EV Road Test

How many Audi e-tron 55 quattro are likely to be sold new in NZ at $148500 list?
Total cost of ownership = electricity costs, maintenance costs, possible lead balloon type depreciation etc

Could be making biofuels out of nz's foreign owned pine trees like Finland does.Where is the oil for the ev reduction gears and grease for wheel bearings going to magically appear from? How much money has been spent drilling dry holes in the seas around NZ that could have been spent to build a biofuel plant for the certainty of biofuels etc from pines?
https://bioenergyinternational.com/biofuels-oils/upms-lappeenranta-biorefinery-celebrates-5-year-operational-milestone

What you have said about batteries needing written off every 7 years is false. There are clearly large numbers of 2013 & earlier EV driving around our cities. Should also note that our most common EV, the Nissan leaf does not have active battery thermal management, and as such suffers significantly more battery degradation than other brands (especially 2011 - 2013 model years prior to a change in battery chemistry).

With regards to money saving, in general you are correct, but clearly this is not something high on the agenda of somebody shopping for a $140k audi. Hard to claw back the $40k price with a Q5 in fuel savings over the life of the vehicle.

Should note that there are cases where money can be saved. Cross shopping a tesla model 3 with a bigger engines BMW 3 series would be one example. Getting a cheap used Nissan leaf, to replace a petrol car for medium distance commuting is another example.

In total 123 Audi E-tron's have been registered in NZ (this will include the dealer owned demo car used in the article). Similar number to its competitor the Jaguar i-pace on 137. No idea how many were the "55" trim and sold at list price.

Pritty much all non collectible Luxury cars (possibly excluding the 200 series land-cruiser) suffer steep deprecation. EV's more so because:
1. the industry is moving so fast with bigger batteries etc (2011 leaf had a 24kWh battery & 80kW motor. Today you can buy one with a 62kWh battery and 150kW motor).
2. Perhaps not so relevant to the Audi, but EV subsidies in the UK and japan can be availed by grey market importers, meaning that near new used EV imports way undercut NZ new cars on a lot of models.

With regards to biofuels, this is something we should be doing as well as promoting electric vehicles. Can be used to reduces the emissions of the existing fleet, plus stuff where the EV use case doesn't really work such as large aircraft. Works especially well when it utilities a waste stream. Should note that the energy return on investment on 2nd generation biofuels is low, and the land requirements are epic (like the majority of NZ arable land to replace our current oil use). Also they are uneconomic at current fuel prices. Hopefully there will be some breakthroughs with 3rd generation biofuels (oil excreting micro-organisms using sewage and sunlight for energy).

With regards to reduction gear oil, bearing grease etc, I don't have an issue with these being continued to be made as they are now. These products add a heap more value than burning the same (mineral or synthetic) oil for energy.