Electric utes: Five policies that could unlock EVs in regional Australia

For the past six months, Ballarat local Ben Lever, a former self-professed petrol-head, has been driving around the country in an electric ute, campaigning for better access to electric vehicles for regional Australians.

He’s been doing it as part of the Electric Ute Roadshow, a broader campaign by Solar Citizens that hopes to galvanise regional communities to make the switch, and convince government to implement effective policies to help them do so.

On Friday, Lever will reach his final roadshow stop, in Sydney.

“I’m lucky enough to have captained one of the first commercially available electric utes on a six month trip through regional Australia. “ Lever said.

“I discovered that EVs are great to drive. The electric ute I’ve been driving (the LDV eT60) is incredibly smooth and quick off the line, but I’ve been even more impressed by the cost savings.”

The Roadshow is more than just a trip. Alongside the six month campaign, Solar Citizens have produced a series of reports detailing how strong fuel efficiency standards – a bone of contention in transport policy in Australia – could save regional drivers millions. The latest is published today to coincide with the Roadshow’s final stop-off.

The new report, Five Recommendations for Accelerating Clean Transport in Regional Australia, advises governments to implement a strong mandatory FES, which is currently under consideration by the federal government and is facing pushback by legacy car makers and their lobbyists.

The report also cites the need for resilient charging infrastructure in Australia’s regional areas, prioritising regional towns when planning new EV infrastructure, for solar-shaded roofs on carparks and charging stations to increase the supply of clean energy, and to remove barriers to vehicle-to-everything (vehicle-to-load, vehicle-to-home, and vehicle-to-grid).

The Roadshow’s published findings have shown that a mandatory fuel efficiency standard could save Australians $11 billion in the first five years, with $4 billion of that in regional areas and $3.4 billion in New South Wales alone.

Fuel efficiency standards (FES) are used the world over to encourage vehicle suppliers to sell cleaner cars. They limit the overall emissions a particular supplier’s fleet of cars can produce, incentivising the sale of cleaner hybrid or all-electric vehicles.

Currently, Russia and Australia are the only so-called ‘developed’ nations that lack an FES, but Australia is working on developing an FES right now, as part of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy announced in April 2023.