Current State of Play

Uptake of electric vehicles

For the purpose of this paper, the term ‘electric vehicle’ refers to plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles, unless otherwise specified (see Attachment 1 for definitions). Hybrids are not included in this definition as their batteries cannot be charged from an external electricity source. Electric vehicles include cars, buses, trucks, trains, aeroplanes, boats, bicycles (e-bikes), motorcycles and scooters. (Note: an electric bike (e-bike) is a bike that can be powered by electricity (battery and electric motor) as well as propelled by pedals.)

Australians purchased 1,369 electric vehicles (cars) in 2016, representing 0.1 per cent of the national passenger vehicle market (ClimateWorks 2017). In Tasmania, approximately 56 electric vehicles (cars) were purchased between 2011 and 2016, representing 0.02 per cent of the Tasmanian passenger vehicle market. (Note: The market percentage was calculated based on the number of registered passenger vehicles in Tasmania in 2017 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Motor Vehicle Census. The market percentage is approximate due to limitations and variations associated with State and territory reporting of electric vehicle data, including electric vehicle definitions and categories.)

Electric vehicles account for approximately 0.2 per cent of the global fleet (OECD / IEA 2017). Norway has the highest electric vehicle uptake representing 39 per cent of its new vehicle sales, which equates to over 3 per cent of its vehicle fleet (OECD/IEA 2017), followed by the Netherlands (6.4 per cent of vehicle fleet) and Sweden (3.4 per cent of vehicle fleet) (OECD/IEA 2017). An overview of the policies and programs that have been introduced in Norway to encourage electric vehicle uptake is provided at Attachment 2.

The international uptake of electric vehicles is continuing to rise. In 2010, there were only hundreds of sales of electric vehicles. By January 2017 cumulative global sales reached two million (Lutsey 2017).

Uptake of e-bikes is expected to grow in the future as awareness of the technology and commercial availability of models increases (RAC 2017). In the United Kingdom, e-bike sales rose from 5 per cent of the bicycle market in 2015 to 12 per cent in 2016 (The Guardian 2017). In Australia, cycling is one of the fastest growing modes of transport, and the overall number of bicycle sales has substantially increased over the past 15 years, including increasing demand for e-bikes (EV Talk 2017).

What Tasmania has done so far

Tasmanian Government

In 2013, the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Tasmanian Climate Change Office (TCCO) undertook a project to investigate the potential benefits of electric vehicles in Tasmania. The benefits identified included:

• reduced transport-related air pollution;
• improved energy security due to reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels; and
• significant emissions reduction opportunities due to Tasmania’s renewable energy profile (Joule Logic 2014).

In 2015, TCCO delivered the Electric Vehicles Demonstration Project, in partnership with Hydro Tasmania and TasNetworks. Through the Project, 19 electric vehicles were deployed across a range of vehicle fleets from Tasmanian Government agencies, TasNetworks, Hydro Tasmania, local government and the education sector. The trial identified a number of barriers to electric vehicle uptake in Tasmania, including concerns regarding the driving range of electric vehicles caused by the current lack of public charging infrastructure (Tasmanian Government 2017a). The University of Tasmania participated in the Demonstration Project by sharing its knowledge and experience of integrating electric vehicles into its fleet.

City of Hobart

The City of Hobart has installed electric vehicle charging stations in city-owned carparks. Additionally, the City of Hobart is developing a transport strategy to plan for the future transport needs of its community, including environmental impact reduction and increasing the use of sustainable transport modes.

City of Launceston

The City of Launceston is developing a transport strategy to plan for the future transport needs of its northern community, including environmental impact reduction and increasing the use of sustainable transport modes.

University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania demonstrates leadership in sustainable transport through its Sustainable Transport Strategy (PDF) and the implementation of sustainable transport practices. The organisation has had three return-to-base all-electric Nissan Leafs in its vehicle fleet since 2012 with purpose built charging stations for these vehicles. The University has also been installing electric bike charging stations for both public use at bike hubs and in individual bike lockers since 2011 and includes requirements for provision of 10 per cent of bike parking spaces in bike hubs to have power points available. In addition, the University has installed charging power points and identified electric vehicle parking spaces in new developments in Hobart and Launceston at levels meeting Green Building Council of Australia requirements.

Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA)

AEVA is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and facilitating the uptake of electric vehicles.

AEVA creates greater awareness of electric vehicles and encourages their use to foster further research and development in electric technology and to be an official source of information on electric vehicles in Australia (AEVA 2017). The organisation also provides a forum for social and technical communication in the electric vehicle field.

The Tasmanian branch of AEVA created an Electric Highway Working Group in 2015 which focused on the issue of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Tasmania and included representatives from TasNetworks, Hydro Tasmania and several Tasmanian Regional Development Authorities.

Benefits of electric vehicles to Tasmania

Tasmania is ideally situated, and uniquely placed, to benefit from a growing electric vehicle market due to the State’s:

• growing visitor economy (popular fly/ferry-drive holiday destination);
• compact geography;
• clean and green image;
• high percentage of renewable energy generation;
• shorter average car commuting distances;
• significant reliance on imported fossil liquid fuels; and
• high-emitting transport subsector, which offers a significant opportunity for emissions reduction.

The environmental, social and economic benefits of electric vehicles are outlined below.

Reducing emissions

Electric vehicles, powered by Tasmania’s locally produced renewable energy have the potential to contribute significantly to reducing emissions in the transport sector.

Energy security and improved utilisation of electricity network

Tasmania has a reliance on imported fossil liquid fuels for non-stationary and transport energy use.

The Tasmanian Energy Security Taskforce found that electric vehicles may assist in reducing Tasmania’s dependence on liquid fuels in the non‑stationary energy sector in the longer term and provide other benefits to the State (Tasmanian Government 2017b).

