The Electric Vehicle Council has taken issue with a report in The Australian on August 27 citing engineering firm ABMARC’s pre-election briefing claiming petrol vehicles produce lower carbon emissions than EVs in Australia’s eastern states.
The briefing finds the immediate benefit of switching to EVs is “not guaranteed”.
EVC chief executive officer Behyad Jafari says the report is misleading.
“The cherry-picked data from this single report flies in the face of the views of the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy, as well as the overwhelming weight of international research,” he says.
“Like-for-like, EVs will beat internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles when it comes to carbon emissions every single time.
“This truth holds regardless of where a consumer sources their electricity from. However, an EV driver has the option to produce zero emissions through sourcing electricity from renewables, like solar panels or green energy options at home. This is obviously not an option for petrol vehicles.”
Jafari says that as Australia’s grid becomes cleaner the emissions produced by all electrical devices will continue to plummet.
The federal government has recently announced two major investments in public fast-charging stations, one worth $15 million, that will be backed by $50 million in private sector investment. These stations will be 100% powered by renewables.
Jafari says the EVC has not sighted the ABMARC report.
“The message to Australian drivers should be simple and clear – if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, selecting an EV is a great way to go about it.”
