EVs on the GC
EVs on the GC
Today’s newsletter is 964 words: 4 minute read.
An autumnal Thursday on the Gold Coast 🍂
In today’s email:
EVs on the GC: Revving up fast
Leg up for Start-ups: Big Opportunities for small businesses
Trending: Dodgy developers in Palm Beach
Around the Web: X Corp
🎧 Need a read - A hardcore book about how Nike came to be. You won’t put it down.
Weekend Weather
1. One big thing: EVs are #1 on the GC
What’s Happening?
EV uptake is booming in Queensland, with 5 out of 10 of the top suburbs registering EVs found to be on the Gold Coast.
This is according to the new EV Index (Electric Vehicle Index) obtained through the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) and the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ).
Why it matters
The City needs to be ready, and they can’t say they didn’t see the wave coming.
More EVs mean more batteries to charge and more charging stations needed.
The details
In late February, a few weeks ago, the RACQ pioneered a panel discussion to answer questions about EVs.
A one-hour discussion panel in a news format style fielded a massive amount of community interest with 1100 questions on and off the air during the 60 minutes.
#1 postcode for new EV registrations in Queensland was 4217, which includes Benowa, Bundall, Main Beach, and Surfers Paradise.
#6 Hope Island (4212)
#7 Southport (4215)
#8 Broadbeach (4218)
Finishing the list in 10th place is Biggera Waters (4216), with other top 10s including places like Carindale, Camphill and inner city Brisbane.
What the people say
“We as Gold Coasters love their idyllic, outdoors lifestyle, so it’s great to see more motorists there transitioning to low-emission, environmentally friendly car ownership.” this was a typical bit of feedback from the session.
Power-up
Already, Council-owned charging locations draw electricity from a virtual power station that harnesses solar energy from 47 solar-equipped buildings.
But it’s not enough.
Stats from the EV Index (Electric Vehicle Index) and the volume and diversity of questions for the panel showed that Queenslanders are keen to get an EV now.
Need a boost?
Here is a list of Current Council-owned Charging Stations.
Broadwater Parklands
124 Marine Parade, SouthportBundall Chambers
135 Bundall Road, Surfers ParadiseCity of Gold Coast Nerang Administration Building
833 Southport Nerang Road, NerangCoolangatta Beach
Marine Parade, Coolangatta (near Coolangatta Surf Club)Gold Coast Sports & Leisure Centre (only available during centre opening hours)
296 Nerang Broadbeach Road, CarraraKurrawa Surf Club
Old Burleigh Road, BroadbeachMiami Aquatic Centre
80 Pacific Avenue, MiamiPimpama Sports Hub
139 Rifle Range Road, Pimpama
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2. Start-up smart, not hard
What’s happening?
London Tech Week, held from 11-17 June 2023, will witness 10 Gold Coast Tech Startups, sponsored by Brisbane’s Tribe Global Ventures, attending the worldwide forum.
These sponsorships cover everything from flights to meals, ensuring this hardcore tech crew can focus on showcasing what they’ve got.
Tribe Global Venture Capital(ise) on GC Tech Startups
Tribe Global Ventures, a Brisbane and Adelaide-based VC firm that invests in B2B tech firms throughout Australia and New Zealand, has its eye on the new centre of tech, the City of Gold Coast.
Sponsorships are going to founders or co-founders of Gold Coast tech enterprises. In return for the support, Tribe Globe Venture is looking for participants to share all aspects of the mission and a post-mission debrief with their investors.
Business is listening because
The Gold Coast lifestyle is attracting innovators who are shunning the large cities for the amenities of the Gold Coast.
Along with an urban centre that offers the power and connectivity of Sydney and Melbourne, the Gold Coast offers free-thinking techies a diversity of leisure and sporting activities.
Not to mention an airport that is way easier to get to.
Runs on the board
Gilmour Space Technologies is dominating Australia’s’ growing space sector putting down roots in Gold Coast.
Other high-tech firms that find the combination of sand, sun, sea, surfing, and a progressive urban setting conducive include Gold Coast firm Ryan Aerospace.
BiVACOR, a Texas USA total artificial heart transplant that now calls Gold Coast home, is a prime example of tech firms attracted from around the world.
What next?
A New Gold Rush. High-tech, Fin-Tech, Space-Tech and AI Tech are poised to feed the economy of the City of Gold Coast.
If Tourism was first, tech is the new gold rush for 2023 and beyond.
Silicon Valley —> Austin, Texas —> Gold Coast.
It’s happening.
3. Trending
The GC Minute broke the internet (a little bit and in a local FB group..) when we encountered dodgy builders doing their best in Palm Beach Avenue, Palm Beach, just a few days ago.
Here’s what triggered local residents who went to town in the comments section.
4. Around The Web
Twitter has changed its incorporated name to X Corp. as CEO Elon Musk moves closer to realizing his vision for an everything app that goes beyond social media.
Musk aims to transform the platform into a wide-ranging service like China's WeChat, potentially including services such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and peer-to-peer mobile payments.
The biggest brother yet?
Who knows.
But Twitter is on one hell of a ride with Musk running the show.
As an EV owner on the GC, would love for the charging infrastructure to be fleshed out back from the coast and/or around the hey