Australia’s drive to have zero-emission roads by 2035 needs billions of dollars in investments, sustained government support, and a shift in drivers’ mindset.
In a historic move as the nation seeks to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint, the ACT became the first state or territory to commit to outlawing fuel-powered cars by 2035.
Eco-warriors will applaud the move, but because to its small population, the ACT has the second-fewest number of automobiles in the country—at little over 300,000—behind only the Northern Territory.
Given that the great Australian roadtrip is a popular national pastime and that the top-of-the-line Tesla can only go 837 kilometres on a single charge, there are rising worries about how electric vehicles will do.
Professor Guoxiu Wang, head of the Centre for Clean Energy Technology at the University of Technology in Sydney, acknowledged that for the nation to properly electrify its highways, a significant revamp of its present infrastructure is required.
Australia is not as evolved as the rest of the globe, according to experts. Government policy determines how quickly things advance, according to Professor Wang, who spoke to Daily Mail Australia.
Thankfully, the government is very worried about climate change and the environment, especially our new Prime Minister.
I believe that people will purchase electric vehicles depending on his policies and whether or not they may get incentives to do so.
The focus, according to Mark Latham, the leader of One Nation in NSW, is part of a “police state mania of restricting what automobiles individuals may buy and drive.”
This is compelling working people to purchase $60,000 automobiles, the majority of which are imported from China, despite having little effect on the world’s surface temperatures, he said.
Additionally, tax payers will be burdened with the cost of charging stations, supporting affluent owners of these facilities.
In Australia, there are 3,000 public electric car charging stations, 1,017 of which are in New South Wales.
According to Professor Wang, this is the most important step in electrifying Australia’s roadways, and there won’t be any noticeable difference unless there is serious effort put into developing charging infrastructure and increasing EVs’ range.
Infrastructure is my main worry. We don’t have the infrastructure in large capital cities to support completely replacing internal combustion engine automobiles,’ he added.
We need additional charging stations, not only at home but also at offices, government buildings, and gas stations. People will fully accept them if there is significant infrastructural development.
According to NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy Matt Kean, the state government has committed to having a “great majority” of new vehicles be electric by 2035 and has invested $633 million on its EV Strategy.
The NSW vehicle fleet will transition to electric in accordance with our 2050 net zero aim, according to our nation’s leading NSW Electric Vehicle Strategy and global trends, he said.
According to the EV Strategy announced in 2021, the NSW Government will promote the sale of electric cars to reach more than 50% of new passenger vehicles by 2030–31 and anticipates that by 2035, EVs will make up the great majority of new vehicles.
Given that the majority of automobiles would be charged at home, Professor Levinson said the present infrastructure should be able to support a market share exceeding 20%.
This won’t be a sudden catastrophe, he said.
While the ACT’s initiative was encouraging, according to Professor Wang, it would be servicing a much smaller fleet than that of a big metropolis like Sydney or Melbourne, necessitating the adoption of a “active” approach by NSW and Victorian politicians.
We need a hundred times more charging stations. perhaps more Although the present battery technology is fairly excellent, he told Daily Mail Australia, “we still need the infrastructure throughout the nation.”
A different solution to this issue has been developed in Germany and is known as battery swap. When your battery dies, you go to a gas station and install a new one. No waiting period of 30 or 60 minutes is required before charging.
This is a great idea, however various battery shapes are used by different automakers. One standard is required for all automakers.
Labor under Anthony Albanese has pledged to remove electric cars costing under $79,659 from both the fringe benefits tax and import tariff, which imposes a 5% charge on certain imported EVs (a 47 per cent take on EVs provided through employment for private use).
Before they take their EV out of the shop, customers will reportedly save $2,000, while businesses might save up to $9,000 annually.
Labor has committed $250 million to advancing the market for electric vehicles, and the legislation that will take effect in July will include a number of subsidies and incentives.
20,665 EVs were sold in the nation in 2021, a notable rise of more than 300% from 2020 (excluding Tesla), when there were just 6,900 sales. Even yet, it still represents just 2% of the market.
In contrast, Norway’s progressive government put tariffs on gasoline and diesel automobiles, resulting in 54% of vehicles there being electric.
Around 20% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, which have been gradually increasing over the last several decades, are attributable to transportation. Cars are responsible for more than half of those emissions.
The federal government’s lack of support for the electric car sector, according to Professor David Levinson, an American civil engineer and transportation specialist at the University of Sydney, is ‘disappointing’.
