1
00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,560
Speaker 1: Okay, so hang on before we begin, I'm going to

2
00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,240
Speaker 1: make sure I'm getting the title right. And managing director

3
00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,399
Speaker 1: and executive chairman of EV Direct Luke Todd's in the house.

4
00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,840
Speaker 2: If you want to simplify it, just go executive chairman.

5
00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,239
Speaker 1: She looks good on the LinkedIn account. It looks good,

6
00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 1: it looks real good.

7
00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,840
Speaker 2: We've got so many different companies and different structures that

8
00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:24,800
Speaker 2: it's hard to get one title.

9
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,280
Speaker 1: Well, I wanted you to talk to me like I'm

10
00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,400
Speaker 1: five years old, because Paul is the brains behind there,

11
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: and we're still waiting for him to show up. I

12
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:32,599
Speaker 1: don't think he's going.

13
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:33,000
Speaker 3: To show up.

14
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,440
Speaker 1: That's how professional he treats this thing. But I wanted

15
00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,040
Speaker 1: to get I guess, a bit of insight to what

16
00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 1: you guys do, and then we'll sort of climb from

17
00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,600
Speaker 1: there because you guys are effectively the distributor of BYD. Right.

18
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, So the story behind how BYD cars came to

19
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,040
Speaker 2: Australia was us being heavily involved. So I've been involved

20
00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,120
Speaker 2: with BID for more than ten years. The electric buses

21
00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,880
Speaker 2: that you see floating around Sydney, CBD and other places

22
00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,440
Speaker 2: was a project myself and BID worked on originally more

23
00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,520
Speaker 2: than ten years ago, and then we morphed into electric

24
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:10,360
Speaker 2: vehicles passenger vehicles, and what started the relationship and bringing

25
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,160
Speaker 2: right hand drive cars to the country was an investment

26
00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,560
Speaker 2: that our company made into BYD to convince them that

27
00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,479
Speaker 2: the right hand drive market was a viable market. Because

28
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:21,360
Speaker 2: more than ninety percent of cars around the world a

29
00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,200
Speaker 2: left hand drive, so BYD sort of evolving into the

30
00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,640
Speaker 2: behemoth that they are now, they wanted to focus on

31
00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,840
Speaker 2: the left hand drive market, but we had a strong relationship,

32
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,160
Speaker 2: so we convinced them, hey, let's look at the right

33
00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 2: hand drive market as well. We contributed quite a lot

34
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,679
Speaker 2: of money and that's why we became the exclusive distributor

35
00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,960
Speaker 2: for BYD because it was a partnership and that's how

36
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,440
Speaker 2: we built the first right hand drive cars with BYD,

37
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:51,600
Speaker 2: which is something I'm really proud of to be able

38
00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,280
Speaker 2: to work with the company that's so large and so

39
00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,480
Speaker 2: now becoming so dominant in the automotive industry, to be

40
00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,480
Speaker 2: there in the early days and convince them that right

41
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,760
Speaker 2: hand drive cars were viable. And now we've seen huge

42
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,520
Speaker 2: sales in Australia, Thailand, telling a huge amount of electric

43
00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,400
Speaker 2: vehicles and the right hand drive market is really taking

44
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:14,800
Speaker 2: off for BYD, so that's how it all started.

45
00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an incredible one, and it's one of the

46
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,800
Speaker 1: reasons why I think I really wanted to get you

47
00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,840
Speaker 1: in because BYD when they launched here, it's a company

48
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:25,480
Speaker 1: that could have gone two ways. And I mean this

49
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,560
Speaker 1: in all respect, because it feels like it could have

50
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,000
Speaker 1: been yet another Chinese brand that is new and scary

51
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,920
Speaker 1: to people, and people don't really understand it. To me,

52
00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,760
Speaker 1: it feels like a car company that has automatically come

53
00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,920
Speaker 1: in the market and deserves to have a place next

54
00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,840
Speaker 1: to the likes of Masda Toyota, like established car companies.

55
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,040
Speaker 1: Because the product the by D is putting out is

56
00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,960
Speaker 1: I think it's incredible and the figures that show and

57
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:51,760
Speaker 1: I wanted to get a bit of a backstory onto

58
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,600
Speaker 1: what ev Direct does and a little bit more about

59
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,000
Speaker 1: BYD because there's a bit of an avalanche really with

60
00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,560
Speaker 1: Chinese brands coming right, there's like what ten entering the

61
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,320
Speaker 1: market soon? Yeah, how hard is it? I'm curious how

62
00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,720
Speaker 1: hard is it to deal with a foreign EV company

63
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:10,480
Speaker 1: from China?

64
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,240
Speaker 2: So I'm pretty fortunate. I've been working with Chinese companies

65
00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,680
Speaker 2: for more than twenty years, whether it be buses or

66
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,560
Speaker 2: whatever I did prior to what I'm doing now. So

67
00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 2: I've had a lot of experience working with different companies

68
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,840
Speaker 2: in China, some very difficult to work with, some amazing

69
00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,639
Speaker 2: to work with, and BYD fortunately is one of those

70
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,680
Speaker 2: companies that have been really easy to work with over

71
00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,520
Speaker 2: the years. They're very passionate, driven by a really strong

72
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,880
Speaker 2: founder and chairman who's doing wonderful things and he's literally

73
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,839
Speaker 2: changing the automotive industry right around the world. So there's

74
00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,400
Speaker 2: nothing's ever perfect. There's always challenges, but I've been really

75
00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,680
Speaker 2: fortunate because I think my experience for one thing, but

76
00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,560
Speaker 2: the ability just to have a good, healthy relationship with

77
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,440
Speaker 2: BID at all levels, whether it ri chairmen or people

78
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 2: that are on the factory factory floor, it's a good relationship,

79
00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,440
Speaker 2: it's healthy, and that's been made it quite easy for us.

80
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,000
Speaker 1: What are some of the challenges and sort of requirements

81
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,400
Speaker 1: you would face with something like this.

82
00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,440
Speaker 2: Look, we've had a lot of challenges along the way

83
00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 2: that have all been solvable, but one of the key

84
00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,479
Speaker 2: challenges is the amount of regulation that is in Australia.

85
00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,520
Speaker 2: So it's a good thing, but to bring a vehicle.

