Electric Avenue: EV Expo coming to Doncaster Hill

by JAMES POYNER
9th September 2022

MC2 BECOMES Electric Avenue this October with the Future Vehicle Expo.
Two years in the making, due to the pandemic, the combined Rotary clubs of Doncaster, Manningham, and Templestowe, with support from Manningham Council, will present an electric wonderland with display cars, seminars, vendor stands, and even an electric bike test track, managed by local electric bicycle businesses REV Bikes.
The Diary sat with expo coordinator David Rosenwax of the Rotary Club of Doncaster to discuss their forthcoming expo.
“We are asking the public, is now the right time to buy electric cars?
“We want people to be more conscious about the world and how green we can make it.
“I think we need to start looking at being greener and modifying our ways and we know there are a lot of challenges in people’s minds.
“So we are hoping the seminar speakers can talk the general public through that,” he said.
Three seminars will be chaired and panelled by industry experts throughout the day:

• Electric Vehicle Technology and Charging
• Sustainable Travel Options and Technology for In-Car Safety and Travel Information
• Automated and Driverless Vehicles and Trials, are we there yet?

Alongside the seminars will be a range of electric and vintage cars on display, including a petrol DeLorean – similar to the one used in the Back to the Future film franchise.
“We’ve got Doncaster and Warrandyte Scouts attending and they are going to run the DeLorean stand.
“I bought a Doc Emmett costume so hopefully they can make a few bob out of that by taking photos of people standing next to him and the car.”
With a range of other community groups also attending, it is hoped these groups can use the opportunity to raise awareness, and maybe vital funds, for their organisations.
One of the biggest topics of discussion surrounding electric vehicles, especially in Australia, is range, especially when electric vehicle incentives are compared to places like Europe and Scandinavia.
David said countries like Finland are only two years away from phasing out petrol vehicles, but the vast distances in Australia make the uptake of electric vehicles challenging.
“Finland is a small compact country – and Sweden and all those places – they’re great, they can do it, but they don’t have roads that go from here to Perth with only three cars on the road for the next 500 kilometres.
“We’re a large country with a population of around 25 million and maybe only eight to 12 million people own a car.
“It’s very different.”
David went on to talk about the type of infrastructure you see in more densely populated countries, of expansive service stations with banks and banks of charging booths and a fully serviced restaurant, which some argue is not practical in Australia at this time.
“There are all sorts of issues to be resolved here, but I think there’s a lot of negativity around it and I’m hoping this event might help negate some of that negativity.”
Batteries and electric cars are evolving systems and while range has greatly improved, and – in theory – Melbourne to Sydney would be possible on the same number of recharges as the equivalent tanks of fuel, access to charging points appears to be the biggest hurdle, outside of the current supply chain issues impacting many industries.
So, Mr Rosenwax suggests that maybe we skew our thinking to consider electric as an urban solution.
EV Automotive is a Queensland-based electric vehicle company specialising in electric vans; their EC-11 electric van will also be on display at the expo.
“It’s an electric one-ton van and it can do 400km [per charge] – you wouldn’t drive around the city in any one day and do that many kilometres.
“So, I am thrilled they are coming because that shows the world you can drive around the city, it seems to be a bit of an urban thing,” he said.
With everything from electric bicycles and scooters to electric cars and even solar-powered vehicles alongside some vintage petrol cars for lovers of historic vehicles, there is likely something for everyone.
For more information and to book tickets for the free seminars visit futurevehicleexpo.com.au.