Federal MPs to ride in Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai electric cars in Comcar trial

The Driven

The federal government’s Comcar fleet has chosen a Tesla Model 3 long range electric car and a Hyundai Ioniq EV to take part in a trial to assess how best to integrate electric cars into the day-to-day transport services of parliament staff and guests.

The vehicles will be trialled by the department of finance over a two-year period in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, focussing on the ins and outs of charging the vehicles and associated costs.

They are the first EVs made available to federal politicians, although NSW energy minister Matt Kean already has a Tesla Model 3, which he is pretty pleased about.  See: “Best car I’ve ever driven”: NSW energy minister’s new car is Tesla Model 3

The Comcar trial, which has already begun, is at best is a tacit acknowledgement that electric vehicle technology is mature enough for use in the federal fleet, and at worst is an indirect admission that the Coalition’s 2019 attack on electric vehicles was just plain out of line, has been a long time coming.

Electric cars were originally overlooked by Comcar in 2020 in favour of diesel-hungry BMW 6 series GTs and hybrid Toyota Camrys (which use less fuel than a non-hybrid but must burn it nonetheless).

Senate estimates later confirmed that although two Tesla vehicles – the premium $130,000 Model S and $150,000 Model X – were taken for a short test drive, they never actually made it to the shortlist for a more comprehensive test.

To read the full version of this story, please go to our EV-focussed sister site, The Driven and click here…