Roads Australia (RA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s release of Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy today, saying that its focus on cross-jurisdictional collaboration and providing incentives to grow the nation’s EV fleet represent a major boost to efforts to decarbonise the transport sector.
“RA has been actively engaging with governments and industry over recent years to help distil the various challenges and opportunities associated with EV uptake in Australia,” said RA CEO Michael Kilgariff.
“The outcomes of this engagement were reflected in RA’s submission to the Federal Government, which contained recommendations to help design a strategy that would accelerate transition of the nation’s energy networks and vehicle fleet.”
“It is most encouraging to see the strategy released today places a heavy emphasis on ensuring this transition is nationally coordinated and closely aligned with the transition of the energy sector itself to clean and renewable sources of energy.”
“These core objectives are central to making certain transition occurs in a way that maximises productivity benefits and helps to establish new industries and employment opportunities for Australians, as we move to a net-zero economy.”
“RA also welcomes the commitment to develop Australia’s first Fuel Efficiency Standard as a vital step to increase the supply of EVs in the Australian market. The absence of such a standard has acted as a disincentive to EV manufacturers, who to date have focused attention on more mature markets. A well-designed Fuel Efficiency Standard will address this, and provide Australians with greater choice in zero emission vehicles across different price points and different vehicle categories.”
“The strategy’s commitment to working with the states and territories to aggregate government fleet vehicle purchasing will be another important mechanism in growing the EV market. Government, rental and business fleets make up almost half of all new vehicles purchased in Australia, and growing EV share in this segment will also help build a sustainable second-hand market which can be accessed by private consumers.”
“RA is also pleased to see the strategy commits to developing further tools to overcome other barriers to EV uptake by supporting co-planning of charging with energy system investments, addressing challenges with installing charging infrastructure in existing multi-residential buildings and preparing for a recycling, reuse and stewardship initiative for EV and other large format batteries.”
“Our industry looks forward to engaging in the next phase of the strategy’s delivery. This includes active participation in consultations on the development of the Fuel Efficiency Standard, and continuing to explore efficient ways to strengthen links between road-related revenue and road-related investment.”