Australia Needs to Wake up to Electric Vehicle Opportunities

Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world in supporting the introduction of electric vehicles, according to Nissan, which has come up with a list of 15 incentive suggestions for all levels of Government including cash subsidies, free parking, use of transit lanes and cheaper registration. An Electric Vehicle Roadmap for Queensland has been produced outlining the issues and opportunities to support the uptake of electric vehicles, while Australia’s annual conference on Electric Vehicles will be adding Smart Grid to its program at the Novotel Brisbane on 21 October 2010.

Turn over a New Leaf: Electric vehicles may struggle to gain traction without some encouragement

By Mark Hinchcliffe in The Courier Mail (19 June 2010):

Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world in supporting the introduction of electric vehicles, according to one Japanese importer.

Nissan Australia chief executive Dan Thompson  says the Australian Government stood out on the world stage for its lack of EV support.,

“It is most important for the acceptance of EV to have government incentives and at the moment there is a big fact zero incentive,” he says

Nissan, which plans to introduce the Leaf EV in 2012, gave up on discussions with the Federal Government about a year ago, he says.

“And in that same time about 10-15 governments around the world have give incentives,” he says.

“It is a stand out in not giving support.

“To this day the Australian Government doesn’t have incentives.

“We are slow to the party.”

Discussions about industry wide incentives are now continuing between the government and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

“It won’t change our intention to release the Leaf, but it will affect our volumes,” he says

It’s not something we need in the long term but in the short term for acceptance of EV”

“We need it now not later to encourage uptake of new technology”

Thompson says Nissan is continuing discussions with state and local Governments, which have shown more commitment to being environmentally friendly.

“Victoria is the most pro-active state and Sydney the most pro-active city”, he says.

Nissan has come up with a list of 15 incentive suggestions for all levels of Government including cash subsidies, free parking, use of transit lanes and cheaper registration.

Source: www.carsguide.com.au

This week, Acting Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability Annastacia Palaszczuk released An Electric Vehicle Roadmap for Queensland, an issues paper for public discussion.

Queensland’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Roadmap supports the government’s commitment to promote the adoption of EVs globally.

EVs are considerably more efficient than traditional petrol cars and have great promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the passenger transport sector, especially in the long term.

Countries all over the world are welcoming EVs into the marketplace by developing dedicated policies to encourage their uptake and in Australia, the Queensland Government is also working alongside national industry stakeholders to create a supportive environment for EVs.

An Electric Vehicle Roadmap for Queensland outlines the issues and opportunities Queensland will examine to support the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) when they come onto the Australian market over the next few years.  It canvasses a range of policy areas including industry development, interactivity with the electricity grid, environmental and resource impacts, consumer uptake and behaviour change, standards and regulations and renewable energy.

EVs offer motorists an option for low emission transport and when recharged using 100 percent renewable energy, they have the potential to generate zero emissions.

Reducing transport-related emissions by encouraging consumers to become early adopters of EVs will help Queensland meet its ambitious Q2 target to cut Queenslanders’ carbon footprint by one third with reduced car and electricity use by 2020.

Please join us in promoting EVs in Queensland by reviewing the Queensland EV Roadmap.  Comments from the public are invited until 19 July 2010 to assist in framing the final shape of Queensland’s policy response for EVs.

Thank you.

Greg Withers

Assistant Director General, Office of Climate Change

Source: www.climatechange.qld.gov.au

Announcement:

After its first success last year, Australia’s annual conference on Electric Vehicles will be adding Smart Grid to its program and be held again at the Novotel Brisbane on 21 October 2010.

These two conference streams run in parallel in the same venue will offer participants a unique opportunity to listen to Australian and overseas presenters, and to network with an expected 250 cleantech professionals.

The EV program will be focussing not just on  the vehicles but most importantly on the impact of their market introduction onto the electricity infrastructure, their economics and the role EV will play in making a transition to cleaner and greener transport.

“Electric vehicles are being introduced worldwide while governments, cities or utilities have to resolve challenges around building charging infrastructures, establishing new policies, managing electricity demand etc. Fleet owners ask to better understand the true economics and many other industries are keen to be involved or at least prepared” says Philippe Reboul, CEO of RBL Consulting, the event organiser. “Our conference offers a unique forum where these points will be addressed with all the key professionals in one place”.

The Smart Grid stream will address practical barriers and solutions and look at effective initiatives, economics, infrastructures, community involvement, new technologies and overseas experience.

Grahame Foulger, Director of SmartGrid Partners, conference partner and co-organiser added: “Smart Grid covers a wide range of solutions helping utilities, communities and consumers to better manage their energy demand and consumption. It allows a smarter integration into the grid of electric vehicles, electricity storage, renewable energies, energy efficiency solutions and demand management programs to the benefits of our society and the environment. Australia is making world-class progress in this exciting field with initiatives such as Solar City and Smart Grid Smart City and our conference is part of our commitment to support this fast-growing industry.

Source: www.evconference.com.au