It’s the vibe

· by · in Think. ·

ANDREW LUOBIKIS lives in Mardie Street, Beaconsfield. An unsuccessful candidate at October’s elections, he says the council’s decision to spend $130,000 on an electric vehicle charging station is foolish and part of a questionable sustainability agenda that is crippling Fremantle’s finances.

IT is interesting to read that Fremantle council has signed off on a tender to install an electric vehicle charging station in downtown Fremantle with a ratepayer contribution of $130,000 (Herald, January 16, 2016).

In response to my questions from the December 16, 2015 council meeting, it was confirmed by the officers involved that no cost benefit analysis nor due diligence was undertaken to justify this cost to the community, just the normal fluff.

The performance of our elected members to scrutinise is like Denis Denuto’s classic defence in the movie The Castle, “it’s the vibe”.

The electric highway is a marketing exercise by an insurance company.

It seems no consultation has been had with the manufacturers of these cars, only the University of WA.

Branding plastered

Let us make no mistake, the $40,000 fronted by the RAC is no altruistic gesture, but a community engagement excise to allow its branding to be plastered all over towns dotted from Perth to the South-West.

Fremantle now has liquor companies advertising at events and insurance companies in our car parks. All with zero benefit to residents.

As of June 2015 there were 170 electric vehicles in WA, with just 57 using the swipe card system required for charging stations: hardly a solid business case.

And, electric vehicle sales are falling: in 2015, just 73 were sold in WA from a total pool of 100,000 vehicle sales. That represents less than one tenth of one per cent of the market. The year before, 97 electric vehicles had been sold in WA.

Nationwide, in 2015 there were just 890 electric vehicles in more than one million sales. The year before, there had been 1045.

The trend is clear both in WA and across Australia — fewer people are buying electric vehicles.

One must therefore question the sense of our council decision-makers to approve infrastructure that will have absolutely no direct benefit to its residents now or in the future.

The dozen or so locals who have purchased an electric vehicle already get a home charging station, so it’s unlikely they will be driving in to town to use this facility. Of the few drivers from across Perth who decide to visit our great town, we would be lucky to see several uses over 12 months. Is this something the council is going to measure? How much will this station cost to maintain?

Wouldn’t this money be better spent on other sustainability infrastructure that will have direct benefit to the community? How about channelling it into CCTV for better security, or cycling infrastructure so we can get our children safely around the suburbs, into town and the beach.

Reading the agenda of Mandurah council, which is also participating in the electric highway, it appears the RAC is fully funding the charging station and installation and the council merely providing the two bays. Ongoing costs are to be recovered via a user tariff, so there is no financial pain for Mandurah ratepayers.

The wool has certainly been pulled over the eyes of our illustrious leaders at Fremantle council.

If you look at what has been happening on the east coast, vehicle manufacturers have been working with state and federal governments to encourage investment in alternative fuel infrastructure.

Ryde council in NSW just gave planning approval for Hyundai to install (at the company’s expense, not ratepayers) a hydrogen fuel station. This will be shared with Toyota and Honda to help get the technology off the ground.

Why does Fremantle council constantly expect a small ratepayer base to play with the big boys on a global scale and fund these expensive projects? If the council insists on pursuing this “One Planet” strategy then why does it not seek the funding from state or federal sources and leave ratepayer funds to the essentials that are the council’s number one priority and core business. In fact, the local government act states the primary responsibility of a council is to its ratepayers to provide essential services.

Tip of the iceberg

This is only the tip of the iceberg, with much more coming from the council reserve funds and asset sell-offs to pay for our mayor’s sustainability hobby. I am sure the average resident punter would not have a clue this is where their hard-earned is being funnelled. The council financial report only gives a total sustainability funding amount, not the break down.

The political influence of the Greens party on council to push its agenda for sustainability and the One Planet strategy has overridden all common sense.

So, Mayor Pettitt, please adopt the 10-point transparency plan outlined in the Herald recently by Tony Toledo, the co-chair of the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association. It clearly outlines a breakdown of all individual sustainable projects the community has been funding. We would all like to see the green underbelly of Fremantle exposed for the damage it has caused this town.

