Australia global laggard in EV and hybrid interest

Australian interest in electric vehicles is well below the global average, a new study confirms.

Just 3% of Australians say they own an EV or hybrid, according to the Fourth Annual Global Mobility Study by L.E.K. Consulting, Vision Mobility and CuriosityCX.

Barely 34% of Australians are either interested or very interested in hybrids and 33% in EVs, the report adds.

That’s compared with the average across the surveyed countries (including France, Germany, Spain, the UK, US, Canada, China, and India) at 48% for hybrids and 45% for EVs.

Australian respondents cited cost, driving range and a lack of charging options as the three major impediments to ownership.

“Australia’s wide expanse makes it hard for drivers to contemplate being stuck without a place to charge. The distance between major cities adds anxiety about the capability of EVs to make it from A to B, despite an uptick in publicly-available infrastructure,” L.E.K. Consulting partner Mark Streeting says.

“However, the major impediment according to this study remains the cost, with the lowest-price EV on the market, the Hyundai Ioniq, coming it at around A$45,000. And with no resale market yet established, internal combustion engines (ICE) remain the go-to choice for new or used vehicle purchases,” Streeting says.

He believes battery development will see costs reduce, that publicly available charging infrastructure continues to be deployed along major routes and he urges car makers to bring down EV costs and improve range while also working more closely with governments and the broader industry on infrastructure.

Global EV sales are set for substantial growth from 2025 and autonomous vehicles (AVs) from 2030, the study says, adding that EVs have progressed considerably in the past year.

EV interest is highest in India, Canada and China.

The study also finds ride-sharing disrupted by regulation and competition in Western new mobility markets, while 70% of respondents in India and 57% in China say they now use new mobility options instead of their car or public transport, versus 16% of people in the UK, 14% in France and 9% in Germany.

More than half of Indian respondents (55%) and four in 10 Chinese report using a ride-hailer in the last three months. In Europe, ride-hailing use in countries surveyed ranges from 25% to 15%.

In the US, the earliest adopter of new mobility transport, the proportion of people using a ride-hailer has remained static over three years at around 25% – and declined to 24% in 2019.

E-scooter use increased from 3% to 4% in the past year.

Around a third of respondents are aware of e-scooter schemes, and about a quarter have used a scooter recently. Familiarity is highest in India (63%), followed by China (46%) and France (45%). Users are attracted to scooters’ low cost, simplicity, speed and environmental credentials.

“Governments may be convinced to promote e-scooter usage because of their environmental benefits, but safety and clutter are major issues to overcome. New forms of micro-mobility, such as e-skateboards and high-speed e-bikes, are also emerging, adding to the erosion of public transport revenues,” L.E.K. Consulting partner Ashish Khanna says.

“The most exciting growth of new mobility is in India and China where ride-hailers and other innovative transport options are set to leapfrog the use of public transport and privately owned cars,” he adds.

“This presents a huge opportunity for ‘mobility-as-a-service’ providers in these and other developing economies because the shared transport ‘payment-per-trip’ model opens up vehicle access to the millions of people who cannot afford to buy a car or who are underserved by public transport. For car manufacturers, this means they should focus their strategy in these markets on selling to fleet companies rather than individuals.”

Across the countries surveyed, 40%-60% of people, especially millennials, said they would not own a car if they did not have to.

Vision Mobility forecasts that EVs will represent just 3% of global new car sales in 2020, but by 2025 that will be 15%, reaching 65% by 2040.

AV sales are forecast to grow from 2% in 2015 to 55% by 2040 too.