86
00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,000
Speaker 2: Import a vehicle into Australia is actually one of the

87
00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,159
Speaker 2: hardest countries in the world because the standards are so high,

88
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,240
Speaker 2: whether it be ADR compliance and cap rating. As I said,

89
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,320
Speaker 2: it's a really good thing because the benchmark is really high,

90
00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,839
Speaker 2: but to get an ADR compliant five stary nd cap

91
00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,960
Speaker 2: vehicle into Australia is extremely difficult. So if I was

92
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:54,880
Speaker 2: to talk about some of the major challenges that we've

93
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,880
Speaker 2: had is ensuring that right through the production process and

94
00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,760
Speaker 2: then bring in the vehicle on to market that everything

95
00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,279
Speaker 2: has been compliant with Australian standards, as said, the highest

96
00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:09,320
Speaker 2: probably in the world, and the results of vent wonderful.

97
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,880
Speaker 2: We've now got three vehicles with five starr ing cap

98
00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,960
Speaker 2: ratings or within the last two years and as it

99
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,440
Speaker 2: probably where and cap ratings sort of roll over every

100
00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,000
Speaker 2: six years, so you've got to keep current with the

101
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,040
Speaker 2: up to date safety standards so that means our vehicles

102
00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,599
Speaker 2: are really really safe. And so to answer your question,

103
00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,200
Speaker 2: that's probably been the toughest challenge getting the behemoth of

104
00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,120
Speaker 2: company that it is BYD, with the hundreds of literally

105
00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:39,600
Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of engineers working for BYD, getting them

106
00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,599
Speaker 2: together to fully understand what's required for Australia.

107
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,960
Speaker 1: Why BYD for you guys, like, why did you scope

108
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:45,839
Speaker 1: them out? Do you think so?

109
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,040
Speaker 2: My history was building the first electric bus for Australia,

110
00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,720
Speaker 2: and the only company that I could find anywhere in

111
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,760
Speaker 2: the world that could do that in partnership with the

112
00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,720
Speaker 2: company that I owned at the time was BYD, So

113
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:04,360
Speaker 2: really flexible company, but really powerful and capable company. So

114
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,559
Speaker 2: the relationship start off with buses. And then what really

115
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,320
Speaker 2: sparked everything was in roughly twenty eighteen, Wolfgang Egger, the

116
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,360
Speaker 2: head designer now for BYD, left outing and came across

117
00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 2: to BYD and brought a whole heap of really talented

118
00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,599
Speaker 2: European designers with him, and that was the moment that

119
00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,200
Speaker 2: we realized that there's something special going on with BYD.

120
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:28,600
Speaker 2: I spent a bit of time a Woofgang when he

121
00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,400
Speaker 2: first joined, and I could just see the switch inside

122
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:36,320
Speaker 2: BYD that historically been a battery manufacturer, buses, trucks, and

123
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:40,320
Speaker 2: then to have this really high quality designer, automotive designer

124
00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,000
Speaker 2: joined the company, you could feel the air of change

125
00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,200
Speaker 2: and that was the moment that we sort of started

126
00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 2: talking about how do we get right hand drives for Australia.

127
00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,200
Speaker 1: He's an interesting guy and I saw him on a

128
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,440
Speaker 1: recent reel that you guys shared. I mean, I can

129
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,719
Speaker 1: imagine that he would be this sort of type that

130
00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:01,080
Speaker 1: would immediately change the ethos within a company. He really

131
00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,080
Speaker 1: does treat design like a language. That the way he

132
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,640
Speaker 1: talks about it with such fluency and passion is incredible.

133
00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,960
Speaker 1: And actually I don't know if it's the real that

134
00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,880
Speaker 1: I saw. I think it had possibly a concept that

135
00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,080
Speaker 1: you guys that byd could be. Do you know what

136
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:18,440
Speaker 1: I'm talking about? Have you seen it?

137
00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 2: There's something on whilst you're finding that. One of the

138
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,800
Speaker 2: things that most impressed me with when Wolfgen came, he

139
00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 2: designed what's called the E Seed, which is a one

140
00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,880
Speaker 2: of a one and that was his signature vehicle when

141
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,240
Speaker 2: he first joined. And I presume he had some apprehensions

142
00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,280
Speaker 2: leaving out in the powerhouse that it is around the world,

143
00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,840
Speaker 2: coming to at the time a car company that was

144
00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,480
Speaker 2: making cars that I know, we're near the quality and

145
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,720
Speaker 2: level that they are now. So he designed the E

146
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,480
Speaker 2: Seed and that's sort of his signature. You talk about

147
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 2: the fluency and his craft work, that was his masterpiece

148
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,280
Speaker 2: as far as saying, okay, I'm here, this is what

149
00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,320
Speaker 2: we're going to build from here on in, and that

150
00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,280
Speaker 2: one of ones sits in headquarters in Shenzen in China.

151
00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,240
Speaker 1: Okay, so here it is here.

152
00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,520
Speaker 2: It's it's nice to have somebody asked me anything about

153
00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,320
Speaker 2: but like everyone just asks about the un at the moment.

154
00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:12,880
Speaker 2: So this is good.

155
00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeahs on the questionnaire. But like you look

156
00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,440
Speaker 1: at something like this, you can see it, you can

157
00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,080
Speaker 1: touch it, and you can feel it.

158
00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,320
Speaker 2: I mean just his accent. He's a talented guy that

159
00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,000
Speaker 2: this video is actually about four years old.

160
00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've got a way behind you. Don't just shout it.

161
00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:35,600
Speaker 1: So I was like, oh, this must have been here, but.

162
00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:36,880
Speaker 2: It's still relevant for today.

163
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 1: So how we talks Chinese culture into our design, this

164
00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:43,240
Speaker 1: makes it unique.

165
00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:44,880
Speaker 2: Yeah that's he said.

166
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, contribution, I mean that's stunning.

167
00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,800
Speaker 2: That's when you see that in the flesh. That vehicle

168
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,480
Speaker 2: is just a standout. It's and what you talk about

169
00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:01,559
Speaker 2: the I think the passion and it really I think

170
00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 2: he's an artist's you know, he's a he's obviously really

171
00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,559
Speaker 2: talented in engineering and building cars, but what he speaks

172
00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,160
Speaker 2: about there is the passion about bringing the Chinese culture,

173
00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,360
Speaker 2: which is a thousand plus years old into automotive industry.

174
00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,800
Speaker 2: Now that that's powerful. And when you combine the two,

175
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,320
Speaker 2: the history as well as the high tech that's coming

176
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,960
Speaker 2: out of out of predominantly Southern China, Shen's End region,

177
00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,880
Speaker 2: and then you start to overlap designers from Europe that

178
00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,000
Speaker 2: are of the top standard. That's why we've got great

179
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,360
Speaker 2: cars within the Bord range.

