EV Policy Australia

Policy document recommending government policies in support of EVs (electric vehicles).

A collaborative document working towards a policy to be adopted by the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA). Disclaimer: This is a working document that may not reflect the position of individual AEVA members. The purpose of this document is to facilitate ongoing discussion of policy proposals by AEVA members. The formal AEVA policy position is to be presented at the AEVA website, at http://aeva.asn.au

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The Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) calls on State and Territory government, and local councils, to:

1. Direct the respective Department of Transport to create a one-stop-shop with staff trained to advise people about conversion of vehicles, roadworthy approval and registration.

2. Direct the Department of Transport to introduce Green Vehicle number plates and Electric Vehicle number plates that would give qualifying vehicles privileges, including: (1) exclusive access to parking space with recharging points, (2) free parking at parking meters and in public parking facilities, (3) access to special lanes (bus, taxi, transit, carpool, etc), (4) zero stamp duty on sales of Electric Vehicles, and (5) zero annual registration duties, as well as a rebate when the EV is first registered, to be funded by higher registration fees for the most polluting vehicles. The colour green (in both background and characters) and the slogans "Green Vehicle" and "Electric Vehicle" should be reserved for qualifying vehicles only. Applying for these plates should come at no extra cost and should be optional, i.e. owners of qualifying vehicles who prefer a standard plate should instead be issued with permits, to be displayed in the dashboard to obtain the relevant privileges.

3. Install public access EV recharging points throughout the local, state or territory area at public parking facilities in the form of metered power points.

4. Encourage public access EV recharging points to be installed at shopping centres, restaurants, etc.

5. Direct the respective departments to (1) replace a minimum of 30% of the conventional cars in their fleets with EVs every two years, (2) install recharging points in their parking spaces, (3) commit to purchase genuinely renewable power equal to or exceeding the energy consumption of their fleet, and (4) offer financial assistance to employees who purchase or convert an EV as part of their salary sacrificing package.

6. Double the public transport budget and spend most of it on public EVs, including (1) electric bicycles for hire, (2) public docking stations for recharging and secure locking of private electric bicycles, (3) electric car rental, (4) electric buses, (5) light-rail, and (6) electric taxi fleets.

7. Direct electricity suppliers to (1) implement real-time of use (RTOU) metering with discounted tariffs for recharging EVs, preferably a zero tariff for public recharging points at all times and a zero tariff for non-public recharging points at off-peak hours, and (2) encourage Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) uploading, with tariffs similar to current feed-in tariffs for small-scale electricity producers.

The AEVA further calls on Federal government to facilitate a shift to clean transport and clean electricity, by implementing a range of policy measures, including:

1. Setting standards for EVs, smart meters, recharging points and battery swapping stations that are sufficiently open to encourage diversity of suppliers, and to facilitate EVs to get insured with a wide range of providers.

2. Offering grants for EV conversions and new EV purchases, in line with the program for LPG conversions and new LPG vehicle purchases and new LPG vehicle purchases and with the budgets for these programs reflecting the emissions avoided (i.e. grants for EV should be higher than for LPG). Grants should focus on EV parts, as opposed to the car body, i.e. grants should be equal to part of the purchase price of motors, controllers and batteries, or - alternatively - the size of the grant should reflect the distance the EV can drive on a fully charged battery pack.

3. Directing all Federal government departments to (1) replace a minimum of 30% of the conventional cars in their fleets with EVs every two years, (2) install recharging points in their parking spaces, (3) commit to purchasing genuinely renewable power equal to or exceeding the energy consumption of their fleet, and (4) offer financial assistance to employees who purchase or convert an EV as part of their salary sacrificing package.

4. Directing the Australian Taxation Office to (1) replace the current policy of giving larger deductions the larger the engine capacity, with a policy that gives larger deductions the less emissions a vehicle produces, (2) offer tax concessions to companies that install recharging points in their parking spaces, and that replace their fleets with EVs, and (3) offer tax concessions to companies that give financial assistance to employees who purchase or convert an EV as part of their salary sacrificing package.

5. Offering tax concessions to companies for (1) installing recharging points in their buildings and their parking spaces, and (2) having cars in their fleets replaced with or converted to EVs.

6. Progressively increasing standards that cars using fossil fuel have to comply with.

7. Imposing a levy on fossil fuel, with proceeds used for the sole purpose of funding local rebates on purchase and installation of solar energy facilities.

8. Funding electrification of railways, and introducing Fast and Very Fast Trains.

9. Imposing a levy on shipping and aviation, with proceeds funding renewable energy to power ships and aircraft.

10. Directing the Department of Infrastructure,Transport, Regional Development and Local Government to change the Australian Vehicle Standards Rules 1999, Part 2, section 10, to accommodate electric bicycles, tricycles and Segway-type of vehicles as users of public roads, bike-paths and footpaths, including those with motors that have a maximum power output of over 200 watts, subject to the respective local regulations.

11. Establishing a cross-government committee, and a policy coordination unit within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, for coherent EV policy development and implementation and for coordination of federal government support of the electrification of vehicles nationwide.

Finally, the AEVA calls on Federal government to use diplomacy and the overseas aid program, and to push for international treaties to facilitate implementation of such measures worldwide.

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This document can be changed at:  http://j.mp/evpolicy