Victorians get $3000 subsidy for electric cars
Victorians get $3000 subsidy for electric cars
May 03, 2021
New $100 million EV cashback policy aims to encourage electric vehicle uptake
The Victorian government is now providing a subsidy of up to $3000 to encourage people to buy electric cars.
Initially applying to new electric vehicles priced below $68,740, Australia’s first significant EV rebate is part of the state government’s pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45-50 per cent by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
A key plank of the $100 million strategy is to have 50 per cent of all new car sales in Victoria to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2030.
Aggressive vehicle emissions reduction targets
risk crippling the new-car market in neighbouring New Zealand – and the Australian automotive industry says the rollout will serve as a warning for local regulators.
In January 2021, the New Zealand government announced
a drastic reduction in vehicle emissions targets by 2025.
Under the plan, new passenger cars and small SUVs must emit less than
102 grams of CO2 per kilometre – a 40 per cent reduction from the current new-vehicle average. Utes and vans must emit less than
132 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The targets come into force from 2025.
Car companies
can sell new motor vehicles that exceed these emissions levels but they will be hit with financial penalties – imposed by the NZ Government – which will in turn push up showroom prices in an attempt to dent the appeal of vehicles with high emissions.
-
shares
Aggressive vehicle emissions reduction targets
risk crippling the new-car market in neighbouring New Zealand – and the Australian automotive industry says the rollout will serve as a warning for local regulators.
In January 2021, the New Zealand government announced
a drastic reduction in vehicle emissions targets by 2025.
Under the plan, new passenger cars and small SUVs must emit less than
102 grams of CO2 per kilometre – a 40 per cent reduction from the current new-vehicle average. Utes and vans must emit less than
132 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The targets come into force from 2025.
Car companies
can sell new motor vehicles that exceed these emissions levels but they will be hit with financial penalties – imposed by the NZ Government – which will in turn push up showroom prices in an attempt to dent the appeal of vehicles with high emissions.
Japanese car giant Toyota will be able to use hybrid car sales to offset the emissions of its utes, vans and four-wheel-drives –
which are among the biggest emitters on our roads – according to a template for future pollution reduction targets in Australia.
Toyota cruised to victory as it topped the charts in the automotive industry’s inaugural emissions scoreboard – where all brands are ranked from best to worst – in the category for passenger cars and small SUVs.
However, Toyota ranked 19th out of 25 in the segment for utes, vans and four-wheel-drives – which typically have the highest emissions on our roads except for heavy trucks.
“The NEDC test doesn’t capture real-world emissions, basically,” Smit said. “Purely from a climate change perspective where we want to reduce emissions quickly, it is really important to know the real-world emissions levels. The NEDC test previously used in the EU and that is still used in Australia is increasingly underestimating on-road emissions.”
“It is important that we get a handle on real-world emissions reductions.”
Another concern was the use of different weight standards for cars, light SUVs and heavy SUVs. Smit said where this occurs it creates a risk that sales of large SUVs will continue to grow and some manufacturers will attempt to reclassify smaller cars as heavy SUVs in order to continue selling underperforming vehicles.