The month of September was fascinating as I was able to join the leaders of Australia’s motor trade associations to research the automotive industries and electric vehicle (EV) strategies in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

While Australia may be behind these countries in relation to EV policy and uptake, it is clear from European investigations that Australia is arguably in a far better position to avoid the unintended consequences of other EV transition pathways.

Learnings from this in-depth study tour will directly be used in a national submission for the National Electric Vehicle Strategy consultation paper released on 28 September.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our industry to lead the direction for affordability, expanding EV options and uptake, reducing emissions and continuing to manage and service the existing vehicle fleet, and opening the potential for local manufacturing. We will be able to provide the roadmap to deliver a truly fit-for-purpose plan for Australia, and lead Asia Pacific in the transition to zero emission vehicles.

The Strategy will need to:

• Be a national plan to align all states and territories
• Mandate emission targets across the entire vehicle fleet
• Consider the geographic size of the country to build a comprehensive network of public and private charging infrastructure
• Ensure cost of power is not an inhibitor
• Ensure the availability of EVs to achieve an increase in sales
• Include hydrogen vehicles.

13 October 2022