7 Big Fish Direct 10x4

58 responses to “It’s the vibe”

  1. Great Article by Andrew Luobikis in this week Herald Thinking. Another example of rate payer funds being used for the wrong reasons. The reality is as Andrew states electric vehicles is not the way the market is going…..closer to home the City of Melville has several electric Charge points paid for and maintained by private companies…..not rate payers!

    I am getting Tired of the Old Chest Nut of “Attracting visitors to Freo”…..We know It’s a great place to visit!…….let’s make it an even greater place to live……..let’s start to consider rate Payers and Residents…….even those Rate Payer who live in Samson, Hilton…… (I suggest Greater Freo take up the cause for those suburbs and leave Cockburn as it is)

    Andrew is a long term local, we both share a real passion for Freo…. We both stood for the south Ward at the last council election……our common passion for Freo has seen our friendship grow. I have a lot of respect for Andrew he is a man of integrity (No Need for Ghost writing needed here)

    Thanks Tony Toledo

  2. What an ill informed load of rubbish. I am very surprised that the Fremantle Herald allows blatantly incorrect information to be published, without checking the facts. The benefits that electric vehilces provide to the environment are numerous, and this is one of the main reasons for the sharp increase in sales. How about a bit of forward thinking, for the benefit of the environment and our children, you fools!

  3. Andrew Luobikis’ The Vibe in the Fremantle Herald on 13/2/16 does not take into consideration the importance of an electric vehicle charging network and it’s potential for the City of Fremantle. The RAC in partnership with Local Councils throughout Western Australia have been rolling out their world class Electric Highway from Perth, soon Fremantle, to Augusta and onwards. Early Perth stations included RAC headquarters on Wellington Street and Subiaco. Given that Fremantle is touted as a tourist hot spot in Perth, it is welcoming to see that the City of Fremantle is supporting and attracting visitors to their City by any means possible.

    The statement that the funds could have been better spent elsewhere in the City can always be justified. All Governments at each level have limited funds and unlimited projects that need to be supported within the community. Fortunately, Fremantle, a safe Green Federal seat, is continuing in this tradition by installing an EV charging station. This will support not only the local EV users coming into the City but other EV users from all over the state as they now know that they can visit Fremantle in their carbon free cars and be assured that they can top up their cars and return home without any issues. One small issue that Mr Luobikis forgot to mention was that the RAC charging network is not free for users – so there is a revenue stream from having a charging station in Fremantle. He also has not mentioned that EV users coming to Fremantle to charge their cars are more likely to spend money which will help the local economy.

    Like all new technology, the prices of EV’s are coming down as the technology improves. All of the major car manufacturers have or are working towards an EV or hybrid EV due to increasing demand. Those who adopt the technology first will benefit from identifying and seizing the opportunity. Over time the costs that were incurred at the initial phase of adoption will be outweighed in the future from the first mover advantage benefits. It is unfortunate that Mr Luobikis cannot see the benefit of adopting EV technology for both his City and the environment. Perhaps he should take a ride in an EV and this may change his mind.

    • Mr Massoudi I have a can drive one when ever I like as my company car. Do you drive one? If not I will see if I can get you a good deal on a Nissan Leaf down at Magic Nissan Melville.
      Read the article. It is about council decisions and the burden on a limited rate base who are contributing. Let’s hope the 5 tourist that come in 2016 to use it will spend up big. By the way the council are still considering if it will be a user pays or another cost to the ratepayer.
      I can’t find any information around the world where councils other than giving planning approval are paying for this infrastructure. Again read my article.

      • Andrew you would sell more EV’s if you had new models for people to purchase not the old 2012 built stock…. But alas that’s Nissan’s fault. How is Nissan’s charging network going in Oz at the moment…..??

        Oh wait….

      • If you really cared about the finances of Fremantle and who pays for what , perhaps you may consider pursuing some REAL change and legislate so the UNI , whom I understand pay NO rates, start to make a meaningful contribution to the coffers ??
        This would be far more meaningful than objecting to a one- off forward looking initiative.
        Regards

