Thanks for the great feedback everybody! Glad you enjoyed the video - it was all for a bit of fun. A lot of you asked about the hybrid support car. It was carrying a stack of gear and spare wheels - it used 7.8L/100km over 1429km. Total cost for fuel was $211, which was around $.147/km.

I feel a lot of people will unnecessarily spend a lot more on food whilst waiting longer at charge up stations with an EV.

The Q5 managed to do 1429km on a single fuel tank? That's remarkable, even if we take into account the slow speed. Great comparison vid guys

I'm not sure the results were surprising - long trip with highway driving puts the combustion car in its most efficient scenario against an EV in its least efficient scenario - 1400km in city driving would be interesting. It was an enjoyable video and good to see there is actually enough chargers to do the trip albeit the infrastructure still has a long way to go. Maybe a Sydney to Brisbane run up the Pacific Highway where charger accessibility should be a bit better......

Thanks boys, that looked like a lot of fun but I would like to see you do a similar run without traveling at reduced speed to save fuel or battery range in those vehicles. Give us a real life comparison of them at normal highway speed and without trying to better each other.

Surely had you gone the more popular main route you'd have had to wait for other EV drivers to charge their cars and you'd have lost by a long, long way.

Great video and very surprising result. It was a great way to show the price difference if you both take about the same amount of time.

I have to admit I was stunned at the cost of charging. Almost the same as the diesel. I expected $30-50.

Next one should be an urban challenge between these cars. It'd be interesting to quantify the difference between a diesel and an EV when stop start driving is involved.

Love the video, the banter, the format, more of these please :) And shocked at the recharge prices of EV's. Perhaps an every day, one month around the home and the city comparison costs video. EV vs Petrol vs Deisel. Let's find the true cost of EV.

Enjoyed this video. One thing to remember is that Alborz probably paid $50 in road tax with the fuel cost that supposedly goes towards maintaining the roads we use. Nothing from EV’s as yet. Still to come 😁

I loved the two of you working together. Would love to see more videos like this. I think you really could have made it with more details as you went. The time cost etc. Thanks

This is on another level, highly entertaining. That banana headshot had me in stitches 😂

Great video clearly demonstrates in simple stats that ice and ev vehicles excel in different ways it's hard to beat an ice on the hwy, but ev will dominate in stop start city commutes. So buy in line with what U do most often and I'll be happy! This video shows the penalty for an ev in hwy use, which is still not quite ideal yet.

Every diesel car owner I talked with love their diesols. great MPG, longevity, and low cost. To bad they are sold in CA anymore.

A similar experiment was done in the UK by a journalist on his KZfaq channel. It turned out that the electric was even more expensive by £5 compared to the diesel. So with fuel prices and electric costs, buying an ev doesn't make economical sense. As for me I will stick with combustion engines until the foreseeable future

This video highlights some of the issues you can run into with an EV. Unplanned problems like, closed roads, detours, traffic jams and lack of fast charging etc. Ive had an EV but i sold it, went back to Diesel. I planned a trip where i always had 5-10% range spare. At the first charger, none of the 6 fast chargers worked due software problems/connection to the internet or whatever the heck it was. I therefore had to detour to a small town with a super slow 22kW AC charger to get enough juice for the next stop. When i reach the 2nd charge stop, there was a 1 hour queue as all the stalls where taken with a large queue expanding by the minute. Last charge stop was the worst, the planned charger had been removed and was not updated as been removed, i searched all over town for a charger but all of them where either offline or having connection issue/app issues - after an hour searching i found a motel that had mercy on me and let my charge without staying at the motal. I have never been so frustrated in my entire life and after 1 year i could not take it anymore and sold it. I would split the blame into these categories - 10% buggy car software, 20% bad range and 70% terrible/unreliable chargers and lack there of.

I was a bit annoyed that you guys were supposed to be doing a comparison, yet ran lower tyre pressures in the EV, and drove much faster overall (I do realise to make up time). Both economy killing things. I was surprised at how much the DC fast charging cost added up. I'm a bit spoilt with an early Tesla with free Supercharging and almost exclusively charge at home, so I've only needed to use a paid public DC once. So far I've spent $15 in fast charging in 5 years.

