The uptake of electric vehicles is important for reducing transport emissions, but it is only one tool. Here in Merri-bek we have concentrated since 2018 on the importance of mode shift behaviour to public transport and active transport (Walking and cycling) for having the most impact. See our Campaign page on Sustainable Transport.

A strong mandatory Fuel Efficiency Standard could achieve savings of $11 billion nationwide in the first five years, with $4 billion of savings for the regions argues a new Solar Citizens Report. In April 2023 Timid steps were taken in decarbonising transport with National Electric Vehicle Strategy.

For many trades people electric utes or vans provides an opportunity to reduce emissions, and reduce costs of business through ditching reliance on rising petrol or diesel fuel prices, to move to electric charging.

In country and regional areas, where people tend drive much further and fuel prices are even higher, the potential benefits of EV adoption are magnified.

But there are barriers to adoption to be overcome including:

• Barrier 1: Upfront purchase price
• Barrier 2: Range
• Barrier 3: Access to fast chargers

Solar Citizens in their recently released Electric Ute Roadshow report highlighted the substantial benefits for country and regional EV users. The report makes five key recommendations to the Federal and State Governments:

1. Implement a strong mandatory Fuel Efficiency Standard
2. Build resilient charging infrastructure
3. Prioritise regional towns for charging infrastructure
4. Combine charging infrastructure with solar-shaded roofs
5. Remove barriers to Vehicle-to-Everything (Vehicle-to-Load, Vehicle-to-Home and
   Vehicle-to-Grid) technology

The key to driving availablity of EV models and uptake is strong Fuel Emission Standards, along with resilient charging infrastructure and prioritising regional towns for EV Chargers.

The lack of a Standard is restricting the supply of EVs to Australia – as manufacturers prioritise markets where Standards are already in place.
Adopting a FES of 95g CO2/km, the same that has been in place in the European Union since 2020, will increase the supply of EVs to Australia— including a greater diversity of models—and reduce fuel use, air pollution and the cost of living for everyday Australians. More diversity of models also means more access to technologies like Vehicle-to-Load, which lets people use their car batteries to power appliances.

In recent years Australia has been dominated by big utes. While these prove useful for loads and towing capacity for country living. The greater adoption of these vehicles in dense urban areas has produced a safety issue for vulnerable road users on city streets.

This is a result of the automotive industry long-running advertising campaign to shift sales
toward larger vehicles with larger profit margins. Instant Asset Write-off rules also turbocharged the practice of businesses buying utes.

The Russian – Ukraine war has increased fuel prices adding to general cost of living pressures, alongside interest rates on mortgages.

The political denigration of electric vehicles with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s claiming that EVs would “end the weekend” during the 2019 election (The Guardian), and Sussan Ley’s claiming in August 2022 that electric utes did not exist. (ABC News) from the conservative side of politics has also influenced reticence in cimmunity adoption.

Moving to electric vehicles also reduces national reliance on imported oil, so enhances national transport resilience and climate security. So conservative political denigration of transport transition also undermines long term security and resilience.

EVs provide regional economic benefits

Regional Australians travel much greater distances with fuel costs often substantially higher than the city. They could greatly benefit through the reduced fuel and maintenance costs that electric vehicles provide.

Solar citizens also did regional city based reports. For Ballarat it estimated that:

• Modelled the impact of an ambitious Fuel Efficiency Standard that started in line with the European Union (EU), at 95g/km, and ratcheted down to 0g/km over ten years.
• Over the first five years of this standard, Ballarat drivers would save $80 million,
• This would compound to $369 million by the tenth year.
• Huge amount of local money would be recirculated in and around Ballarat – being spent in local shops, cafes and restaurants, and paying down local mortgages, instead of being funnelled out of Ballarat’s local economy to profit multinational oil corporations.

EVs Improve Health Outcomes

The report also noted that transition to electric vehicles would also improve health outcomes, including in regional communities:

“The statistics also revealed that regional areas have a 10% higher incidence of asthma and 34% higher incidence of lung disease than the national average. There are many
contributing factors to this, but motor vehicle pollution is one of them. New research has
shown that motor vehicle pollution is far more dangerous than previously thought, causing more than 11,000 premature deaths of Australian adults every year – ten times the number killed in motor vehicle crashes. Researchers note that “small improvements even at low concentrations will yield significant health gains”, so the reduction in air pollution that a sensible Fuel Efficiency Standard could bring would have a clear impact on the health of Australians – allowing us all to breathe a little easier.”

References:

Solar Citizens. Five recommendations For Accelerating Clean Transport in regional Australia https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/five_recommendations_actra Direct Report PDF link: