EVs pick up speed

Despite supply problems, high prices and a poor charging network, electric vehicles will take over our roads sooner than many people think

- TOBY HAGON

Electric vehicles are the minnows of the new car industry in Australia, but they’re fast becoming the main game. In the first six months of 2022, EVs made up almost 2% of the market, but that’s expected to rise significantly in the second half of the year.

The increased interest is set to ramp up following the newly elected Labor government’s move to introduce a bill that exempts those driving electric cars below the luxury car tax threshold ($84,916) from fringe benefits tax. There are potentially big savings.

It comes off the back of the ACT’s move to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035, something the head of the Electric Vehicle Council, Behyad Jafari, says aligns with plans by other major markets that account for 42% of the world’s new car sales.

While there’s little chance car makers will change their planning to capture a slice of the ACT’s circa-1.5% market share, Jafari says it’s a significant moment because it’s “the first one to say it out aloud”.

“It” is the inevitable shift to zero-emissions vehicles. Do the numbers and it’s clear we’re in for a major ramp-up of EVs.

In the lead-up to the election, Labor said it wanted 3.8 million EVs on the road by 2030. That means about half of all vehicles sold between now and the end of the decade would need to be electric.

With a target to hit net zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050, transport is seen as an easy win given the technology is proven and becoming more affordable, especially once significantly lower running costs are factored in.