Next - what would it be like stopping at charging points during peak holiday seasons? I wonder how long the overall travel time will be if there are many people in the qeue for a charge up?

Great comparison… would be great to see a Sydney to Brisbane one with both cars filling up/charging whenever they need to.

A more useful comparison would be based on how people actually use their vehicles (vast majority of distance covered is not on 800 road trips) and using hone as well as commercial charging. The results would be more useful

Really great comparison Paul. I have owned diesel vehicles since 2006 purely as I love the grunt of the Torque in the Diesel engines and the range in fuel that is achieved compared to petrol vehicles. I would eventually like to upgrade to an EV SUV in time, but I think our governments need to invest in better infrastructure especially regionally. Living in Bendigo and doing a lot of country driving, there is not enough stability yet with various options with some towns only having 1 charger….I bet it would suck if you had to recharge in a town and the one and only charger wasn’t working. It was great to see your comparison that highlights an efficient Diesel engine driven for ‘range’ compared to ‘performance’ will give you a comparable price margin on the 2 vehicles. Given the diesel was on par to the EV without the need to wait around for the car to recharge and the need to have to plan your trip based on where you can recharge, it seems the diesel was the winner for the day. Given the price differential between an EV and a Diesel SUV, I reckon it will be at least 5-10 years before I buy an EV and I hope in that time their is a boost to the infrastructure regionally. Thanks for doing this review in real time. I will be hoping to see more EV improvements in the future. Jeff

Good video team. EVs, at this point in time, are most suitable for short-distance urban driving, not traversing the vast expanse that is Australia's regions. As car markets evolve overtime to incorporate more and more EVs, it will be the cities where it is more pronounced.

Wow! The EV6 was still cheaper than the Q5 even though the most expensive fast-chargers were used and the Q5 was driven at a snail's pace. Plus the EV6 would be cleaner, quieter, safer, more performance and better tech 😁

Would've liked if both of them are doing representative method of comparison. If one is trying to save as much fuel compared to how they normally would, and the other trying to go as far as the battery level would allow, it's not representative. We won't know how much fuel it really takes, or how much longer do they need to stay to charge relatively comfortably. I mean, there's a lot to do in long distance driving besides just driving.

Diesel is not dying!

I enjoyed this video. I was surprised to see the cost of the EV was almost the same as the diesel, even with the diesel at the high price its at. I would've assumed it would have been cheaper.

Incredible efficiency from the Audi

Paul, I just used ABRP for the old shits and giggles - here's a plan I did using the AWD version of the Kia EV6 Long Range . Trip starting in Dubbo, NSW and ending in Brisbane. QLD. Route is Dubbo to Brisbane - a distance of 885km. With a starting SoC of 100%, this trip would require 2 charging stops, both of which are at NRMA chargers. Charging stop 1 is in Tamworth - arrival SoC is 25%. Time to charge from 25% to 90% is one hour. Charge rate 47.3kWh . Charging stop 2 is at Tenterfield - arrival SoC is 10%. Time to charge from 10% to 70% is 56 minutes. Charge rate 44.1kWh. Arrival at Brisbane with 10% charge left..... in all fairness, no real range anxiety on this trip!

After watching your stories when you were filming this, I'm very surprised with the results. Great video, guys

The original primary rationale for EVs was the lower emissions (daily use) impact to the environment. This test demonstrates the importance of unbiased and fact-based cradle to grave information to assess the true value of transitioning to EV vehicles. I am a strong proponent of no banning of petrol vehicles but allowing both to exist as options. Over time cost savings and other factors will determine the best option. Great review.

Throwing a banana through the window of a moving car, the funniest thing I've seen for a long time.

How much time was spent charging the EV6?

Great comparison guys. What were the stats on the hybrid?

