EV space – The road to embracing EVs in Australia

‘When’ not ‘if’

The road to embracing EVs in Australia

By David Young

A strong undercurrent of change present in the automotive industry has gained in momentum over the past decade. Indeed, recently this current has grown to a raging torrent with landmark global events like COP26 guiding sectors like the automotive industry to put sustainability, and particularly sustainable and zero emission fuel sources, at the top of their list for investment. This is not new news. For a long time, the writing has been on the wall with countries like those in Europe embracing the change. Most recently this has been emphasised since Electric Vehicles or ‘EVs’ account for 75 percent of new vehicle sales in Norway. With other countries like Sweden, Iceland and the Netherlands also closing in on an EV majority share of the new car market.To many the future of a majority share of electric vehicles globally is inevitable, and all for the better. Despite this, Australia lags in the EV space. But what could the industry do to address this shortfall?

Well to find out we’ve sat down with an expert in the area of EV policy and the EV market in Australia, Dr Jonathan Spear the acting CEO at Infrastructure Victoria. Being at Infrastructure Victoria since its inception Dr Spear has had a front seat to a lot of the important issues that the independent think tank has tackled. One that has been noticeably ever present is this shift to an EV market.

Most recently Infrastructure Victoria has been at the forefront by mapping out the path which would take us, as a State, and perhaps indeed a country forward to this future. This includes the delivery of their latest 30-year infrastructure strategy, tabled in the Victorian State Parliament in August of this year, and also the wide ranging publications on the impact of automated and zero emission vehicles which were published in 2018. When it comes to EVs Dr Spear and his team believe they have identified the four barriers we need to burst through. He describes these as:

1. The need for better consumer information on levels of electric vehicle performance. 2. The requirement for charging infrastructure. 3. Communication that indicates to customers that the sticker price is only one small element of cost for EVs and that lower maintenance and running costs will be of more benefit; and 4. The need for certainty around the date that traditional internal combustion engine vehicles will stop being sold from new car showrooms.

But even with all these barriers Dr Spear believes that it’s not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’ question that Australia must consider when it looks at the electrification of the personal, commercial and freight transport sectors. “Each of these are important enablers of a shift to an Australia which embraces, rather than resists, the inevitability of EVs,” he says. Governments both federal and state will have key roles in addressing these barriers. But the good news for Australia’s automotive industry is that we can be right in the thick of it when it comes to navigating this path to EV adoption.

Dr Spear believes that one of the key roles the industry and automotive engineers particularly need to play is to assist in educating the public on what performance levels current day EVs achieve. He believes that such discussion will help enable Australians to be early adopters of the technology rather than bobbing in the wake of other countries’ transitions. The industry can achieve this through providing real evidence into the public conversation on EVs, which can address customer concerns relating to topics like ‘range anxiety’ and vehicle maintenance and battery life. The Australian automotive sector and automotive engineers can be the busters of the myths and legends in the EV space with industry groups like the SAE-A keen to be a leading light in this area. “Our membership has the ability to lead this next step in the EV journey, with the SAE-A’s role as a key educator to drive demand,” SAE-A chair and CEO Adrian Feeney said. “Bold initiatives like the SAE-A ZEV project show that Australia can use its unique position in the automotive market to ensure we’re at the crest of the wave of EV adoption rather than just paddling around in the shallows.” According to Dr Spear electric passenger vehicles aren’t the only game in town though. Electric vehicles will have an impact in so many areas of the transport sector including heavy vehicles, medium and light commercial vehicles, motorcycles and personal mobility devices.

“There are some pretty strong use cases for heavy vehicles to go to zero emissions,” Dr Spear said. And he then goes on to point out that operators of heavy vehicle and commercial vehicle fleets particularly could benefit from the reduction in ongoing maintenance and running costs. SAE-A board member and chief engineer at PACCAR Australia Noelle Parlier echoes this sentiment: “The heavy vehicle industry has so much to contribute to the future of vehicles here in Australia with PACCAR and SAE-A being at the forefront of some great innovations and ideas in the EV space.” But if we’re to crack the EV code there is perhaps one area where Dr Spear believes the discussion needs to start. That is the discussion relating to cost. And particularly shifting this discussion away from the vehicle’s sticker price and on to an understanding of the lifetime cost of a vehicle and how EVs perform when these elements are considered.

“When I think about price, I’m always considering total cost of ownership. And even right now total cost for ownership of an EV is lower when you include running costs,” he said.

One final thought starter with which Dr Spear wants to leave the Australian automotive sector is how the transition to EVs could have wider benefits outside of the shift to sustainable fuel sources.

“There is a really strong synergy between battery electric and automated vehicle systems,” he said. So perhaps it is through these synergies and an industry wide push for EV education and adoption that we can supercharge cost, environmental, and health benefits for all Australians.

Dr Spear will be talking as a part of a public policy panel session at the upcoming APAC21 conference on vehicle automation and technology. APAC21 is scheduled for the 3-5 October 2022 in Melbourne. Dr Jonathan Spear

This article was written by Dr David Young who is an SAE-A board member. Dr Young’s industry role is as the Manager of Vehicle Safety, Innovation and Technology at the TAC and the view expressed in this article are his own and not those of the TAC.