The last barrier that stops Australians from adopting EV is information

Australia has caught up with the rest of the world and now has many key components for the widespread use of electric vehicles – infrastructure, many models and government incentives.

However, last year, fake cars accounted for only 1.9 percent of new car sales.

Compare that to a 4 percent market share in the U.S., a 15 percent share of China, a 19 percent market share of the EU or world leader Norway, where more than 86% of new cars sold last year were pluggable. capable.

“Information is probably one of the biggest issues right now,” said CarsGuide’s expert on new energy cars, Tom White. A new daily.

“Things like charging, efficiency, what range you actually get and where you can charge, don’t really understand.”

Mr. White has authored the CarsGuide EV Report 2022, which examines the EV landscape in Australia with a view to what the future holds.

His findings refute many biased notions of electric cars.

Alarm range

A recurring theme in Australia and around the world is that electric cars allegedly cannot travel far enough to meet people’s daily needs.

The Tesla Model S electric car, which is sold in Australia with the longest range, has a range of 652 km on a single charge.

This is more than enough to, for example, drive 494 km from Sydney to Treadbo.

“I think people are overestimating how far they can go, especially since research shows that most Australians actually drive about 38 miles a day,” Mr White said.

“When we did the research to compile the report, we found that there are 15 individual models that can travel more than 450 kilometers.”

Another major problem for Australian motorists is the dilemma of where to charge the EV.

However, Mr White said most EV drivers simply charge their cars at night at home as they make their phones.

In addition, public chargers have become more common than many think.

There are more than 600 public charging stations in New Wales and more than 400 in Victoria.

Queensland is home to Electric Highway Car a fast charger from Kulangata to Port Douglas, north of Cairns.

The state government advertises it as the world’s largest infrastructure project of its kind within a single state.

For models like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, the fast charger can recharge the battery in almost 18 minutes.

Overdue incentives

In 2010, Australia was one of the first countries to receive a new wave of electric vehicles, when Mitsubishi and MiEV went on sale to customers of the fleet, and sales to the general public began the following year.

In 2012, the Nissan Leaf went on sale in Australia after breaking sales records worldwide.

Both vehicles cost much more than their petrol competitors, and were sold in small quantities.

Australia simply did not have the generous incentives that other countries had.

At the time in California, for comparison, the same cars were eligible for combined state and federal tax credits of $ 10,000 ($ 13,800).

Australia is now catching up, and many states have introduced incentives to lower the cost of buying EVs.

As part of his report, Mr. White looked in which state it would be cheaper to buy a new electric car for $ 50,000.

“We found out that now this state was New South Wales because they not only offer a $ 3,000 discount but also exemption from stamp duty“Said Mr. White.

Victoria also has an incentive of $ 3,000, but EV owners are still eligible toll for road users to compensate for lost revenue from Commonwealth excise taxes.

However, the excise tax on fuel also applies to connected hybrids that still use gasoline when the battery is running low.

“So you’re twice taxed on a plug-in hybrid in Victoria,” Mr. White said.

Western Australia, South Australia and ACT currently have no incentives.

A survey conducted by the Electric Transport Council last year found that 87 percent of respondents were delayed buying electric vehicles due to rising prices.

That is why state encouragement is such a hot topic.

“It’s absolutely reasonable,” Mr. White said.

“For one of the most affordable EVs on the market, the MG ZS EV, the difference between the electric version and the internal combustion engine version is $ 19,000.

“So, especially at this entry-level market, it’s a pretty difficult task for a lot of potential buyers.”

Spicy condiments of life

Lack of choice has previously prevented many potential buyers from buying an electric car.

There are currently 25 pure EVs and 23 plug-in hybrids on the Australian market.

Tesla is a name on everyone’s lips, currently three models are available in Australia.

The startup, founded by Elon Musk, does not publish sales data in Australia as other manufacturers do, but registration shows how popular California EVs are.

Of the more than 17,000 built-in cars sold in Australia last year, more than 12,000 were Tesla.

Other options on the market range from such as Hyundai and Kia, all the way up to Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

However, the variety offered is still less than in the US, Europe and Asia.

“Global carmakers are much more interested in selling cars in Europe, the United States or even New Zealand, where fuel efficiency standards have been set, and governments are offering unequivocal support for the transition,” said Behyad Jafari, executive director of the Electric Transport Council.

He added: “The Morrison government seems to have confused its own short-sighted views on EV with the views of the average Australian and has completely misjudged how demand will grow.”

Ahead is the road

Mr White believes that more and more Australians will adopt electric vehicles in the near future, “as soon as people start to see that the charging compartments and car parks are being filled with Tesla Model 3s”.

One thing Australia could learn abroad, he added, is for government agencies to include more electric vehicles in their fleet.

So they will eventually find a market for used cars, which in Australia is still in its infancy for electric cars.

An avalanche of new models is also on the horizon.

At least 13 new clean electric cars launch locally in the next 12 monthsincluding the Tesla Model Y, BMW i4 and Volkswagen ID.3.

Chinese companies, which sell tens of thousands of EVs in their home country and already export to other continents, have also targeted Australia.

Automaker BYD, backed by Warren Buffett, plans to release mid-size hatchback later this year worth less than $ 45,000 without paying government incentives.

“BYD Atto 3 seems to be fighting MG ZS EV for the title of cheapest EV in Australia,” Mr White said.

“Such competition is exciting because it means it will definitely appeal to more buyers.”