Electric Vehicles with Aaron Jenkins

Meet Aaron, Econvantage’s General Manager of our Large Energy Users division based in Queensland.

Aaron has worked within the renewable energy and energy efficiency industry for over 15 years. Over the past 12 months Aaron has experienced driving his fair share of electric vehicles and is currently driving his 5th model, his Tesla Model 3.

Find out about Aaron’s journey so far…

What type of electric car do you drive?

I’ve been using several over the last few months as I wait for my Tesla (which has finally arrived!) In the last 12 months I have cycled through a few of the EVs in our QLD fleet as they come in. So far I’ve had an MG, Kia Nero, Hyundai Kona, Hyundai Ioniq and now Tesla Model 3.

How long have you been driving your electric car?

I’ve been in one of the EVs above for the last 12 months.

How many kilometres do you get per full charge? 

Depending on the cars it has ranged between 250km and 520km. For me, living in a rural situation with a 100km+ round trip each day I found the 250km cars (MG & Ioniq) a tad hard to use as one charge lasted 1.5 days of driving but the other 3 (Tesla, Kia and Kona) are fantastic and there is no range anxiety at all.

How much does it cost to run?

Typically it costs around 5c per kM but it can be less if I charge at our office fast charger (which uses the rooftop solar) or a bit more if I rely on rapid roadside chargers. I only really use the roadside chargers when I am on long road trips though as I have found there is no need to use them in a day to day environment.

How long does your vehicle take to charge?

This really depends on the charger I use. If I plug into the wall at home, it takes all night. If I use the office charger it takes 2-3 hours and if I use a roadside charger, around 45 minutes will get me a “full tank”.  

What is your favourite feature(s) of your EV?

They are extremely quiet and I didn’t realise how much more convenient it is to be able to charge at work or at home and never need to worry about fuel prices or lining up at a service station!

How much are you estimated to save per year due to switching to an EV?

On average I estimate I save around $11 per 100km, so for me it saves me around $2-3000 a year.

Where can you charge your EV and do you find these spots easy to come by?

For my day to day charging you can see above I mainly use our work fast charger or my home “slow charger”. Using public chargers has been pretty easy though thanks to apps like Everty that find you a charger and arrange payment all in one place.

Please sum up your overall experience/opinion on your EV.

Really good, so good we are looking at swapping the other cars in my household to electric.

Do you want to learn more about Electric Vehicle chargers?

Speak with one of our specialists today to find out how we can help you choose the right EV charger for your business.