EV Autoshow breaks Sydney motor expo drought
BY PETER BARNWELL | 12th Nov 2024
FOLLOWING a similar event in Melbourne a few months ago, it was the turn of New South Wales to host the inaugural “Sydney International EV Autoshow” at the ICC convention centre in Darling Harbour, promoted as an opportunity for car-makers to display their electrified vehicles and for potential buyers to view, touch and take one for a test drive.
The compact event, attended by a claimed 30,000+ patrons, was hampered by the non-attendance of more than half the electric vehicle manufacturers operating in Australia among them being Cadillac, Genesis, Hyundai, MG (though a Cyberster was on display), Mini, Nissan, Polestar, Renault, Skoda, and VW.
On the other side of the coin, OEMs in attendance included: Audi, BYD, Chery, Cupra, Deepal, Ford, GWM, Kia, Peugeot, Smart, Toyota, Volvo, Xpeng, and Zeekr.
Like the Cyberster, some brands were “represented” by display cars only, including Tesla and BMW, the former with Model Y and Model 3 variants, the latter with its i5 M60, iX1 iX7 and iX2.
Other models in the venue but did not appear to be on corporate stands.
Ray Evans, the CEO of promoter Future Drive on behalf of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association said in an opening address that the event was 18 months in the planning and was the first for Sydney which marked the end of a motor show drought spanning 12 years in the city.
“There has been lots of change since then and the time is right to showcase new technology in an event like this,” he said.
“We want to educate people attending the show, many of whom are likely to buy an EV in the next six months.
“More than 20 OEMs have “showrooms” with their vehicles on display so the show should help consumers make a choice.
An adjunct to the vehicles on display and available for test driving were a number of peripheral providers ranging from Hankook with its BEV-specific tyres to charging “solutions” and networks.
Electric conversion companies displayed battery-powered classics including a Porsche 356 and Type 3 VW while rental, subscription and finance companies touted for business.
Segway Ninebot scooters took advantage of the Sydney event to show its extensive range of electric two-wheelers following the recent relaxation of laws relating their public use in the host state.
The test drive facility, that ran like clockwork from an underground carpark, was well patronised as potential buyers took advantage of first-hand experience with the vehicles they were interested in.
Hundreds of test drives took place over the three days of the show which OEM representatives told GoAuto had a good conversion rate into actual sales.
The show was fleshed out with some interesting inclusions such as the 2011 Tesla Roadster, an ANCAP crash-tested GWM Cannon Alpha hybrid ute and a new MG Cyberster electric sportscar in the middle of the convention centre.
But the focus was on Chinese newcomers Deepal, Zeekr and Xpeng which presented their vehicles including sleek new models which hit the market this month or next.
They all showed their intent with vehicles slated to arrive here soon including Deepal exhibiting its S07 medium coupe-SUV (on sale now), G318 large 4x4, the intriguing E07 fastback that offers a ute-like cargo space, the L07 large hatchback and the S05 small coupe-SUV (all available overseas with battery electric or hybrid drivelines).
From Xpeng were the G6 medium SUV (on sale now), the G9 large coupe-SUV and X9 people mover (both under evaluation but strongly coveted by Aussie Xpeng distributor TrueEV) and of course the centrepiece being an X2 ‘flying car’.
Zeekr stole the show with its 001 FR that rocks a monumental 930kW/1280Nm from its quad-motor electric drive system, said to be capable of pushing the 'shooting brake’ from 0-100km/h in a claimed 2.02 seconds – at a speculated “AMG target price” according to a spokesperson on the Zeekr stand.
The premium Geely-owned brand showed the Zeekr X SUV (available now) and other interesting vehicles from its inventory including the Zeekr 009 people mover and the sleek Zeekr Luxury Sedan (originally called 007 before owners of the James Bond movie franchise stepped in) that is claimed to hit triple digits in less than three seconds courtesy of a 475kW/710Nm driveline that is also said to be capable of 870km on a charge.
Others on show and available for test drives were Kia’s EV5, EV6 and EV9 in various trim levels, the Volvo C40 and EX30, Peugeot’s E-Partner and E-Expert vans in company with an E-308 hatch, various Ford Mustang Mach-E variants along with a sneak preview of the incoming Ranger PHEV Stormtrak (but not to test drive).
Audi’s stand featured its incoming Q6 E-Tron and SQ6 E-Tron medium SUVs, the Q4 E-Tron slamm SUV and the RS E-Tron GT sportscar.
Smart took the opportunity to push its #1 and #3 small SUV models while GWM displayed its Tank 500 hybrid large SUV in company with other electrified models in its stable.
Chery chimed in with the new Omoda E5 small electric SUV and other models, Cupra had its new Tavascan electric medium coupe-SUV on display alongside the Born small electric hatch while the BYD stand featured the Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid and Atto 3 battery electric medium SUVs.
The next EV show to be promoted by Future Drive will be in June 2025 in Melbourne.