Yay! Greyhound! ❤ Oh, yeah, great video too guys, very helpful. While ICEs are on their way out, it seems diesel still remains viable option for longer runs, for now at least! I guess around home the EV would be better cost wise.

Imagine turning up to a charging station and there was 10 people waiting in line 😂🤣.

Both cars should have been made to use recommended tyre pressures, real world test should mean real world driving conditions..

I note that the costs of charging were frequently 60c/kWh or 40c/kWh which is much more than is paid for charging at home, particularly for people charging from their own solar. So the cost of a long trip is comparable with a very fuel efficient diesel. However, diesels are acknowledged to be environmentally damaging due to their non-CO2 emissions. Driving around town which is where most driving is done by most people is much cheaper with EVs. My EV costs me about $3 per 100km compared with $14 for my 2017 Corolla when petrol is cheap up to $18 when petrol is more expensive.

This was an interesting one guys, but highlights differences between countries. The Audi Q5 achieved 60.5mpg (imperial) which is remarkable but what would the results have been with a more economic vehicle? For comparison, here in the UK I have achieved a best figure of 83.3mpg in my Octavia 2.0TDI at 110kph which equates to 3.39lt/100km so your journey would have taken 48.13lt at a cost of A$101.02. There are only 14 350kw charging stations in the UK at present, the rest are mainly 50kw so you can see that charging is a much slower process for now, your 70kw charge at 350 in theory takes 12 minutes, but on a 50kw charge would take 85 minutes.

You guys should do same but with an Hybrid (ie. RAV4s) vs full Petrol vehicle, Sydney to Adelaide.. like to see how much will the cost..😊

Amazing video again Paul! Thanks for that as always! The next one I reckon you should show us is an everyday driving in city in peak hour commuting, school drop offs & pick ups, etc. It would be a good comparison as ev seems to perform better in a heavy traffic environment.

The real benefit of EVs is home charging. Using an EV day to day for work and school runs, it should be way cheaper than an ICE vehicle

I used to have a plugin hybrid with 50km (35-40 real) range and a 2500km trip I could do in 20-22hrs. Which is doable in one go. Over this year I've been chatting with EV users whilst travelling because I wanted to replace it with an EV. Given current infrastructure, using something like the EV6 I would have to add anything between 3hrs (if only fast charging) to 7hrs (more realistic as the routes don't always have fast charging). This would turn a trip into almost 30hrs and a not very feasible endeavour to do in one go. In the end I went for another plugin hybrid with 100km of range, which so far looks like the best of both worlds for my use case.

EVs are good for slow driving. City and dense area driving. While diesel is good for long journey. That's why EVs are very popular in crowded country like China

In regards to time spent charging, on this trip can you list out the charge locations, time spent charging and $ spent at each stop? Maybe even with your charge % from start and end of each charge.

Good report CarExpert, Alborz is a natural and Paul is a gifted presenter. It's more costly to charge an EV off EVIE, Chargefox, Tesla than it is from home. Much more (around 4 x times more) so if you're not doing long road trips EVs are vastly cheaper to run. No mention of emissions as a metric of performance. As the planet warms up due to greenhouse gasses this needs be part of the narrative IMHO.

I would like to see a hybrid VS Tesla mainly because I would like to see if having the tesla superchargers is more convenient. Love the content!

You asked! This was only entertainment, not really useful... Please do a proper real-world test: Optimal route (fastest), both cars going the speed limit/following traffic, aircon on etc. All of the things we use while actually driving, and LIKE we drive. Then the question is: How much time is it still faster to use ICE compared to new charging options (350 kW) and then you can also add cost.

I enjoyed the banter more than anything, very entertaining! When you factor in maintenance costs between the 2 along with all of the info from this test, it seems like a wash at the moment. As EV's continue to evolve I won't be surprised to see them overtake ICE. Either way, I am seriously considering an EV for my next vehicle because they will inevitably become the norm.

