The Electric Car Option !

At the moment, the electric car is a miniscule percentage of the Australian car fleet, but there is the expectation that it will grow exponentially in the years ahead.  The factors making the average motorist reluctant to make the change include price, distance delivered by a full battery charge and the scarcity of re-charging points.

Some overseas countries have announced that they will force their citizens to drive electric cars by simply banning the production or import  of new vehicles powered by petrol or diesel internal combustion engines.   Britain and France will implement this law from 2040 and Norway and the Netherlands from 2025.  Pressure is building for Australia to adopt a similar stance.

We would be wise to adopt the " softly-Softly " approach because Europe is composed of many countries with very large populations, occupying a land mass far less than a typical small Australian state.  As a result, their citizens are concentrated in cities and driving distances covered are much shorter than in this country.

There is the expectation that electric cars will soon drop in price to parity with petrol and diesel cars and battery range is ever extending.  The expectation of electric cars becoming a trend is causing investors to finance a sharp rise in re-charging stations which will eventually become as common as petrol reselling stations are now.  There is no doubt that we are on the cusp of the electric car age.

The difference between Australia and Europe is the concentration of people in small countries compared to Australians spread over a very big continent.  It is obvious that the electric car will first find favour with people in our major cities and this seems set to coincide with the advent of the self driving car becoming legal.

It is likely that petrol and diesel will persist for a long time in rural Australia  because of the vast distances involved.  Just as the four wheel drive initially became an icon of the " bush " it seems that electric cars will predominate as city transport. We would be wise to let this develop at its own pace.

Perhaps the biggest issue not yet addressed is taxation.  A huge proportion of the price we pay for petrol and diesel is tax and both the Commonwealth and State will have no option than to try and recover that component of their income stream.  There are tentative plans to adopt a " distance driven "  tax measure and obviously that would include the toll system to calculate the charge.   Those expecting electric to lower motoring costs are likely to be disappointed.

There is also the question of subsidies to get people to make the move to electric.  That needs a degree of caution.  People who have outlaid a lot of money on an existing high end petrol vehicle may resent its resale price drop caused by new vehicle subsidies - and refusing to move to electric can quickly become a cult following.

The electric car needs to establish itself in users minds by overcoming initial objections progressively. Many will find satisfaction from contributing to lower emissions delivering a healthier planet but we humans tend to get ornery if we feel pressured.    Forcing electric cars on people is likely to create a backlash !