Calling out Aussie minister on EV “boom”

Economics expert and business professor Craig Emerson has called out Australian energy and environment minster Josh Frydenberg who claims the “electric car revolution is nigh”.

In an opinion piece for Fairfax Media, Emerson rebuts the minster’s January 13 Fairfax column depicting the rise of EVs as akin to the iPhone, cloud-based data storage and renewable energy storage.

Emerson says Frydenberg’s citation of other nations’ efforts to improve uptake on low or zero-emission vehicles does not benefit ours.

“It needs to be backed by proactive government policies,” Emerson says in the Financial Review.

“High on the list should be support for the installation of fast-charging stations and an exemption of electric vehicles from the Luxury Car Tax.”

Frydenberg refers to the 4000 Australian-registered EVs making only 0.1% of sales and compares it with New Zealand’s similar volume with only a fifth the Australian population. He describes the roadblocks to uptake as “price, range and infrastructure.”

Emerson says effecting change on Luxury Car Tax (LCT) on the expensive EVs Frydenberg refers to would go a long way.

“Granting an exemption for all electric vehicles would send a positive signal of the federal government’s support for the revolution of which Frydenberg so enthusiastically speaks,” he says.

On electricity generation, the Victoria University professor says the Turnbull government’s National Energy Guarantee would “dubiously” achieve Australia’s carbon emissions target of a 26-28% reduction over 2005 levels by 2030.

“Transport accounts for another 18% and, with no effective action there, Australia cannot meet the government’s emissions-reduction target,” Emerson adds.