Flicking the switch to electric vehicles

Summary

Despite being one of the world's leaders in renewable energy research and innovation, Australia's vehicle emission standard is still based on the European Emission Standard five, which is now over a decade old. Joint Director of UNSW Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets, Associate Professor Iain MacGill, says Australia has moved to support clean electricity initiatives but hasn't yet made a serious effort to address transport-related emissions. He argues that:

The transport sector is one of the continuing growth areas of Australia's emissions profile.

Due to the number of petrol-fuelled sports utility vehicles and twin cab utes being purchased, the average fuel efficiency of Australian cars in total is going backwards.

In 2020, less than one-per-cent of new cars bought in Australia were electric vehicles (EVs). That compares with more than four per cent globally and nearly 75 per cent in Norway.

There's a lot to learn from how other countries have successfully adopted EVs. However, Katelyn Purnell, whose research has explored electric vehicles, says Australia needs to think bigger: 

'Beyond initiatives such as reducing upfront capital costs, subsidies, or access to special lanes, (Norway) signalled to the market that they were serious about this and there was no going back.'

References

Jun 2021 Power Electronics News Are We Ready for the Switch to Electric Vehicles?

Jun 2021 NSW Government Incentives for switching to electric vehicles

Jun 2021 The Guardian Australia’s top economists back government intervention to speed switch to electric cars

Jul 2021 Business Insider Australia 1 in 5 electric vehicle owners in California switched back to gas because charging their cars is a hassle, research shows

Oct 2021 ABC Australia Waiting for cheap petrol a thing of the past for Australian drivers switching to electric cars