  4. 1 VFACTS advise 1108 EVs & 12138 Hybrids sold in 2015. These exclude Teslas which the owners reckon at about 850 so far, so a huge increase over 2014, the exact opposite of Andrew’s guesstimate.
    2 WA Tesla fleet started higher than OverEast per capita, but has not grown so fast because of lack of Tesla infrastructure here. Also there are no State incentives for EVS here (unlike OverEast). Despite this there are now over 40 Teslas in WA (plus the VFACTS EVs), further contradicting Andrew’s figures.
    3 RAC and now Fremantle have helped fill the gap with their world class Electric Highway. WA is “Way Ahead” in this respect.
    4 Tesla has deliberately sold luxury vehicles so that it can fund its SuperCharging network and develop the firmware (which is updated monthly with new features like auto-steer). It may have outsold the total of Mercedes, Audi, BMW’s top models in Australia last year (VFACTS only 772). But Tesla is releasing its mass model 3 in 5 weeks for USD$35,000, for a deposit of USD$1000 on the Tesla website.
    5 Some owners will be demonstrating these state of the art cars at the AEVA open day on 12/3/2016 at RAC DTEC
    6 It is therefore likely we will be short of charging bays very soon, and those towns without a charger will start losing trade.

  5. What a shame that articles are printed without facts being checked. This is purely a persons slanted opinion. His data really probably relates to hybrid vehicles which are not full EVs at all. Mercedes is trialling, Audi have announced new models to come Tesla is a world leader gaining traction here and so on. Change is inevitable and sometimes there’s a price to pay. Early computers were expensive. Now we all have one in our phone.
    Please move with the times and be positive

    • Allen yes the facts were check prior to going to print. I do move with the times by working in this industry, driving & promoting these vehicles.
      The article was not about the technology. Alternative fuels are the future. People need to put their own money where their mouth is and start going out and buying an electric vehicle. Do you have one?

  6. It’s the chicken and the egg in terms of needing infrastructure so that people will buy the vehicles. If people like Andrew had their way we would still be in the dark ages. Well done city of Fremantle for encouraging innovation and a better planet.

  7. The benefits of EV’s to the community are often unseen. I hate walking around the city and breathing those nasty fumes from exhaust pipes. Thats why I avoid the city. People take no responsibility or perhaps they are to stupid to care about their tailpipe exhaust.
    Clean up the air, encourage and support EV’s and I along with others will return to the city to spend my time and money.
    Bravo to the City of Fremantle for taking this initiative despite the lack of leadership from the Federal Government.
    EV’s are the future of clean sustainable transport. Try to keep up!

  8. What a joke, despite the argument over the stats. I would like to see how many times it gets used over the year and what it is costing the rate payers of this city per vehicle charge. This council has loftier ideological pursuits than running a local council. It’s time you bit the bullet Brad and run for the senate and stop wasting money on ‘Green initiatives’ that offer little value to the rate payers of this city. Foot traffic is down, Retail is dead, the Nigh-Time economy is sick and this is what the council comes up with? It’s like Nero is playing the violin while Rome is burning.

  9. What an utter waste of rate payers money this whole electric car rubbish is.
    Good to see Andrew calling it out for what it is
    The idea of electric cars it’s self is not bad but considering most are run on coal it’s a bit of a joke.
    As long as our electricity comes from fossil fuel then that’s what charges EV cars.
    Gross sales of Telsa are falling in the EU, fell flat in China it’s supposed biggest impact market for 2015.
    It’s only real surge was with massive government subsidies now they are being removed the true picture will emerge
    It’s just another rich mans toy
    When you look at the products made from such toxic base ingredients needed to be mined for magnets and battery production, anyone who calls this a green product is an idiot or is just lying to themselves
    Another western consumer product provide by 3rd world countries paying the price for so called green action of a few egotistical maniacs.

    • Perhaps you were not aware of it Bob but the Freo charger will be off grid – ie solar. First of it’s kind. So there goes your coal argument – and BTW, most EV drivers use solar. Try another argument, that one is toast.

  10. The city of Fremantle is to be commended ( along with many towns in the South West of our state ) for supporting EV charging infrastructure amongst other. If we do not move to sustainable lifestyles – including transport – our planet will become unliveable. The CoF sees that and has a vision, unlike the writer whose baseless article seeks to keep us in the dark ages.

  11. The city of Fremantle is to be commended ( along with many towns in the South West of our state ) for supporting EV charging infrastructure amongst other. If we do not move to sustainable lifestyles – including transport – our planet will become unliveable. The CoF sees that and has a vision, unlike the writer whose baseless article seeks to keep us in the dark ages. As an EV owner, I have made a conscious choice to drive to Freo when I need to buy gifts or to enjoy that beautiful port city because it makes charging infrastructure freely available. EV ownership is increasing in WA, contrary to the writers claims and in time, EVs will catch up and surpass fossil fuelled vehicle sales.

