In a development that will delight many, Australia’s peak national and state automotive bodies have reached agreement about how to electrify the country’s fleet of cars, trucks and other vehicles.
The organizations agreed to a series of principles, including:
- Embracing the electrification of the Australian motor vehicle fleet
- Maintaining the repair and efficiency of the legacy internal combustion engine fleet
- Opposing bans that limit consumer choice
- Supporting the federal government to develop an electrification transition strategy
- Ensuring government targets are consistent, realistic and evidence-based
- Mandating CO2 targets (not electric vehicle targets)
Electric vehicle sales have been growing rapidly, but still represent just a tiny fraction of the vehicle market, according to data from the Electric Vehicle Council.
Sales of plug-in electric vehicles in Ausrtalia tripled from 6,900 in 2020 to 20,665 in 2021.
But that increased the electric vehicle market share to only 2.0%, from 0.8% in Australia. If you compare this to other parts of the world such as Northern America (3.8%) and China (4.7%), we are clear laggards in this shift to electrification of our motor vehicles.
The automotive bodies’ agreement to electrify vehicles is timely and in line with the the government’s Climate Change Bill 2022, which has been approved by the House of Representatives. With the passing of this bill, real estate developers and those in the construction industry are also expected to pay more attention to emissions reductions.