Huge jump in Aussie EV sales underscores massive untapped potential

According to the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) while a 203 per cent jump in Australian electric vehicles (EV) sales for 2019 is welcome, it underscores just how transformational EVs could be with just a little more support from government.

Newly released figures show 6718 EVs were sold in Australia last year, up from 2216 in 2018.

In the same period, combustion engine vehicle sales dropped by 7.8 per cent.

EVC chief executive Behyad Jafari said while the trend was promising, it showed how far Australia could go if it supported the EV industry like most other nations.

“The good news is that the number of Australians buying EVs is surging despite a lack of government incentives or support,” Mr Jafari said.

“The bad news is that even with this strong growth, EVs still one represent 0.6 per cent of sales.

“That compares poorly to sales in Europe and in China.”

The latest ECV figures came as the Conservative British government announced it would ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles in the United Kingdom by 2035, with industry now set to push the Australian government on a similar goal.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new policy brings forward the previous ban date from 2040, and he said a block on selling new petrol, diesel, and hybrid cars would come even earlier if possible.

Australia trails the world in the take-up of electric vehicles, with the plug-in market about 0.6 per cent of the total market, compared to Norway’s 56 per cent, Iceland’s 25 per cent, the Netherlands’ 15 per cent and China’s 4.7 per cent.

“If the Australian EV market had the same incentives and support as the EU and China, we would be talking about some 50,000 new EVs on our road,” Mr Jafari said.

“That would actually start delivering significant benefit in terms of cleaning our air, lowering our carbon emissions, and lowering our dependence on foreign oil.

“Just this week, Boris Johnson, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, announced the UK would ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2035 at the latest.

“EV tech will flood into the UK and stimulate the British economy.

“UK consumers will have access to the latest and most affordable EV models, and charging infrastructure will proliferate.

“If we embarked on similar policies the same thing would happen here.

“These new sales figures show that Australians are enthusiastic early adopters.

“We love seizing the advantages of new tech, and we love getting on board first.

So even without government support we are still eager to embrace the myriad advantages of EVs.

“But if we had politics that really backed the electrification of our fleet, and people understood the government was behind the transition, we could be actively transforming our cities and our economy.

“Given that Australian decision makers at all levels are eager to start taking stronger action on climate change, transitioning away from combustion engine vehicles would be an excellent place to start.”

The Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister in Australia’s conservative Liberal-National government, Angus Taylor, said as part of a $3.5 billion climate solutions package, the government was developing a National Electric Vehicle Strategy, to be finalised by the middle of the year.

He said the strategy would ensure a “planned and managed transition” to the new vehicle technology so that Australians who “choose to adopt new technologies are supported in doing so”.

Infrastructure Australia, the government’s independent infrastructure adviser, has called for the fast-tracking of a national charging network to allow for a smooth transition to the electrification of the transport sector, particularly along highways, in regional Australia and in urban centres.

Cost also remains a major barrier, with only about six models on offer in Australia in 2019 and about a dozen expected to be available by mid-2020.

This compares to more than 150 in Europe and elsewhere.

Tesla accounted for about 70 per cent of electric vehicle sales in Australia last year, with the $68,000 Model 3 making up about two-thirds of that figure even though first deliveries occurred only in late August.