Australia will soon have more than 100,000 electric cars, but the country’s coal and gas-dependent charging infrastructure is trailing behind.
The demand for electric vehicles has never been stronger; on Christmas Day alone, a ship carrying 4,000 brand-new Teslas from China arrived in Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
Since then, eight more ships carrying Tesla vehicles built in China have docked in Australia in 2023 as Elon Musk’s business experiences record-breaking local sales.
Yet, Toyota, the largest automaker in Australia, has so far refrained from joining the EV bandwagon and struggles to compete in the existing market.
The grandson of the business’s founder and Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda, will leave the company in April after vehemently rejecting the hoopla around electric vehicles.
Considering that California, the EU, and Canberra all want to phase out fossil fuel-powered automobiles by the year 2035, he has raged against planned limits on the sale of new internal combustion engine cars.
Mr. Toyoda thinks that the public is just not ready for EVs yet and that the globe is rushing to adopt them before the infrastructure is ready to support them.
Mr. Toyoda said, “I am an old-fashioned person in relation to digitalization, electric vehicles, and linked automobiles because of my tremendous affection for cars.”
‘EVs are likely to take longer to become widespread than media would want us to think, much as the fully-autonomous automobiles we are all meant to be driving by now.’
Despite Mr. Toyoda’s pessimism, the Mercedes C-Class was outsold by the Tesla Model 3 2,927 to 408 in January, becoming the Model 3 Australia’s top-selling midsize car over $60,000 by a staggering seven to one.
Meanwhile, the newly-launched Model Y narrowly outsold its closest competitor, the BMW X3, by 386 units to 384 last month as the country’s top medium SUV above $60,000.
Overall, the Model 3 was the third-best-selling vehicle in Australia at the beginning of the year. Of the over 85,000 vehicles sold in January, 10,426 – or more than 12% – were electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or plug-in hybrid vehicles, including nearly 5,000 EVs.
They provide great performance, often matching elite supercars costing many times as much, with almost little maintenance and minimal operating expenses, particularly if charged at home during off-peak hours.
Yet, the quick increase in manufacturing can have a heavy cost.
According to a research supported by the environmentally conscious charitable Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the need for lithium for electric vehicle batteries might start wars, while the environmental impact of mining could result in droughts.
Manufacturers are now being urged to find alternatives immediately by the Climate + Communities Project in their report, Reaching Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining.
It cautions that “proposed or current lithium mining has worrisome consequences for ecosystem biodiversity and drought intensity, and threatens cultural landscapes and economic lives.”
They worry that the growing demand may cause nations to compete for access to the lithium mines, which are only found in a few number of places worldwide, including Australia, Chile, and Portugal.
The report continues, “The enormous increase in demand is already causing supply bottlenecks for EV manufacturing, stalling EV adoption, raising concerns about their cost, and igniting geopolitical friction as countries battle for access to lithium mines.”
Of of the approximately 20 million total automobiles on the road in Australia by the end of the previous year, 83,000 EVs, including 17,000 hybrids, were already there.
Yet, the country only has roughly 2,500 places with more than 5,000 charging stations, making large portions of the country virtually inaccessible to EVs.
Even Tesla’s vaunted specialized supercharger network is sparse or nonexistent in distant locations, and other companies’ chargers are sometimes inoperable or overloaded when drivers arrive, causing frustratingly lengthy waits.
In addition, although the majority of EV owners charge their vehicles at home, sometimes with their own solar power systems, charging stations are powered by the grid, which in 2021 was still 71% fueled by fossil fuels.
According to the latest current data, coal continued to power 51% of Australia’s power plants in 2021, with gas and oil providing the remaining 18% and 2%, respectively.
Despite a 5% increase from 2020, renewable energy sources only generated 29% of the nation’s electricity in 2021. Solar energy provided 12% of the energy, followed by wind at 10% and hydro at 6%.
Toyota maintains that their hybrid vehicles, which blend battery power and gasoline engines, are actually greener than all-electric vehicles.
Toyota can create eight plug-in hybrids with a range of 40 miles (64 km) for every battery electric car with a range of 320 miles (514 km), according to Mr. Toyoda, one of the few openly anti-EV executives in the auto industry.
While it considers multiple future scenarios, the business has promised to invest $70 billion on hybrid and all-electric cars, distributed equally over the next nine years.
As a further eco-alternative, it is also creating hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and Mr. Toyoda argues that an EV-based future is not a given.
He said that the bulk of those working in the car sector were generally quiet. “That quiet majority” is debating if having EVs as the only alternative is indeed acceptable.
