Tim Storer.
The electric vehicle sector has sounded the alarm over what it sees as a lack of national leadership on EVs and says consumers could suffer.
Australian motorists run the risk of paying more, having less choice and more pollution unless government acts to join the EV revolution gathering pace world-wide, Senate Select Committee on Electric Vehicles chairman Tim Storer has been told.
The South Australian senator heard the message at a roundtable in Melbourne with about 20 Electric Vehicle Council executives, who also called for EV uptake targets to be established.
The EVC is the national body representing the electric vehicle industry in Australia, with a membership of more 50 companies from across industry sectors, including vehicle production, charging infrastructure and energy distribution.
The roundtable advised Storer there was urgent need to establish targets for EV uptake in Australia to give manufacturers, distributors and infrastructure suppliers the confidence to invest.
They noted the positive impact of the target set by New Zealand’s government in 2016 of having 64,000 EVs by 2021 in underpinning the faster rate of uptake across the Tasman.
Action is also urgently needed to encourage the installation of fast chargers nation-wide to reduce “range anxiety” in Australia, the roundtable heard.
Storer also noted the economic opportunities for Australia, stating “the transition to electric vehicles is inevitable. The question is whether we’ll be technology takers or technology makers.”
Storer pointed to Brisbane based EV charger Tritium as an example of the type of company that could leverage the EV transition to build home-grown jobs.
Tritium has sold 2000 Australian made chargers globally, and was just recently contracted to supply 100 of its 350kW high-powered chargers across Europe.
“Tritium’s success is a timely reminder that we have the smarts and skilled labour force to be an advanced manufacturing powerhouse,” Storer says. “They’re successfully using the power of Brand Australia to export high quality Australian-made chargers all around the world, with almost 200 staff at their factory in Brisbane, and counting.
“Imagine how much more successful Tritium and other Australian innovators would be if there were a national strategy to support the development of the industry here in Australia.”
Tritium founder and chief product officer Paul Sernia wants to see more companies capitalise on the opportunities and bring the benefits of EVs to Australia.
Select committee hearings begin in Adelaide on August 10 and will also be held in Canberra on August 17 and Melbourne on August 31.
Submissions closed on July 27 and the select committee is due to report back on October 17.
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