Josh Frydenberg says his critics will be driving electric cars within decade

Josh Frydenberg says electric vehicles will revolutionise transport in the same way the iPhone transformed communications.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has hit back at opposition to electric car subsidies from Coalition colleagues, saying the critics will be the ones driving the vehicles in the next decade as part of a “revolution” taking place in the transport sector.

The Australian reported yesterday Liberal MP Craig Kelly, backed by Nationals MPs Andrew Broad and John Williams, would raise government support for electric cars at the next partyroom meeting and argue there should be no further subsidies given to the sector.

Mr Kelly warned electric cars currently created more emissions per vehicle than conventional vehicles due to the make-up of the electricity grid.

“The risk here is you’ll have the rich person in Balmain buying a Tesla, subsidised by a bloke in Penrith who’s driving a Corolla,” Mr Kelly said.

“And the Tesla will have more carbon emissions than the Corolla.”

Mr Frydenberg said he was “very pleased” to see a national debate about the future of electric vehicles.

“I believe that it is a revolution taking place in the transport sector and it will make its way to Australia very, very shortly,” he told Sky News.

“What we’ve seen is global momentum towards electric vehicles as the prices have come down, as battery improvements are made, as infrastructure and recharging infrastructure is rolled out, and it’s not just in Europe, it’s also in North America, as well as in Asia, and here in Australia groups like the NRMA and their equivalents in Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and state governments are heavily investing in the future of electric vehicles.”

Mr Frydenberg said the Nissan Leaf had a smaller carbon footprint than the Toyota Corolla.

“It depends on the vehicle, but by and large electric vehicles will be much more lower in emissions intensity than conventional cars, particularly over time, as the grid goes down in its own emissions intensity,” he said.

“What we’ve heard from the Australian Energy Market Operator is that an additional one million electric vehicles, which is the projection out to 2040, is that we will actually see about a two per cent increase in additional power demand and the grid can cope with that.”

“I think what is going to happen with electric vehicles in the transport sector is equivalent to what the iPhone did to the communications sector.

“Those people today who ridicule electric vehicles will probably be the ones who are buying them in a decade’s time.”

Mr Frydenberg also hit back at Tony Abbott, who yesterday warned he would continue to be critical of the Turnbull government’s energy policy, writing: “you’ll hear a lot from me this year about ending the emissions obsession that’s sending power prices through the roof and killing industries.”

“Tony’s views on a number of these issues are well known and have been well-aired over recent months, certainly since he left the prime ministership, but when he was prime minister he signed up to the Paris commitment, which was a 26 to 28 per cent reduction by 2030 on out 2005 levels, and what we’re committed to doing is meeting those international commitments at the lowest cost,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“The Labor Party unfortunately are ideologically driven. They’re not focused on lower electricity prices. They took no action when they were in government to rein in the skyrocketing network costs. They saw electricity prices increase by more than 100 per cent. In contrast the Turnbull government has intervened in the gas market. The ACCC has reported a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the wholesale gas prices. We’ve passed legislation to abolish the ability of these networks to game the system.”

Mr Frydenberg also celebrated news today that the government will meet its renewable energy target sooner than predicted.

“We have seen an unprecedented level of investment in renewables,” he said.

“There’s some 6000 megawatts of renewable investment that is either committed, financed or currently being built.

“What’s interesting about the figures that are coming out today from the clean energy regulator is nearly half of that investment has been large-scale solar. So we’ll see more than 3000 megawatts of large-scale solar compared to the only 300-odd large-scale solar megawatts of power that’s being generated today.

“So solar is a real bright spot, excuse the pun, but renewable investment is up some $12bn worth of investment, and despite the Labor Party’s antics and despite some of the criticisms you get from the green groups, the numbers tell a very different story. Renewable investment is up and people have confidence in the systems and policies and the processes that the Turnbull government has put in place.”