Australia Introduces Sweeping Vehicle Pollution Rules to Force EV Uptake
by Simon Kent
Australians have been warned they will soon be driving electric vehicles (EV) whether they like it or not. The vast land Down Under has one of the lowest EV uptake rates in the world and the national left-wing Labor government has had enough of buyer resistance.
To that end Canberra announced Wednesday it would introduce sweeping new standards targeting vehicle emissions to force EVs on the marketplace as it looks to catch up with other developed economies while tackling fossil fuel emissions.
A slim 3.8 percent of cars sold in Australia last year were electric, well behind other comparable markets in Britain and Europe, where electric cars made up 15 percent and 17 percent of sales, respectively, according to Reuters.
The new national electric vehicle strategy will dictate how much carbon dioxide a car will be allowed to produce when running, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in a news conference.