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https://thedriven.io/2026/03/26/evs-did-not-wreck-the-great-australian-weekend-and-electric-trucks-may-just-save-the-farm/>
"When industry and politicians gather in Parliament House on Monday to discuss
freight decarbonisation they can celebrate that EVs did not wreck the great
Australian weekend, and e-trucks may just save the farm.
The war in Iran has revealed that fossil fuel addiction makes Australian road
freight vulnerable. We import nearly all of our liquid fuel, hold minimal
reserves, and rely on long supply chains that pass through geopolitically
unstable regions.
Indeed, as Canadian PM Mark Carney and then European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen counselled our parliamentarians, under the second Trump
administration, there are no norms – so perhaps no region can be safely assumed
to be stable any more.
As the truckies’ bumper sticker puts it, “When trucks stop, Australia stops”.
Australia’s diesel supplies are not so dire that the trucks are going to stop
running, but as fuel prices continue to rise and localised shortages appear
like spot fires across regional Australia, someone has to pay the bill.
Higher costs will land on farmers as impossibly tight margins and on consumers
as a cost-of-living impost many cannot afford.
Truck electrification is an issue of transport security. This is the ability to
move goods reliably and affordably despite global disruption. It is an issue
that has accelerated from academic interest to hip pocket politics faster than
a Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
With a diminishing national fuel reserve and bowsers running dry across the
country, it’s time for the logistics industry and government to stop pointing
fingers and giving reasons why we can’t rapidly electrify this key strategic
industry.
It is high time to solve the challenges and not just keep repeating ‘there’s no
charging infrastructure’, ‘electric prime movers can’t go everywhere a diesel
one can’, ‘I don’t want my drivers sitting around charging’, or blatant
misinformation such as ‘batteries restrict payloads’."
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
