The Australasian Fleet Management Association (AfMA) fully support the more than 25 leading manufacturers and environmental organisations who published a joint letter in response to the Victorian government’s plan to impose a tax on electric vehicles.
The scathing review, published in The Age paper yesterday labelled Victoria’s policy the worst electric vehicle policy in the world.
“Most industrialised countries are prioritising incentives for electric vehicles to benefit from cleaner air and new jobs from a growing industry,” the letter said.
“This new tax means the world’s manufacturers are far less likely to send Victorians their best, most affordable, zero-emission vehicles.”
The full letter as published in The Age yesterday
Manufacturers including Hyundai, Volkswagen and SEA Electric said the levy, which equates to a 2.5c per kilometre road tax for owners of electric vehicles, would make it increasingly difficult for Victorians to purchase electric vehicles.
The letter was cosigned by infrastructure providers Tritium, Jet Charge and ChargeFox, alongside a number of industry organisations including the Electric Vehicle Council and the Australian Electric Vehicle Association.
In the open letter, the signatories called on the crossbenchers to reject the tax.
“Members of Parliament, please vote against this EV tax and vote for cleaner Victorian roads and stronger climate action. Victoria, don’t pull the handbrake on electric vehicles,” the letter said.
Behyad Jafari, chief executive of the Electric Vehicle Council, said electric vehicle uptake was already massively behind the US, the UK and across Europe.
“This tax will exacerbate the yawning gap,” he said.
“Far from being on track to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, emissions from transport are rising in Victoria. This is the wrong time to tax zero-emissions vehicles.”
Victoria is proposing to have the worst electric vehicle policy is the world and it deserves to be rejected. See our joint letter with 25 organisations across industry and environment, published in The Age today. pic.twitter.com/8PzVt5GzCx
— Behyad Jafari ⚡? (@BJafari) April 21, 2021
