Free Meals, Free Drinks, and the World Automobile of the Yr (Kia EV3), However …

You’d have thought the Kia EV3 “launch” by a neighborhood automobile supplier at a prestigious sports activities membership would have attracted Aussie automobile consumers like flies! Nonetheless, Majella and I attended and had been stunned by how few individuals confirmed up. The occasion had been effectively marketed on Fb. We had been met on the door and issued our wristbands and a selection of drinks. Majella had purple wine; I had a beer. Waiters circulated consistently with trays of “yummies.” All very upmarket, befitting the World Automobile of the Yr.

As introduced on the 2025 New York Worldwide Auto Present, the Kia EV3 has been formally topped because the 2025 World Automobile of the Yr. Globally, Kia offered 22,000 EVs in 2024 (a 74% improve) — 3,610 had been offered in Australia.

Behind the sports activities membership, there have been 4 automobiles on show below spotlights. About 8 gross sales individuals and the supplier principal had been readily available to reply questions. At instances, the variety of salespeople nearly exceeded the variety of enquirers. The automobiles had been beautiful, the drinks and meals had been free — the place had been all of the “punters”? Solely about 20 members of the pubic confirmed up. As soon as once more, I used to be pressured to ask — what does it take to promote EVs in Australia?

Maybe the minimal from the general public was the rationale many of the salespeople spent the night chatting to one another. Majella went and sat within the automobile and performed with its “bits,” whereas I engaged with a salesman. His fundamental level of dialog was that the world wouldn’t attain “web zero” by 2050 and the primary culprits had been China and India. The batteries had been the primary perpetrator — making method an excessive amount of air pollution throughout manufacture. I instructed that for an individual making an attempt to promote electrical automobiles, that was in all probability not dialog piece. He appeared to double down and provides me extra of his “opinions” relating to renewables and EVs. One other tried to curiosity me in a PHEV Subaru.

In the meantime, Majella was exploring the automobiles. Three household teams had been clustered across the top-of-the-range mannequin — the Kia EV3 GT line. They had been attended by 3 salespeople, So, Majella checked out the bottom mannequin. A salesman approached her as she sat within the automobile. “Oh, you’ve turned it on?” he requested, stunned. She had pressed the beginning button to have the ability to take a look at the screens. She defined that it was much like the EV5 which we had checked out beforehand. He proceeded to inform Majella concerning the automobiles — totally different ranges, variations in specs between the fashions. He defined the method of charging and demonstrated the co-located Ocular cost packing containers. He did an awesome job.

I made certain the workers knew who I used to be, and handed out enterprise playing cards, encouraging them to take a look at the knowledge to be discovered on CleanTechnica.com. At the very least 3 salespeople, together with the self-styled “massive cheese,” provided to contact me the subsequent day to rearrange for a 3-day “take a look at drive” of the EV3. Not one has contacted me within the ten days since this occasion.

One of many gross sales reps advised me she drove an Atto 3, so she had some expertise with EVs. The large cheese drives a BYD Shark. “A yr in the past, I by no means would have thought I’d drive an electrical automobile,” he mentioned. He completed the anecdote by telling me with satisfaction in his voice that he has solely plugged the PHEV Shark in twice since he purchased it. He additionally advised us that the dealership will quickly be stocking the Deepal EO7 and the electrical Foton.

One salesperson advised me that the bottom mannequin Kia EV3 was the identical value as an analogous petrol model — AU$47,600. Nonetheless, a fast google search identifies the Kia Seltos as a petrol-powered related automobile. The bottom value of the Seltos is AU$30,000. So, Kia has a option to go but. The bottom Kia EV3 sells for a similar cash because the premium BYD Atto 3. The Kia has seven years guarantee in comparison with the BYD’s 6 years.

You may take a look at a technical evaluate of the Kia EV3 right here.

After chatting with the salespeople and searching on the automobiles, we settled down with our second drink and had extra “horse doovers.” We discovered ourselves sitting with two {couples} who had been excited about EVs however had been frightened of the misinformation that was floating round. As soon as once more, we discovered ourselves dispelling myths and doing the job which ought to have been carried out by the ample salespeople who had been chatting to one another close by.

One subject of dialog all of us agreed on was the truth that we’d discover the ambient lightning a distraction.

Majella defined and demonstrated PlugShare. I advised them of the lengthy journeys we had carried out in our Tesla, regardless of its six-year-old brief vary (320 km). They nonetheless appeared to suppose that they needed to “go someplace to cost.” When you’ve got your individual battery-powered pump for the tyres, you by no means must go to a servo once more — except you could have run out of milk or bread in the midst of the evening, or you could have a determined want for a chocolate milk and a toasty on the way in which to an early morning shift.

The Kia EV3 is a ravishing hi-tech driving machine. I’d be proud to personal one. Nonetheless, this expertise taught me a few issues. First, typically even free beer is not going to lure individuals to take a look at a automobile. Second, automobile salespeople nonetheless have so much to be taught in terms of promoting an EV — it’s not only a automobile, it’s a mindset and an eco-system. It was fairly the distinction to the launch of the Tesla Mannequin Y, which attracted lots of to a warehouse, with out even providing free drinks.

We want extra training? Who will present it? I’d counsel that gross sales will elevate when we now have a concerted effort all through the shopping for public: carmakers, sellers, media, salespeople, and grassroots homeowners telling their neighbours and household. Or maybe the reply is “Decrease your value or provide extra for a similar cash.”