  12. Rather ironic that Andrew works for an automotive manufacturer that makes and sells electric vehicles in Australia, and have no interest in installing charging infrastructure themselves. Love to know what his employer would think about his ranty McRant…

  13. Travis data was checked and filtered by fuel type. I am informed and have worked in the industry for over 25 years. Best you get your facts right!

  14. Andrew, I suspected you worked for a car dealer and therefore had every interest in trying to denigrate EVS.
    But you are digging yourself into a deeper hole by maintaining you checked your figures.
    If you do have integrity (as Tony Toledo suggests), please now advise the source of your figures and how you checked them.
    Specifically
    A 890 EVs sold in Australia in 2015 (as opposed to VFACTS 1,108 EVS and 12,138 hybrids).
    B Your explanation for forgetting to mention that Tesla do not report to VFACTS, so that all their substantial sales are excluded from these figures.
    C 57 EVs registered for swipe card (as opposed to 78 registered for just one card out of the four cards available in WA. The RAC Electric highway does not even need a swipe card until 14th March when local authorities will start imposing charges).

    If you can prove your figures (at least quote your source), your comments in your article will have some merit, although it would still be the case that less polluting technology should be encouraged.
    If you cannot prove your figures (at least quote your source) your integrity is open to challenge.
    BTW do you have any association with another regular contributor to the Fremantle Herald – Greenie Greenfield?

    Bob, I understand the reason for the extra cost of the Fremantle charger is precisely because the electricity will be sourced from solar to battery storage. Also I would suggest that most EV owners will have solar panels at home, and that they will be at the forefront of installing battery storage. Finally Tesla purchase offsets if they cannot source green power for their Super chargers.

    • I have to agree wholeheartedly with David, Andrew’s numbers are woolly at best unless he can provide a source. And Nissan have not covered themselves with glory with regard to their efforts to sell electric cars in WA. They have been less than enthusiastic and in my experience seem to dismiss EV as a fad.
      And Bob… really, you need to research a bit more. Most EV owners ( I own a Leaf and have owned an iMiEV ) use solar panels at home.
      Alsot EVs are far more efficient and emit far less CO2 even if they are solely on coal fired power ( which is unusual in my experience of EV owners )

    • David, I don’t work for a dealer or the dealer network. I actually work for the manufacturer of these vehicles. There is nothing to hide here, details of my career are publicly available online via Linkedin and Facebook and I am more than qualified in this area with accurate information to justify my article.
      I will reiterate again I am in support of this new emerging technology and hope to see our industry capitalise on any growth. The issue for me personally is at the local community level as a humble home owner and rate payer having to subsidise a commercial venture when the basic services we personally pay for are not being attended to in our community. In fact our current council treat the rate payer with utter contempt.
      One thing I have noticed from the ignorant critisism in the printed version of the Herald that it is coming from people who are from outside the Fremantle shire that do not pay rates or invest financially or emotionally by living here. I don’t go into Nedlands, Bicton, East Fremantle or Melville just to name a few from the responses and dictate how ratepayers in those areas should spend their financial contributions in their communities. Really none of my business unless I decide to sell up, move and start paying rates to one of those shires.

  15. Andrew, I understand you are complaining about Fremantle council spending some money to join the RAC Electric Highway using Green power, and I accept that you are entitled to do this as a ratepayer.

    But your position as a representative of Nissan, whose sales include a miniscule proportion of EVs, must create some doubt over your motives.
    Worse you base your complaint on statistics you refuse to justify, simply asking to be trusted based on your profession in the car industry.
    You will have full access to VFACTs, so why not explain how you have manipulated them to obtain only 890 EV sales in 2015 (knowing that the biggest selling EVs are Teslas which do not even report to VFACTS).

