Over-revving electric vehicle hype will do more harm than good

The peak body for WA’s motor trade has urged Australia’s politicians and journalists to take the time to understand our unique motoring environment before loading all of our eggs onto an electric bandwagon.

MTA WA CEO Stephen Moir said Australia’s motoring industry is excited about a transition to low and net zero emission vehicles but has grave concerns that the increasing amount of under-informed public discourse will be counter-productive.

“Our message is simple: let’s all work together to make the transition to EV’s as quickly as possible - and let’s ensure we all agree on achievable outcomes based on facts,” Mr Moir said.

“For example, the first reality we all need to accept is that as a continent, Australia is one of the world’s smallest new car markets.”

“Despite pro-EV lobby groups like the Electric Vehicle Council acknowledging and blaming government policy for ‘Demand for EVs now drastically outstripping supply’, Australia is never going to be the highest priority for many of their own manufacturer members because of the basic law of supply and demand.”

“Your local pizza shop would be crazy to deliver a single order 30kms away when they have ten customers waiting within 2kms. No amount of huffing and puffing will change that cold hard fact.”

“Secondly, there is still a way to go before EV technology and needs of the average Australian align.”

“While Australia is near the bottom of the new car sales statistics, we are a long way ahead of most other countries for the number of kilometers we all travel each year.”

“Our industry is working hard to improve the range and infrastructure required to enable EV’s but the ugly truth is right now, a purely plug-in vehicle will simply not be viable for many of us.”

“Lobby groups with vested interests can talk up a utopian all-EV tomorrow, but the fact is Australia has unique challenges that must be addressed collaboratively to ensure we don’t make a rare-earth rod for our own backs.”

Mr Moir said policy-makers have a strong moral obligation to ensure no one is left behind and risk creating serious unintended consequences if they don’t consult with industry about targets and deadlines.

“We don’t have the population density to make public transport universally affordable. We can’t magically conjure up high-capacity EV charging stations in areas that currently don’t even have grid power. And just imagine spending the same amount of time it takes to fly from Melbourne to Perth swatting insects on the Nullabor Plain while your car absorbs the next 400km’s of power.”

“This is not a Field of Dreams situation. We can’t just build it. Even if we could somehow afford to build a charging station every 200kms in every part of the country, they still will not come.”

“The MTA is deeply concerned that under-informed decisions such as a ban on internal combustion engines will not only limit Australia’s openness to other innovations, but perversely, encourage everyone other than the wealthy to hold on to older, high-emission vehicles for longer.”