180
00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:40,920
Speaker 1: Done this down for me right, and I genuinely mean

181
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,040
Speaker 1: this because by the time we're finished with this podcast

182
00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,720
Speaker 1: and when it gets released, I guarantee you I'm going

183
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,320
Speaker 1: to get a lot of emails from old people, primarily

184
00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,200
Speaker 1: because Paul's a bit of a scene with the MILFs,

185
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,520
Speaker 1: but yeah, we'll get We'll get a lot of old

186
00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,840
Speaker 1: people like bloody Chinese cars you should be supporting to

187
00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 1: Australian made orange and the Fooge. What is the negativity

188
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,560
Speaker 1: do you think around Chinese important cars? And I guess

189
00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,280
Speaker 1: reliability in the past has been something, but I.

190
00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,640
Speaker 2: Think the negativity is exactly as I have said. There's a

191
00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:20,200
Speaker 2: lot of people inside that are car enthusiasts and holden forward.

192
00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,840
Speaker 2: There's such a rivalry and a history of Australian made vehicles.

193
00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,520
Speaker 2: It then evolved of many years you saw the Japanese

194
00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:32,200
Speaker 2: start to make really good quality cars Korea and now

195
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,280
Speaker 2: it's China's turn. So I think the way I answer it,

196
00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:37,840
Speaker 2: in a short way of answering it is, if you

197
00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,319
Speaker 2: want the best quality EV or a new energy vehicle

198
00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:43,960
Speaker 2: at the moment, you go to where they're making the

199
00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,439
Speaker 2: best quality vehicles. Ten twenty years ago, Germany was making

200
00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,400
Speaker 2: the best quality diesel and petrol vehicles because they had

201
00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,280
Speaker 2: the best quality engineers, and automotive vehicles at the time

202
00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,520
Speaker 2: were highly engineered, probably over engineered. But now if you're

203
00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,960
Speaker 2: looking for evs or new energy vehicles, the best quality

204
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,800
Speaker 2: vehicles are coming out of China, and we're quite passionate

205
00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,040
Speaker 2: about that, and there's a lot of passionate people that

206
00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,280
Speaker 2: speak very highly of our vehicles. So I think when

207
00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,360
Speaker 2: you have sort of create that bit of a clash

208
00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,520
Speaker 2: that there's a lot of people that have historic ties

209
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,320
Speaker 2: to hold and forward or whatever it may be in Australia,

210
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:23,320
Speaker 2: but we haven't built cars here for ages. So it's

211
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,640
Speaker 2: all about getting the best quality vehicles now to Australia

212
00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,079
Speaker 2: at the most affordable price and that's how we've been

213
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,760
Speaker 2: so successful with inside ev Direct in partnership with BYD SO.

214
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,800
Speaker 2: I can't answer fully why the negativity, but when you

215
00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,920
Speaker 2: look at the vehicles, when you fully understand the quality,

216
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,480
Speaker 2: the safety availability as well, we have stock available in

217
00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 2: most of our models, there really is no better place

218
00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,319
Speaker 2: to be sourcing vehicles from than Southern China at the moment.

219
00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:54,840
Speaker 1: I kind of also feel like it's such an important

220
00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,880
Speaker 1: move for this country that you can effectively poort a

221
00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,679
Speaker 1: family and look times it's half that you can put

222
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:08,360
Speaker 1: a family into a hybrid card now the Sea Line

223
00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,720
Speaker 1: six for fifty between fifty and fifty five thousand a

224
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,880
Speaker 1: hybrid car one thousand k's quality. It does make me

225
00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 1: wonder like I don't understand why people are so negative

226
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:21,839
Speaker 1: about something that's doing such a positive Do you know

227
00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:22,280
Speaker 1: what I mean?

228
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,440
Speaker 2: Well, what we say is just test drive our vehicles

229
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,760
Speaker 2: and then go and test drive some of the competitors

230
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,120
Speaker 2: vehicles that are on the market at the moment, whether

231
00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,920
Speaker 2: they be similar price or more more expensive. One thing

232
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,280
Speaker 2: that and you've touched on it. The cost of living

233
00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,400
Speaker 2: and the affordability is something that we've been dedicated and

234
00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,280
Speaker 2: focused on from day one, and that's what I'm most

235
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,360
Speaker 2: passionate about the ability for somebody to if they're in

236
00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,040
Speaker 2: the market, to buy a high quality, new and needy vehicle,

237
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,679
Speaker 2: whether it be a plug in hybrid like the Sea

238
00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,000
Speaker 2: Line six or a full electric and start saving money

239
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,079
Speaker 2: from day one. And all of our customers that speak

240
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,240
Speaker 2: to us tell us about how much they're saving, and

241
00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,160
Speaker 2: that to me is a byproduct, but it's actually become

242
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,880
Speaker 2: pretty much our core mission now. The more people that

243
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,160
Speaker 2: drive electric vehicles, it's good for the environment, but we

244
00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,760
Speaker 2: won't need to go into that too much because there's

245
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,880
Speaker 2: been so much talk about what evs can do for

246
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,440
Speaker 2: the environment, which is great, but it's now about cost

247
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,440
Speaker 2: of living and the ability to save money. So from

248
00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,680
Speaker 2: day one, when you're driving a BYD or potentially in

249
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,000
Speaker 2: other brands new Enedy vehicle, you're saving money, which is

250
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:31,800
Speaker 2: great and every dollar counts.

251
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,080
Speaker 1: At the moment, where do you see new I guess

252
00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,000
Speaker 1: prices for evs going in Australia.

253
00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,280
Speaker 2: So we've probably done a really good job, probably too

254
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,800
Speaker 2: good a job of bringing high quality vehicles at the

255
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,480
Speaker 2: prices that we have BYD vehicles that we have in Australia.

256
00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,000
Speaker 2: If you compare to what the priced in Europe or

257
00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,960
Speaker 2: other regions, they're a lot higher. So the affordability in

258
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,319
Speaker 2: Australia is actually the best in the world for BYD

259
00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,280
Speaker 2: vehicles outside of China. So that's something that we're again

260
00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,199
Speaker 2: proud of. So when we talk about future pricing, we're

261
00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,840
Speaker 2: very responsible to make sure that the pricing that we

262
00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,800
Speaker 2: come in is the best price we can do from

263
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,480
Speaker 2: day one, so we don't end up slashing prices or discounting.

