Mitsubishi announces white paper plan to achieve zero emissions

Mitsubishi has used World EV Day to slam governments across Australia for unfairly penalising plug-in hybrid owners by introducing a road user charge for electrified cars.

The firm's director of marketing and operations, Rob Nazzari, hit out at lawmakers at state and federal level for leaving PHEVs out of plans to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles, and also for implementing road user charges – which mean hybrid owners cop both an EV tax and the fuel excise.

While seven out of the eight states and territories have incentive schemes, only the NT's policy benefits PHEVs. SA and NSW plan to implement a road user charge from 2027 or when the percentage of the market dominated by EVs hits 30 per cent (whichever comes sooner), while VIC brought its own tax in from July this year.

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The exec particularly criticised the South Australian Government as the state is home to its headquarters in Adelaide.

“Not only is it counter-productive, but our PHEV owners could be slugged with a double tax of fuel excise and a road user charge on the same kilometres," Nazzari said.

"This has the potential to stall the uptake of EVs and delay the achievement of a low-carbon future. Our customers shouldn’t have to pay both – they shouldn’t have to pay more than their fair share."

Speaking last month as the SA Government announced it was delaying the rolling out of its EV tax by five years from 2022 to 2027, State Treasurer Rob Lucas said the authority's actions were "necessary".

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“Currently, drivers of zero and low emission vehicles pay little or no fuel excise," he said.

“But ultimately as the State transitions towards a higher concentration of zero and low emission vehicles, there will be a corresponding reduction in the number of motorists paying fuel excise which contributes to vital road funding to help maintain and improve the state’s road network.

“A road user charge is necessary to ensure that all vehicle owners, regardless of what car they drive, contribute to the upkeep of our roads into the future.”

According to the Australian arm of the manufacturer, Outlander PHEV drivers use the SUV's EV mode 84 per cent of the time, meaning only a small portion of their driving day is spent burning fuel with the ICE.

"Our white paper [released today] clearly outlines that PHEVs play an important role in the transition to a net zero emissions future.

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"They can also help fast track the future uptake of EVs by familiarising consumers with the technology. [We know] 83 per cent of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV owners say they will opt for an EV as their next vehicle."

While the average price of a new car in Australia is around $41,000, both the Outlander PHEV and new Eclipse Cross PHEV are priced higher, with each model's base variant retailing for $47,990 and $46,490 respectively.

"If our customers could access them utilising a subsidy, our entry level plug-in hybrid would be within a whisker of the $41,000 average purchase price for new vehicles in Australia," Nazzari added.

The new Eclipse Cross PHEV was launched locally last month, adding to the existing Outlander as Mitsubishi's second PHEV. The Outlander is set for an update, arriving later this year, although the PHEV variant won't hit showrooms until 2022.

Mitsubishi quotes an electric-only range of 55km for its Eclipse Cross PHEV, 1km more than the Outlander PHEV due to it being a larger and heavier vehicle.

As a part of its roadmap towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Mitsubishi is setting itself a 2030 target of reducing its vehicle C02 emissions by 40 per cent compared to 2010, with a similar target remaining for its business activities in comparison to 2014.