Jeff Sykes and Dan Carson take a step back to reflect on what actually happened in Australia’s EV market in 2025 and to make some bold, evidence-based predictions for 2026.

From EV sales data and charging infrastructure growth, to government policy, vehicle-to-grid progress, and the rise of Chinese EV brands, this episode connects the dots between headlines, real-world experience, and where the industry is heading next.

The conversation kicks off with a very real (and slightly painful) Christmas road-trip charging fail — before zooming out to the bigger picture of adoption, affordability, infrastructure, and grid reform.

In this episode, Jeff and Dan unpack:

• What Australia’s 100,000+ EV sales milestone really means (and why growth has been slower than early predictions)
• Why plug-in hybrids surged in 2025 — and whether that’s a stepping stone or a detour
• How BYD overtook Tesla in key segments, and why brand “social proof” matters more than specs
• The explosion of new EV models (including sub-$40k and sub-$50k vehicles)
• Why EV utes are still the missing piece — and why the BYD Shark matters
• The impact of vehicle emissions standards and novated lease FBT exemptions
• What’s really holding back public fast charging profitability
• A clear, plain-English explanation of network tariffs and why they matter for EV charging
• The real state of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) in Australia — progress, pilots, and remaining roadblocks
• Why battery health concerns are increasingly misplaced
• What 2026 could bring for:
  • EV adoption rates
  • Charging network consolidation
  • Second-hand EV markets
  • Electric motorcycles
  • Smart home EV chargers and tariff-driven charging

This episode is part industry analysis, part lived experience, and part crystal-ball gazing grounded in data, policy, and what Jeff and Dan are seeing on the ground every day.

If you want a clear-eyed view of where Australia’s EV transition really stands — and where it’s likely headed next — this one’s for you.

Recorded live at Everything Electric Melbourne, this special episode of the EV Charging Podcast takes you onto the show floor with Jeff Sykes and Dan Carson.

Across a series of 3–5 minute interviews, they talk with innovators in:

• EV battery health testing
• On-street home charging for houses with no driveway
• Classic car EV conversions
• High-performance electric motorbikes
• Thermal home batteries for heating & cooling
• Home energy ecosystems (solar, batteries, EV charging, hot water)

You’ll hear from:

• Nathan Gore-Brown – Founder, TEST EV
  Bringing AVILOO battery diagnostics from Austria to Australia & New Zealand to give buyers, sellers and fleets objective EV battery health reports.
• Ross de Rango – Director & Co-Founder, Vehicle Charging Solutions Australia (VCSA)
  Former Head of Energy & Infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council, now piloting an overhead “boom” charger so people without off-street parking can safely charge from their own supply.
• Scott Anderson – Co-Founder, Revival EV
  Converting classics like a 1970s BMW 2002 into fully electric cars, with reversible conversions that keep the original driveline whenever possible.
• Sam Carter – Marketing Manager & Lead Creative, Savic Motorcycles
  Part of the founding team behind the Savic C-Series electric café racer, an Aussie-built high-performance electric motorcycle made in West Melbourne.
• Nick Zeniou – Founder, Thermal Dawn
  Building a “thermal battery” for homes that stores heating and cooling rather than electricity, based on his experience in HVAC and large-scale energy generation.
• Shahram “Shaz” Shadan – Managing Director, myenergi APAC
  Senior leadership at myenergi, leading the rollout of the zappi EV charger, eddi, harvi and the libbi home battery as a single home-energy ecosystem across Australia and New Zealand.

Along the way they bust myths about EV battery life, explore how councils are handling on-street charging, and look at how smart home energy management is evolving as more households electrify everything.

Brought to you by Solar Choice, Australia’s online quote comparison tool for solar, batteries, EV chargers, air con and heat pump hot water systems.

Chargefox Head of Partner Success Rohan Smith joins us to unpack how Australia’s largest EV charging app turns a fragmented hardware landscape into a simple, reliable driver experience.

We trace Rohan’s journey (AGL → DNSP trials → RACV → Chargefox) and dig into the platform choices behind public charging that just works: OCPP-based interoperability, first-attempt start success, clear pricing (kWh, time-based and idle fees), payments, and the data that guides new site builds. Rohan shares usage trends—300k+ app users, ~5,000 plugs across public and private networks, sessions doubling YoY—and why “driver-first” means better maps, accessibility, and integrations (e.g., in-car systems and retail partners).

We also explore:

• Roaming to reduce “app fatigue” and lift utilisation
• Why charge to ~80% on DC keeps trips moving
• Strata & fleets: RFID, workplace billing and load limits
• V2G/V2L: dynamic pricing, grid support events, and resilience during outages

Whether you’re planning a road trip, operating a site, or mapping the future of the grid, this episode translates EV charging buzzwords into practical decisions drivers actually feel—uptime, speed to charge, and confidence to go electric.