Articles by Stephen Corby

Yes, you can charge an electric car at home using either a standard wall socket or a dedicated AC fast charger (often referred to generically as a ‘wallbox’ charger, although ‘Wallbox’ is an actual brand of charger). Petrol stations - those monuments to expensive fuel, overpriced junk food and restrooms that hygiene forgot - aren’t exactly at the top of anyone’s ‘must visit’ list when they leave the house (although they are handy for checking tyre pressures). Which is part of the appeal of electric vehicles (EVs): to get them all charged up and ready to silently roll, you don’t have to leave the house. Ever. Both EVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) need to be plugged in to an external power source to charge their onboard battery packs, and it’s as simple and straightforward as plugging in your mobile phone when it needs a charge. A cable, which is typically supplied when you buy an EV, but is also available from a number of specialist retailers, can be plugged in to a standard 240-volt, AC (alternating current) domestic wall socket, giving you the freedom to charge wherever you can find one (which is: almost everywhere). This is also known as Level 1 AC ‘trickle charging’, and what you’re getting power-wise is around 2.0kW of power through a normal 10-amp socket. It’s the slowest method of charging your EV, and it can take anywhere from four to 48 hours to fully charge a battery from empty, depending on how big your EV’s battery capacity is (as a rule of thumb, divide the kWh of your battery by two, and that should give you a decent indicator of many hours it’ll take to charge). The kW offered while charging is equivalent to the kilometres you’ll get from every 10 minutes of charging, so 2.0kW will give you around 2km of range for every 10 minutes you charge. Read more: Will electric cars ever be cheaper in Australia?Electricity retailers in Australia charge between 20 and 35 cents per kWh. The MG ZS EV, Australia’s cheapest electric vehicle at $44,990, plus on-road costs, has a 44.5kWh battery. If your electricity rate was 20 cents per kWh, that means it would cost a grand total of $8.90 to fully charge the battery - significantly less than the average cost of filling a tank with petrol. If your electricity at home is harnessed via renewable solar energy, congratulations: the cost to charge your EV is a delightful zero (as long as you charge it during the day, when it's sunny). Electric car charging at home in Australia can also be done via a dedicated fast charger. Often referred to as ‘Level 2 AC fast charging’, this is - you guessed it - a lot faster than AC trickle charging. AC fast chargers up the power output to 7.2kW for standard 240-volt single-phase wiring, and 22kW if you have 415-volt three-phase power at your disposal. A 7.2kW charger will give you 7.2km of range every 10 minutes, whereas the 22kW charger will give you 22km of range every 10 minutes. Again, the time it takes to charge your EV battery from empty to full entirely depends on the size of the car’s battery capacity (again, divide the battery capacity by the charging power to work it out). Before you decide which AC fast charger to get, be aware that some EVs - namely PHEVS - will only charge at a maximum rate of 3.6kW or 7.6kW, so getting a 22kW charger is a bit pointless if you own a car that can’t utilise that kind of power. Read more: Every electric car available in AustraliaA Level 2 7.2kW charger costs around $950 to $1500 plus installation, although many car companies include free installation when you purchase an EV. A Level 2 22kW charger is a little dearer, and costs around $1000 to $3000, plus installation.EVSECost: From $950Touting themselves as ‘Australia’s #1 supplier and installer of universal electric vehicle chargers’, EVSE sells a range of cables and chargers so you can take some EV power direct to your home. Its Ocular home universal charging station starts at $950 for a 7kW model, and $1150 for a 22kW model.https://evse.com.au Jet ChargeCost: From $950Jet Charge claims to be Australia's leading hardware supplier and installer of EV charging infrastructure, and it's been installing charging stations in homes since the Tesla Model S launched in Australia in 2014. Its chargers range from the 7.2kW QUBEV universal electric vehicle charger for $950, all the way up to the Wallbox Commander 2 for $2490.https://jetcharge.com.au/EV PowerhouseCost: From $899Lo and behold, another charging station company that claims to be ‘Australia's #1 EV Charging Station Distributor’. EV Powerhouse offer 7, 11 and 22kW chargers, with prices starting at $899 for the Teison Design 360 7KW Charging Station, to $2,250 for the Teison EV Wallbox PRO-22KW Smart OCPP.https://evpowerhouse.com.au/Read more: Everything you need to know about charging electric cars

Yes, there is an argument that Genesis launching a station wagon is a bit like someone attempting to make money by announcing they’ve come up with a new DVD player, or perhaps even a black and white TV.

Polestar is to Volvo what IKEA meatballs are to any other brand you might pick up at the supermarket: a superior Swedish work of art that manages to  improve upon the competition in almost every conceivable way, even if, on paper, they sound like the same thing. 

The fact there’s still no sign of flying cars outside my house, a couple of decades into the 21st century, is crushingly disappointing, but at least car boffins are sort of heading in that general direction by developing vehicles fuelled by the same stuff that powers rocket ships: hydrogen. (And, in a more Back to the Future II fashion, by effectively creating cars with their own power plants on b

Aside from the umbilical type - which do seem quite necessary - cords and cables are usually a pain, either getting in a tangle, fraying and refusing to work properly, or providing an opportunity for you to trip over something. 

