Electric Car Laggard Australia Prepares to Release the Brake
An impediment to electric-vehicle sales in one of the world's biggest laggard markets may finally be on its way out.
The absence of fuel-efficiency standards in Australia has long been blamed for making the country a dumping ground for old and dirty models automakers aren't allowed to sell elsewhere. Australia's EV fans have meanwhile been left to scrap over the few pricey electric models available.
In a key step, Australia's government will this month explore ways to introduce efficiency targets. The newly elected Labor administration is seeking carmakers' views to help develop a strategy to catch up with markets that embraced EVs years ago.
New regulation would go some way to address Australia's status as an EV anomaly — a developed nation that's one of the biggest per-capita polluters where electric cars accounted for just 2% of new auto sales last year. As US EV sales break records and President Joe Biden offers tax breaks for going electric, Australia has defied the global shift. Wait times for a new Tesla in Sydney are so long that second-hand Model 3s are going for more than A$130,000 ($88,000).
Australia is the only OECD nation other than Russia that doesn't have or isn't developing fuel-efficiency standards, according to Australian Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen. There are just eight EVs priced under A$60,000 ($41,000) in Australia, compared with 26 in the UK, Bowen says.
Global manufacturing giants Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co. are among those supporting the push for new fuel standards in Australia.
Volkswagen says countries that impose fines for missing fuel-efficiency targets jump up the priority list for EV shipments. “Greater supply inevitably leads to greater affordability,” said Paul
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