Yet since they believe it’s fashionable, they are unable to speak out.
As the correct response is still ambiguous, we shouldn’t restrict ourselves to one choice.
With the exception of one misguided effort, the BZ4X, a converted petrol SUV, which was doomed when the wheels actually came off, his business has so far entirely avoided the pure EV market.
Even though Toyota is the second-largest automaker in the world, Tesla will have manufactured 650 times more electric vehicles than the Japanese juggernaut in 2022.
In the last year, Toyota only sold 14,000 all-electric vehicles worldwide. This year, Tesla is anticipated to generate nearly to that much in only one quarter in Australia.
While Toyota intends to release 15 new EV models over the next several years, its annual investment in EVs, which is less than $4 billion, is negligible in comparison to that of competitors.
Even Ford, which has lagged behind in developing pure EVs and now offers only one electric van in Australia, wants to spend $30 billion in EVs in 2025, with five new EVs already in development.
Industry insiders say Toyota risks falling behind as Tesla, Chinese automakers like Polestar, Byd, and MG, as well as Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia, emerge as key participants. European automakers like Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, and Audi are all releasing new models quickly.
Toyoda stated, “For me, playing to win also means doing things differently.”
We’ll stay in the winner’s circle the longest if we act in ways that others may seem strange but that we think are right.
Toyota is expected to increase its interest in the EV industry after Toyoda’s departure in April, and analysts think the manufacturer still has time to catch up in the market since EV development is still in its early stages.
Haulage businesses and tradespeople are the EV industry’s next difficulties.
Trucks may turn out to be simpler than anticipated if drivers just change out large battery packs at truck stops to save waiting times for recharging.
Volvo already has electric trucks constructed in Australia, and in December, Tesla delivered its 800-kilometer-range Semi truck to Pepsi for the first time in the US.
Yet it could be more difficult to get tradies to join the team.
Due to present technology, electric utes cost approximately twice as much as their counterparts with conventional engines.
To produce the power necessary to haul huge loads, electric utes need even larger batteries. These batteries require more time and money to recharge and weigh roughly twice as much.
Also, the utes’ range immediately decreases once they are completely loaded.
They represent the biggest barrier to mainstream EV adoption in Australia as of the current state of the technology until battery capacity grow, electric motor efficiency improves, and prices fall sharply.
If Tesla’s cutting-edge Cybertruck isn’t completely redesigned for the Australian market, it may have trouble passing Australian safety regulations.
Ford’s massive EV F150 Lightning ute production has also been temporarily suspended in the US due to battery issues.
Meanwhile, Ben Fordham of 2GB criticized Energy Minister Chris Bowen this week for endorsing the $90,000 LDV eT60 truck that Transgrid, a supplier of electrical networks, is testing.
To have the first commercially available electric utes on the road for their company, Mr. Bowen said it was encouraging to see Transgrid make such a wise investment.
How many tradespeople will be running out to get an electric car at this price, Fordham slammed?
I doubt there will be a large number of individuals standing in line to declare, “I’m going to pay $90,000 on an electric ute built in China when I can purchase a Ford Ranger or a Toyota HiLux for $50,000.”
I’m not knocking electric vehicles here; I’m simply pointing out the limitations of what we presently have.
Although the ute has a range of roughly 330 km, according to Trent Nikolic, managing editor of Drive.com, in practice many tradies would only use about 150 km because of how much equipment they put into their cars.
I believe the capacity is more important than the price, which is absurd right now, he added.
“LDV quotes the vehicle’s range as being 330km. Given that the truck weighs roughly three tonnes, the battery would be about 500 if it were in a vehicle.
Then, if you approach the vehicle’s tow rating or load capacity, its range is cut in half.
They are useless for those who live on farms, pull heavy loads, or live in rural locations on the outskirts of cities.
The worst-case scenario for arguing in favor of electric cars is the commercial sector, which includes utes, trucks, buses, and other such vehicles.
“Vehicles that are always moving and almost ever stopped and kept idle — they’re absolutely no good for electric automobiles.”
The argument for electric cars, according to Fordham, would be more suited to those who live and work in cities since Australians who live in rural regions need a vehicle that can drive great distances without having to be recharged.
Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen will not be able to achieve their goal of 89% of new vehicle sales being electrified by 2030, according to experts.
Mr. Nikolic concurs and projects that Australia will adopt 30% more electric cars by 2030 due to their unsuitability for many automobile consumers.
You must first have the money to purchase one, be able to charge it at home, and preferably not be depending on existing public charging infrastructure since there isn’t enough of it yet.
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