The national scorecard on the state of electric vehicles has the ACT achieving the best result in Australia, while the federal government has received a “fail”.
In the Electric Vehicle Council’s annual report card released this week, its ratings reflect the policies set to encourage and support electric vehicle uptake.
While the ACT take-up numbers are small, the chief executive of the Electric Vehicle Council Behyad Jafari says what’s more important is the policy markers set by government are in place, and there’s clear progress toward those goals. A Senate inquiry held last year recommended that other states and territories should follow the ACT lead.
“Australia is still a long, long way behind Europe and most of the developed world on the uptake of electric vehicles but importantly, the needle is slowly shifting,” Mr Jafari said.
Electric vehicle sales globally are between 2.5 to 5 per cent of all vehicle sales, with the notable exception of Norway where electric vehicles accounted for 56 cent of its fleet. Australia’s electric vehicle fleet proportion sits at 0.6 per cent.
But during a coronavirus-affected 2020 as Australia’s national vehicle sales fell 20 per cent, electric vehicle sales this year are still tracking at the same levels as in 2019. Before the pandemic, the needle swung upward significantly last year, with sales up by 200 per cent on 2018.
As a percentage of new cars sold, the ACT strongly outperformed every other state or territory with 83 electric vehicles per 10,000 combustion vehicles sold. Victoria, Queensland and NSW hover around the mid-20s.
“There is a real opportunity here for the ACT to take the lead nationally in electric vehicles because the policy building blocks are already in place,” Mr Jafari said.
“What you have in Canberra is a defined city with an environmentally aware and tech-savvy car public. There is generally good job stability – although that concept has taken a hit across the country with the coronavirus – and reasonable levels of disposable income.
“People in Canberra also understand there is a social value to owning and driving an electric vehicle.”
Electric vehicles sold in the ACT are stamp duty exempt and receive a 20 per cent reduction in registration fees. Under the government’s 2018 action plan, it aims to have all newly leased government passenger fleet cars as zero emissions vehicles by the end of next year.
Those electric cars purchased by public funds will, once discharged from their leases, make their way back into private hands at more affordable costs.
While the issues of sufficient public charging points and vehicle driving range are continually raised by electric vehicle critics, one of the fundamental problems for the Australian market is whether the vehicles currently offered are “fit for purpose”.
The biggest-selling vehicle in Australia for the past few years has been the Toyota Hilux light commercial sold under lease into mining, agriculture, building or commercial companies.
No electric vehicle offers the same levels of capabilility, durability and reliability as Australia’s volume-selling utes with their 3 and 3.5-tonne towing capacities. US manufacturers Rivian and Tesla both have large electric utes under development but the projected cost is expected to be prohibitive.
Even the ACT government’s zero emissions fleet target has to include a caveat because by necessity, its fleet of commercial and 4WD vehicles needed for roles such as city services, parks and maintenance cannot be replaced by electric vehicles.
“Things like electric utes are coming; we have to ensure that when the technology is offered, that it is offered in Australia,” Mr Jarafi said.
“And this is one of the biggest challenges for us from a national perspective
“For the person who says: ‘look, I need a big ute that can carry one tonne and be able to tow a trailer or caravan’; when that vehicle is available in electric – and it will be – we want to make sure that these vehicles are developed for our market and sold here.
“And that’s where the federal government has a very important role to play. It needs to prepare the policy path for that to happen or we will just continue to fall behind.”
Extracted from Canberra Times