The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) welcomes the opportunity to share its analysis with the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water as it conducts its inquiry into the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
The transition from combustion engine vehicles (CEVs) to EVs—which is being pursued and promoted through government intervention in the motor vehicles market—is an elitist idea that benefits EV companies and big renewable businesses at the expense of mainstream Australians. It will impose unprecedented costs on Australian families and businesses who will additionally have to carry the burden of an increasingly renewable-laden electricity grid.
IPA analysis finds:
- The EV transition is effectively a regressive tax that could collectively impose costs on Australian households totalling $17 billion per annum.
- The EV transition will be used to make Australians carry the burden of the declining system reliability that results from the rapid increase in variable renewable grid penetration.
- The debate about EVs is distorted by flawed information that disguises their true environmental costs.
