Pulling the plug on the Climate Change Authority’s EV logic

Fewer than 8 per cent of car sales this year were EVs Picture: Monique Harmer

Spruiking the inevitability of an electric car revolution in Australia, Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean chose to highlight the experience of Norway, where he said 98 per cent of new car sales were electric.

Norway is indeed the poster child for EVs in Europe, with more of the vehicles per capita than any other country but it is worth digging a little deeper as to why this is the case.

About 95 per cent of electricity in Norway is generated by hydro electricity and there are strong incentives for consumers to chose EVs.

These include subsidies, cheaper parking and tolls, and the right to use bus and taxi lanes on many roads. But, according to Christina Bu, secretary-general of the Norwegian Electric car association the “strongest incentive may be that we heavily tax the purchase of polluting petrol and diesel cars”.

This, again, is the reality of the decarbonisation story. The trick is to make existing technologies so expensive the renewable energy alternative appears cheap by comparison.

This is why the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is saying it will not be possible to reach the CCA’s Authority’s electric vehicle target without big subsidies.

It says the simple fact is there is not enough consumer demand to meet the CCA’s goal of 50 per cent of car sales to be EVs between now and 2035.

Fewer than 8 per cent of new car sales this year were EVs, and despite nearly 100 EV models being made available they were being rejected by consumers.

“The supply is coming on stream (but) the demand is not there”, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said.

The industry says something is needed to change behaviour dramatically across a large portion of the buying public. This presumably includes the adoption of the sort of coercive policies being used in Norway.

And it probably explains why the federal government has been coy about adopting the CCA’s modelling.

The same can be said for the size of the renewable energy deployment under the new decarbonisation targets of between 62 and 70 per cent below 2005 levels, given the difficulties that have been experienced meeting existing targets of 43 per cent.

The government is also silent on what will be required from industry under a revised safeguards mechanism.

And from farmers and foresters who are being called upon to do their bit for climate.

Glossing over the full story about Norway and EVs tells a lot about how the CCA does its business. And it bodes ill for the federal government that is taking its advice, as well as workers, taxpayers and consumers who will eventually have to foot the bill.