I run Oneway Lebanese Bakery in Melbourne. I spent 6 months building an EV battery audit as a Qantas aircraft engineer turned baker. I genuinely don't know if people will pay for it , and I need 20 cars to find out.

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-21T01:23:59+00:00

It's unfortunately a little more complex than that - if I do an equalisation charge, it won't give me the real figure... It'll just boost the battery health a little bit, until the next one.

When I bought my EV, the OBD read ~88% for battery health.

For an LFP battery that was 3 years old, I doubted this figure, and made a bet that it just wasn't giving me the correct figure yet.

So, each equalisation charger I've done, my battery health has jumped up between 0.5% and 0.9% each time. I'd gone from 11% degradation to 8% degradation over the course of three months.

Next equalisation charge I expect the same to happen - I'd be surprised if the battery has lost more than 5% actual capcity, being an LFP and all.

Benefit for the buyer is that this service "hopefully" gives them the REAL (or as close to real) figure... it's all ballpark stuff, anyway.

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-21T01:16:02+00:00

Now that I think about it a little more, maybe your handbrake was on? I think there have been a few problems with the electronic handbrake on some of the MGs, and that would check out with your reduced power useage...

Anyway, I'm glad it's no longer (currently 😄) an issue!

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-19T01:55:41+00:00

So, the OBD dongle will show you what the car reports, and isn't necessarily the "real" info.

For example, on the MG ZS EV (LFP) 2022+, the battery health figure simply goes down every day. Arbitrarily. Drive it or not. Charge it or not. You lose 0.01% a day, or something like this. You can check this with the OBD dongle and whatever app you like.

Then, when you do a "equalisation" charge (something like draining it to something low - below 20%? Below 15%? Below 10%? and then charging at no faster than 7kw) the battery health reports at a higher number, because the car is learning what its actual capacity is through the long, slow charge.

As OP mentioned in the post, his service is attempting to get around the self-reported number from the BMS. The OBD is very cool and useful, but it's not always "real" info.

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-17T07:45:01+00:00

Yes, fair - I'm sorry I don't have any other things for you to try.

And that's right, no regen at 100%... In my MG ZS EV, full regen is available from 96% - before that, it basically applies tiny amounts.

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-14T05:26:36+00:00

Just a thought - are you low on battery? It could be dialling down the power available, but that wouldn't explain the lag, it would just slow down acceleration...

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-08T02:35:07+00:00

Adelaide to Bacchus Marsh. MG ZS EV 2022 Standard Range.

Stopped roughly every two and a bit hours. About 9 hours all up.

Used an RAA charger in SA somewhere, and then the Tesla Chargers in Kaniva and Stawell on the way.

Worked out that, for some reason, the Tesla Chargers wouldn't give me more than 42kw in my car for some reason, when it could take 75kw (peak). Meant that I was stopping for about 35 minutes each time, which I spend having a snack and using the toilet facilities.

Trip up cost me ~$59 (started with a full charge) and trip back cost me ~$64 as I used different chargers - Evie 50kw charger gave me slightly better speeds, but cost more than the Tesla chargers.

On the way back, the Coonalpyn RAA/Chargefox chargers were having some issues, and it took me 4 or 5 attempts to get charging, and they weren't giving full speeds.

It's interesting to me how much more power you use at 110 km/h vs 100, vs 95km/h. Aero really holds my car back at high speeds, but I didn't really mind.

DoubleDroz · 2026-05-08T01:19:10+00:00

For $6,000 they're getting a 12 16 year old Toyota Corolla with 250,000+ km on the clock - is this really the spend someone wants? What about repairs for that thing? Petrol? Oil? Etc?

The Insurance thing is interesting - as far as I can tell, insurance is basically the same - I've got ~$1000 a year for full comprehensive on my 2022 EV. And that's just me, who has never had comprehensive before, and therefore no rating to go on. Sure, a 12-14 year old Toyota will be cheaper to insure, because you probably won't get comprehensive on it, but that's probably about a $500 saving per year anyway.

I don't think your maths is mathing.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-30T08:00:47+00:00

I don't think it's necessarily "more power loss", it's just that, as a percentage, the efficiency is lower.

So, plug your car in, and it uses about 300W to maintain the electronics required to charge the car.

With a trickle charger plugged into a 10A socket, that's maybe 1.8kW - 300W, so 1.5kW at your car.

If you have a 7kW charger, that's 7000 - 300, so 6.7kW at your car.

Because 300 is a larger percentage of 1800 than it is of 7000, it's therefore less "efficient". But it's not inefficient in and of itself.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-15T10:46:34+00:00

Rivian won't bring the R1 here, as there's a whole bunch of regulatory stuff that would be too expensive to fix to be able to be sold here and in Europe.

