The conversation on electric vehicles is often focused on the future so maybe it’s time we take a moment to reflect on the past of EV’s in Australia.
Over the past decade Australian roads have seen a huge spike in the number of electric vehicles and while the trend is predicted to continue, 10 years ago the future of EV’s did not look as hopeful.
According to a report is written by ClimateWorks Australia on behalf of the Electric Vehicle Council, in 2011 there was only 49 electric vehicles sold in Australia. However, numbers began to grow rapidly with just over 2200 EV’s sold in 2017.
Over the years Australia has been slow to embrace electric vehicles due to cost, the required infrastructure surrounding charging stations and lack of government support and incentives.
“Australia has more to gain than most countries on electric vehicles. If transitioned well we’ll be able to meet our net zero goals, break our dependency of foreign oil, and improve our air quality,” Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said.
“Australia has marked itself out as a uniquely hostile market to electric vehicles.”
Today well over 20 000 electric vehicles cruise Australian roads with network of just under 2500 charging stations country wide. While it is a huge improvement from 2011 Australia is far from leading the way the in zero-emission vehicles.
Australia’s past and present concerning electric vehicles may not be as glamourous as we would like and a reason the future of EV’s is often the topic of conversation but moving forward towards sustainability requires a look into the past.