264
00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:16,560
Speaker 2: And we have a fixed price model as well, so

265
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:18,640
Speaker 2: if you go into any store, you're going to be

266
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,280
Speaker 2: paying the same prices, no hackling, none of that old

267
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 2: rubbish that used to some people love. But the majority

268
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,920
Speaker 2: of customers these days want to know that they're getting

269
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,280
Speaker 2: the best value for money and they don't have to

270
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,720
Speaker 2: go to three or four different dealers to haggle.

271
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would argue that the old dealership is could

272
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:42,120
Speaker 1: be a dying breed. I think. I think showrooms and

273
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,960
Speaker 1: websites are working really well in collaboration with each other.

274
00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,720
Speaker 1: Like what you guys do, you're effectively ordering off a website,

275
00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,920
Speaker 1: you can go check out the car and in a showroom.

276
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,960
Speaker 1: I think the honeymoon period that the car industry got

277
00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,640
Speaker 1: post COVID or during COVID, with especially with secondhand cars,

278
00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,240
Speaker 1: but new cars as well. I think caused a lot

279
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,760
Speaker 1: of cockiness in dealerships. If I'm honest, I've seen it

280
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 1: a lot, and I think it's still there.

281
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:06,320
Speaker 3: It is.

282
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,360
Speaker 1: You're right, It's one of those things that there really

283
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,120
Speaker 1: is a cockiness. Like you can walk into a showroom

284
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:19,000
Speaker 1: and I'm talking like anyone from a prestige car European

285
00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:24,200
Speaker 1: car to an everyday consumable brand. You'll get a dealer

286
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,880
Speaker 1: that will barely even want appeal his ass off the

287
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,080
Speaker 1: couch to come over and chat. It's just like, you know,

288
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:31,760
Speaker 1: what do you do? What are you even doing here?

289
00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:33,720
Speaker 1: What do you want? Like as soon as you talk

290
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:34,960
Speaker 1: deals with them, they just.

291
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,920
Speaker 2: Well come to us in a minute. What we try

292
00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,000
Speaker 2: and do it with at B y D. But what

293
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,400
Speaker 2: do you talk about with the current dealerships and the

294
00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,880
Speaker 2: honeymoon period? There has been a honeymoon period the last

295
00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,120
Speaker 2: two years. A large proportion of the deliveries that you

296
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:53,440
Speaker 2: see in the vfax or whichever wherever you see it

297
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,160
Speaker 2: historic orders that have been on back order, so a

298
00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,400
Speaker 2: lot of stock hasn't been available especially if we talk

299
00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,600
Speaker 2: about toy to Wrap four as a comparatible car to

300
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,840
Speaker 2: our Sea Line six, people are still waiting. So there's

301
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,320
Speaker 2: people still waiting that the put orders in a couple

302
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,000
Speaker 2: of years ago, but we've got Sea Line six, which

303
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:13,960
Speaker 2: we believe is a far better vehicle in stock available.

304
00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:18,160
Speaker 2: So when you talk about that cockiness, potentially it's because

305
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,040
Speaker 2: there were so many orders that were already in the

306
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,720
Speaker 2: bank and properly some of those salespeople who have already

307
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:28,920
Speaker 2: received commission, So the delivery has been happening over the

308
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,800
Speaker 2: last couple of years. So it's a really interesting area

309
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,400
Speaker 2: to be in now because everybody's now sort of starting

310
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,560
Speaker 2: to catch up on the deliveries, so it's changing and

311
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,640
Speaker 2: the dealership. From day one, why our company's called ev

312
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,480
Speaker 2: Direct is we wanted to cut out all the layers,

313
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,120
Speaker 2: all the junk. When we first did our research, there

314
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,680
Speaker 2: was actually seventeen layers between when a car was built

315
00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,200
Speaker 2: and when it got to a consumer's hands, so you

316
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,000
Speaker 2: think seventeen times that somebody's taking a cut or making money,

317
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,800
Speaker 2: So we wanted to cut out as much as we could. Originally,

318
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,280
Speaker 2: when we first launched, we wanted to be fully online

319
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:08,280
Speaker 2: digital process and keep the vehicles as low as we

320
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,920
Speaker 2: could price wise. We listened to our customers and that's

321
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,680
Speaker 2: why we formed the partnership with Egager's Automotive and opened

322
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,720
Speaker 2: up a retail network right across Australia.

323
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,400
Speaker 1: So, sorry to interrupt, that's a new acquisition, right.

324
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,800
Speaker 2: So Eager's Automotive have been our retail partner now for

325
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:28,959
Speaker 2: about a year and a half and that allowed us

326
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,080
Speaker 2: to expand our footprint. But still today, roughly forty percent

327
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,639
Speaker 2: of our sales are still done on a mobile phone

328
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,640
Speaker 2: or a device, So people may be going into the stores,

329
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,280
Speaker 2: but the actual sale, they're not sitting down with a

330
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,080
Speaker 2: salesperson and going through that painful process of sign here,

331
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,119
Speaker 2: sign here. People are going online, putting down one thousand

332
00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,359
Speaker 2: dollars refundable deposit and doing the order themselves in the

333
00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,000
Speaker 2: comfort of their own home, which we really like. So

334
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,200
Speaker 2: proof is in the putting the digital concept and cutting

335
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,720
Speaker 2: out a lot of those layers, and the evolution of

336
00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,760
Speaker 2: the dealership is proven in what we've been able to

337
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,280
Speaker 2: achieve in the last two and a half years.

338
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,720
Speaker 1: Just to sort of get a bit of backstory, Eggers

339
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,720
Speaker 1: is similar to you guys, right, similar to ev Direct.

340
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,600
Speaker 1: Are they MOLL like a distribution dealership.

341
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,959
Speaker 2: Or Apegas are the largest retail retailer of automotive vehicles

342
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,080
Speaker 2: in Australia, so they represent multiple brands and they're a retailer,

343
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,560
Speaker 2: so they're a fantastic partner of ours. We have some

344
00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,879
Speaker 2: really great partners, so Eager's Automotive, my Car and a

345
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,320
Speaker 2: few others, but Eagers are our retail partners. We work

346
00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,159
Speaker 2: with them. So the people that you see inside of

347
00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:40,480
Speaker 2: our experience centers or megastore in Alexandria, they're Egers or

348
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,600
Speaker 2: our joint venture that we have with Eigers, their stuff

349
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,520
Speaker 2: but representing our brand, and that's allowed us to grow

350
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:48,600
Speaker 2: as quickly as we have.

351
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,560
Speaker 1: So it's like a partnership with you guys and BYD.

