Australian EV drivers, on average, drive further than people with gasoline vehicles as infrastructure improves, new statistics show.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics first looked at how EV drivers use their cars and found that they had driven 69 million km in the 12 months ended June 30, 2020.
Electric vehicles covered an annual average of 11.1 thousand kilometers, 600 kilometers more than drivers of gasoline vehicles.
In New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT, electric vehicle owners traveled further than gasoline vehicle owners, with Queensland not far behind. However, electric vehicles lagged behind in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
By and large, electric vehicles were still largely restricted to cities and metropolitan areas, with almost three quarters of all trips – 72.5% – taking place within the capital cities. While electric vehicles only covered 5 million kilometers outside of urban areas, or 7.2% of the total distance, they still recorded 2 million kilometers on highways.
Dr. Jake Whitehead, head of policy for the Electric Vehicle Council, said these initial results were encouraging as they showed people were starting to leave urban environments as infrastructure improved.
“The claim that electric cars will end the weekend can be put to bed,” said Whitehead. “We see that they are being used for these long-distance journeys between states.
“Overall, this is very encouraging and shows that Australians are using electric vehicles and that the freedom to travel across the country is supported by the improved infrastructure.”
Whitehead also said the data had some caveats because it relied on a small sample size and didn’t always clearly sort different states and territories whether a car is an electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid, or another Art acts.
“We should be very clear about what an electric vehicle is: It is known internationally that an electric vehicle is an electric vehicle that you plug in and get powered,” said Whitehead.
“Hybrids and those mythical hydrogen cars – very few of which exist – are not electric vehicles unless they can be plugged in and powered. And we should treat them separately, especially since they have different infrastructure requirements. “
The results come as the Australian government comes under criticism for not doing enough with its new electric vehicle strategy to support the electric vehicle transition.
While the strategy was presented as a “fresh start” for the coalition, it did little to encourage the introduction of electric vehicles and instead focused on expanding the charging infrastructure.
This lack of clarity has continued when Damian Drum called for an EV road toll and said that fuel excise revenues will decrease as consumption increases, forcing governments to “find these funds from somewhere”.
“They are looking at a future in Australia where if we move to more electric vehicles, which we no doubt will, people who drive electric vehicles will have to pay some kind of road tax,” said Drum.
