reported that they recently returned from Esk in the Brisbane Valley via the Burnett Highway. in their Kia Niro. They were able to inspect the string of five new NRMA chargers at Nanango, Goomeri, Gayndah, Monto, and Biloela. Obviously, they didn’t need to use all of them as they had plenty of range to make only one or two charging stops between Esk and Yeppoon. All five locations had two pedestals for DC charging, with the smaller box giving a 24kW outlet for either CCS2 or CHADEMO, and the larger box having twin CCS2 outlets, each rated at 160kW. It appears that the latter allows the two cables to charge two cars simultaneously, although this feature was not tested. Although installed by NRMA, they were all linked to the Chargefox payment system, in addition to the MyNRMA app.

The Herberts reported that some of the chargers were not easy to locate and better signage is needed to direct drivers to the chargers. Some of them were in behind petrol stations with no indication from the front as to where they were. Also, some of the locations were unattractive, such as adjacent to a row of rubbish bins and other detritus behind a hotel or service station. In some cases, the layout of the pedestals and the dedicated parking spaces was very poor. It meant that one car charging at an outlet could block any other car from accessing the other charger. Overall, however, NRMA and the Queensland Government are to be congratulated t for installing these chargers which provides an alternative route from Rockhampton to Brisbane via the Burnett and Brisbane Valley Highways. These five chargers, plus the existing 50 kW charger at Esk, means there is a maximum gap of 152 km between chargers on that route. All we need now are a few more on the Leichhardt and Capricorn Highways.

A road user charge for EVs was discussed at the Productivity Round Table but no decision is expected immediately. It is to be hoped that the adoption of EVs is not discouraged by imposing a special road user charge, but instead a universal road user charge is introduced and the current fuel excide on petrol and diesel fuels is removed. The Guardian reports that EVs still make up less than 2% of the 21.7 million vehicles on our roads so the loss of revenue is not yet significant. The Electric Vehicle Council says EV drivers should be exempt from a charge until 30% of new vehicle sales are electric.

The current excise on petrol is 51 cents per litre and the average fuel consumption is now 6.9 litres per 100 km. So the fuel excise currently costs about $5 per 100 km. It was also reported that the NSW Government has considered a road user charge of 2.97 cents per kilometre for an EV or just under $3 per 100 km. So, an EV driver doing 10,000km would expect to pay $300 under the NSW scheme. In comparison, the owner of a petrol car driving 10,000 km and averaging 6.9 litres per 100km currently pays about $352 in fuel excise. A road user charge would provide more flexibility than fuel excise as some drivers could be exempt.

Tesla Model 3 and Model Y buyers receive a discount of $350 when referred by a current Tesla owner who then gains a $150 credit for other Tesla products. Please contact me at arthurhunt@ozemail.com.au for my referral code.