This story first appeared in the november issue of evtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE
The Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) held its EV expo in Sydney from October 26-27, allowing an estimated 4000 people to check out the latest in the EV market and to hear from experts.
AEVA Queensland treasurer and EV conference committee member Simon Pfuhl says the 4000 people that came through the doors crossed over from the neighbouring property show.
“A highlight for us was that the property show had less people,” Pfuhl jokes.“It was helpful for us as we did share people.”
Pfuhl says people were able to test drive a range of different electric vehicles, and everyone who did had to sign a waiver. Around 660 people took part in a test drive, on EVs like the Mirai, Kona, Leaf, and BMW i3.
“There was a good variety of electric vehicles,” Pfuhl says.
“We had people with e-bikes and e-scooter stalls, and most of them had close to 100 test rides.”
“We had a good variety overall.There were a couple of race cars for viewing only.”
Hyundai and Nissan sent representatives to the expo to educate the public and present its EVs.
Nissan Australia, a major sponsor, opened the EV expo.
Pfuhl says the event had support from charging networks such as Chargebox and carcharger.com.au.
There were 27 stalls at the exhibition, one of which was replaced by an electric forklift after the stall owner pulled out at the last minute.
“The guy that owned it offered it to show,” Pfuhl says.
“People don’t realise that bigger EV machinery is available.”
AEVA organiser Bryce Gaton says the convenience of electric vehicles is greater than what most people realise.
“The EV expo is about trying to get ordinary people to touch, smell and learn about electric cars without being hit with advertising or feeling like they need to sign themselves up to something – we want people to introduce themselves in their own time without coercion,” he says.
“We want to see people within the automotive industry take part and get involved, especially people who work within dealerships because ultimately, you’re going to end up selling electric cars, if not already.”
