√Opinion: So, is Australia ready for electric cars?

You understand the science. You’ve chosen your car. For all intents and purposes, you are ready… but is Australia?

This piece appears in the Sydney Morning Herald (15-Oct) and The Age (16-Oct) as part of our documentary, Drive: Electric – airing Sunday 16-October-2022 at 3pm on Nine.

The introduction of electric vehicles has been met with plenty of excitement but also a stack of politicising, buckets of misinformation, and whole lot of confusion. It’s new territory for everyone, so maybe now is the time to absorb what you’ve learned, and just take a beat.

After all, Australia is unique.

For those living in a capital city, the decision to move to an electric car is an easier one to make.

If you have off-street parking and use a small or medium-sized car to run about town, then a home-charge setup and any of the current or forthcoming EVs can offer you plenty of effortless and enjoyable whisper-quiet motoring.

Even if you need to rely on public charging, which we all agree isn’t great right now, it’s an area we know is expanding. Think of it this way, with the current wait times on many popular electric models, if you order one now, by the time it arrives there should be even more chargers available for you.

The cars work well. The technology is constantly improving. And with cars starting from the low $40,000 range, there are options within reach for many buyers.

But if you don’t live in the city or use your car for more than close-quarter urban running, then the opportunities, even if you want to buy one, are a little slimmer.

Our 7.7-million square kilometre landmass presents a unique environment for the future of motoring. Parallels to Europe and even North America aren’t always relevant as the vast distances and sparse population centres mean that the current crop of EVs, as advanced as they are, simply don’t work in a way that suits all of Australia.

Yes, longer-range cars and adding more charging infrastructure will help, but it will mainly benefit city dwellers heading to regional climes rather than providing a viable pathway for those who live and work on the land.

Simply put, right now electric cars present a choice.

A choice that you make, and realistically a choice that doesn’t suit every Australian motorist. And that’s okay.

This choice means you don’t need to buy one, and it means no one will take your petrol or diesel car away. Any suggestion to the contrary is straight-up wrong.

Yes, some familiar manufacturers are using the change in emission standards in Europe and the US to restructure to an all-electric line-up, making the future of the electric choice a broader one. At the same time other familiar brands are looking to what they can do through even more efficient traditional powertrains, often with the assistance of mild- or full hybrid systems.

Electrification presents so many opportunities beyond an emissions position, that it can be used to make nearly every vehicle better and smarter, and like we’ve seen with current hybrids, almost invisible to the user.

We know Toyota is looking at a hybrid LandCruiser, that can still make an epic trip across the Simpson Desert, but just run more leanly back in the city. We know Ford is investigating a hybrid Ranger dual-cab ute that can still tow a big van from Perth to Penrith, but just operate with added efficiency on those long-touring stretches.

This is an exciting time for electric cars. The world of EVs is changing rapidly, and while Australia’s readiness to embrace electric mobility isn’t without its challenges, advancements in technology will make them not only more affordable for the average Australian, but also viable for our unique needs.

You can learn more by watching the Drive: Electric documentary this Sunday 16 October at 3pm on Nine. The video will be available here and on 9Now after it airs.

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