Submission on National Electric Vehicle Strategy

Driving a rapid increase in demand for EVs

Providing a comprehensive, national electric vehicle policy will enable uptake from freight, industry, local government, and retail consumers, and encourage manufacturers to diversify supply. This diversity will, in turn, create a competitive market, lowering prices.

Policy mechanisms like fuel efficiency standards and direct financial subsidies are useful tools to increase uptake but need to be coupled with non-financial incentives to accelerate the transition.

To support the electric vehicle ecosystem in Australia, ATSE recommends:

Recommendation 1: Develop a robust electric vehicle strategy that includes both demand and supply-side policies to address electrification of all vehicle segments (buses, trucks, and micro-mobility for public, private, freight and industrial use)

Recommendation 2: Develop policies that ensure increased model availability with clear benchmarks on parts to establish a second-hand market.

Recommendation 3: Include a roadmap for establishing an EV charging network in the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, as well as a plan for fuel cell technologies (like hydrogen-powered vehicles) and their supporting infrastructure, including the establishment of charging standards and a plan for charging networks in regional and rural Australia.

Recommendation 4: Establish a common standard of charging infrastructure including requiring bi-directional power flow.

Recommendation 5: Embed a circular economy approach into the National Electric Vehicle Strategy.

Recommendation 6: As part of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, invest in upskilling and developing an EV workforce.

Recommendation 7: Implement fuel efficiency standards as part of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy.