Stronger policies to drive the uptake of electrical vehicles in Australia could deliver large savings for Australian drivers, reaching $500 billion in 2035.
The Australian Conservation Foundation commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to assess expected expenditure on road transport for electric vehicle uptake.
The report found that in a very high adoption situation – an entire transition to electric vehicles and increased use of public transportation – $492 billion savings might be achieved by 2035.
Noise and Water Pollution Cost Assessment
“Transport is a significant contributor to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and we’re now at a real inflection point where we can realistically look at the benefits from a fast and complete transition to EVs in this country,” Dr Eamon McGinn, author of the report and Partner at Deloitte Access Economics.
“The potential benefits for our economy of the market-led EV solution, in terms of less greenhouse gas emissions, less air and water pollution, and less vehicle noise are truly staggering – almost $500 billion over the next 30 years.”
The report estimates that, under current policies, Australians would face social costs of $ 865 billion from road transport through 2050.
Most of these costs have been generated by pollution and emissions generated by road transport including commercial vehicles and trucks, costing $ 505 billion. The remaining $ 320 billion is attributable to pollution from passenger vehicles.
A complete transition to electric vehicles would reduce those costs to just $ 373.3 billion (a savings of $ 492 billion), thanks to substantial reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. 2035.
Even in an Intermediate scenario, where targets are introduced to achieve zero net emissions from transport by 2045, cumulative savings of $ 335.4 billion could be generated by 2035.
Report also stated that:
“Scenario two assumes that Australia reaches net zero road transport emissions by 2045. This essentially ‘front-loads’ the benefits to Australians – pushing forward the avoided costs to the community.”
“ZEV mandates provide for an effective policy to achieve game-changing greenhouse gas reductions from transport and play an important role in overcoming a critical barrier to large-scale electrification,”
“Insufficient model options – particularly affordable models – can deter consumers from purchasing ZEVs even after adequate emphasis on consumer incentives and charging infrastructure, illustrated by the case study.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation said increasing the use of electric vehicles could be an effective way to achieve significant environmental benefits.
Matt Rose, ACF’s economy and democracy program manager mentioned:
“If Australian leaders are looking for ways to cut emissions this decade and are serious about reaching net zero by 2050, then setting strong policy on electric vehicles is a vital and practical solution,”
“Australia is getting left behind when it comes to electric vehicles, and it makes no sense when there are obvious savings to be made.”
“Electric vehicles have proven technology to reduce emissions and makes the air we all breathe cleaner. They should be an integral part of every government and business plan to reduce emissions and also be made affordable to all Australians.”
The Australian Conservation Foundation additionally recommended that federal government fuel excise revenue should be allocated in EV infrastructure including charging stations and investments in the energy grid to satisfy higher demand.
The switch to electric vehicles will also open markets for EV components such as batteries, ECUs and electric motors.
Ti2 was instrumental in helping a major auto manufacturer in Australia to modernize their production line to facilitate Wireless Programming of vehicle ECUs.
To find out more about this previous project, please click here.
Article inspired from thedriven.io
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