Federal government strategy focuses on EV supply and charging infrastructure

All this is happening while the federal government puts a plan in place to make electric cars more affordable and accessible for everyday Australians. This plan would help get more people behind the wheel of an EV.

In April 2023, the federal government announced the release of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy (NEVS).

The aim of this strategy is to increase the uptake of EVs to help reduce emissions while improving the well-being of all Australians.

To achieve this, the government plans to make it easier for more electric cars to enter the country, particularly affordable ones. Access to affordable EVs is needed to help more drivers consider making the switch to cleaner electric cars.

The NEVS has a focus to get more resources to build the infrastructure needed to support more electric cars on the road.

This would mean more fast chargers along major highways to help electric car owners charge up during road trips.

According to the latest data on the fast-charger rollout from carloop, Australia already has over 500 active fast-charging locations across the country.

The new strategy will help put more charging stations in the ground so car owners can travel further with electric cars.

By having both affordable EVs and more fast chargers, the new strategy aims to encourage more drivers to switch to an electric car.

The NEVS aims to increase the benefits to EV drivers to encourage more drivers to make the switch. The strategy encourages car makers to import more EVs into the country. Thus, increasing the variety of vehicles which can ultimately save drivers money long-term if they choose EV ownership.

For car owners considering an EV, the strategy highlights the cost benefits they can have by making the switch.

During EV ownership, the maintenance costs are lower compared to a petrol or diesel car.

That’s because electric cars require less maintenance and have fewer moving parts. Less moving parts means less can go wrong and ultimately less repair costs.

Since electric cars are run by electric motors instead of an engine, they can be much quieter than petrol or diesel cars.

These motors also make it easier to drive by allowing drivers to accelerate and slow the car down using just the accelerator pedal. Slowing down of an electric car is known as regenerative braking, which means the driver requires less use of the brake pedal while driving.

EVs don’t produce any exhaust fumes as you may find with petrol or diesel cars, meaning using EVs can make our cities cleaner and healthier places to live.

Other benefits of EVs that are covered in the strategy include the cheaper cost for drivers to run electric cars. At 25c/kWh, for a typical electric car with a 60kWh battery, it can cost $12 to charge from 10-90% at home. That’s a fraction of what it costs at the petrol pump in Australia. You can find out more about charging your EV at home.

With more electric cars making it onto Australian roads, there’s an expectation that many more jobs in the sector will be created. The strategy covers areas like manufacturing and recycling of electric car batteries.

This makes sense with Australia being the largest exporter of Lithium, which is one of the main materials that makes up batteries used to power electric car motors.

As more people consider driving electric cars, the government wants to put adequate plans in place to not only make it easier to purchase one, but also to charge it in more convenient locations.

On a day-to-day basis, this could include being able to charge at home, workplaces, shopping centres, car parks and petrol stations.

Charging at petrol stations and charging hubs along the major highways are all part of the government’s plan for when you’re on the move.

After the release of the strategy, the federal government announced a plan to build new fast-charging stations to connect more rural and regional parts of Australia.

When announcing this new charging network, the federal government highlighted the benefit of enabling more drivers to travel further in eco-friendly electric cars.

This project is expected to help close EV charging gaps, which the government calls “black spots” in the network.

The new planned charging locations will make it possible for those choosing to drive an EV to travel from Darwin to Perth, Broken Hill to Adelaide, and from Brisbane to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

A major infrastructure project like this, along with the NEVS will help more drivers feel comfortable going electric, while enjoying the benefits of cleaner and cheaper motoring.