Tough new policy measures are needed to dramatically boost sales of electric vehicles and enable Australia to meet its ambitious climate targets, carmakers have declared, calling for more financial incentives and a 2035 ban on petrol cars.
The transport sector generates around 22 per cent of the nation’s emissions, and its pollution is projected to rise in coming years. According to analysis from the government’s advisory agency, the Climate Change Authority, electric vehicles must comprise half of all new cars sold in the next 10 years – about 9 million cars in total – for Australia to reach its climate target to cut emissions at least 62 per cent by 2035.
The BYD Shark is the first plug-in hybrid ute on sale in Australia and has become the second most popular EV this year, after the Tesla Y.Credit: Jason South
EV Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio, who represents EV carmakers, has called for a 2035 ban on sales of petrol and diesel cars and said the government must set targets for EV sales, so it can track progress towards the goal and ratchet up policy incentives.
While the Albanese government has created pollution penalties to encourage companies to sell fewer petrol and diesel cars and more EVs, it has not imposed targets for clean car sales or set a deadline to ban sales of internal combustion engine vehicles.
“We need to set EV targets and we need more incentives to encourage Australians to make the switch,” Delvecchio said, speaking of the findings in the EV Council’s State of Electric Vehicles report, released today.
Norway has banned sales of new petrol cars from this year and will phase out diesel car sales from 2035, Singapore 2030, then China, the UK and European Union 2035, France and Spain 2040.
However, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has ruled out EV targets or petrol and diesel sales bans.
Read the full story here.
Read the full article here
