Renew welcomes EV commitment

April 1, 2019

Federal Labor’s commitment of a national electric vehicle target of 50% of new car sales by 2030, as well as allowing business to deduct a 20% depreciation for private fleet EVs, is a great step forward in reducing our emissions from transport, but more will be needed, says Australia’s leading sustainability organisation, Renew.

Australia’s transport emissions keep on increasing and we are currently well behind Europe, China and parts of the US in encouraging stronger uptake of greener forms of transport.

“It’s great to see Labor show leadership, to support uptake by fleet owners and increase the public’s awareness and interest in electric vehicles,” says Donna Luckman, CEO of Renew.

“Two weeks ago, Renew had thousands of people take the day to test drive electric cars and ride electric bikes at our sixth Electric Vehicle Expo. This has grown from a few hundred people only a few years ago.”

According to the Expo survey results, over 35% of people are looking to buy a new EV car in the next year.

With Renault, Hyundai, Nissan and Tesla introducing more affordable electric car models in Australia in 2019, more Australians than ever are looking at buying an electric vehicle due to their lower emissions and running costs.

“Not only are electric vehicles greener and the way of the future, they are the choice of many car owners now,” says Ms Luckman.

“Over 89% of EV Expo participants think government should be encouraging electric vehicles through policy and financial support.”

But more needs to be done. Recent analysis by international research firm Climate Analytics, clearly shows that if Australia is to meet its Paris obligations, we need pollution-free transport by 2050. That will require most cars sold in 2035 to be zero-emissions.

With the kind of rapid uptake required to meet our Paris targets will come the need for a comprehensive plan for how electric vehicles will be integrated into our electricity grid, including charging infrastructure and charging regimes, connection capacity and vehicle to grid technology.

“Today’s announcement from Labor is the start of what we need for a major transition in our transport systems,” says Ms. Luckman.