Electric vehicles have a natural synergy with locally-produced renewable energy. They can boost demand for energy from the grid and improve the utilisation of the existing electricity network (Tasmanian Government 2017b).

Reduced transport costs

Not only are electric vehicles smoother and quieter to drive, they also have significantly lower service requirements and running costs (electrical recharging is significantly less expensive than refuelling Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles) (AFDC 2017).

The operating cost savings of electric vehicles means that businesses and households will benefit from reduced transport costs, particularly as electric vehicles and ICE vehicles hit price parity.

Reduced transport costs has flow-on effects to the Tasmanian economy by increasing demand for locally produced electricity (rather than imported fossil fuels).

Some studies also suggest the future electrification of transport out to 2050 could also result in lower residential electricity bills, particularly if fast charging stations are introduced to enhance capacity utilisation of the electricity network (Tasmanian Government 2017a).

Improved public health

Electric vehicles offer benefits to public health; for example reduced traffic noise, and air quality improvements because there is no tailpipe air pollution.

Tourism

Tasmania is a popular fly/ferry-drive holiday destination and its visitor economy is growing.

With increasing popularity of electric vehicles there is an opportunity to diversify Tasmania’s visitor tourism industry by including a new electric vehicle market segment.

Jobs

Electric vehicles can generate local job opportunities in sales and charging infrastructure deployment, and diversify economies with new products and services.

Building climate resilience

Wide-scale electric vehicle uptake also has the potential to build climate resilience by mobilising electricity during emergency (extreme weather) events, or periods of sustained power loss. In such events, the energy stored in the batteries of electric vehicles could be used to run lighting and power essential appliances in homes, businesses or evacuation centres.

Benefits of e-bikes

E-bikes have wide-ranging benefits including reducing emissions, enhancing mobility access, reducing traffic congestion and providing a cheaper and more manageable commute (and other shorter trip) option (The Guardian 2017). Australian trials of e-bikes show that once on an e-bike, most people like them (RAC 2017). The University of Tasmania has data that shows an increasing uptake of electric bikes from staff and students at all campuses with the first bikes appearing in 2011.

Potential future benefits of autonomous electric vehicles

In the future, autonomous electric vehicles may also offer additional benefits, including:

• mobility services for people that are unable to drive;
• improved traffic safety;
• reduced traffic congestion;
• improved access to vehicles through car/ride-sharing;
• increased availability of urban space (through the reduced need for car parking spaces); and
• improved electricity grid performance through vehicle-to-grid technology (Driverless car market watch 2017).

Notes:

• An autonomous vehicle (also known as a driverless vehicle) is capable of driving itself without any human input. From a technology perspective, autonomous and electric vehicles are inextricably linked.
• Vehicle-to-grid is a term used to describe the connection of electric vehicles onto the interconnected power network with facility for the transfer of energy between vehicle and grid.

Electric vehicle policy in Australia

Around the world, governments are recognising the benefits of wide-scale electric vehicle use and are supporting their uptake through policy (The Australia Institute 2017). Government policy has the potential to enable the right conditions to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles.

In Australia, a number of state and territory governments have implemented policies to support electric vehicle uptake (summary provided in Table 1 below).

The ACT Government encourages the purchase of low emission vehicles through reduced stamp duty and reduced registration costs. The ACT Government has also provided electric vehicle charging infrastructure support and has fleet initiatives in place to increase the number of low emission vehicles within Government (ACT Government 2017b). From a broad policy perspective, the ACT Government considers reducing transport emissions (currently producing 60 per cent of the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions) as a key component to achieving its target of net zero emissions by 2050 (ACT Government 2017b).

The Queensland Government has released a whole-of-government electric vehicle strategy (The Future is Electric) to support the uptake of electric vehicles. Under this strategy, the Government is providing discounts on electric vehicle registration, supporting the planning and building of an electric vehicle charging super-highway, and developing a destination charging strategy (Queensland Government 2017).

The Government of South Australia has developed a Low Emission Vehicle Strategy to increase the proportion of these vehicles on the state’s roads (Government of South Australia 2017b). The strategy identifies ways to remove or reduce barriers to these vehicles and accelerate their uptake by South Australians. Initiatives include supporting electric vehicle charging infrastructure, purchasing electric vehicles to use in the Government fleet, promoting community awareness of electric vehicles (demonstration projects, pilots etc), and investigating the impact of electric vehicles on electricity suppliers.

In December 2017, the ACT Government, the Government of South Australia, City of Adelaide, City of Hobart and the Electric Vehicle Council of Australia signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate to support the greater use of electric vehicles (ACT Government 2017a).

Table 1: Overview of government electric vehicle policy in Australia (Source: ClimateWorks 2017)

Electric vehicle model availability and cost in Australia

According to ClimateWorks (2017), the number of electric vehicle models available in Australia has steadily risen over the past six years, with 16 models available in 2016. The vast majority of electric vehicle models currently available in Australia are priced at more than $60,000.

In 2016, there were only three electric vehicle models available for less than $60,000 (Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi Outlander and Renault Kangoo ZE). The Nissan Leaf is no longer available in Australia and the Renault Kangoo is a van that is only available through special arrangement with Renault. By comparison, there are over 20 electric vehicle models available in the sub-$60,000 price range in Scandinavian countries (The Financial Review 2017).

Electric vehicle model availability in Australia is expected to increase in the near future with seven new electric vehicle models anticipated to be introduced into the Australian market in the next 18 months. Three of these models are likely to be priced at $60,000 or less.

From a global perspective, electric vehicle model availability is expected to grow in the coming years as prices come down, more efficient batteries become available and tighter emissions reduction regulations for the car industry take effect, particularly in the European Union (JATO Dynamics 2015).

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