Should politicians better support electric cars?

A majority of Australians are ready to get behind the wheel of an electric car and want their governments to back the switch, according to a poll of over 3000 car buyers.

The poll was created by the Electric Vehicle Council and conducted via leading car sale and review website carsales.com.au during July. 

Key findings from survey respondents include: 

-       54 per cent would consider purchasing an electric vehicle as their next car

-       49 per cent see themselves driving an electric vehicle in 2030

-       40 per cent would be encouraged to purchase an electric vehicle if government subsidies were available to assist with the initial purchase cost

-       50 per cent would pay more for an equivalent electric vehicle compared to petrol/diesel

-       92 per cent agreed public charging infrastructure was important in encouraging them to buy an electric vehicle 

-       55 per cent indicated they would power their electric vehicle via solar panels

The main factors encouraging purchase of an electric car are running and maintenance costs, safety features, driving performance, and environmental footprint. The leading factors discouraging purchase are purchase costs compared to petrol and current accessibility of charging infrastructure. 

“Australians are now well and truly ready to go electric,” said Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari. 

"This survey shows we understand the personal benefits and we’re also ready to start contributing to the societal advantages of the electric transition – like lower carbon emissions, increased fuel security, and cleaner air.

"What this survey also demonstrates is Australians are well out ahead of their government when it comes to electric vehicle attitudes.

"Half the population now see themselves behind the wheel of an electric car by 2030. But they’re frustrated by Australian policies that mean many of the best affordable EV models don't make it to our shores. 

"The politics on EVs has shifted massively in a short period of time, and politicians should ensure they don't get stuck in the past. Australians now recognise the abundant advantages of driving an electric car. Their remaining hesitancy is about the support they are getting to make the switch. 

"If the Australian Government starts introducing policies to encourage EV take up, similar to those in the UK, those policies will be met with overwhelming support from drivers and the broader electorate.”

Do you think politicians should better support electric cars?

11 comments

 

Not gonna happen so long as dullard knuckle draggers like Michaelia Cash and her like minded colleagues PM Morrison and Angus Taylor are in charge ... it's only two years since she accused Labor of wanting to take away people’s petrol-guzzling cars and force them to buy electric vehicles instead. “We are going to stand by our tradies and we are going to save their utes,” Ms Cash told reporters. “We understand choice and that is what Bill Shorten is taking away from our tradies.”

"Prime minister Scott Morrison has even suggested that Labor’s policy will bring an end to the “Australian weekend” – apparently because EVs can’t tow boats or caravans (some of them can), and you can’t take them camping" (they can and better than standard vehicles - watch a Tesla tow a 737)

https://thedriven.io/2019/04/08/coalition-hits-bottom-of-barrel-with-fake-news-campaign-against-electric-cars/

The only hope on the conservative side of politics is NSW energy and environment minister Matt Kean who says NSW - in fact, all of Australia - will need to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 if it is to meet the net-zero by 2050. He is driving electrification of the NSW Government fleet and roll out of charging stations.

On the plus side transition to electric vehicles will improve our national liquid fuels security as we would be less dependent on imported oil. Additionally, EV batteries can be part of the electricity grid and improve both reliability and consumption timeshifting. You only need to look at UK to see disruption to supply chains caused by fuel shortages (though for a different reason). This risk would be a bigger issue if voters realised that defence and security strategists advise Australia should have minimum 90 days supply of liquid fuels in country, yet bizarrely this Government thinks 29 days is adequate, and much of it is either on sea or "virtually" stored in the USA.

scott morrison and michaelia cash

 

 

   

Key Electric Vehicle Strategy actions

Here is a snapshot of key actions under the Strategy which will support the uptake of electric vehicles.

Rebates for new electric vehicle purchases

From 1 September 2021, the NSW Government will provide rebates of $3000 for the first 25,000 EVs sold for under $68,750. These rebates are designed to encourage EV uptake and are targeted to the cars more people can afford.

Further information on rebates is available on the NSW Government website.

Phase out of stamp duty for electric vehicle purchases

The NSW Government will remove stamp duty from EVs under $78,000 purchased from 1 September 2021 and from all other EVs and plug-in hybrids from 1 July 2027 or when EVs make up at least 30% of new car sales, at which time a road user charge will also be introduced.

Further information on the changes to stamp duty is available on the NSW Government website.

Fleet incentives to help local councils and businesses buy electric vehicles

As previously committed under the NSW Net Zero Plan: 2020-2030, the NSW Government will offer incentives to support medium to large sized fleets, such as local councils, car leasing companies and car share companies, to purchase battery or hydrogen fuel cell EVs. The incentives will be offered through a reverse auction process, ensuring the Government maximises value for money and uptake of EVs in New South Wales.

Further information is available on the EnergySaver website.

Building a world-class electric vehicle charging network

The NSW Government will invest $171 million over the next four years to ensure widespread, world-class EV charging coverage so current and future EV drivers can be confident they can drive their vehicles whenever and wherever they need to.

Further information is available on the EnergySaver website.

