I wouldn't bother. If you're interested in a particular EV brand, seek them out in their respective show rooms or where ever, but don't bother here.
View as you walk into the Melbourne EV Show 2023
I'm relatively interested in EVs, read about and watch YouTube videos about them (and internal combustion engine cars too), not exactly a "motoring enthusiast" as the Shannons adverts go, but I'm informed enough.
I saw an email a week or so ago from the RACV about the Melbourne EV Show at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (or Jeff's Shed as I still think of it as). I did look at the website before going, so was aware that there weren't going to be all of the major car brands there, but still hoped that there would be something of interest.
For starters it's not exactly cheap to get in $32 for an adult. Back in the day that might've been a showbag of promotional stuff or something, but now that gets you nothing except the ticket.
The show itself was in the end of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, and took up maybe a quarter of the space.
Of the major car brands there was; Peugeot, Hyundai, Kia, Polestar, GWM, Audi, plus Zagame which had; McLaren, Cupra and Fiat and Abarth on show. There was also car clubs like the Tesla Owner's Club present as well. Along with other EV things like scooters and bikes which I'm not really that interested in. Plus JAC Motors had two trucks on show.
I had a look around all the vehicles that were on show and had a sit in several of them.
One which I was interested to have a look at and sit in was the Hyundai Ioniq 5, as it's a design which has fascinated me since it came out, and because I had wanted to have a test drive in one. However according to Hyundai you can't, you have to pre-order one and then they'll let you test drive it.
But there was one here so I thought I could sit in it, and have a feel and see how the switchgear and everything felt.
So I was sat in one and put my foot on the brake as I sat in it (habit mostly), and it prominently said in the dash "key not in vehicle", so I felt safe switching the driving modes around just to see how the dash responded and how the display changed in the different driving modes. Then I thought I'd try putting it into drive to see if any of the animation changed or something, and nothing happened, obviously because the key was not in the vehicle, so I moved to get out of the vehicle, taking my foot off the brake...and then the car started to creep forwards. I pushed my foot quite quickly onto the brake and fumbled around with the gear selector to put it back into, well I couldn't find park but I put it in neutral in the panic.
Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Suddenly a rep for Hyundai appeared and I explained what happened, he hunted through the glove box, and couldn't find the key and then someone brought the key over from a locked box somewhere. He seemed as puzzled as I was, and I kept apologising for what happened.
He couldn't work it out how it managed to move without the key inside it.
But he explained "the Minister was here earlier and it must have been left in an on position". Which I guess was fortunate discovery by accident that I did it and they discovered it, and that it wasn't a child or something that was messing around with it, because it could have ended very differently.
So I guess I have test driven an Ioniq 5, all of about 5 centimetres.
So that gave me a rush of panic and adrenalin.
After that I wandered around to the other brands.
I quite like Peugeot's 508 PHEV Sportswagon, it's got the added practicality of a wagon, and is from a European car brand, and a little bit left of field being a French car brand.
Also the e-208 PHEV was also a nice looking small hatch.
The Peugeot Partner Van which I also had a sit in, that did not have a comfortable driving position. I think were I looking for a van the Ford e-Transit would be a better van. It perhaps might be okay for short drives.
Polestar 3
There were a lot of people at the Polestar stand, there was only their upcoming vehicle the Polestar 3, which is due next year. The Polestar 2 you need to go to their 'Polestar Spaces' to see.
The Polestar 3 is a small SUV type design, from what I could see it looks nice. Although from a design perspective I think I prefer the Polestar 2.
One stand that had a lot of people at it was the GWM Ora, known in some markets as the 'Ora Funky Cat', although here it's just called the Ora, but it keeps its logo of an exclamation mark. It's one of the smaller EVs and probably one of the cheapest on offer, it looked quite popular with the older people at the show.
Talk with headphones
There were talks going on at the show, with an interesting format that it was all done with wireless headphones, so you could sit there listening to the bloke and there was no loud speaker sort of arrangement, just the bloke on stage talking into a microphone and everyone sitting there watching him with headphones on. It was nice. Although I really hope (but kinda doubt) that they clean the headphones after each performance.
I was surprised by the Kia stand, the EV9 and EV6. I'd seen the EV6 before in a Ford / Kia dealership area and didn't think I lot of it. But seeing the GT-line version and sitting in it in person really changed my perspective on it, it's actually quite a nice looking vehicle. I also appreciate what Kia are going for with their EV9 SUV, it's a much more boxy sort of look, in the same sort of realm as a traditional Land Rover Defender or a Jeep Wrangler.
Audi RS e-tron GT
I was also surprised by the Audi RS e-tron GT, which I had seen in reviews both video and print, but it always looked really big in those. But in person, it's large, as it's a four-seater car, but it's not huge. There was a Porsche Taycan nearby and that did look big.
The interior of the Audi is like all Audis, it was well considered, everything and how it works for the driver has been considered.
The screens are a little smaller than some – like Polestar who go for a large centre screen and then a screen in front of the driver. But it lends itself to a driver-focused car in the Audi.
EV Land Rover
There were some interesting stands on conversions of internal combustion engine cars – Land Rovers and a conversion for a Mini.
However, having walked around the show for about an hour, I felt like I'd had my fill and it was a little bit underwhelming.
If you're interested in experiencing or looking into an EV in more detail go to that brand's car dealership or show room, 'space' as Polestar call them or 'experience centre' as BYD calls them. I think you'd get a better experience than at the EV show.