If you’re in Australia, there’s a good chance you don’t know anyone who owns an electric vehicle (EV).
Despite its wealth, the country’s transport remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels; new cars here use 40 per cent more fuel than their European Union equivalents and cars now account for nearly a fifth of Australia’s overall emissions.And after complaining the country was becoming a dumping ground for cars featuring old technology, Labor will force companies to sell more efficient cars by introducing a fuel efficiency standard in the coming months.
Labor claims the deal, still undergoing consultation, will lead to more people buying EVs.
“The absence of a standard has meant Australian households and businesses … [are] paying more in fuel costs to run their cars, because manufacturers prioritise sending more-efficient vehicles to countries with standards in place,” Energy Minister Chris Bowen says.
The Good Car Company sells new and used EVs. Its co-founder Anton Vikstom warns, while Wednesday’s announcement is welcome, there are a number of hurdles still to jump.
“[This] doesn’t put us ahead of the pack, it puts us in the pack,” he says.
So why has it taken so long, and how much ground does Australia have to make up?
How does Australia compare on EVs?
Lagging a long way behind, particularly Europe.
Across International Energy Agency member countries, electric vehicles accounted for nearly 10 per cent of all new cars sold in 2021.
That dwarfs Australia’s uptake that year, which stood at just 2.8 per cent. When you compare that with other rich countries, the numbers are even starker.
Judging by EVs’ market share, each of the top 10 countries were in Europe.
EVs made up a whopping 86 per cent of new cars sold in Norway in 2021, followed by its Nordic neighbours: Iceland (72 per cent), Sweden (43 per cent), Denmark (35 per cent) and Finland (32 per cent).
Global sales of EV’s doubled from 2020 to 2021, with most of the growth driven by China, the world’s largest individual EV market. More electric cars were sold (3.3 million) there in 2021 than in the rest of the world the year before (3 million), with EVs making up 16 per cent of new car sales.
Australia also lagged behind the US (4.2 per cent) and Canada (5.5 per cent), but ahead of Japan (1 per cent) and India (0.4 per cent).
Why are EV sales in Australia so low?
Price, politics, and procrastination.
Infrastructure is a problem. Unlike many countries with high EV uptake – think Switzerland – Australia is a massive landmass and takes days to cross by car, meaning charging stations could be required across tens of thousands of kilometres.
But given how rare those trips actually are, Mr Vikstrom insists that problem is “probably not as bad as people think”.
“I call it the ‘Nullarbor Dilemma’. People are always thinking they’re going to do the trip at the lifetime across the Nullarbor, and the car they have today needs to do it,” he says.
“Really, most people are just spending most of their time driving around the city.”
There are around 3700 EV charging stations across Australia, with just one or two usually located at any given petrol station. There’s also a serious lack of fast stations – that charge vehicles in around 15 minutes – which would make EVs more appealing.
Another of the key problems is the lack of a second-hand market, meaning anyone looking to buy a EV has to stump up big money. A new model normally costs upwards of $60,000, immediately pricing out most Australians.
Most manufacturers also prioritise building vehicles designed for the right-hand side of the road, putting the Australian market at the back of the queue.
“We’re on the wrong side of the road, and the wrong part of the world,” Mr Vikstrom says.
There are political aspects, too. When Bill Shorten proposed a 50 per cent EV target for 2030, former prime minister Scott Morrison accused the then Labor leader of wanting to “end the weekend” for many Australians. Mr Morrison went on the lead the Coalition to an upset win in 2019.
“If the federal government’s talking it down that hard, who’s coming here to sell their product?” Mr Vikstom asks.
Are any challenges uniquely Australian?
Given the history, Mr Vikstrom says the difficulty in getting Australians to mentally shift towards EVs is “not to be underestimated”.
Australia’s electric grid is largely focused on major cities on its eastern seaboard and expanding that will be expensive, he says.
The number of models available to Australian consumers is also limited. The market is dominated by sedans and SUVs, with the first electric utes only recently arriving on the scene.
“[But there’s a] very small diversity of vans [and] no small cars, really, on the offerings either. So we haven’t actually got all the builds present in the market,” Mr Vikstrom said.