As someone who's not commuting to work everyday, doesn't have solar panels, loves long road trips and likes to go off the beaten path, EVs don't make much sense as a daily driver. But if I had solar panels, and had to commute daily, a cheaper/smaller ev as a second car would probably be cheaper. I'm just not sure about the long term costs, and if there is an expensive battery replacement a few years down the line. Or the cheaper regular running costs will balance it out in the long run.

There is a reason trucks use diesel. It's incredibly efficient at highway speeds. Ev are the opposite. Efficient in city driving and inefficient at highway driving. It really depends how often you do long trips. I personally enjoy long trips in an ev. Charging breaks up the trip and super charging is fast. I have done a few long road trips using the tesla network and it is confidence inspiring. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the other charging networks. However, if you live in nsw you will be pleased to hear a massive investment in an open charging network.. coming soon... it's impressive.

I think this is a little misleading. Certainly EV fast charging on the highways isn't cheap, but there doesn't seem to be an acknowledgement that charging at home is MUCH cheaper, which if you owned an EV is likely what you'd be doing most - not relevant specifically for the highway test, but since EVs copped a sledge at the end about being more expensive to buy and run, it might've been nice to mention the equation changes substantially when you don't need to rely on the public chargers, which for many will be most of the time.

Lets be honest, that distance is a one stop for most current cars. Plus 2 1/2hrs quicker. But if you're on holidays, then not a biggie. Says a lot that current EV networks still need investment. Nice work guys.

More Alborz

The main issues here are the cost (EV isn’t cheap enough yet in Australia - needs to be half the cost that it was) and due to range and charging options, you can’t take side roads or back roads and go exploring off the main roads which I always like to do. On a trip we don’t often just drive the shortest or fastest route. Also that trip would have cost me about $230 of premium 95 petrol in my 4cyl Turbo SUV. A detour in an EV could easily be disastrous too depending how far you have to detour and how much you charged it. Like fuel - it’s never sensible to only put in “just enough” which the EV route planners seem to offer.

This shows the problem with EVs here in Straya. We have less charging stations and expensive charging stations. With no rebates buying an electric car, people will not choose EVs any time soon.

Hi I'm going to be a bit of a Karen on this one. First its a great comparison if you are after one of these cars and only want to drive a 90km/h on our national highways getting up everybody's nose i.e the Audi. In real life the Audi would be doing 120 km/h and using more fuel and the overall cost would be more, also the cost of the diesel you quote at 2.03 seems very cheap to what i see in Canberra/South coast which is more like 2.34 which again would make the Audi more expensive. I don't know if i am missing the point of the comparison but if most people are going to buy a EV they are replacing a older car that they own, for the real world cheaper running costs. For me personally i have replaced my 2.0L turbo petrol engine car with a Tesla model Y. In this comparison the fuel bill for my ICE car would have been double to what you state as my ICE car gets 9l/100km and have only ever used 98 octane in it. The other item you don't mention is time, how long was the trip, how long did you stop for charging at each charge point. Again real world, the ICE car would be much quicker in time as is wouldn't have to fill up as often but would cost more in fuel whereas the EV car would take longer due to the charging spots but defiantly cheaper Yes it a bit of a rant but I don't think this comparison is anywhere near a real world scenario To me every time someone does a ICE car to EV car comparison they always get the most modern fuel efficient ICE car they can, where is the comparison with a Mercedes AMG, Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon and Kia EV 6 or any EV car???

Good luck doing Adelaide to Perth in an EV!

Okay, this was the video the world was waiting for. Even though this was made in Australia, this video is going to spark debates world over. Great job dude. Liked & Subscribed!

No surprise for me. Diesel is still the cheapest, more reliable, and faster way to travel. And, I would also say, the cleanest and more environmental frendly.

Great video. Would like to see a video between Kia and model 3 or y with supercharger network comparison. Did the Kia kw/100 improve?

this is the best real world drive comparison. Absolutely loved it

Definitely want to see a real world comparison where there is no trying to conserve fuel or energy and then see how it works out in terms of cost and time to complete the journey. No unnecessary pity stops.

