Electric Vehicle Policy Australia - 7 July 2010
Given the benefits of electric vehicles1, it is recommended that Australian Government, at all levels, implement the following policies:
Given the benefits of electric vehicles1, it is recommended that Australian Government, at all levels, implement the following policies:
Policy Recommendations
1. General Policy
| Review all standards, policies and regulations considering the effect on demand and use of electric vehicles to better facilitate their adoption in everyday use. Establish a cross-government committee, and a policy coordination unit within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, for coherent development and implementation of electric vehicle policy and for coordination of federal government support of the electrification of vehicles nationwide. |
2. Vehicle Registration
| Introduce Green Vehicle number plates or (optionally) exemption permits applicable to fully electric road-registered vehicles with privileges such as: |
- Exclusive access to parking space with recharging points.
- Exemption from fees at selected public parking facilities.
- Access to special transit lanes and exemption from public tolls and charges.
3. Industry Support, Education and Public Information
| Assist the shift to electric vehicles by taking measures such as: |
- Ensuring there is easy access to information regarding regulations and requirements pertaining to road-going electric vehicles and to the conversion of vehicles, including the road-worthy approval and registration process.
- Ensuring that sufficient numbers of trained, informed and qualified staff are available to support these requirements.
- Allocating and directing funding to research and development that is specific to electric vehicle technology, and to industry support, training and education in the field of road-going electric vehicles.
In the light of the long history of electric vehicles4 and Australia's existing vehicle industry5, provide further industry support, such as by making budget-neutral changes to company tax that help electric vehicles, including by:
◦ replacing parts of company fleets with electric vehicles. ◦ offering financial assistance to employees who purchase or convert an electric vehicle as part of their salary sacrificing package.
|
| In recognition of the benefits of electric vehicles and the key position of electric vehicles in the future of transport and the electric grid, implement financial measures that reflect emissions2, such as: |
- Giving larger income tax deductions to individuals driving fully electric vehicles, on a budget-neutral
basis that makes driving that causes high emissions more eligible to income taxes for individuals. - Heavy discounts or exemptions from customs duties and sales taxes for new fully electric vehicles,
financed by higher duties and taxes on vehicles that cause high emissions. - Heavy discounts or exemptions from registration fees when a fully electric vehicle is first registered as
such, financed by higher registration fees when vehicles that cause high emissions are first registered. - Heavy discounts or exemptions from registration fees for subsequent years, financed through higher
ongoing registration fees on vehicles that cause high emissions. - Rebates on fully electric vehicles and on parts used for conversion to electric vehicles, financed through
fees on transport fuels. - Programs to enable utilities to offer attractive plans for connecting electric vehicles to the electric grid,
financed through fees on electricity that was produced from fossil fuel, in particular coal (see 12).
6. Railways
| Institute an expanded program of electric railway infrastructure in order to replace the current requirements for medium and long haul road and air transport for both freight and passengers. This should include planning for High Speed Rail to service capital cities and major regional centres.3 |
7. Urban and outer urban public transport
Promote, facilitate and plan for electric solutions for urban and outer urban public transport, including:
- Electric buses.
- Light-rail.
- Electric taxi fleets.
- Electric rental vehicles and associated parking and recharging facilities.
8. Recharging Facilities
| Use town planning provisions and financial incentives to facilitate installation of: |
- Public-access electric vehicle recharging facilities at public parking spaces, shopping centres, rest stops, service stations, places of employment and public and other buildings.
- Shared recharging facilities at condominiums and other shared private parking places.
- Private recharging facilities at residential parking places.
9. Government's internal use of Electric Vehicles
Direct Government Departments and Government-controlled entities to:
- Periodically replace parts of the conventional cars in their fleets with fully electric vehicles.
- Install recharging points in their parking spaces.
- Offer incentives to employees for purchasing an electric vehicle or converting a vehicle to electric.
10. International
- Use diplomacy and the overseas aid program to facilitate technology transfer and financial assistance to help global development of electric vehicles.
- Inviting international manufacturers to invest in plants in Australia, such as lithium-ion battery plants
and construction facilities for very fast trains.
- Push for international treaties to facilitate implementation of such measures worldwide.
11. Standards and Regulations
Set standards that are sufficiently open to facilitate large-scale use of electric vehicles, innovation and diversity of suppliers of electric vehicles and their components, and electric vehicles to get insured with a wide range of providers, in the following areas:
|
12. Electric grid
Ensure that the electric grid is ready for and friendly toward electric vehicles, including by:
- Adding transformers where necessary, to accommodate demand for (rapid) recharging.
- Encouraging smart meters that can record and communicate real-time usage data.
- Introducing discounted plans for recharging electric vehicles at times of low grid demand.
- Introducing plans that encourage participation of electric vehicles in Vehicle to Grid (V2G) uploading, such as through generous feed-in tariffs.
- Offering optional Time Of Use plans.
- Offer plans that allow electric vehicles the option of recharging with clean electricity.
Reference documents for further details and background
- Benefits of EVs
- Policy options and debate
- The case for a focus on transport (including High Speed Rail) in order to reduce emissions
- EVs' long history and its current developments
- Australia's existing EV industry (which is ready and able to start converting existing vehicles immediately and which already includes both conversions and custom-built new EVs)
- Federal Government currently has a program for LPG conversions and new LPG vehicle purchases
- The Australian Taxation Office's current policy is to give larger deductions the larger the engine capacity
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