352
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's a joint venture endorsed by b WED.

353
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,919
Speaker 1: Yeah. We touched on earlier ten new car brands coming

354
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,720
Speaker 1: to Australia. What's the feeling on that and I guess,

355
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,840
Speaker 1: how do you think it's going to affect the sort

356
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:04,920
Speaker 1: of sales in Australia.

357
00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:07,680
Speaker 2: I actually think it's a really exciting thing to see

358
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,400
Speaker 2: some of the other brands that I've seen in China,

359
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,159
Speaker 2: for many years come to Australia. The reality is, and

360
00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,159
Speaker 2: i'll just talk highly about BYD here for a second.

361
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,840
Speaker 2: BYD is the dominant player anywhere that you go, whether

362
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,960
Speaker 2: it be China or the expansion into European or soon

363
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:29,040
Speaker 2: to be American markets. The reason being is that they

364
00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,159
Speaker 2: are totally vertically integrated companies, so they build everything, the batteries,

365
00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,240
Speaker 2: all of the components are built by b YD. A

366
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,040
Speaker 2: lot of the other car companies that you're seeing don't

367
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,879
Speaker 2: have that capability. So I'm excited about the competition, and

368
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,800
Speaker 2: there are going to be some other vehicles that people

369
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,359
Speaker 2: can compare to by DS, but we have total confidence

370
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,680
Speaker 2: with the amount of vehicles that and different ranges range,

371
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 2: so different models that we're bringing to the country that

372
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,080
Speaker 2: by D will be the standout. But as I said,

373
00:19:58,119 --> 00:19:59,720
Speaker 2: I'm really excited to see some of the other brands

374
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,120
Speaker 2: bring bring vehicles in. What they have to do though,

375
00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,160
Speaker 2: is they have to make sure they've got the network right.

376
00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,760
Speaker 2: They've got to have not just copy and paste what

377
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,879
Speaker 2: we did, because there's been many, many years of effort

378
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:15,640
Speaker 2: coming to what we've now delivered.

379
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, but also you guys are a unique standalone by

380
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,800
Speaker 1: yourself I think. I think you've got to expect a

381
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,280
Speaker 1: bit of that though, right the competition.

382
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:30,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we expect it. And as I said, yeah,

383
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,000
Speaker 2: there's copycatting, yeah, of course. And that's a bit of

384
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,439
Speaker 2: a compliment as well, because we have new ground in

385
00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,159
Speaker 2: the automotive industry and very proud that we've had the

386
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,320
Speaker 2: most successful new car launch of any brand ever in

387
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,520
Speaker 2: Australia's history. So if a few people copy that's that's

388
00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:48,480
Speaker 2: a compliment.

389
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,639
Speaker 1: Would you guys take on any other ev brands or

390
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,040
Speaker 1: is it like I'm not sure how it works forgive

391
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:58,520
Speaker 1: me if that's a weird question. But obviously you've got

392
00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,760
Speaker 1: to deal with by D, but could have essentially, could

393
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:03,600
Speaker 1: you take on any other brands or it doesn't work

394
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:03,919
Speaker 1: like that.

395
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,280
Speaker 2: Look, we want to stay with BID and be exclusive

396
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:13,160
Speaker 2: with BID. Once you start to see what's happening around

397
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,359
Speaker 2: the world and how strong BD is as far as

398
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,439
Speaker 2: their production, their quality, and what cars are coming in

399
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,920
Speaker 2: the future, BDS is our partner. We've been as I said,

400
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,280
Speaker 2: I've been working on and off in different various roles

401
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,320
Speaker 2: with BID for more than ten years, not directly for BID,

402
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,600
Speaker 2: but as a partner of BID. So I'm very loyal

403
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 2: and we have no interest at the moment to look

404
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 2: at other brands, but we welcome other brands into the country.

405
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: The card game for you, like this is, I mean,

406
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: this is the industry that you're in. Is that sort

407
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,359
Speaker 1: of something you always looked at? I mean, I know

408
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,640
Speaker 1: you sort of background was batteries, buses, all that sort

409
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,600
Speaker 1: of stuff. Did you ever think it was like, oh,

410
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:53,919
Speaker 1: I'm going to work in the car industry?

411
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:54,399
Speaker 3: Like whatever?

412
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 1: Have you got like an early memory of where you thought?

413
00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:58,919
Speaker 1: The way you kind of grew up is where you

414
00:21:58,960 --> 00:21:59,400
Speaker 1: are now?

415
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,639
Speaker 2: Never ever did I think I'd be leading the byd

416
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,360
Speaker 2: whatever you want to call it in Australia. There's amazing

417
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,000
Speaker 2: success story. The moment for me though, was, as I said,

418
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 2: when I met Wolfgang for the first time and I

419
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 2: sensed the air of change inside b i D. I

420
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 2: saw some of the early concept cars that he was

421
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 2: working on. That was a moment that I thought, this

422
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,439
Speaker 2: is something that I want to want to participate in.

423
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,520
Speaker 2: And I've been very fortunate, fortunate to be on that

424
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 2: journey with b ID since then.

425
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 1: By the way, have you forgive me about like past history?

426
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 1: I'd like to know a little bit about that. But

427
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: were you ever did you have a work you didn't

428
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: work with Paul? Did you because Paul I thought Paul

429
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: knew you. I guess it's from just being there in

430
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 1: the industry, But no, I was just curious to sort

431
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,160
Speaker 1: of see a little bit about your background.

432
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,040
Speaker 2: Like my background is running bus companies. That's what I've

433
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 2: been doing the majority of my life. I sold out

434
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 2: of a company roughly six years ago, so I no

435
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 2: longer do that and fully focus on on BYD and

436
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,480
Speaker 2: EV Direct. But we've done a lot in the few

437
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,160
Speaker 2: years that we've been very active in the car car industry.

438
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's an interesting history, and I think it's

439
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 2: a very good thing that I don't have some of

440
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:19,000
Speaker 2: the historic bad things that happen inside the industry as well.

441
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 2: So I've come in with fresh pair of eyes.

442
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 1: Sorry, what do you mean by that?

443
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,760
Speaker 2: The old way of doing things, So going into a dealer,

444
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 2: standing in front of somebody trying to sell you what

445
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:31,679
Speaker 2: they want to sell you, rather.

446
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 3: Than what do you want to buy?

447
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,439
Speaker 2: People dressed in suits and this is what you're going

448
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,439
Speaker 2: to buy. Then you get moved onto the finance department,

449
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 2: you get moved onto all of the upselling. So I've

450
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,439
Speaker 2: had a very narrow vision of what I want to

451
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 2: achieve and I think that's been part of our success story.

