Australia Plans to Increase Supply of Electric Vehicles by Reducing Automobile Emissions 2022

The Australian government plans to introduce new laws targeting carbon emissions from cars to increase demand for electric vehicles

Sydney: The Australian government said on Friday it plans to introduce new regulations on carbon emissions from cars to boost the popularity of electric vehicles as it looks to catch up with other advanced economies.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said only 2 percent of cars sold in Australia were electric, compared with 15 percent in the UK and 17 percent in Europe, and the country was at risk of becoming unable to sell any other car. A wasteland of locally sold cars.

Apart from Russia, Australia is the only OECD country that does not have or is developing fuel efficiency standards to encourage manufacturers to offer more electric and zero-emission vehicles, he said.

“For me, it’s ultimately about choice,” Bowen told the Electric Vehicle Summit in Canberra. “The policy environment is depriving Australians of the opportunity to really choose a quality, affordable zero-emission vehicle.”

The government will release a discussion paper for consultation in September focusing on increasing the use of electric vehicles, improving affordability, and considering options for fuel efficiency standards.

Bowen said Australia had only eight electric cars to choose from under A$60,000 ($41,450), compared with 26 in the UK.

“Australia has the potential to become a wasteland of old technology that cannot be sold in other markets,” he said.

Dirty Car

The move on emissions follows the victory of Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labour government in the May election, which pushed for promising climate policy reforms that would bring the country in line with other advanced economies.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison said in 2019 that policies to cut emissions from cars would end by the weekend, while other critics said electric cars would oust the Volkswagens (Utes) used by builders and farmers.

“The era of cheap politics is over because they say they’re going to ‘end the weekend’ or rob UTIS,” Bowen told reporters at a news conference after his speech.

“If you have an electric car,” he said, “you’ll never have to hold up the nozzle at the gas station again.”

Albanese has pledged to cut taxes on electric vehicles and raise Australia’s 2030 carbon emissions target to 43 percent lower than 2005 levels.

Tesla president Robin Denholm, who was on the summit panel, said Australia should catch up with the rest of the world soon.

“It’s not just about electric cars. It’s also about reducing emissions from petrol cars. What we can’t accept is Australia being the dirtiest car in the world. That’s what we have today and it’s growing,” she said.

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