    By the way I rang the FCAI to check the figures after reading the VFACT statistics in this article http://www.caradvice.com.au/406917/2015-vfacts-winners-and-losers-all-time-australian-new-vehicle-sales-record-set/

    And to those who say Tesla sales are declining, 2015 was reported as a record year. http://www.caradvice.com.au/406210/tesla-cracks-50000-deliveries-in-2015/
    I know many people like myself who are impatiently waiting to pay the USD$1000 deposit for the Tesla Model 3 (USD$35,000) next month on https://www.teslamotors.com/en_AU

    See you at the RAC Test Track on 12/3/16, Andrew (since you say you are a supporter of this new emerging technology). https://www.facebook.com/events/1674636526151746/

  16. Andrew your view is fast loosing credibility. Your figures do not tally with those supplied by but others above. It is not sufficient to say You say you have checked your numbers!!. They quote the source of the data. you do not. Either provide this or one has to assume that your article is based on erroneous information.

    • There is only one industry source and that is VFACTS. Broken down by fuel type. You will need to get these figures separated from Hybrid for pure electric vehicles, but will have to subscribe or ask someone who has access in the industry, if you don’t trust what I am saying. You can pay for this on the FCAI website. http://www.fcai.com.au/sales/need-more-detailed-information
      Tesla is not included as they do not report, however this will still be negligible over total vehicle sales as not too many are forking out from $140,000 for the base model.
      Does this now clarify for everyone. The stats are undeniable. Not much more I can say.
      Geez it must of been easier for Noa to convince the masses a flood was coming.

      • Andrew the Tesla model S is currently the best selling BEV in Australia with around 650 examples on the road, surprising considering it is the most expensive BEV on the market and is typically built to order, and in the case of WA, has no dealer network.

        Nissan could quite easily sell Leafs here now, but people don’t want to buy the 4 year old stock, at the same price it’s been for almost 3 years. Simple.

        The market is being choked by lack of choice of new BEV’s, but considering the FCAI has recently stated that the manufacturers “cannot continue to make cars against ever tightening emission laws and we want incentives for zero emission vehicles”, that will likely change very soon.

        There are likely to be heaps of things the Freo council spends money on every year that residents cannot take advantage of. This fast charger is not one of them. The council could run a fleet of Leaf’s and have zero fuel cost “paying off” the cost of the charger install in a short space of time. The same goes for vehicles like electric garbage trucks which have been used in NZ to amazing effect.

  17. Andrew has at last admitted that the figures he thrice insisted were accurate, do not include Teslas.

    But he still does not deign to explain why he reduced the VFACTS reported 1,108 Electric Vehicles sold in 2015 to only 890. Hybrids are a separate category where VFACTS report 12,138 in 2015.
    Quote ” Breaking it down by fuel use, 773,865 had petrol engines, 333,962 were diesel (mostly SUVs and commercials), while 12,138 were hybrid and 1108 were EV — though remember, this again does not include Tesla, so this latter measure is fairly inaccurate” Unquote.

    Of course the most relevant sales statistic for Andrew’s article is Plug-In vehicles (those vehicles which can charge from an external power point). All BEVs can Plug-In, but in fact so can most Hybrids, such as the Volt, the Outlander, a BMWi3 option, BMW i8 and the Audi A3 Etron (these are called PHEVs).

    Although it must be galling and hard for Andrew to accept, Teslas have sold extremely well in their first year, so that there are probably well over 800 in the country now.
    Tesla owners have photographs of over 500 cars, have registration numbers for over 700, and are aware of many more from other sources. All deliveries so far are the model S, but Model X SUVs will start arriving soon, to be followed by the mass market Model 3 (US$35,000).

    Despite all this Andrew is still protesting EV sales are declining.
    Fortunately, when buying a Tesla you do not have to deal with a car salesman, and simply specify the configuration you want on the Tesla web site. There is no negotiation on price except there is a small discount if you enter a referral code such as http://ts.la/david7666.

  19. 115,000 Tesla model 3 sold in 18 hours BEFORE it was officially unveiled. https://model3.tesla.com/ Netherlands considering banning new ICE (internal combustion engine) sales by 2020. What was that about EV sales declining?

    • Ah yes, Bjorn Lomborg. He was wrong about climate change, was kicked out of UWA and now he is wrong about the Tesla. On form. Andrew, you do realise that Nissan are going to be trying to sell their new EV soon , don’t you? Mighty have to change your tune, buddy. Or perhaps your bosses may like to see what you really think about your products..

    • Remember how you said you are just a humble ratepayer and you weren’t against EV ? That’s starting to look a bit thin with you posting the last few links eh?

