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.
Electric Vehicle Council
The Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) has welcomed the intent shown by the Victorian Government with its commitment to achieving half of all new car sales to be electric by 2030 and subsidies for new electric vehicle sales.
EVC chief executive Behyad Jafari said today’s announcement was a welcome step.
“This is exactly the kind of momentum we need in Australia if we want to join the rest of the world in embracing the transition to electric vehicles,” Mr Jafari said.
“We know from surveys that Australians are eager to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle, they just need to know their governments will back that decision. Policies like this tell Australians that buying an electric vehicle is a choice they can make with confidence.
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State Treasurer Tim Pallas has proposed a financial sweetener of up to $5000 for 10,500 people who buy new electric vehicles, as part of the governmentâs push to see its controversial electric vehicle tax become law.
But the proposed subsidy has been greeted with incredulity by some in the automotive industry, and was described by the managing director of Volkswagen Group Australia, Michael Bartsch, as a âthought bubble response to placate justified criticism of a thought bubble taxâ.
Tim Stewart lives in a regional area and bought a plug-in hybrid for flexibility but says the electric vehicle tax would make it expensive.
Opposing the proposal, the EVC wrote in the open letter, “The Andrews Government’s proposed tax on electric vehicles is the only stand-alone electric vehicle tax in the world. No other jurisdiction has introduced such a targeted levy on the cleanest vehicles on the road without significant incentives to balance it out.”
Apart from the aforementioned organizations, the long list of opponents includes EV charger manufacturer Tritium, JetCharge, EV truck converter SEA Electric, the Clean Energy Council, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Solar Citizens, Doctors for the Environment Australia, GetUp, and Environment Victoria.
The controversial EV tax would be assessed at a rate of 2.5 cents per kilometer would be charged each time registration is renewed. EV owners would have to maintain records for at least five years. Those who would fail to produce the records would be slapped with penalties. However, owners of gasoline-powered cars would not be required to produce any su
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