Antinuclear

Electric cars – Australia could be a manufacturing leader

Australia, take note….How better to reinvigorate the Australian auto-industry, and cope with skyrocketing petrol expenses, than to evolve to the future of car-buyer demand, especially when it’s so clearly foreseeable? A switch to EV production is the inevitable solution……Are Australian-owned infrastructure companies missing out on a glaring opportunity under their very noses?

Don’t put the brake on electric vehicles in Oz January 24, 2011   Crikey,  Alice Body The wheels aren’t just turning on the electric vehicle (EV); the whole industry is accelerating thanks to a major new initiative by the Chinese government. Officials are planning on completing no less than 10 million electric parking spaces by 2020, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co’s (BAIC) president Wang Dazong revealed last week.

The plan coincides with other incentive actions by Chinese policymakers that will not only help free China from its dependency on foreign oil and lighten their carbon load, but will also further bolster their economic position in a world with dwindling oil supplies. Australia, take note.

China’s ten million electric parking spaces complement several other government endeavours to make EVs attractive to produce. The government’s 2009 $220 million stimulus package encouraged local Chinese carmakers such as BAIC and BYD to upgrade to green automotive technology. In October last year, China’s Minister of Science and Technology estimated that 8.5 billion yuan (AU$1.3 billion) has been invested in the green car industry thus far.

Consumers are also benefiting from — and thus helping to support and maintain — China’s commitment to the EV revolution. The government is giving 120,000 yuan (AU$18,276) to each EV consumer. Such strong support from both the public and private sectors should lead to increasingly affordable EVs.

China’s output of electric and hybrid vehicles is expected to reach one million units by 2020. Such developments are the rumblings of a formidable domestic market, good news for China’s already-healthy economic appetite. In fact, it all sounds just peachy — if you’re Chinese.

If you’re an Australian watching these events unfold, you may be feeling more like a backseat driver. Oil is expected to reach US$200 a barrel within five years, and at the moment Australia’s carmakers provide just 15% of cars sold in the domestic market each year. How better to reinvigorate the Australian auto-industry, and cope with skyrocketing petrol expenses, than to evolve to the future of car-buyer demand, especially when it’s so clearly foreseeable? A switch to EV production is the inevitable solution.

Matthew Wright, Executive Director of Beyond Zero Emissions, laid out the challenge for the Gillard government last week: “The time has come for the Labor government to strengthen the car industry and turn threats into opportunities, providing matched funding to retool Australian car plants for electric-vehicle production.” For Wright, laying the foundation of an EV market in Australia is the key to a profitable manufacturing sector………..

Happily, Australia isn’t completely out of the EV loop. California-based EV infrastructure company Better Place is off to a head start in Australia — their project Better Place Australia installed their first electric charging station in Canberra last October, on top of plans to start establishing a nationwide EV infrastructure network later this year……. How will Better Place fare without government assistance — and within what time-frame? Are Australian-owned infrastructure companies missing out on a glaring opportunity under their very noses? Australia currently holds fourth place as the country with most cars per capita, a sure gauge of a society hooked on private transport and, subsequently, a rather unwholesome fossil fuel diet.

Don’t put the brake on electric vehicles in Oz – Rooted

January 26, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, business