Don’t let the electric vehicle destroyers grind you down

As you’re probably well aware in a ten-day period, three different state governments in Australia proposed to introduce an electric vehicle tax based on kilometres driven.

The third state to do so was Victoria. This was a kick in the guts to many Australians who see a transition to electric vehicles being a positive step for this country.

If progressive Victoria has gone down this regressive path of implementing a kilometre tax on EVs, what chance does the remainder of Australia have?

Without going in to all the arguments of how vehicle taxes are collected and distributed it was inevitable that at some stage electric vehicles were always going to have to pay a bit extra based on their time on the road.

No one expected this now with less than 1% of the fleet being electric, especially when many potential owners see the only advantage to owning an EV is the lower running costs per km.

Most experienced EV owners know there’s far more other great reasons to own an EV, but getting that message across is very difficult, a negative headline in mainstream media will always win out over the positive fine print at the bottom of the page.

So why bring in an EV tax now?

Many are speculating that it’s a case of state governments introducing it while they still have the majority of the driving public on their side. Smart politics, call it sneaky if you will, but what’s more important is who’s pushing it behind the scenes?

No doubt the various industry groups that are going to suffer massively when electric vehicles dominate Australian roads.

Recent history shows that the long-term wellbeing of Australia and its citizens never gets in the way of industry making a short-term dollar.

Proposing an EV tax is one thing, making sure it gets country wide media coverage is what it’s really all about, nothing beats the fear factor in suppressing progress.

Every month that sales of new EVs can be slowed is a big win for a number of industries, destroying the mindset that EVs are cheap to run delays uptake.

The best way to handle this is stay positive.

The majority of EV drivers are disappointed this new EV tax has been brought in so early in a country with almost no incentives, but we also know it’s hardly going to add too much in an EVs lifetime running costs (see example chart below).

The message has to be relayed to the buying public that there are far more benefits to owning an electric vehicle than is being portrayed.

We may not like the tax, but let’s not let the deniers win, stay positive and keep putting out the good word for electric vehicles.

• Calculations used per 1000kms
• Tyres $25
• Solar power @7cents $11.20
• Grid @30cents $48
• DC @45cents $72
• EV km tax @2.5cents $25

*Power consumption is based on 16kWh per 100km

**Registration and insurance costs may vary for individuals from state to state

Note: The Driven will be hosting a free webinar this coming Wednesday on charging options at home and on the road. To find out more and to register, please click here.