Nice video Paul, with very surprising results. Now will be liter harder for pro electric car. In my opinion, electric car is it a pleasure to drive: quiet, instant torque, very easy to over take , one pedal drive and very cheap to run if you charge at home, perfect for work commuter and pleasure trips. But for business trips , always I use the diesel one, is no stress about charging infrastructure. I was a diesel man and now I own one electric car together with a diesel car.

Again, amazing content guys! I'd like to have seen some type of emissions savings/output totals as another type of comparison

Great video guys, I think it’s worth saying that most people do a trip on this scale fairly infrequently with the bulk of ev charging normally being done in peoples homes at a much lower $ rate or even free from solar. This is where the real cost savings come versus petrol or diesel.

Excellent video!! So much fun and also kind off informative haha. Keep it up

Road trips represent about 1% of my car usage. Can you do daily city traffic next?

I’d hate to ever be gridlocked on a motorway in an EV.

Cost saving of ev is daily driving and charging at home

So, how much TIME did you spend charging the EV? The ICE car spent NO time refuelling until the end, when it would take maybe 5 minutes to fill up? I drive Melbourne/Sydney/Melbourne and fuel up in Sydney and when I get back to Melbourne. No need to stop along the way so it is an 8 hour trip each way. In an EV, how long would it take, including maybe waiting to use a recharger?

Great video. Highlights that the result somewhat depends how you set things up at the start and that 50kW chargers just don't cut it.

What was the consumption of the camera car for comparison?

I had no idea charging an EV was so costly. At least it is if you want it charged at the faster rate.

2006-2010 I ran a dual fuel V8 Berlina wagon. On a highway run she'd do 14L/100km on gas so I'd figure it would of done that trip on 200 litres of gas which would be less than $150 on today's prices. 5 minute refill every 400km all the while carrying a full tank of petrol in reserve. It was a good way to travel.

Impressive video, thank you so much for the production. 1. EVs can perform long distance driving. 2. EVs aren't necessarily cheaper to run, assuming charging isn't free. If you think it's better for the environment, please take how the electricity is produced in the country into consideration as well. 3. EVs can actually be charged anywhere even from a wall plug! If EVs really run out of juice, knock on a household and hope for the best.

Range anxiety plays a massive factor on my decision to orchard an EV. For that distance you would require and additional 5-6 hrs for charging

Great video. I'd love to see a similar video, but measuring the cost comparison for a young family picking up kids from school, going to woolies, driving to work. Lots of short trips around the city or town. Thanks Paul & team

I love that Google earth bird view. Fantastic!!

Our 10 year old Audi Q5 (2 litre) between Sydney & Brisbane did 6.6litres/100km last week.(less than 1 tank of fuel). This included Aircon and 2 people with cruise control at the speed limit usually 110km. (Engine had been adjusted since Audi emissions scandal). You guys got 4.8litres/100km. I wonder how much we'd save if we had driven slower ?

Interesting test. It really highlights that in Australia we should be promoting plugin hybrids to allow hassle free travels anywhere outside city's. Untill EV’s can travel at least 500 to 600km at highway speeds in all conditions, they are not really an option for travelling in Australia. Great in the city but then they should be a much smaller vehicle to save all that extra energy. We really have lost the plot on this issue.

Love the comparison and would like to see more of them between petrol efficiency and EV's I drive from Orange to Port Macquarie nonstop in my ancient petrol 2019 2.5ltr manual Mazda 3 Astina hatch averaging 5.8l/100k in 6hr45min and have more fun than a crappy EV

What a surprise the road was closed! No wonder I've given up long distance driving in this country. I'll really miss the beautiful 100K gum trees along the way.

