The Car - and Taxation !

About the only certainty in what Henry Ford inflicted on the world that we call the " motor car " is about to change.  It seems that the internal combustion engine is going to be replaced by " electric " models and " driverless " cars will be at least a partial reality in the next few years.

Several countries have actually set a date from which they will refuse to register new cars powered by engines that run on petrol or diesel and consequently this guarantees cleaner air.   If city car fleets change to battery supplied electricity the smog that plagues many cities will be at least reduced and citizens may experience the phenomenon of seeing blue skies again.

Nobody can accurately predict when this will actually happen.   A lot depends on the makers of batteries being able to extend the driving range between charges and that strange intellectual shift of mind needed to have car owners accept the limitations that electric cars will impose.

You can be absolutely certain that this coming change is high on the list of priorities being considered by both the state and Federal Treasurers.   The car is an integral component of the taxation system and all levels of government will be mulling the taxation changes that are inevitable.  A high proportion of the petrol we put in our car's fuel tank is a direct tax and no similar impost is currently levied on electricity.

Then there is the phenomenal revenue delivered by fines, ranging from over staying street parking to the breach of rules we commit on highways and city streets.  The driverless car will put an end to all that.  The computers are programmed to always remain within the law and the passenger has no input other than to decide the destination.

With this in mind,  both governments and the big end of town are jostling to be ready to reap the rewards that this change will bring - if they can accurately predict what is needed to replace those old petrol stations and their fuel pumps.  The big question mark hangs over what facilities will need to be in place when this age of the electric driverless car actually arrives.

Common sense dictates that most people will recharge their car overnight from their normal home electricity supply, but there are many apartment dwellers and residents of older suburbs who do not have a garage or off street parking space available, and those travelling distances will need to extend their cars range, just as they do now by filling up at country petrol stations.   There will be a need for independent battery recharging.

That seems to offer opportunity.  The normal 240 volt house supply can deliver a slow overnight charge, but a vastly higher voltage can recharge eighty percent of a battery in twenty to thirty minutes.  This opens the door for high voltage industrial depots offering a quick recharge - but at a much higher price than the charge within the domestic electricity system.

Cynics may argue that the recent surge in household electricity prices is a contrived ploy to ready the market for a surge in household electricity consumption once the electric car becomes common.  The higher the cost of that overnight charge, the less opposition to the price at quick recharge stations when their rates recoup the tax lost on petrol sales.

Right now the big end of town is trying to figure " where " and " how " to site multi outlet recharge stations that will be needed if legislation makes electric cars mandatory, and all levels of government will be evaluating the mix of registration, fines levied and fuel taxes that contribute so heavily to government revenue, and how they can be reapplied.

Only an optimist would expect that this age of electric and driverless cars will be any cheaper to run than the old clunkers that used petrol and poured out pollution to foul the air.   Governments would go broke without that revenue.