BYD, or BYD Auto Co Ltd, if you want to use its full title, is a Chinese car company founded in 2003 and based in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, which makes a range of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and petrol engine vehicles, as well as buses, trucks, electric bicycles, forklifts and rechargeable batteries.

If you’re the kind of person who still hasn’t gotten their head around DVD players, and you prefer your technological advancements to arrive at the speed of a tortoise rather than a hare, the concept of hydrogen cars may cause you to pine for the days when penny-farthings ruled the roads. 

Much like the equally revered and reviled mullet haircut - business at the front, party at the back - a hybrid is a combination of two different elements that go together like Vegemite and toast. When talking cars, a hybrid is the combination of a traditional petrol or diesel-powered internal-combustion engine (ICE) with a battery-powered electric motor (or two) to drive the wheels, creating a middle-point between emissions-causing and emissions-free driving.These vehicles are often misconstrued and occasionally even advertised as 'self-charging', but be mindful these are very much just that middle-point, and will not charge their electric drivetrains without the intervention of the internal combustion drivetrain at some stage.The main benefit of a hybrid electric vehicle, in case you haven’t already guessed, is that it isn’t always using the ICE, which pleasingly cuts down both your fuel costs, and the carbon emissions that come out of your car’s tailpipe. If you’ve ever wondered “How does a hybrid car work?”, the answer is simple - although first, there are a few different types of hybrids that you need to know about. How a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) works is right there in the title: it needs to plug in to an external power source, like a wallbox charger or a domestic power socket, to charge its batteries, and is capable of driving in emissions-free EV mode (on average 50-60km, but this number can be higher or lower, depending on the size of the vehicle’s battery). There’s also what’s known as a “mild hybrid”. These have a starter-generator - an engine starter motor that also acts as an electricity generator - which is able to send energy back into the car’s battery. Although the ICE is constantly running in a mild hybrid, the electrical assistance it receives does help the car’s fuel economy (in a mild sense, of course).A standard hybrid, often known as a “series-parallel hybrid”, has a smaller battery, and it doesn’t need to plug-in to an external power source. It can typically operate at speeds of up to 40km/h, and distances of 2km, before the ICE kicks in.The battery in this type of hybrid could be seen as self-charging (see below), which typically happens via a process called “regenerative braking”. This is when kinetic energy is created as a car slows down, and that energy is harnessed and sent either directly to the electric motor that drives the wheels, or to the vehicle’s battery to be stored for future use. The ICE can also supply supplemental recharging of the battery by acting as a generator while either in motion or idling. As such, it is misleading to describe these vehicles as 'self-charging' given there is always a need for an internal combustion engine to facilitate charging of the electric drivetrain.Ever been on the road and noticed another car that seem to turn its engine off while idling at the lights, only to start back up again once it’s time to keep moving? This is because hybrids come with a stop/start function that switches the engine off when coasting slowly or when stopped, saving on fuel costs and cutting down on harmful emissions in the process. (Non-hybrids can also pull off this trick in more modern vehicles.)A common worry among drivers considering an electric vehicle (EV) is range anxiety, aka the fear the battery will run out of charge somewhere inconvenient before you’ve had a chance to recharge it. But by having an ICE to back-up the battery-powered electric motor in a hybrid, this has next to no chance of happening, as long as you’ve still got some petrol in the tank, of course (and it’s a lot easier to find a place to fill up with fuel).Electric motors produce maximum torque from zero revs, which means you get instant response and power from the throttle. The combination of ICE and electric motor means the petrol tank can be smaller and lighter, which also adds to a hybrid’s overall efficiency. Despite what impression your smug friends may be under, hybrid vehicles aren't the ultimate environmental solution. They are a big step in the right direction, but still require a lot of resources to build, and still emit some carbon and other harmful elements from their tailpipe.Hybrids are typically more expensive than equivalent ICE vehicles, but as more models enter the Australian market, prices will invariably drop, and price parity should be reached between hybrids and other EVs in the next few years. The battery packs used to power electric motors are on the heavy and large size, and they’re typically stashed in the lower rear of EVs. This can result in less luggage space in the boot, which isn’t an ideal result, especially if you have a family who like to travel as if they’re moving house every time they hop in the car. Battery packs in cars are typically guaranteed for around eight years, but the fact remains that they will degrade over time. This means that a battery pack will struggle to hold a charge more and more as the years progress, meaning more reliance on the ICE, which probably goes against why you bought a hybrid in the first place. Price: From $36,070, plus on-road costsPrice: From $35,490, plus on-road costsPrice: From $35,690, plus on-road costsPrice: From $39,990, plus on-road costsPrice: From $91,760, plus on-road costs

Whether you’re upgrading to Business Class on an international flight or forking out some extra cash at Disneyland so you can skip the lengthy ride queues, it’s nice to have an option where you can treat yourself to something special by spending some additional coin. And for Hyundai buyers, that option is Genesis.

When most people think of off-road four-wheel drives (4WDs), they tend to picture beefy, petrol or diesel-guzzling beasts that only look legitimate when equipped with winches, caked with dried mud and decorated with a constellation of bugs.