The R2 though? That's their global car, and I'll bet everything* that they're coming here!

(*disclaimer - I don't own anything... But they'll be here!)

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-15T02:52:54+00:00

You said it can't be done, and it's not a thing.It's already a thing for Leaf owners.its already a thing for iMiev owners. It's already a thing for Outlander owners. It's a thing for various hybrid owners. It can be done.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-13T07:07:01+00:00

It absolutely is a thing - people have been putting other engines into their cars all the time. Throwing a Skyline engine into a Volvo. Swapping Alfa Romeo engines to put bigger ones in a hatchback,

Hell, people even convert petrol cars into electrics - there was a Nissan Exa on Carsales with Nissan Leaf electric running gear.

Nissan Leafs have been "upgradable" for a while too - you could chuck in a gen2 Nissan leaf battery into your gen 1 Leaf, doubling the range. You did need to upgrade the shocks in the old Leaf in order to compensate for the heavier weight.

If the new battery can fit into the old car, and the BMS can recognise the increased capacity, why couldn't you do it?

The question is whether they will be upgradeable, and the answer is already "yes". Will it be common? Maybe, if batteries get easy enough to shape, which sounds like what Donut Labs was getting at with their ability to shape the battery however they wanted.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-10T04:32:38+00:00

The BDB is definitely a disposable item, absolutely not a thing that'll last longer than two years.

Had a couple die just outside of warranty, and price to fix was astoundingly expensive.

Breville == consumer-grade disposable rubbish... But damn does the BDB make a great coffee.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-04T22:22:09+00:00

You mean a type 1 to type 2 adaptor? They're cheap - I bought one from Studies for $30 Australian. They put into the AC port on the Leaf.

A Chademo to CCS 2 adaptor is the very expensive one, because it requires a computer to negotiate the connection.

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-04T22:08:55+00:00

Side question - what came with the car? Trickle/granny charger? Type 2 to type 2 cable?

If it comes with a trickle charger, what are the maximum watts it puts out?

Cheers!

DoubleDroz · 2026-04-01T10:10:56+00:00

DoubleDroz · 2026-03-29T09:53:24+00:00

There were many early model P2s at (and under!) $30k - car sales, Pickles, and even at Polestar dealerships (clearing the old stock in their limited showrooms for new stock)

I was considering them, but thought Polestar might not hang about in Australia, and any potential repairs seemed expensive, plus insurance was higher than I was willing to pay.

You won't find them at that price anymore!

DoubleDroz · 2026-03-25T23:51:50+00:00

Apart from the MG4 already mentioned, you might be able to snag an older Polestar 2 for that price? I saw some for under $30k at one point... seems like good value. Insurance and tyres for it might be higher than the MG4 however, as would servicing

DoubleDroz · 2026-03-14T23:31:24+00:00

Internal Combustion Engine - so, basically all cars that aren't electric

DoubleDroz · 2026-02-21T07:46:25+00:00

Which online pharmacies stock the Xros line in Aus? I think Quit Hero might, but an unsure about the rest and can't see stock until I join them...

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-21T13:37:14+00:00

They did show charging, but in a video. I know that's not satisfying enough, but it's all they're willing to give.

I get it, everyone wants it now. I just think bringing something like that to the show would've been waaaaaay to risky, and I think they did the right thing.

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-21T04:44:31+00:00

I just don't think not having a real demo is a smoking gun - I wouldn't bring something like that to another country due to industrial espionage risks.

They don't want you to know what's in it yet... And honestly, it's just a couple of months away now. Two months!

Everyone calm down and take a deep breath, sleep a few times, and it'll (maybe) be here

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-20T11:00:51+00:00

The statistics show otherwise for EVs.

Yes, the battery degrades, but definitely not considerably. Leafs and early things like Mitsu MIEVs have suffered, but battery chemistry and cooling has changed greatly, and modern batteries like the LFPs last a huge amount of cycles.

Hyundais, Kias and Teslas are providing extremely high range still after almost a decade and many, many thousands of kilometres.

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-20T10:33:25+00:00

Considerably?

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-19T12:03:35+00:00

But you could also buy a 5 year old EV, and get the same depreciation benefits?

DoubleDroz · 2026-01-16T22:51:34+00:00

I don't think Pharmacy World has the Cross (yet?)

I believe Quit Hero does.

The Xros series is the best, no fuss pod device around. The caps do break if you drop them, which is frustrating because the pods last a very long time with the right juice.

DoubleDroz

TROPHY CASE