EV Growth Australia Poll: lower EV cost, more public chargers & emissions standards would drive EV growth
MEDIA RELEASE: PERTH, AUSTRALIA – 14TH NOVEMBER 2023
Reducing the cost of electric vehicles, investing in more public EV chargers and introducing emissions standards would turbocharge EV growth in Australia, a new study has found. And EV drivers were described as smart, adventurous, trendsetters and nerdy according to a survey of 120 people at the Australian Electric Vehicle Association in Perth.
Some 44 per cent believe EV cost was the biggest barrier to EV uptake in Australia. A further 35 per cent rated inadequate public charger infrastructure as a significant hurdle.
Others said tightening emissions standards that encourage fuel efficiency would also help boost EV sales.
Earlier this year, the Federal Government unveiled Australia’s first national electric vehicle strategy to support charging infrastructure investment.
In other findings:
- 41 per cent of people who owned an EV believed range anxiety and a lack of public chargers were the biggest barriers to EV uptake;
- 51 per cent of people who did not own an EV believed price was the main barrier and 44 per cent said range and charging infrastructure concerns were the main hurdles to EV growth;
- Baby boomers and Generation X were more likely to own an EV;
- Millennials and Generation Z tended to be discouraged by EV price rather than range or infrastructure;
- EV drivers were described as trendsetters (28 per cent), smart (23 per cent), adventurous (13 per cent), successful (12 per cent) and nerdy (5 per cent).
“The survey shows there is a strong appetite for EVs in Australia if there was more investment in public chargers and emissions standards to help bring EV costs down,” said Dunstan Power, Managing Director of UK EV charging component company Versinetic.
He told the AEVA conference in Perth last week that Australia’s ability to leverage its solar capability could also spur growth by generating substantially more electricity per installation to offset power requirements for EV chargers.
In the UK, the ratio of EVs to public chargers has grown from five cars per charger in 2015 to 19 per charger in 2023. In contrast, Australia’s ratio is 35 cars to each public charger.
Yet the country’s EV ownership is equivalent to the UK’s in 2019 when there were approximately six cars per charger.
This year, EVs comprise about 8.4% of new car sales in Australia compared to 23% in the UK and a staggering 79.3% in Norway, which remains the world EV leader.