    • Hardly a secret , mate, that’s why it’s called a pre-order. and in case you missed it, they are over 320 000 pre-orders now for the Model 3. Model S was done in the same way with no issues.
      How are those Nissan EV sales going , still selling 2012 models? – perhaps you’d better work a bit harder at that rather than your anti-EV pitch ( clue: that’s not going very well at all )

    • Yep…Tesla manage to pre sell more cars in 72 hours than what Nissan could sell in 5 years. Not really any competition at all….

      • Certainly will be interesting times in the market place.
        Don’t forget these are refundable deposits and may dissolve when and if the car goes into production. Most salepeople find it hard to secure an order if a customer can’t see the right colour they want let alone an unproven car sight unseen. My understanding they are having trouble getting the quality right for the price they say it will go to market with. With this new technology quality always correlates to price as part of final engineering sign off. My prediction they will be having multiple recalls to fix issues they could not afford to rectify in the rush to get this car to market.
        One advantage over current players in the market would be an Australia wide service network with qualified technicians. Something that is already an issue getting qualified tradespeople for traditional combustion engine technology. You would be hard pressed finding Tesla qualified technicians with factory training here in WA. They need to fly them in from the East for major failures. People rightly hate to wait for their transport when they fail. Be interesting to see what hire car they give as a replacement during the warranty period when this occurs. Customers will most likely be left stranded once outside this period.
        Tesla obviously has also determined that there is no business case for any presence in WA, so why expect the Fremantle Ratepayer to subsidise a commercial venture? Around the globe Tesla are installing the infrastructure, not local government (The original intent of this article).
        Good luck when something goes wrong in WA.
        Find Us | Tesla Motors I Service I Charging – Fremantle no results.
        https://www.teslamotors.com/findusm#/results

  25. My understanding Andrew is that you have no understanding about EV’s in general.

    Now…here is something dealers don’t want to hear. Tesla do not care if you do not service your model S. Not in the slightest. And it won’t affect warranties.

    For dealerships who rely on the ongoing service, warranty and value adding (read ripping off) customers with ICE cars they won’t be happy.

    This is a big reason why dealerships are not interested in EV’s. They can’t overservice what doesn’t need service in the first place.

    When Tesla has enough sales in WA (as well as other states that do not have a presence) they will build a service centre in each as well as superchargers. It’s not a question of if it’s a question of when.

    Don’t recall speaking to any Tesla owners locally that have been left “stranded” at all. In fact I don’t think there has been any issues of regard in the model S fleet currently in Perth. They flew out rangers to check seat belts recently after one car in the world was discovered with an issue. ONE CAR…..

    In all exceptional service.

    If you want to talk about quality and reliability issues how about the tremendous amount of transmission issues world wide with the current Nissan Pathfinder, but to name a few…???

    If there were legitimate lemon laws in Australia you would be busy.

    But alas, that’s way off topic.

    What were we discussing again???

  26. That unity ticket to promote EVS did not last long, Andrew.
    In contradiction of your attempt to bag Tesla:

    The fleet of Teslas in Perth have hardly had any major issues. I know of one case where a technician flew into Perth and was in the owner’s garage the next morning – quicker than trying to book a traditional dealer service.
    One of my door handles would not auto-present (although the door could still be opened), and I had to wait three days for a technician to appear and fix it in my garage.
    Many minor issues can be diagnosed and fixed remotely, in any case.
    Yes, they did offer Ubers or loan cars during the seat belt recall check. Over East Tesla loan cars are offered.
    There is a story of an accident in USA, where the owner received a phone call from Tesla before he could ring out, to ask if he was ok and if he needed a tow truck.

    The support and whole experience of owning a Tesla has been better than any car I have ever owned, and many existing Model S owners have pre-ordered Model 3.
    Tesla can sell cars just on the word of mouth recommendations from existing owners, without any advertising, and every car they deliver creates another salesperson for them.

    There has recently been a Model S demo car operating out of the Woodside building in Perth and there are rumours of a more permanent presence soon, and certainly by the time Model 3 start to arrive.
    Two owners are driving to Adelaide next month, intending to do about 750kms per day in daylight hours, although we have had to supply 3phase sockets for the roadhouses to install. But at $41 each this is cheaper than a tank of diesel!

