Australia stuck in the EV slow lane

More education about EVs, increasing awareness of them, reducing EV pricing and better charging facilities will “kick the automotive industry into gear”, a recent Nielsen survey in Australia shows.

The Nielsen report Caught in the Slow Lane, Australian Adoption of Electric Vehicles outlines the main barriers to EV uptake which is well below most similar markets in Europe, Asia and the US.

“While there is a strong desire among Australians to ‘do their part’ to improve the environment and reduce their carbon footprint, their willingness to change habits and buy electric vehicles is stalled,” Nielsen automotive lead Michael Brown and Nielsen readership lead Adam Axiak say in their report.

“For instance, while electric vehicle sales in Australia reached an all-time high in 2018, the number is still very low when compared to other markets, with only 1352 sold in Australia versus 1.2 million in China, 360,000 in the US and even New Zealand sold 3682 electric vehicles.”

The report says three issues must be resolved, including education and awareness.

“With only 16% of people believing that they are adequately informed about electric vehicles there is a real opportunity for the automotive industry to educate them regarding the unique benefits of electric vehicles,” the authors say.

“There are mixed results when it comes to awareness of brands offering electric cars – 16 % of respondents called out Tesla, 11% Toyota, and 5% BMW, Nissan and Hyundai. Interestingly, when asked to select a brand they thought sold electric vehicles in Australia, 23% selected brands which don’t and 12% reported no manufacturers sell these types of cars in Australia.”

Another issue is perceived value.

Nearly 80% of Australians say price is the key factor to entice them to buy an EV, according to the report. As many as 50% said they would pay only $20,000-$30,000.

“This is a major barrier to sales considering vehicles at the lower end, such as a Hyundai Ioniq, retail from $45,000 plus on road costs, while a Nissan Leaf costs around $50,000. It is, therefore, no surprise that luxury car buyers are driving electric vehicle sales as they can afford to pay the premium.”

The third issue raised in the report is vehicle range and infrastructure.

“As many as 47% of people believe electric vehicles can only travel 100-300km before recharging. Yet, despite most people claiming to drive less than 80km a day, the dangers of running out of charge on long road trips is a major deterrent to purchase. Furthermore, 77% of Australians say the lack of public infrastructure is another key deterrent. This is demonstrated by the fact that there are only 800 charging stations in Australia, compared to over 6000 petrol stations.”

Some 24% of survey respondents intend buying an EV, despite the survey showing about 74% are worried about EV safety – although most popular EVs do very well in crash test safety ratings.

Nielsen interviewed 10 senior automotive marketers, 1000 Australians, more than 18 car owners and reviewed attitudinal and behavioural views from Nielsen emmaCMV.

More information is provided in the associated Australia’s Adoption of Electric Vehicles 2019 Report