Petrol, pricing and parking: why so many outer suburban residents are opting for EVs

Anton Ukolov/Shutterstock Park Thaichon, University of Southern QueenslandUntil now, you might have thought of electric vehicles as inner suburban toys. Teslas and Polestars are expensive, leaving them as playthings for wealthier Australians and out of reach for the mortgage belt. But that’s no longer the case. As residents in the outer suburbs reel from price rises seemingly everywhere, more and more are turning to electric vehicles (EVs) to slash their fuel bill. Last year, EV orders for outer suburban residents (43%) overtook inner suburban residents (39%) for the first time. Rural and regional residents accounted for 18% of orders. Avoiding petrol costs is one reason. But there are other good reasons, from easier parking and charging, to lower maintenance. And as our research into why people buy EVs has shown, there’s an even more fundamental reason – car buyers now know more about EVs and feel more familiar with the technology. The suburban garage or driveway works well with charging your EV at home. riopatuca/ShutterstockOuter suburbs rely on cars The further you get...
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World Twenty20: Unstoppable Virat Kohli takes India to final

With a six-wicket win over South Africa, MS Dhoni’s men muscled their way to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 final. They chased down the 173-run target with five balls to spare and will take on Sri Lanka on April 6. Although Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy helped SA post a competitive score, it wasn’t enough to beat India. Virat Kohli made the target look easy. Complemented by Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina’s cameo, he led India to a semi-final win with a 72* (44 balls).  Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane had dominated for the better part of the first quarter of the innings. Rahane anchored the first half of the Indian innings, before perishing to an aerial shot for 32. Rohit also took charge and picked two boundaries of Duminy to take 14 from the first over. He then guided Albie Morkel through point for four and later pulled him over midwicket. However, with India on 39, Rohit’s blitzkrieg came to an abrupt end when he was caught by the SA skipper, bringing Kohli out to the middle. Rahane ensured that the run rate didn’t dip drastically. Although they had kept the scoreboard ticking...
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Amazon unveils Fire TV

Amazon has revealed its much-anticipated TV streaming device – dubbed Amazon Fire TV – at an event in New York.The device has WiFi built in, and Amazon claims it has three times the performance and power of sector competitors AppleTV, Roku and Chromecast. It has 2 GB of RAM, which is designed to ensure applications and video will start more quickly. Amazon VP Peter Larson said the company wanted to “invent and simplify” as well as overcoming streaming performance issues with the device. “It’s tiny,incredibly powerful, and unbelievably simple,” he added. Users will be able to watch from Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, ESPN. Among launch partners, with more to come. “Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price—people are going to love Fire TV,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid. Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you’ll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. And our open approachjust  gives you not Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but...
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