from Hacker News

Are EVs Worth It in Australia?

by qzervaas on 5/3/23, 6:20 AM with 2 comments

• by simonblack on 5/4/23, 1:06 AM

  Maybe in the major cities of the East Coast, EVs might be worth it. For the rest of this extremely sparsely settled land of ours, the electrical grid infrastructure is too flimsy to allow for the ad hoc charging of millions of EVs. And a lot of country towns are not even connected to the grid, but have to generate their own electricity, generally using diesel.

  The cost of upgrading that infrastructure is very likely in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

  Another problem is that settlements are few and far between when you get away from the highly populated East Coast. And that means that charging stations are also few and far between. Having sufficient (and extra redundant) charging stations would also mean the outlay of several hundred billion dollars.

  In my own experience, I can remember having to carry extra petrol between Port Hedland and Broome because of the lack of a fuel supply in that 400 mile (600km) span. And an extra 40 litres of petrol in drums was an easy fix. A portable charging station, not so much.

• by ZeroGravitas on 5/3/23, 9:14 AM

  Subtitle: "Let The Numbers Decide, With Our Free, Nerdy Excel Tool" which is a bit more enticing for HN readers.