Picture of France’s car charging stations reignites electric vehicle debate

A photo of a French street lined with electric car charging ports has reignited debate over Australia’s approach to sustainability on the road.

A photo of a French street lined with electric car charging ports has reignited debate over Australia’s approach to sustainability on the road.

The photo, shared by ABC podcast host Norman Swan, gathered over 5,000 likes and comments, as the issue of emissions continues to circle the upcoming May election.

“This is the kind of infrastructure that a country committed to the science of climate change puts in,” Swan wrote alongside the pic in a not-so-subtle dig at the Australian government.

Many noted France’s superior nuclear power production to Australia, while others suggested shifting to electric cars was “essential as part of addressing climate change.”

“Apparently electric vehicles in Norway will reach 100 percent of car sales in a few years from now. How amazing is that. Meanwhile in Australia...” wrote John Speight.

But Dr Swan’s tweet struck a nerve with some of his followers.

“The chargers are using up valuable space on a narrow footpath. The roadspace for cars look 2-3 times as big as footpath for pedestrians. For a dense urban area like that it’s walkability that should be top priority,” wrote transport blogger Bambul Shakibaei.

Others suggested the Australian government should follow the lead of Netherlands and focus on reducing the amount of cars on the road rather than transitioning to electric vehicles.

“Dutch style cycle infrastructure, ride to work subsidies, and electric light railway for me,” wrote one.

“The Paris metro carries 1.5 billion passengers a year more cheaply and conveniently than any care and uses far far less carbon per passenger,” pointed out another.

This is the kind of infrastructure that a country committed to the science of climate change puts in. pic.twitter.com/dkwqeu6k8Z

— Norman Swan (@normanswan) April 20, 2022

Electric vehicle debate heats up ahead of election

The heated online debate came after opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Labor will “reduce taxes” on electric vehicles ahead of the federal election in May.

“Particularly a measure that will make a difference is removing the fringe benefits tax for all those below the luxury car tax threshold,” he said at the Sky News People’s Forum on Wednesday night.

“That’s how a whole range of cars get into the fleet.”

However, a a 5 per cent price cut on the cheapest electric vehicle available in Australia (the MG ES EV) would still leave the price hovering around $42,740.

Mr Albanese said it made no sense that Australia exported several materials required to manufacture batteries, but did not have a robust plan for electric vehicles in the future.

“We need to make more things here. It makes no sense that everything that goes into a battery: copper, lithium, nickel, is all here, we send it offshore, and the batteries are made,” he said while debating Scott Morrison last night.

“This is a potential major industry here in Australia, and we need to do more to create those high-value jobs. I support exporting our resources, but where possible, we should be value-adding here rather than seeing the value add somewhere else and the jobs created somewhere else. And that‘s what we’ll do on EVs.”

Albanese also brought up old promises made by the Liberal Party.

“The Prime Minister said during the 2019 campaign that electric vehicles would ‘end the weekend’,” he said.

“They said that ’they couldn’t tow your trailer, couldn’t tow your boat’. It was all nonsense. The truth is that electric vehicles are here, they will continue to grow in the future,” he continued.

“We will reduce the taxes on electric vehicles, particularly a measure that will make a difference is removing the fringe benefits tax for all those below the luxury car tax threshold because that‘s how a whole range of cars get into the fleet.”

I like this one. Maybe we’ll see it in Australia in 30 years pic.twitter.com/AuBVlQh3yq

— Nathan Wind (@Dura_Ace) April 20, 2022

Meanwhile, Tesla revealed its Supercharger network will eventually be opened to all electric car makes globally.

A handful of sites are already public in Europe, with CEO Elon Musk previously hinting at broader accessibility.

Originally published as Picture of France’s car charging stations reignites electric vehicle debate