Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson has gone electric after choosing one of the recently released fully electric MG ZS SUVs as his mayoral car.
Richardson says the electric MG – which is currently the lowest price fully electric new car available in Australia at $40,990 plus on roads – came at no additional cost. The mayoral car is replaced after 80,000, and the new MG comes at the same price point as the previous majoral vehicle – a Nissan EV.
“Elsa”, as Richardon has dubbed the arctic blue MG EV, “will save rate payers money and is just one way council is continuing to strive towards zero net emissions,” Richardson wrote in a recent Facebook post. “This is the first electric vehicle to replace a petrol run car in Council’s fleet – and it won’t be the last!”
Richardson, who represents the Greens on a council with just a single conservative member, is not the first mayor to choose electric over fossil fuels.
The then Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson claimed to be the first Australian mayor to go electric in 2016 with a Nissan Leaf, following is previous two plug in hybrids, and Wagga mayor Greg Conkey also created a storm of controversy when his council chose a Hyundai Ioniq in 2019.
Last year, Canterbury Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour took delivery of a Hyundai Ioniq, which the council says costs a lot less than petrol vehicles.
Numrous councils including the Ballina Council, Ryde Council and the City of Newcastle have either purchased or committed funds to purchase an electric vehicle, and Bayside City Council in Victoria has five EVs.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.