452
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 2: That I've been not part of the old industry. It's

453
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 2: caused me a lot of headaches because I've come up.

454
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 2: I have to battle quite a lot with some of

455
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 2: the old, traditional, old traditional ways. But fortunately I've been

456
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,720
Speaker 2: I guess, stubborn enough to fight through that and create

457
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 2: a model that has resulted in high quality, affordable cars

458
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 2: for more Australians next twelve months.

459
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 1: I guess what are you hoping for and what are

460
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,760
Speaker 1: you excited about it as well? I know that. Look

461
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 1: I can't remember the exact figure, but I know the

462
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,399
Speaker 1: July figures for you were was incredible.

463
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, twenty five thousand since we started two years ago.

464
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,880
Speaker 1: So we delivered it as of July. Right.

465
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 2: We delivered our first at OH three roughly September October

466
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,840
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. So within less than two years, we've

467
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 2: delivered more than twenty five thousand cars. As I said before,

468
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 2: that's the Australia's most successful new car launch, new brand

469
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 2: in Australia's history. So that's we're very brad but in

470
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:53,679
Speaker 2: July there was about seventeen seventeen hundred odd vehicles delivered,

471
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 2: which was about seventy seven percent increase for US year

472
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 2: on year. So when you ask you about what I'm

473
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 2: going excited about the next year, we want a double

474
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,440
Speaker 2: double our sales year on year going forward, and we're

475
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 2: at about seventy odd percent. So we've still got a

476
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 2: little bit of work to do to get together, but

477
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,159
Speaker 2: we've got the product, we've got the stock availability, and

478
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,800
Speaker 2: we're growing and growing with more stores, more digital digital capabilities.

479
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 2: And then also we're launching which is a separate business

480
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 2: but a pet project of mine, ev Switch, which is

481
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 2: getting more charges out into this Draine landscape. So I've

482
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 2: committed to one hundred thousand low waded charger. So these

483
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,720
Speaker 2: are seven killer what charges. They're not the high speed

484
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 2: ones that you see on the highway, but these are

485
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,399
Speaker 2: charges that we could have down in the car park downstairs,

486
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:45,880
Speaker 2: you can have at home, you can have it work,

487
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 2: you can have at sports fields. And what we've done

488
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 2: inside ev Switch is bringing a product that was being

489
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,680
Speaker 2: around eleven hundred dollars, brought a comparatible product.

490
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 3: To market for four hundred and ninety nine dollars.

491
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,280
Speaker 2: So, as I said, it's a pet project. It's not

492
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 2: a company that's set up to make money. The profit

493
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 2: margin is very very narrow. But what we want to

494
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 2: see is one hundred thousand new serving killer what high

495
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 2: quality charges into the Australian landscape, and once that happens,

496
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 2: you just watch what happens. And as far as how

497
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 2: many people will want to switch to evs because at

498
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,160
Speaker 2: the moment charging we can't not talk about cars without

499
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:27,159
Speaker 2: charging in the plug in hybrid that's a different story.

500
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 2: But if you've got an ev you need a charger

501
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 2: and a lot of people put them in at home

502
00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,520
Speaker 2: or or they've got them in at work. But so

503
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 2: far it's been really expensive and we want to make

504
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,439
Speaker 2: it more cost effective and that's what we've done with

505
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 2: ev Switch. It's a fully digital store, so we've cut

506
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 2: all the costs.

507
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 3: Out so you go online.

508
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 2: We're actually launching later this week and our commitment is

509
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand charges in the Australian landscape and doing

510
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 2: it at a very competitive price.

511
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 1: We can to know your thoughts on how we've launched

512
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: again evs. As a country, we've seen like a lot

513
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 1: of reliability issues with charging stations charge Fox in my

514
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,160
Speaker 1: view just I don't know, there's never really tech support.

515
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: They're always breaking down. I feel like Tesla have and

516
00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:18,680
Speaker 1: kudos where they've got it right. They've got it right

517
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: over there with their with their charging stations and with

518
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: their with the Tesla network. You sort of have to

519
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: appreciate what they're doing there with with that. But yeah,

520
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 1: what's your view on the current state of charging stations

521
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:32,159
Speaker 1: across Australia.

522
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 2: Well, firstly, as you said, congratulations to Tesla. They've done

523
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,320
Speaker 2: a really good job. They've they've still got Australia's biggest

524
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 2: network of charges and if you go to the US,

525
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 2: they've they've got charges.

526
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,680
Speaker 3: Everywhere, so that they were smart.

527
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 2: If you've got electric hor you need, you need charges

528
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 2: and they invested a lot of money in putting charges in.

529
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 2: When you talk about some of the other companies that

530
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,000
Speaker 2: are operating in Australia, one of the downfalls is that

531
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,879
Speaker 2: a lot of the charges that you see installed wherever

532
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 2: they may be, that a lot of it's grant money

533
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:02,480
Speaker 2: coming from the government.

534
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's my point, Like they're getting government money

535
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,400
Speaker 1: for this sort of stuff, effectively tax payer money. So

536
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,120
Speaker 1: in that regard if they're putting out a shonky product,

537
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: surely they should be answerable answerable for that sort of thing,

538
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:15,920
Speaker 1: do you know what I mean?

539
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I couldn't agree more so. The reality is, if

540
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 2: you're putting in a charger, you've got to maintain it.

541
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 3: It's just like us with our vehicles.

542
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 2: We've got to set up a service network, and we've

543
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,439
Speaker 2: done that very successfully, because you can't just sell a

544
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 2: car and then expect not to service it. It's not

545
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 2: all of the charging company's fault though. The reality is

546
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 2: Australia is a huge country with a tiny population, so

547
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:43,280
Speaker 2: trying to put a lot of charges that service highways

548
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 2: in somewhat remote locations. I recently took a trip up

549
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 2: from Sydney to the Hunter Valley in my Seal performance

550
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 2: and I was doing it as a bit of a

551
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 2: test to see what charges were available, which were working,

552
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: and which weren't working. When I was, let's say, pleasantly

553
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 2: surprised because the majority of charges.

554
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 3: Along the route I didn't need to charge.

555
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 2: By the way, because it's seal comfortably gets a Sydney

556
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 2: hundred alien back.

557
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 1: Which is more than more than four hundred CA's.

