NRMA begins a new year of public electric vehicle drive days at Western Sydney

The NRMA’s EV drive days for 2023 are well underway with two record-breaking weekends at Sydney Motorsport Park in Western Sydney.

Designed to increase education and experience around electric motoring, the NRMA’s EV drive days, held in collaboration with the NSW Government, bring together some of the largest vehicle and accessory producers in Australia for curious members of the public.

Additionally, the drive days give motorists a chance to drive an EV in a controlled and safe environment, accompanied by a trained driving instructor.

February summary

The team kicked off the year with Western Sydney’s two-day event – run over 11–12 February – which saw 957 test drives of the 4-kilometre track completed by 527 drivers, providing almost 4000km of electric motoring experience to participants.

Complementing test drives, multiple stalls and tech talks were run by industry experts and avid hobbyists alike to give attendees an understanding of everything EV.

Companies and businesses involved in the drive days included: SIXT car rentals, EVSE, ABB, Halo Energy, Simply Energy, The Good Car Company, Polestar, Volvo, EV Direct (BYD), FOTON Mobility, BLK Auto, Australian EVs, FONZ Motorcycles, Australian Electric Vehicle Association and the Tesla Owners Club of Australia.

In a first for EV drive days, the NRMA showcased winning of its 2022 Future of Transport Challenge – an initiative aimed to promote school children in years 7 through 10 to imagine a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable future.

May summary

The second weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park on 6 – 7 May was much bigger than February with 1,222 test drives completed by 728 drivers and our highest attendees yet with 1,042 people walking through the event. This level of public engagement broke records set at Newcastle, Ku-ring-gai and Wagga Wagga events in 2022.

The companies who attended in May to help answer questions and showcase displays of EVs and chargers were Australian EVs, Simply Energy, BYD, SIXT, AEVA, Redbook Inspect, EVSE, NHP, Sydney EV Chargers, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Gemtek, NSW Government with Cupra and FONZ Moto providing displays.

The next NRMA drive days will be held at Wollongong on the 15 and 16 July 2023.