Robin Smit, Author at The Driven

Electric Cars

Do electric cars greatly increase the average mass of cars on the road? Not in Australia

New report finds claims that EVs are heavier don’t stack up in Australia, where sales of fossil-fuelled vehicles skew towards large and heavy utes and SUVs.

5 min

Electric Transport

We compared land transport options for net zero. Hands down, electric rail is best

Two new papers find electric rail is hands down the land transport mode with the lowest emissions intensity for both passengers and freight.

4 min

Australian passenger vehicle emissions 50% higher than rest of world – and it’s getting worse

New study suggests Australia will fall well short of 2050 net-zero emission target for road transport. To hit it, policies have to be intensified and supported.

4 min

Electric Transport

Why electric trucks, not hydrogen, are our best bet to cut road transport emissions

We looked at the fleet-averaged life-cycle emissions of three Australian truck sizes and three technologies – diesel, hydrogen and electric. Here's what we found.

4 min

Too big, too heavy and too slow to change: road transport is way off track for net zero

Sales of large, heavy vehicles such as SUVs and utes are growing in Australia. This is a big problem.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese, Chris Bowen and Ed Husic visiting a Nissan Leaf electric car dealer

4 min

The road to new fuel efficiency rules is filled with potholes. Here’s how to avoid them

Without a robust set of mandatory transport emissions standards, Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels will deepen, and reaching our emissions reduction goals will become harder.

Robin Smit