Given the potential abundance of renewable energy sources in Australia, he said, “This is disappointing, but the government has made few efforts to accelerate EV uptake with tax breaks or higher fuel or petrol car purchase taxes, and the previous government was talking down EVs as recently as the 2019 campaign.” Mr. Morrison’s administration, he added, “was talking down EVs.”
With more than 52,000 new sales, the Toyota HiLux was Australia’s best-selling vehicle for the sixth consecutive year in 2021.
Comparatively, the Tesla Model 3 sold the most electric cars in Australia last year with 12,094 units sold, while the MG ZS EV, which came in second, only saw 1,388 sales.
According to Professor Wang, the exorbitant cost of making the batteries is what drives up the price of electric vehicles.
The materials used to make batteries are pricey. However, the cost of the battery will decrease since a new chemical is entering the market, he said.
Professor Levinson predicted that less expensive EVs would soon be available in Australia.
We anticipate cheaper car-sized EVs to join the market in Australia, as they have in other nations, as the cost of batteries declines. That will inevitably lead to more market penetration,’ he said.
Inflation will make everything more costly, but the relative higher cost of EVs should decline. According to Bloomberg, this will happen in a few years when EVs will become more affordable than gasoline-powered vehicles.
Hydrogen vehicles are an alternative to electric vehicles, in which hydrogen is transformed by a fuel cell to produce energy and charge the onboard engine.
The advantage of hydrogen vehicles is that they can be refuelled in five minutes and can drive up to 600 km without stopping, comparable to the range of modern gasoline vehicles.
The automobiles’ major drawback is their high price. Since they have not yet undergone industrialization, specialised cars are more expensive and start about $100,000.
There are concerns about whether the process of getting more hydrogen from the globe would outweigh its environmental benefits since they also need a lot of gas to fuel, which may be expensive.
Hydrogen vehicles are a long-term project in Australia due to the lack of infrastructure, especially in comparison to EV charging stations.
According to Professor Wang, hydrogen passenger vehicles are still a long way off from being a reality.
“There are several issues with hydrogen-powered vehicles. The idea is excellent—there are no pollutants, and the only emission is water. However, we do not yet have a reliable source of green hydrogen.
The car’s usage of a fuel cell as a source of energy is crucial. The catalyst is platinum, which they use. It costs a lot of money and is more expensive than a car with batteries.
With a stronger commitment to clean energy, Professor Wang joined his voice to the clamour arguing that Australia might emerge as the world’s “green powerhouse.”
He said that Australia had unlimited capacity to provide the world with energy.
He also said that since Australia is rich in the minerals required to make EV batteries, it has a special opportunity to electrify the world’s highways.
“We can do it; our folks are smart,” The director of the Centre for Clean Energy Technology asserted, “We have the cash and the technology to execute it.
We are now putting our own new industry into action in collaboration with CRC Industries, Future Battery, Curtin University, and the WA Government.
“We have all the necessary mineral resources to establish a global battery business.”
All of the elements necessary to power electric automobiles are there, including lithium, cobalt, and magnesium.
We want to develop our own battery sector and a global supply network.
By providing subsidies of $7,817 for new EVs and $3,127 for used automobiles, the government is assisting in the achievement of the Climate Commission’s recommendation that by 2029, half of all new cars registered in the country would be electric vehicles.
Professor Wang thinks that because automobile emissions now account for 40% of Australia’s carbon footprint, getting rid of gasoline-powered vehicles might have a significant, immediate effect on the environment.
“This is a global trend.” We must stop climate change in order to rescue the planet. Green energy has a tonne of potential,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
“Andrew Forrest met with us; he wants Australia to adopt zero-emission mining.”
They’ll alter their approach. They have ample resources to propel Australia toward a sustainable future.
If you take into account our vast, fresh industry resources, Australia could become a superpower in green energy. The world can receive green energy, hydrogen energy, and battery materials from us.
By 2040, gasoline and diesel car sales will be completely phased out in the UK, France, and Germany; China and Germany have hinted at similar goals.
In 2016, Germany introduced a $5,916 subsidy for brand-new electric vehicles, while the UK provides a $4,388 subsidy for EVs.
New Zealand, one of the world’s rising contributors to carbon emissions, are countering that by moving to ban imports of petrol and diesel cars by 2032.
Professor Levinson believes Australia need to do more to combat the country’s ‘large share of carbon emissions’ and commit to electrifying its roads.
‘Converting new cars purchases to electric takes out tailpipe emissions. But old cars will remain on the road for years,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It will take about 20 years to turn over nearly the entire fleet from the point that almost all new cars are EVs (around 2030), without government incentives or mandates.’