Great video Paul. Although when I have been Road tripping in my Tesla, I will stay in hotels overnight where I can plug in and charge for free, which reduces the cost significantly. Also I believe the model 3 is probably one of the most efficient kilowatts per mile electric vehicles on the market. I love to see A road trip from Sydney to Perth in a electric vehicle. Maybe something to consider

Not a true test

I did Stirling ( first town at the top of the freeway ) to Bundabah ( near Tea Gardens ) every 2 months for 3 years. Around 1700kms each way. Would leave at 3am ( to avoid roos ) Took about 16 hours and did it straight through with a quick pit stop at wagga wagga. First in a lexus LS430 which got me to wagga on one tank around 900kms. Later in the LS600 which also got me to wagga on one tank. Of 91.Loved that drive. Even leaving Bundabah at 3am I would hit traffic around 4.30am on the outskirts of Hornsby. Lots of traffic. Never used tollways. Then once you hit Liverpool on the way home it was more or less 110kph and no traffic for 14 hours. A great drive. A really great drive. Fun fact. Adjacent to that little section of freeway is the original road which was used by F1 cars during Adeaide grand prix days. Race to the summit.

Thanks Paul, great to see another video debunking the EV hyper status. Curious nonetheless to see the figures from the hybrid vehicle??

Gr8 video; and being a Tesla owner, I always ask, “what’s the hurry?” My memories are of my Dad insisting he had to make good time: and that was always stressful.

"I'm not even speeding that much either" X-D

It costs more to run, it takes longer to fill and you pay more for the car? How is that the future. We people here in a third world country are doomed. Back to horses and bicycles I guess, not too bad now that I mentioned it. 👍👌

Majority of Ev’s are charged at home from solar. So first tank from Adelaide should have been free and the arrival at Sydney should have had you arriving at a friends for a free charge. Be interesting to see the Audi consumption at the speed limit? I drove from Broadbeach to Melbourne for just over $50 charging at the resort fully before I left and using NRMA chargers and over night stays to top up for free.. When you are not in a hurry you can find many power points. Great video.. public charger rates will come down when competition kicks in..I see many Tesla’s chasing cheaper rates than the super. Charges. More video’s like this please.

I'm a long drive addict, rally loving this second by second, Thanks.

This scenario was pretty much designed for a diesel car to do well. Not to mention the cheating with the tire pressure and grandma speeds. However, most people buy Diesel cars and drive around the city 95% of the time, doing school drop offs, going to woolies, leaving the engine running in carparks for the aircon (for real, they do this in Brisbane), etc. Diesel consumption would be at least double of what this test showed, and if you happen to have solar power at home, like many people do these days, you get FREE fuel for your EV. Also, diesel is about $2.40 at the moment, not $2.09. Bonus: car servicing is virtually nothing for EVs. Really hope that you guys do a real world comparison in the next few weeks, to bounce back from what really feels like a sponsored video.

Very interesting, but I won’t be going electric any time soon in regional AUS. Electric is a con in any case if you look at the true environmental impact of building an E car

Those that buy a 70k ev and say oh it saves me money on petrol smh u could’ve saved 40k if you bought a lower end petrol car. The logic is stupid, if you’re buying expensive cars who cares about the fuel cost. It’s like going to a fine dining restaurant and saying oh I’m just ordering sides because it’s saving me money 🤦‍♂️

The 350kw chargers are at least $0.60 per kWh so you got stung there, you pay for the convenience of super fast charging.

1,400 km/870 miles is a single day, single fuel/rest room stop, drive in the Ram 2500 diesel (6.7L with 35 us gallon tank) that I recently sold. It's replacement, coming until later this year, has a 48 gallon diesel tank (also 6.7L diesel). Diesel is expensive for us right now at $4.50 per US gallon/3.78L.

Good video, looked like a lot of fun. Not entirely surprising from a cost perspective. The EV is at its worst on the highway, 3rd party power/charging is quite expensive. Even worse when you blast it at "near" the speed limit. How many total kW did you charge? What was your average in Wh/km (or kW/100km)? I'm guessing it was over 200 if I use 50c/kWh and add 60kWh for your overnight? That seems high.

Thanks for this amazing video, Paul. Can you do a EV test trip from Adelaide to Darwin? That could be way more interesting 😎

Great comparison video, these are real world examples of how EV's work for country trips. And EV's have no rad tax yet. If the current prices stand once road tax is added, it will be vastly different.