Polling released on Wednesday by the Climate Council shows that Australian voters are way ahead of either party’s EV policies. One in six respondents say they plann to make their next vehicle purchase to be an electric vehicle (EV).
This increased to 1 in 2 people expecting their new car purchase to be electric once EV prices were equivalent to petrol car prices. (Predicted by many research groups to be the mid 2020’s).
In a blow to the anti-EV stance recently taken up by the current government – 62% of those identifying as coalition voters agreed that ‘electric vehicles reduce pollution and are beneficial for people’s health and for the environment’.
Given the fact that almost 20% of Australia’s greenhouse emissions come from transport, this should make Coalition parliamentarians in marginal seats even more nervous, as it shows just how far out of step they are with public understandings of both climate change AND vehicle trends.
The survey also found 62% of Australians support a target for electric vehicles, with 44% supporting Labor’s aim for 50% of all new vehicles to be electric by 2030 and 18% believing it should go even further.
So now it’s over to the political parties: will Labor move further on EVs to at least match public expectations? Given 50% by 2030 is well below many other countries, we would still be well behind them, as shown in the table below:
| Country | ICE sales end date |
| Costa Rica | 2021 |
| Norway | 2025 |
| Denmark | 2030 |
| India | 2030 |
| Ireland | 2030 |
| Israel | 2030 |
| Netherlands | 2030 |
| Sweden | 2030 |
| UK: Scotland | 2032 |
| China | 2040 |
| France | 2040 |
| UK: England Wales N. Ireland |
2040 2040 2040 |
As for the Coalition, will this be a further push on them to give up their ideological blinkers and recognise that EVs are inevitable and a significant plank in meeting our climate responsibilities?
(Which may be the reason for their road AWAY from Damascus conversion to denigrating EVs – is it because they represent a de-facto recognition of climate change??)
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector for 10 years, and also is editor of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association newsletter.
