By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson in Sydney

A huge array of sports cars to semi-trailers, people-movers to solar-powered experiments have attracted thousands of people to the biggest electric car and energy show in the southern hemisphere. 

Several automakers used Sydney’s Everything Electric show on Friday to display models that had yet to be seen in the country, including three powerful, high-end electric cars and one delivery van.

But organisers said one of the most important parts of the event was getting more people behind the wheel of an electric car, with as many as 6000 expected to take one for a test drive over the three-day event.

The show, which debuted in Australia in 2023 under the name Fully Charged, returned to the country in a bigger venue at the Sydney Showground and with twice the number of electric vehicles.

Everything Electric chief executive Dan Caesar said Australia’s EV adoption had more than doubled between shows and more brands had brought their latest cars Down Under, making it easier to boost the range of models on show.

The organisation had also expanded the event to feature solar power, batteries and electric appliances, he said, to capture part of a larger renewable energy ecosystem.

“I have a sneaky feeling Australia is going to be a big winner from this particular move towards cleaner technology because you have a great will, the sunshine, positive energy in general and you’ll have access to materials and resources,” Mr Caesar said.

“We think Australia is the one to watch.”

Renault Australia chief executive Glen Sealey said the company chose Everything Electric to debut two new electric vehicles: an electric version of its van called the Kangoo E-Tech due in March, and a sporty crossover called the Megane E-Tech.

Mr Sealey said the new electric car would replace a petrol model in its fleet and would go into showrooms by the end of the month.

“It’s light, it’s agile and it’s a lot of fun to drive,” he said.

Other new electric cars debuting at the show included Audi’s Q4 e-tron SUV due in Australia in the second half of the year, and Hyundai’s $111,000, high-performance Ioniq 5 N that promises to reach a speed of 100km/h in 3.4 seconds.

The Everything Electric show also featured electric delivery vans, buses, an electric semi-trailer from Cement Australia, converted classic vehicles, and the latest models from Polestar, Peugeot, Lotus, Tesla, MG and BYD.

Mr Caesar said a big focus of the show would be providing electric vehicle test drives as they often made the difference for those considering whether to invest in the technology.

“We hope to host between 3000 and 6000 electric car test drives which is pretty significant,” he said.