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https://thedriven.io/2024/05/17/retrofit-nation-call-for-mass-conversion-of-australias-truck-fleet-to-spark-battery-industry/>
"A call has gone out for projects that think big on ways to achieve the rapid
conversion of half the Australian vehicle fleet to EV’s – over 10 million
vehicles, as part of the second annual Supercharge Australia Innovation
Challenge, called “Retrofit Nation”
The retrofit of vehicles, particularly heavy ones, is cited as one of the major
initiatives Australia could take to decarbonise its transport fleet, and to
provide significant demand for a strong, home-based battery storage industry.
Kirk McDonald, the project manager of Supercharge Australia, says Australia
produces half of the world’s lithium yet retains less than 1% of the value it
produces.
“We can’t just keep sending our lithium offshore where others capture its
value. It’s time we change this, together!” he says.
“We’d need $181 billion worth of batteries to retrofit half the Australian
vehicle fleet, or 20x our current near term forecast demand to 2030. This
quantity would de-risk and incentivise lithium battery and cell production in
Australia, in the best case using our world-class renewable energy resources.
So, in support of the Prime Minister’s ‘Future Made in Australia’ initiative,
there’s even broader advanced battery manufacturing ecosystem advantages as
reasons to proceed and we look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that
we know Australian startups are so good at.”"
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
