Tesla 3, Nissan LEAF, VicPol’s Tesla X…it’s all happening in EV land
While the federal election outcome could be described as a bad result for the Australian EV market, the good news seems to be updated by the minute despite the lackadaisical approach of the LNP.
On Friday, Tesla invited registered enthusiasts to start configuring their new Model 3, signalling the imminent arrival of the long-anticipated family-friendly EV to our shores. Then, the 2019 Nissan LEAF started to show up on Australia’s largest sales site, giving us a good look at the new model’s features and cost.
Then this morning, on a best drought-breaking wet start we’ve seen from our Melbourne office for many years, the announcement that Victoria Police have started looking into the feasibility of EVs for their highway patrol cars (from their media release):
From today, Victoria Police’s Road Policing Command will utilise the all-electric Tesla Model X in highway patrol operational duties, a first for an Australian police organisation.
This is major news. Not only because – as their media release points out – it’s the biggest development in road patrols since vehicles were introduced to the police service over 100 years ago, but it gives yet another tick of approval for and confidence in the range, reliability and functionality of electric vehicles in Australia.
In short, the uptake of electric vehicles continued unaffected by any obstacle or policy our federal government can throw at it.