This story first appeared in the May issue of AutoTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE
When Australians go to the ballot box on May 18, they will have a stark decision to make.
It will be between parties and independents who see the electric vehicle revolution for the opportunity it is, and those who do not.
Just as they will on climate change more broadly.
But this is not just about the environment.It’s about our economy, jobs, public health, and national security.
For anyone out there who still doubts the future of transport is electric, look no further than Ford’s announcement last month that it will invest a half-billion US dollars into EV ute and SUV start-up Rivian.
It’s the latest evidence that the world’s car manufacturers are voting with their feet and their wallets, and shifting their R&D budgets to focus on EV technology.
The world’s biggest car maker, Volkswagen, plans to invest $134 billion to put 300 EV models on the market by 2030.
And at the centre of it all is one simple reality – price.
While currently EVs cost more than petrol and diesel equivalents, year-on-year improvements to battery density and reductions in price mean that EVs will be cheaper to buy in coming years.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects upfront cost of EVs to be cheaper than petrol and diesel equivalents by around 2025.
When total ownership costs are taken into account, which see EV owners paying significantly less for fuel and servicing, BNEF predicts some EVs will reach price parity with petrol and diesel equivalents in Australia by as early as next year.
That will mean anyone taking a long-term view of their car ownership will start to seriously consider buying an EV from 2020.
BNEF’s modelling also assumed owners would be paying for their electricity, so the cost effectiveness for those households who now produce their own electricity through rooftop solar (two million and climbing), will be even more pronounced.
A report by PWC from last year found that if EVs were to make up 57% of new car sales in Australia by 2030 – a mere 7% higher than the ALP has proposed – it would boost our national GDP by $2.9 billion, net employment by 13,400, and save EV owners $1700 annually.
It would also reduce our reliance on imported foreign oil by 16 million barrels a year, enhancing our energy security and independence.
In spite of all this, EV uptake in Australia has been depressingly slow.They made up just 0.2% of car sales last year, equating to around 2400 vehicles.
Five million Norwegians buy more EVs in a week than 25 million Aussies do in a year.Closer to home, New Zealand has around 2000 more EVs on the road than we do, despite having a population smaller than Sydney.
More than a dozen countries have already announced plans to completely phase out the sale of diesel and petrol cars in coming years, including the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Ireland, Israel, and the state of California.
Furthermore, the lions’ share of the EV investment announced to date is being made in developed countries, with Germany and the US leading the race.
It’s clear that EVs are the future.
The question for us here in Australia is: Do we want to be technology takers, or technology makers?
We have all the natural and human resources needed to build EVs here.
We are already the world’s biggest lithium exporter, and still have a skilled car manufacturing workforce that can be re-engaged.
Our geographic proximity to emerging markets in Asia is also an advantage.
It doesn’t make sense for us to be shipping off raw materials needed to make EVs, only to buy them back as finished products.
We should be looking to capture more of the value of our resources here in Australia.
We have a huge economic opportunity, and we are currently squandering it.
Through my Senate inquiry into EVs, we heard from a number of companies that are interested in setting up EV manufacturing bases in Australia.
Global manufacturer Sanjeev Gupta and the Swedish EV start up Uniti, for example, have both talked about setting up operations in my home state, South Australia.
The Adelaide-based company Precision Buses is already building electric buses at the old General Motors Holden site in Elizabeth.
With the economic opportunity EVs present for Australia, it’s no surprise that I have been vocal about my deep concern with the anti-technology EV scare campaign being run by the Government and some within the media in the lead-up to Election Day.
It is akin to someone in 1990 arguing mobile phones were not going to take off.
It flies in the face of facts, and the public should not buy it.
Now, more than ever, we need leadership from our elected representatives to seize the opportunity that the electric vehicle revolution presents.
