A report by the upper house Senate has urged the conservative Liberal-National government to set a national target for the number of electric vehicles (EV) in government fleets to boost the uptake of EVs in Australia and bring electric car racing to Australia to increase public support for EVs.
However, the report’s writers said it does not go far enough to accelerate EV uptake and warned Australia would be left behind the rest of the world.
The Select Committee on Electric Vehicles’ report made sweeping recommendations on how Australia can attempt to catch up to other nations’ electric vehicle industries and manage the risk of the transition from petrol and diesel vehicles to EVs.
“Australian governments should prioritise the development of a national electric vehicle strategy,” the report said.
An earlier report prepared by energy consultancy Energia for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC‚ found that high up-front costs, coupled with a lack of government incentives, were the main hurdles for Australians in buying electric vehicles.
The Senate report recommendations included a national electric vehicle target for government vehicle fleets, creating regulations for battery charging infrastructure, new vehicle emissions standards and bringing electric vehicle racing to Australia.
Fairfax Media reports committee chair, Senator Tim Storer, said the report did not go far enough, and while it had “fine intentions” it was “neither as effective nor responsible” as measures he had previously put forward.
There are currently 12,691 vehicles in the government fleet, but only 12 are electric.
On figures obtained by Senator Storer, it would cost an extra $5m by 2022 to start converting half the government fleet to electric by 2025, or an extra $2.7m to do the same by 2030.
South Australian member of the committee and independent Senator Rex Patrick said Australia not only needed to develop an EV policy but also ban the importation and sale of petrol-driven cars by 2035.
“The world is embracing EVs and we must too. It’s not a question of if, it’s simply one of when,” Senator Patrick told Fairfax Media.
He called the committee’s recommendations “shallow and weak”.
“We need to recognise there is substantial opportunity for Australia, leveraging off the considerable ongoing and residual automotive industry skill and experience, to become involved in the manufacturing of EVs and EV components in-country.
“The government must abandon its Luddite approach to Australia’s inevitable transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to EVs.”
The Australian Greens Party has also strongly criticised the report, as well as the Liberal-National government.
“The weak recommendations of this report demonstrate just how feeble Labor and Liberal are when it comes to EV policy, ” Senator Janet Rice, the Australian Greens transport spokesperson, and member of the committee, said
“When it comes to actually getting behind policies and incentives that will support electric vehicle uptake they are missing in action.”
Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari told Fairfax Media barriers to EV uptake had been put in place by elements of the government and the report could work towards addressing them.
“We’ve had people in the government opposing any new technology on ideological reasons rather than based on evidence,” Mr Jafari said.
“We’ve been slow to get off the mark, so there is the increased need to make the policy makers understand the urgency of this. We’re very far behind.”
Electric vehicle charging station maker Tritium’s co-founder Dr Paul Sernia said Australia needed direction but refuted suggestions Australia was a laggard on EV technology.
“We need to have some kind of policy and strategy at a government level; the fact that government is taking steps to develop this report shows interest is happening,” Dr Sernia said.
“Australia isn’t necessarily behind, it is just that some other countries, such as Norway, are further advanced down this path.”
He said Australia would not fall behind but can instead use these countries as a guide on how best to progress its EV sector.
However, Mr Sernia does not believe Australia needs to rebuild an electric automotive manufacturing industry.
A poll of 1450 people carried out by think tank The Australia Institute found four out of five people surveyed supported the government building a network of EV charging stations across the country.
More than 75 per cent surveyed supported the government bringing more EVs into their car fleets as well.
“Our research makes it clear that Australians are keen for the government to encourage electric vehicle uptake through a range of policy measures,” Richie Merzian, the climate and energy director at The Australia Institute, said.
The full report can be found here.