Making it easy to drive an electric vehicle with access to transit lanes

The NSW Government will update policies and legislation to allow EV drivers to use T2 and T3 transit lanes for a limited time to encourage EV uptake. 

Regional tourism benefits

The NSW Government will roll out ‘EV Tourist Drives’ across New South Wales to ensure regional communities share in the benefits of EVs. The NSW Government is co-investing in rolling out ultra-fast chargers at 100 km intervals across all major highways in New South Wales to make it easier for city-based and regional EV drivers to travel in regional areas.

The NSW Government will also provide grants to regional businesses to install charging points for their guests to attract EV drivers to explore our State.

Further information is available on the EnergySaver website.

 

Whilst the concept of rapidly increasing the take up of electric vehicles there are quite a few issues that need to be resolved both here an internationally. 

Recharging times, must be reduced to less than 15 minutes for full charge

Recharging locations including homes must be established with improved current flow which requires replacing the network with larger capacity wires. This would be an extremely expensive exercise and create a lot more electromagnet fields and electrical interference. 

 

Energy supplies would need to be substantially upgraded to supply nearly double our existing usage, with much lower amount of off-peak periods. Most of the recharging would be done at night so solar would be ineffective and a greater demand placed on batteries. 

Battery standards, dimensions and connectivity. Currently every manufacturer is designing cars and batteries as individual products with no standards apart from performance statements and safety issues. This is leading to a infinite number of battery sizes, and shapes, and and fittings

Vehicle range must be a minimum of at least 600km but preferably in excess of 1000km

Resource allocation, with limited supplies of lithium and sky-rocketing usage of it, it shall quickly become a scare resource and prices with make it uneconomic. The There a number of companies now recycling lithium batteries however is limited and can be dangerous. Also solar panels recycling needs to be substantially increased together with the ability to recycle wind turbine blades

Power network capability. With increased need to produce power for electric vehicles the need for extra power with cause the price of power to increase significantly which the all industry and household costs will also increase

Alternative to batteries, super capacitors, hydrogen fuel cells. If we standardise the dimensions and connectivity of all these we could have an exchange system similar to gas bottle exchange which would allow a quick turnover, could use existing petrol outlet locations, would not need an upgrade to the entire power network as the recharging could be done at the power generation / hydrogen creation plant and transported to the changeover point locations. Theis would prevent pricing for home and industry from being at the same cost as for vehicles. It also solves the major issue for government as to replacement for fuel tax and its collection as it would be priced into the cost of the exchange as is currently. 

There are already chargers available that charge in 8-10 minutes. It all depends on the capacity of the charging equipment and the car battery.

I agree a reasonable range is required but why is 1000km vehicle range preferred when few ICE vehicles have that range?  The Kona has a range of 450km and is fine for urban use (where most drivers are) as average commute is only around 30-40km.

EV technology is still in young and will only get better and standards developed as the demand for EVs increases in the next decade.

Australians as a whole are not taking up EV's as the statistics show. The reasons are mainly around the added cost of an EV as against a conventional vehicle. There is also the distance that an EV can travel without the need to recharge and the time taken to recharge being factored in. Politicians will invariably follow what the majority want so it seems that until purchase of EV's becomes popular that politicians will chase votes, not unpopular ideas.

Politicians won't have much choice going forward unless Australia becomes a museum for petrol/diesel vehicles. Australia is no longer a car manufacturer and most global manufacturers have indicated plans for transitioning to EVs in the next decade or so.

Forget the politics, I bought a Hybrid Camry some 8 or 9 years ago and it has given very good service - the reason I bought it; it was on a run-out deal ie the price!

As long as EVs are up to twice the price of the equivalent petrol vehicle and their travel distance (at an affordable price) is limited why would anyone buy one as their main vehicle.

For example, the cheapest EV you can currently buy is the MG at about $45,000 with a range of less than 250km which wouldn't even be enough for a return day trip to Sydney (which we often make) to see the family and NO we cannot easily recharge when we arrive as they have no off-street parking!

Can't see why my hard earned taxes should be used to subsidise, thus benefit, other people who buy electric cars.

Can't see why my hard earned taxes should be used to subsidise, thus benefit, other people who buy electric cars.

I suppose whilst governments continue to subsidise petrol cars by $575, there is no encouragement to buy electric cars

Farside, If you ever travelled very far off road or in the outback you would find that most people need to either have long-range tanks or carry jerry cans of fuel. This due to a few different factors, using low range increases consumption, as does towing, and the there are the large distances between availabilty of fuel or any settlement. On the subject of fast charge  currenrtly this not a major issue but usage increase it will be necessary to upgrade the whole distribution network to allow higher current flow, which brings into play the electrical field and interference issues,

The best thing for the future for Australian motorists and motoring is to keep the politicians as far away from it as possible.

At this point, for over 80% of the Australian market, there is no EV that is equitable to mass market vehicles such as the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Honda Civic, Volkswagen Golf or Hyundai i30.  To be a vehicle worthy of consideration it must be able to carry 4 adults and luggage comfortably and cover around 900 kms in an easy day with refueling/recharging simple and quick.  It must cost under $35K and be suitable for Australian conditions beyond the cities.

