<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/18/labors-ev-strategy-hamstrung-by-delayed-fuel-efficiency-standard-advocates-say>
"Climate and transport advocates say the Albanese government’s showpiece
electric vehicle strategy has achieved little and remains “hamstrung” six
months after its release as the industry continues to wait for details of a
fuel efficiency standard.
In mid-April, the government unveiled what was Australia’s first national
electric vehicle strategy, which included ideas to support investment in
charging infrastructure, guidance for apartment-dwellers wanting to own EVs and
recycling programs for large batteries.
The strategy did not include targets for EV uptake or details of a fuel
efficiency standard.
Instead, the government began a consultation period to develop Australia’s fuel
efficiency standard – something neglected by the Coalition but first flagged by
the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, in August 2022.
Fuel efficiency standards set by governments create a cap for emissions across
a manufacturer’s overall sales. This provides an incentive for carmakers to
supply low- and zero-emissions vehicles and penalises companies that do not.
This August, the government revealed that the introduction of a fuel efficiency
standard had been “overwhelmingly” supported throughout public consultation.
However, the path to legislating the standard and giving enough notice ahead of
its start date has some worried there might be a rush to implement it before
the next federal election.
Dr Jennifer Rayner, the head of advocacy at the Climate Council, said the
organisation was “surprised to see the policy discussion take this long”.
“It’s great to see the government is speaking to stakeholders, but
fundamentally [fuel efficiency standards] are in place in 85% of the world’s
car market, it should not be this complicated to design one for Australia,” she
said.
“There are about a million cars sold each year in Australia, most of them
petrol cars, so the longer we wait, the longer we are seeing dirtier, more
expensive to run cars come on to our roads.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
