Electric cars forecast to be as affordable as petrol vehicles within seven years

ELECTRIC cars will be as ­affordable as petrol vehicles within seven years, with tumbling costs set to trigger a sales boom, according to a new report.

ELECTRIC cars will be as ­affordable as petrol vehicles within seven years and are likely to represent 90 per cent of all cars on Australian roads by 2050, a new report claims.

The report by consultancy Energeia says sales could take off by the early 2020s, with only moderate taxpayer support required to entice uptake before sales boom within a decade.

PETA CREDLIN: GOVERNMENT’S PLAN FOR ELECTRIC CARS A FARCE

WHY ELECTRIC CARS WILL BE WORTH THE SWITCH

And it forecasts that rapid ­advances in technology will soon eliminate “range anxiety”, with experts predicting charging time and range will match internal combustion engines by 2024.

Commissioned by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the report found concerns that Australia’s vast distances were a barrier to electric vehicles were unfounded.

It cites research that 99 per cent of trips made in Australia total less than 50km or a 100km roundtrip — already well within the range of electric vehicles.

But it found that private investment of around $1.7 billion will be needed around the country by 2040 to install 28,500 service-station-style “fast” charging points.

Josh Benson switched to an electric car four months ago. Picture: Sarah Matray

Electric vehicles represent just 0.1 per cent of new car sales in Australia, well behind Norway (29 per cent) and the Netherlands (6.4 per cent).

In Britain, they represent 1.4 per cent.

ARENA chief executive Ivor Frischknecht said there was an opportunity to increase the share of plug-in electric vehicles in the Australian market.

“They are great to drive and this report shows they will soon be able to compete with petrol alternatives on cost and range,” he said. “Not only will a future with more electric vehicles reduce transport emissions, but it will also make Australia less reliant on imported petrol.”

Bronson Norrish plans to drive from Melbourne to Perth in his electric car. Picture: Sarah Matray

A Bloomberg report predicts that the 1.1 million electric vehicles around the world today will rise to 11 million by 2025 as they become cheaper to make than cars with internal combustion ­engines.

The Andrews Government’s infrastructure advisory agency is preparing advice on what needs to be done for a great uptake of zero emission and automated cars.

JUMP START FOR ELECTRIC CAR BUILDING

Federal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said this year that electric vehicles would soon revolutionise Australia and likened their impact to the ­introduction of the iPhone.

The Turnbull Government has resisted calls to subsidise the industry, believing the market will likely grow once new models become available and prices are lowered.

[e-mail]