Our Yeppoon correspondent (Arthur Hunt ) reports:
Hundreds of people lined the main street of Yeppoon on Saturday 11th October to watch the annual Lions Pinefest parade. The CQ EV Owners and Friends Facebook group organised six EVs to join the procession of decorated floats in the parade.
Above: EVs waiting for Pinefest parade
Above: Ian Herbert with his Inster before the parade
Spectators were able to see a Hyundai Inster (Ian Herbert), a Tesla Model 3 (Laurel Hunt), Toyota bZ4X (Ian Weigh Toyota), MG ZS EV (Brigette Gonch), Hyundai Ioniq 6 (Bill Burchardt) and MG ZS EV (Arthur Hunt).
Above: Ioniq 6
Above: Toyota bZ4X
Above: MG ZS EV
The EVs were ideal vehicles to drive in a parade with slow stop-start progress required to match the with no engine running walking speed of the floats. The drivers also appreciated the air conditioning which kept them cool, with no engine running, while waiting for the start. Many spectators saw an EV up close for the first time.
However, in view of the many petrol and diesel utes parked along the parade route, it was a pity that we did not have an electric ute in the parade. It could be a different story next year because The Driven newsletter has reported that South Korean brand, KGM (previously Ssangyong) has had its electric Musso ute approved for sale in the Australian market and it is expected to arrive in coming months.
Editor's note: this story was an extract from Arthur Hunt's EV Diary. You can read issues of Arthur's Diary here.