Our tiny all-electric share of new sales is 2 percent in the US, 3 percent in New Zealand, 11 percent in the UK and 75 percent in Norway.
Since it will take more than 20 years to replace our light vehicle fleet, we need to get to the point where all new light vehicles are electric in order for our transportation sector to make a sufficient contribution to the goal of net zero total emissions by 2050 can be until around 2035, he estimates.
Government projections suggest that if the market is left to its own devices, the move to electric vehicles will result in light vehicle emissions being 7 percent lower in 2030 than in 2019. That’s not good enough.
So what can be done to speed up the transition? According to Wood, governments should remove the main barriers to buying an electric car. First, the high cost of switching and the limited choice, and second, the lack of charging points.
We pay an average of about $ 40,000 for a new car. But we have fewer than 30 electric models to choose from – far fewer than abroad – and of those only three models are available for less than $ 50,000.
As with all innovative products, the price of electric cars falls when the novelty wears off and sales increase. They will continue to decline as batteries become cheaper to manufacture. But the point where the price of an electric car falls below that of a comparable conventional car is still a few years away.
Wood is therefore proposing to abolish several taxes when buying new electric cars. The abolition of the state stamp tax would reduce the price by up to 6.5 percent, he estimates. Given that all vehicles are imported these days, removing state import duties would cut costs by up to an additional 5 percent.
More charging stations will be needed to expand the national electric car fleet.
Also, exempting electric cars from state luxury car tax – a tax of 33 percent of the price that exceeds the first $ 80,000 – by 2030 would help.
Australia is the only one among the rich countries that does not have mandatory fuel efficiency and emissions standards. And there is a suspicion that some foreign manufacturers only send us the high-emission conventional models that they find it difficult to flog in other markets.
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So Wood adds a stick to those carrots: To phase out gasoline and diesel cars, federal agencies should impose an emission limit on light vehicles and lower that to zero by 2035.
Many people hesitate to buy an electric vehicle because they are concerned about finding charging options. According to Wood, governments should mandate that all new buildings with off-street parking make provision for vehicle charging.
Putting everyone in electric vehicles wouldn’t solve our emissions problem, but it would help. And it is another indication that fears of enormous costs and disruptions are greatly exaggerated.
Ross Gittins is the Herald’s business editor.
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