558
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 2: It's definitely more than four hundred case, so it was

559
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 2: comfortable for me. But the experience I found was that

560
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 2: majority of charges are working, but there are a lot

561
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 2: of charges in remote locations that just aren't working. And

562
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 2: there's nothing worse when you're planning your trip and you

563
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 2: come to a charger that's either occupied or it's not working.

564
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 2: So there's a long way to go for Australia to

565
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,800
Speaker 2: get a full network, but we'll never fully get a

566
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 2: total network because as I said before, huge country, small population.

567
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 2: So that's why evy switch in my view, is so important,

568
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 2: because we need charges where people live, where they go

569
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 2: sport on the weekend or whatever it may be.

570
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, neighborhood charges effectively, there's quite a few around my

571
00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,440
Speaker 1: area and I have to say to me, that changed

572
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 1: a game living in lank Cove and there's kind of

573
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 1: exactly what you guys are doing. There's all these small

574
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 1: little I call them top ups because you know you

575
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: can plug it there for three hours and you know,

576
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: depending on the car, you'll probably get about thirty forty percent.

577
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 1: Like you know, for me, a lot of so a

578
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: lot just on that point. So a lot of journalists

579
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,520
Speaker 1: and a lot of commentators talk about you've got to

580
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: have high speed charging, you've got to have the quickest

581
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,480
Speaker 1: charging that you can have. But the reality is the

582
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: average Australian drives thirty two kilometers a day, so the

583
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 1: top up charging and having more of these seven killer

584
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 1: what charges which will fill a car in about eight

585
00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: to nine hours, but having the ability to plug in

586
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: wherever you go, whether it be work or home or

587
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 1: sports field, shopping center. That is the way that you'll

588
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,600
Speaker 1: see a huge uptake of evs and more people able

589
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 1: to save money by switching to an EV by putting

590
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: a base I call it a baseload. You've got to

591
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: have the baseload first, so get a lot of seven

592
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 1: killer what charges, and then the highway charges. They're really

593
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 1: necessary if you're wanting to do long, long trips. But

594
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,680
Speaker 1: your average person has a driving profile and it's as

595
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 1: I said, thirty two kilometers a day and generally they

596
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: drive to the same location back and forth. So let's

597
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 1: get as many charges as we can right across the country.

598
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 1: I think there's probably a few things to learn about

599
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 1: how we use a phone too, because in that respective,

600
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,200
Speaker 1: people want like quick fast charging. I guess it's similar

601
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,600
Speaker 1: to plugging your phone in at the end of the day,

602
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: you know, you use like maybe say eighty percent of

603
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 1: your phone, plug it in, you know, all that sort

604
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 1: of stuff, and then you might want you might want

605
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 1: to sort of consider that every couple of days with

606
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 1: a car, Like if I'm lucky enough to have a

607
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,479
Speaker 1: home sort of set up, plug the car in, all

608
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 1: good to go. I think if you're parking to do

609
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,120
Speaker 1: the shopping, to make people for coffee, to take the

610
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 1: kids to sport, to do whatever it is, that makes

611
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: a lot of sense just to have easy accessible charging.

612
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, the analogy of a mobile phone is really good

613
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 2: because every I think everyone's got a mobile phone these days.

614
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 2: Charging your phone is very similar to charging your car.

615
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 2: So if you've got a home set up like you've

616
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,320
Speaker 2: got an fortunately I've got as well, I'll plug my

617
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,240
Speaker 2: cur in over the weekend generally and charge during the

618
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 2: day with the solar, and I only charge once a week,

619
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,520
Speaker 2: but if I need to, there's plenty of locations that

620
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:21,920
Speaker 2: I know of, obviously because of the industry that I'm in,

621
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 2: that I can top up charging. So it's very similar

622
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 2: to a phone. People just get used to it, and

623
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 2: as long as there's enough locations that you can top

624
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,719
Speaker 2: up your vehicle. It will give more customers the complete

625
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 2: confidence to switch across to the Utopia, which is a

626
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,080
Speaker 2: full ev which is the best way to save the

627
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:39,960
Speaker 2: most amount of money.

628
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 1: What do you say to people who criticize I guess

629
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 1: battery degeneration. Like we've seen the Tesla, especially at the

630
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: second hand market for that particular brand just plummet and

631
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: they are heavily discounting their cars. It's an interesting one

632
00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 1: because people aren't wrong when they have concerns about degeneration

633
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 1: of batteries. Sorry, but I was going to say that.

634
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,080
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like sort of in the future.

635
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: Obviously we're not there yet. As time goes on, that

636
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 1: sort of thing will get a lot. How do I

637
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 1: put this user friendly if you like? But yeah, I

638
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: was just interested to get your point on what to

639
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,560
Speaker 1: get your view on degeneration of batteries.

640
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,480
Speaker 2: So fortunately I represent b D who has the highest

641
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 2: quality battery in the world, which is the blade battery,

642
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 2: not just say the most safe battery. So all those

643
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,840
Speaker 2: myths about batteries catching on fire literally the bad blade battery,

644
00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 2: I can't do that. It's highly safe, but it also

645
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 2: has the lowest degeneration of any battery in our comparable vehicles.

646
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 2: So the the degeneration.

647
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,200
Speaker 1: I've really got to like, I've got to concentrate, esus.

648
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,680
Speaker 2: Let me concentrate and say properly the degeneration of batteries.

649
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 2: If you look three to five years ago, yes, there

650
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,920
Speaker 2: was a bit of a problem batteries degenerate, but the

651
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,320
Speaker 2: technologies evolve so quickly, and with a bad battery you'll

652
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:10,160
Speaker 2: have a there we go again. A degeneration of less

653
00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 2: than three or four percent over a ten to fifteen

654
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,880
Speaker 2: year period. It is really really low when you look

655
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 2: at the actual stats of the current vehicles that we're

656
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,240
Speaker 2: putting on the market now. So that's one of the myths,

657
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:26,080
Speaker 2: and I love myth busting. There are brands that have

658
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,040
Speaker 2: batteries that do degenerate a lot quicker, but I can

659
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,319
Speaker 2: be very confident in the bad quality and what I

660
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:38,160
Speaker 2: know about how slowly they actually degenerate that we have.

661
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:39,160
Speaker 2: Let's stop saying.

662
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 1: That bloody work, well, let's just call it battery. How

663
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 1: Having said that, there, I mean there are real there

664
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,879
Speaker 1: are real concerns. I mean, would you expect that thing

665
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: to that issue to be even like you say, three

666
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:56,080
Speaker 1: four percent. Would you expect that to become more user

667
00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 1: friendly in the future. I mean, could we get to

668
00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,440
Speaker 1: a stage where batteries could be swapped out, swapped in

669
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:02,480
Speaker 1: all that sort of stuff.