As things stand, there is not the energy reserve in our power systems to be able to cope with a mass demand that fleets of them all seeking to recharge over night would put on it. 

They may be clean in emissions at place of use, but until we have safe and reliable nuclear power, their recharging sources are not meeting the green dream.

Farside, the recharging of batteries in under 20 minutes is only intended to put approximately 80% of charge in and repeated use of these "super chargers" can shorten the life and capacity of the battery in less than a dozen such cycles.  (Remember that recharging a battery is not putting electrons back in so much as reversing a chemical reaction and there are absolute limits on this.)

The EV technology is not new going back over 100 years, it is the battery technology that is young and evolving.  Always with the promise of a "revolution" happening soon.

The zero servicing claim is also a myth as all vehicles must have routine services to ensure that they remain safe.  Very little of the scheduled service items on our conventional vehicles is unique to the under bonnet engine and direct systems.

Thought the following might be of interest. This article was published yesterday  about Toyota's Hydrogen Fuel Cell car. Hydrogen Fuel cell vehicles have many advantages over battery electric vehicles.Recharge / Refill times bear no comparison.Range is far greater for fuel cells.Do not need to upgrade the entire electricity grid for increased current requirements.Fuel cell vehicles weight a tonne or more less than a battery electric vehicle.Fuel cell vehicles do not have the problem of battery life of 8 to 10 years, and the replacement / disposal / recycling of batteries , not to mention the cost.Motor vehicle companies worldwide have been working on fuel cell vehicles being the future for at 40 years that I know of, and consider hybrid and battery electric vehicles as stepping stones in the process.Fuel Cell vehicles are also extremely good in commercial applications such as trucks, buses, and trains.   Dom Tripolone      NEWS.com.au  October 12 2021 2.15pm Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle breaks world record The Japanese giant has shown off the amazing ability of its next-generation vehicle that could change the cars we drive for good. This is why you might never have to plug in your electric car.Toyota has just set a Guinness World Record for the longest distance travelled by a hydrogen-powered car without refuelling.The Toyota Mirai was driven 1360km on a roundtrip tour of Southern California earlier this year, which far surpasses even the most long-legged battery-powered electric car.Even more amazing is the Mirai’s tank only took five minutes to fill, which is similar to conventional petrol and diesel vehicles. The Mirai used a total of 5.65kg of hydrogen during the test.Fuel-cell vehicles with hydrogen tanks are still prohibitively expensive, but many, including Toyota and Hyundai, see them as a long term ticket to emissions-free motoring.The appeal is the short recharging time compared with plug-in EVs, which can take an hour to fully recharge from a fast-charging station.Plug-in EVs also dramatically slow up the last 20 per cent of fast charging to protect the battery from overheating.The Toyota Mirai uses a fuel cell to convert hydrogen into electricity and power an electric motor making 134kW/300Nm. The only tailpipe emission is water.Hydrogen is being touted as a possible climate change battling fuel, but it depends on the method of creating the hydrogen.Most hydrogen being created now is called “blue hydrogen” that uses energy from fossil fuel offset by carbon capture. But “green hydrogen” uses renewable energy sources to split hydrogen from water. Hydrogen-powered cars are relatively new. Toyota and Hyundai are the two biggest proponents of the emerging technology.Hyundai currently operates a fleet of its Nexo hydrogen-powered SUVs in Australia, leasing them to companies and government as part of a trial of the new tech.Toyota has a similar program in Australia for its Mirai sedan.Earlier this year a Hyundai Nexo piloted by Australian rally driver Brendan Reeves travelled from Melbourne to Broken Hill in far west NSW on a single tank of hydrogen. The 807km trip was a world record at the time.Toyota believes hydrogen could be big business by 2030, though, especially in large four-wheel drives such as the LandCruiser and HiLux.Hyundai predicts that fuel-cell vehicles will have price parity with battery electric vehicles by the end of the decade.Initially, the company plans to focus on trucks, utes and vans. It aims to apply hydrogen power to every one of its commercial vehicles by 2028.Currently only about 15,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are being built every year compared to up to 4 million battery electric vehicles and more than 100 million petrol and diesel vehicles.Australia is in a strong position to take advantage of the new technology and both the Federal Government and the private sector are keen to invest in new projects.

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Battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions (formally LG Chem) has recalled a suite of household batteries after concerns they "may overheat and catch on fire". It is understood more than 5,000 units have been pulled.

Hyundai has also pulled the batteries from almost 1,000 electric cars from the Australian market as part of a global recall, again amid concerns that they may lead to an electrical short and "start a fire".

ABC News can reveal that thousands of these products are now starting to be processed by battery recyclers in Melbourne.

Processing the lithium-ion batteries inside these products is a new and complicated task for the Australian recycling industry. They come with a fire risk, contain potentially toxic yet valuable minerals, and are hazardous to the environment if dumped inappropriately.

Projections are that this waste stream will soar in coming years, and there are currently no overarching rules on how companies, consumers or recyclers should manage it."

ABC

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