  27. Yes David & Reecho we all agree the dealer business model is changing and there is plenty of room for improvement (something I have no control over), but please leave personal attacks to yourself. There are some good dealers and there are some bad. The good ones are getting ahead of the curve now and planning for this shift in consumer behaviour. Some are now partnering with car sharing and ride sharing companies predicting less consumers will be owning vehicles and more will be using these services. Workers in the industry are going to have to up-skill as many traditional jobs are going to change.
    Though nobody can really predict how all this technology will finally play out, please respect that I have over a quarter of a century of industry experience and have some insight into the current state of play. For all I know Tesla may become the dominant player in this space. Time will only tell.
    The following article (Link) goes some way in outlining another opinion on how some industry experts see the next 15-20 years, which covers some of what you are saying.
    https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/vision-2030-why-automotive-industry-undergo-dramatic-james-carter?trk=pulse_spock-articles

    Hopefully now we can move on to the intent of the article and that is the financial mismanagement of ratepayer funds at local government level. If you owned property here in Fremantle you would know exactly that this charging station is only one minor part of a bigger picture of council incompetence. You might be interested to know that the council Greens ideology and agenda is to rid Fremantle of cars and to become bike only. This station was only to tick a box to certify for the very expensive ‘One Planet Strategy’.
    http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/one-planet/sustainable-transport
    Understand that all of this is great if we were getting the basics services to improve the amenity in the suburbs of Fremantle and not just the town center. Our rate base is far too small to be taking on global issues without the help of industry, state and federal governments. This would not happen in any other municipality. Cockburn our neighboring shire is one of the biggest and wealthiest of all WA councils and does not commit ratepayer funds to bolster Green Party initiatives.
    The next big thing to get some airplay will be the $50 million use of ratepayer funds on the Kings Square project. Stay tuned on this issue and thanks for the interesting detour and interaction regarding EV technology.

  28. What an entertaining read! Andrew, here are a couple of quotes for you:
    “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson (IBM)

    “Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” Darryl Zanuck, executive at 20th Century Fox, 1946

    “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olsen (Founder of DEC)

    “Apple is already dead.” – Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft CTO, 1997.

    I could go on, but you get the picture. You may be in illustrious company, but your predictions about the future of electric vehicles will look no less silly in the years to come.

    Disclaimer 1: I don’t live in Fremantle but I enjoy visiting and spending money there.
    Disclaimer 2: I have placed a reservation for a Tesla Model 3

    I think that the early installation of an EV charger has value as a branding exercise, to solidify Fremantle’s position as a City that is progressive and environmentally aware.

  30. Fantastic. Maybe competition to the Tesla model 3 in 2018. More EV’s on the road means more likelihood to use the Fremantle Fast charger. And low and behold the revenue stream from the chargers will be in place from 1st May so the council will see a return.

    • Synergy has now partnered with Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) to install charging points at 100kms centres on all main Roads in WA.
      And Tesla Owners Club of Australia (TOCA) has formed a joint venture with AEVA to install charging points at 300kms centres all the way round Australia and from Adelaide to Darwin.
      Both projects should be completed this year.

  32. See it can be done without getting hard working ratepayer families to stump up the cost of this infrastructure. It is being done by industry just as Tesla has done across the globe. Fremantle Councillors are financially and commercially inept as seen in the latest council financial indicators.
    WA’s electric car-charging network to expand | The West Australian
    https://thewest.com.au/lifestyle/motoring/fresh-charge-towards-electric-ng-b88528489z

    • So Andrew you are comparing an installation of a off grid battery backed DC Fast Charger with a donation of a few 3 phase sockets?. You Sir are an A Grade muppet.

      Freo will still get a fast charger. Sooner than you think.

      Oh by the way are you still still working for Nissan?

      Haven’t been sacked for your outbursts?

    • The reason why?. Availability of new models. That’s it. Charging infrastructure is way down the list. And surveys indicate many people want their next vehicle to be electric…

  36. 2 years later, there are around 300 charging points around australia, EVs regularily drive around and through the middle of the country. Availability of EVs in Australia will improve as Tesla , Hyundai, Renault,Kia ,BMW, even Nissan, bring in new models in late 2018 / early 2019.Many manufacturers are saying that they will not be making fossil fuel powered cars by 2030.. some as early as 2020.
    The game is up, time to get out of the way.

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