670
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 2: Look, that technology is around now, so if you go

671
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 2: to China, there's some brands that have batteries swapping. To me,

672
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:11,360
Speaker 2: that's just a very inconvenient and clunky way of doing things.

673
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,759
Speaker 2: With the battery that we have in our vehicles, you

674
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:16,440
Speaker 2: don't need to even think about it. And when I

675
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,360
Speaker 2: talk about three or four percent, I'm talking have a

676
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 2: ten to fifteen year period, so it's not even noticeable

677
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 2: to the person that holds on. If you do hold

678
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,600
Speaker 2: onto your calf fifteen years, you're going to notice a

679
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 2: very small amount of degeneration. But it's technology, so everything

680
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,399
Speaker 2: is always changing. Everything's slowly getting better. So yes, there

681
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 2: will be an evolution and batteries at some point will

682
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,480
Speaker 2: probably go longer, have longer range. But it's also a

683
00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 2: balance between cost and the battery itself. So there are

684
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:53,680
Speaker 2: batteries on the market now that have a much longer

685
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,120
Speaker 2: range and you can drive more than a thousand kilometers,

686
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,839
Speaker 2: but the cost of those batteries high and you've got

687
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,280
Speaker 2: to get the price right as well as what's affordable.

688
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: That Seal sorry, the Seal Performance, that's your daily yes,

689
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:15,560
Speaker 1: so excellent car, that fantastic, arguably one of my favorite

690
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 1: EV's ever. It's just incredible. I'm not like literally pissing

691
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 1: in your pocket because you're here and I know this

692
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,440
Speaker 1: whole sort of thing does feel a bit like that.

693
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,160
Speaker 1: But a lot of these performance evs, especially like if

694
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:29,799
Speaker 1: you look at the cheaper ones that are coming out

695
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 1: right now, I won't name names that's below me mg xpower,

696
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,279
Speaker 1: but a lot of them, I mean go great in

697
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 1: a straight line fast, Like if you want to talk

698
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,600
Speaker 1: figure zero to one hundred in austraight line, they can

699
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:45,880
Speaker 1: do that. I think the Seal Performance is one of

700
00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,720
Speaker 1: the few that just handles bloody well like it really does.

701
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,279
Speaker 2: The car itself is actually too good for the price.

702
00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:53,839
Speaker 3: Point that it's at.

703
00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,960
Speaker 2: It's one of our challenges that we've got this wonderful

704
00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 2: car that is affordable. The the entry model Seal is

705
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,280
Speaker 2: under fifty thousand dollars, the Performance is around sixty eight thousand.

706
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:10,279
Speaker 2: Now that vehicle should be thirty forty fifty percent higher

707
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 2: than at a price point in what it is. So

708
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,200
Speaker 2: we've got a really strong advantage on the price. But

709
00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 2: one of the really good things, and what you talk

710
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 2: about performance, it's the first of the bid products that

711
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,719
Speaker 2: we've brought to market that has the cell to body technology.

712
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 2: So what that is is the battery is actually integrated

713
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:28,800
Speaker 2: into the chassis. So it's not like you build the

714
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,439
Speaker 2: Chazzy and then stick a battery on top, which makes

715
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,960
Speaker 2: it difficult to get performance right. And this is another

716
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 2: wonderful thing from Wolfganger and the design team that built

717
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,360
Speaker 2: this cell to body technology. So you've got the battery

718
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:44,440
Speaker 2: integrated into the chassis, which creates the lower center of

719
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 2: gravity and that allows the vehicle to get the performance

720
00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,160
Speaker 2: that it does. And it's a true sports car. It

721
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,560
Speaker 2: drives and handles unbelievably well. And I don't want to

722
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 2: sound like I'm selling it up, but to drive it

723
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,120
Speaker 2: every day is a pleasure. It is a wonderful vehicle,

724
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,440
Speaker 2: and it's got a great driving range as well, like

725
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,719
Speaker 2: fire and sixty kilmeters. The one I've got on a

726
00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:10,800
Speaker 2: single charge is amazing, and not to one hundred and

727
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 2: three point eight, not that I would do that and

728
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,479
Speaker 2: lose points on my license because I'm getting low, but no.

729
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:17,319
Speaker 1: Neither.

730
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 2: It's nice to be able to pull up to a

731
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 2: set of lights and know that whatever cars next to

732
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 2: you can you can take them.

733
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:25,880
Speaker 1: You can have some fun with. Actually, before we wrap,

734
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:28,160
Speaker 1: I did want to I'd be interested to kind of

735
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:33,040
Speaker 1: give love to not so much competitors, but just sort

736
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 1: of car brands, whether it be classic cars or something

737
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,560
Speaker 1: like that. Have you ever sort of thought, geez, you'd

738
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 1: love to drive an old Porsche or you know there

739
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: is there anything like that.

740
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,400
Speaker 2: I've been so focused on the current technology.

741
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,400
Speaker 1: He's giving me, the politicians, and I guess, I guess

742
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 1: I've given you. I've given you a good run.

743
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 2: I've I've become a bit of a car enthusia. So

744
00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 2: there's some v eights around that are still nice as collectors' items,

745
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 2: but not as not asaily drive. But yeah, I won't

746
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:04,320
Speaker 2: name mother brands or else I might get in trouble myself,

747
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 2: but fair enough they was a true politician's answer. Sorry,

748
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 2: but that one.

749
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,719
Speaker 1: That really was. But no, it's fine, back, We'll take it, sir.

750
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,479
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming in, Thanks pleasure, thanks for hanging out,

751
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,399
Speaker 1: and yeah, congrats on I guess all the success of

752
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,759
Speaker 1: what you guys have managed to achieve in the last

753
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,240
Speaker 1: couple of years. It's yeah, it's it's abiramble and it's

754
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,240
Speaker 1: it's cool to see, like just as a car enthusiast. Yeah,

755
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 1: I think the products you guys are distributing is they're

756
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:37,640
Speaker 1: great and that's why I want to get you in

757
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:39,080
Speaker 1: and congrats on all the success.

758
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 2: Thank you, Cordie. It's been absolute pleasure coming and I'm

759
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 2: glad that you love our cars. And for anybody that

760
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 2: is looking for a car, all we us is going

761
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 2: to strive. Just go and have a look and feel

762
00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 2: for yourself and we don't have high pressure selling. It's

763
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 2: all about letting the car do the talking.