Retrofit nation: Call for mass conversion of Australia’s truck fleet to spark battery industry

A call has gone out for projects that think big on ways to achieve the rapid conversion of half the Australian vehicle fleet to EV’s – over 10 million vehicles, as part of the second annual Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge, called “Retrofit Nation”

The retrofit of vehicles, particularly heavy ones, is cited as one of the major initiatives Australia could take to decarbonise its transport fleet, and to provide significant demand for a strong, home-based battery storage industry.

Kirk McDonald, the project manager of Supercharge Australia, says Australia produces half of the world’s lithium yet retains less than 1% of the value it produces.

“We can’t just keep sending our lithium offshore where others capture its value. It’s time we change this, together!” he says.

“We’d need $181 billion worth of batteries to retrofit half the Australian vehicle fleet, or 20x our current near term forecast demand to 2030. This quantity would de-risk and incentivise lithium battery and cell production in Australia, in the best case using our world-class renewable energy resources.

So, in support of the Prime Minister’s ‘Future Made in Australia’ initiative, there’s even broader advanced battery manufacturing ecosystem advantages as reasons to proceed and we look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that we know Australian startups are so good at.”

CEO New Energy Nexus, Danny Kennedy who’s also involved in the initiative says the challenge will accelerate interest in the industry.

“There’s no time to delay with the energy transition and transport is an obvious target for reform, particularly in Australia with our reliance on road freight and use of mining vehicles.

“We need to encourage the supply of more EV’s sooner into the Australian and global markets. Putting electric motors and batteries into existing vehicles at scale and massively increasing Australian battery demand is a sure-fire and fast-track way of getting it done.”

Megan Fisher, CEO EnergyLab said, “The mass EV retrofit opportunity can help to upskill the Australian workforce including electricians, mechanics, software developers with critical skills in advanced manufacturing, batteries and EV’s – essential for our economy in the future. The Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge will unleash innovation from the startup community  and capture ideas that show how we can make this mass EV retrofit opportunity a reality.”

In 2022, the transport sector made up 19% of Australia’s emissions. Trucks, buses and light commercial vehicles account for about 40% of that figure and the industry comprises a relatively small group of decision makers that can accelerate change. 

In the Challenge, startups, entrepreneurs and our visionary world-leading scientists and researchers are being asked to develop and present solutions to build the future of the Australian lithium battery value chain and poses questions such as:

• What are the next-generation drivetrain solutions and battery technologies we can apply and how do we produce them at scale?
• How do we design EV retrofits across hundreds of vehicle types and models?
• How do we invent and apply advanced manufacturing techniques?
• What are the software solutions to integrate drivetrain upgrades with existing vehicle technology, to add advanced driver-assist technologies and to maximise their energy storage benefits (Vehicle-to-Grid)?
• How do we most efficiently train and upskill the workforce required to complete the retrofits and adhere to safety compliance?
• How to incorporate breakthrough technologies, utilise innovative business models to accelerate roll-out and enhance commercial viability?

Participants in the inaugural Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge have raised over $40 million in funding subsequent to the first challenge; in the 2nd Supercharge Australia Innovation Challenge we hope to uncover more opportunities for rapid support and growth for Australian solutions.

Battery technologies are one of the most promising sectors for Australia’s economic growth and decarbonisation efforts, with a recent report from Beyond Zero Emissions indicating there was a potential 20,000 jobs and $114 billion revenue by 2035 from batteries alone.

For more details on the challenge visit:

https://energylab.org.au/programs/supercharge-australia-innovation-challenge/