The Australian federal government has ranked electric vehicle and hydrogen recharging stations as “second order” priorities in its Technology Roadmap, which will give funding priorities to technologies that favour farmers, fossil fuels and large smelting operations.
The technology roadmap unveiled by energy and emissions reductions minister Angus Taylor on Tuesday lists carbon capture and storage, “clean” hydrogen, soil carbon, low carbon steel, and energy storage as its main priorities.
It relegates wind and solar to the same basket of “mature technologies” such as coal and gas, and keeps a “watching brief” on modular nuclear and other developing technologies such as “air capture”. But a day before what is expected to be Tesla’s landmark “Battery Day”, it virtually ignores electric vehicles.
EV and hydrogen fuel cell recharging stations are listed as second order priorities to be supported “where possible”, but there is no indication of any policy initiatives to boost the uptake of battery vehicles. Perhaps that will come in the federal government’s EV policy, which may or not be delivered later this year.
The government has already announced $74 million in for a “future fuels” fund to be managed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that will support a network of charging and refuelling stations, including biofuels, but there are no new initiatives in the roadmap.
As Taylor notes in his documents, these recharging technologies “will not have the same reporting and investment focus” as the priority technologies of CCS, hydrogen and soil carbon, which will attract the majority of the $18 billion it plans to spend over the next 10 years.
“The Government will look to remove barriers to uptake where feasible,” it says.
And Taylor hinted that there was no guarantee of any long term support.
“Emerging and enabling technologies (the category that includes EVs) will be included in the mandates of our technology investment agencies,” he said in notes to his speech provided to the media.
“Over time they may become priorities for us or they may drop off all together (sic).” Which is a strange thing to say about the technologies that will reduce emissions in transport. Exactly what does the minister expect the alternatives to electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to be? Horse drawn chariots?
The lack of commitment to a coherent and expanded EV strategy, and to attack the transport emissions that make up a growing share of Australia’s emissions, now at 18.8 per cent according to the latest data, is disappointing in light of events elsewhere.
Tesla now has a market value of more than $US400 billion, more then the next five most valuable car makers combined, and on Wednesday (Australia time) will hold its Battery Day, where there are expectations of major new developments, including the so-called “million mile” battery.
Australia would have had a target of 50 per cent share of electric vehicles in new car sales by 2030 under a Labor government, around the same time as other countries plan to eliminate fossil fuel sales.
“EVs will grow in coming years,” Taylor said in response to questions after his National Press Club, without saying much more.
But the actual roadmap document describes EVs as a “very early stage” development, and indicates Australia will just wait to see what happens overseas. It is in the same lump as small modular reactors, a technology not likely to see the light of day until 2030 at the earliest.
Yet EVs are already nearly 10 per cent of new car sales in Europe, and the most famous maker of EVs, Tesla, is worth more than all the other car makers combined.
“This category also includes technologies where Australia will more likely be the recipient of technological advances and lower costs driven by overseas developments,” the document says.
“Many technologies in the transport sector fall into this group, including battery, hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and more efficient internal combustion engine vehicles.” It even mentions “low emissions aircraft”, without amplification.
In the meantime, other western economies are accelerating their shift to electric vehicles. The UK is likely to bring forward its ban on petrol and diesel cars to 2030, while Norway has a 2025 deadline for banning any form of fossil fuel vehicle, including hybrids and plug in hybrids. By which time Australia will likely still have EVs on its “watching brief”.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
Another new electric SUV to land in Australia in 2024, thanks to Changan Deepal partnership…
The electric vehicle joint venture formed by two Japanese multinational giants will adopt Tesla’s North…
The world's biggest electric ferry is being built in Australia and will feature battery modules…
Xpeng announces prices of its highly anticipated electric SUV, the G6, which comes in under…
Tesla's Shanghai factory builds 1 in every 2 EVs on Australian roads as it reaches…
Tesla supercharger voting round now open for Australian EV drivers to select their next favourite…